I just posted a new recipe over on our main Monkfish Abbey page. I made this for the tribe last week and it was eagerly gobbled up. It’s a great recipe for the transition from Summer to Fall foods. Enjoy!

P.s. I often include a little story at the end of the recipe. ‘Though there’s not one for this chowder, most of the other menus have tales to tell, so go check ‘em out.

I’ve been posting several times a week over at Minti. If case you haven’t had a time to mosey on over there, here’s a post about praying with the kiddos that the urban abbess readers might like:

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One of the things that interest me most about parenting is watching the spiritual development of my children. I enjoy watching and watering their little souls, and they engage with the world around them and the emotional and spiritual unseen world that seems to occupy so much of my girl’s time. As an ordained minister and a Jesus-y kind of person, I’m pretty attentive to soulcare and spiritual growth. But I’ve also see how damaging organized religion can be to supple … {read more…}

I’ve opened up a new blog over Minti, an advice-o-pedia for parental types. I’m doing a series of posts there about children’s spirituality, along with random lists of my favorite tips and reccommendations regarding the world of kids. Stop by to give advice, get advice, or just laugh along with the rest of the breeders.

I feel like such a grown-up! I just rented my first-ever studio space! It’s just a 15 minute walk away in downtown Fremont (the self-dubbed ‘center of the universe.’) It’s a brand new artist cooperative with a public art installation by the Fremont Arts Council, my pals who brought you the infamous Solstice Parade. I’m number 310 and you can see my pad on a little map here. I can’t wait to move in when it’s done in November!

It’s Ramadan. Every year at Ramadan I think about how much I’d really love to have Muslim friends. Right now the closest I can get to saying ‘I have Muslim friends’ is that my neighbor Helene, is Muslim-ish, and that Cate has two adorable little schoolyard buddies who are Muslim, one of whom even wears the veil. (You should see her self-portrait in the school hallway, it’s so adorable!)

I’ve been shamelessly using my six-year-old’s ‘connections’ for two years now, as I vie for an invite to Eid ul-fitir. I’m not getting very far. Here’s a feel for how my playground conversations usually go.

Urban Abbess: Hey Zainab! How are you?

Zainab: Good. (giggle giggle)

U.A.: Hey, it’s almost … {read more…}

I’m back from our wonderful trip to NYC and full-to-the-top with energizing artistic vibes. We spent days and days just soaking up the architecture, art, and all manners of ingenious solutions to life in the big city. (Traffic a bitch? Just deliver your Chinese take-out in a bike basket.) We also ingested a goodly dose of authentic bagels, street vendor pretzels, and mama’s cannolli. Some of our experiences were downright religious — I was moved to tears more than once by the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and dear little Eden broke down half way through the Lion King because of the shear beauty and pageantry of it all. As Eden says:

“New York … {read more…}