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Deep Truths w/ Iain McGilchrist

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I’m currently reading the book The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist.
I really, really recommend it.
McGilchrist’s latest work The Matter With Things is what I’ll be reading next.
Linking two interviews with him here so you can discover why, in case you’re not already familiar with his work.
Enjoy! :)
Seena

 
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Mallorca Sweet Bread

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A long time ago I was the biggest fan of the Mallorca Sweet Bread from Starbucks. Not too sweet, a bit mushy, a bit fluffy…It was just the perfect coffee pastry to me. Fast forward ten years and the Starbucks in my area has long but discontinued their Mallorca Sweet Bread offering. The other day I tried re-creating them at home. I’m not a baker and I usually don’t consume pastries, so I was lacking ingredients like white sugar, and kitchen essentials like parchment paper, a whisk and a food mixer. I was still able to bake pretty good-looking and delicious-tasting Mallorca Sweet Bread rolls! I used this recipe as a base, and then halved it, plus substituted white sugar for coconut sugar. If you plan to bake without a mixer, I would recommend baking a smaller batch like I did with this recipe. You can only mix so much dough by hand.

Seena’s Six Organic Mallorca Sweet Breads

Ingredients:

Use all Organic ingredients

1 stick butter
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup + 2 table spoons coconut sugar
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1/2 pkg dry yeast
3 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
powder sugar
1 tbs butter for greasing the baking pan and 2 tbs butter for brushing the rolls with melted butter

Melt the stick of butter.
Mix the melted butter stick, the 4 egg yolks and the 1/3 cup + 2 table spoons of coconut sugar in a bowl.
Ideally you would have a whisk and whisk it together until smooth.
If you don’t have a whisk, just use a fork like I did.
Mix the 1/4 milk and 3/4 cup water together and heat them until lukewarm.
Put the 1/2 of yeast into the water and milk and let it sit for 30 seconds.
Mix the <milk/water/yeast> with the <egg/sugar/butter>.
Add salt and flour. Ideally you would do this in a kitchen mixer.
If you don’t have a mixer just continue using your fork and your arm.
Add a little bit of flower at a time to make it easier to avoid lumps.
When everything is mixed, go ahead and cover the bowl with a cloth and let the dough rise for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, remove the cloth.
Grease a baking pan with butter, or use parchment paper.
Now it’s time to make the rolls.
Take an extra dash of flower and spread it onto your kitchen counter top.
Divide the dough into six equal pieces. Create long spaghetti like shapes of each of them.
Then roll them up into little circles. Tuck the end part of the dough in under the main part.
Put the rolls onto your baking pan and let them rise for another 25 minutes under the same kitchen cloth.


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Remove the kitchen cloth and brush the rolls with melted butter.
Put the rolls in the oven for 20 -25 minutes.
Let the rolls cool down and cover them with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

 
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Favorite Hazrat Inayat Khan Quotes

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If you are looking for something to read this summer I warmly recommend The Dance Of The Soul. This is one of my favorite books, if not the favorite. It consists of a collection of profound aphorisms by Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan. I usually read a page or two in this book to get back in touch with what’s truly important. One page is enough, as the sayings are so elegantly simple, yet deep. Here are a few of my favorites:

As the shadow is evident yet non-existent, so is evil

It is easy to become a teacher, but difficult to become a pupil

As fire can cook food or burn it, so also does pain affect the human heart

The secret of life is balance, and the absence of balance is life’s destruction

If you fail yourself, everybody will fail you

One single moment of a sincere life is worth more than a thousand years of a life of falsehood

Before you can know the truth, you must learn to live a true life

 
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COOL BREEZE EP OUT NOW

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My new EP Cool Breeze is out now!
Track 1, 2 and 5 is in the genre of what I would call space-folk.
Track 3 and 4 are more pop/Rnb oriented.

I’ve linked Track 5 above; The Potential Hero.
Written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by me.
Hope I can inspire you to self-represent;
whatever it is you would like to create; just do it!
I believe in you!!
Thanks to guitarist Pat Brennan for guitar on the space folk tracks.

Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Tidal
Listen on Amazon Music

 
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Find my book at Local's

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No matter if you are just a visiting kook or a local you can wind down with Rockaway’s best coffee and my poetry book at Local’s Collective (190 Beach 69th St in Rockaway). My faves are their iced latte with almond milk, banana bread and vegan chocolate chip cookie. My book is in their cafe library. It’s also on Amazon if you want to pick up a copy.

It really is the best coffee in Rockaway.

 

A View Of The Ocean: poems for a day at the beach

 

My debut poetry collection A View Of The Ocean: poems for a day at the beach is out now, exclusively on Amazon.
Moving from Manhattan to Rockaway Beach opened up a greater possibility for a calm inward focus for me, complimented by the stunning ocean surroundings of the area.

The book offers a number of maritime-centric poems, as well as poems with other themes and select song lyrics, intended to be enjoyed and contemplated during a day at the beach.
I hope it will inspire you! A View Of The Ocean: poems for a day at the beach is available both as a paperback version and as a electronic version.

If you want you can also follow my Seena author page on Amazon and my Seena author page on Goodreads.

Peace and Love,

Seena

 
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New Cover: Big Fish

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Words can't describe this song...It’s stunning.
I discovered it while watching Big Fish & Begonia - an amazing film which I totally recommend.
Have tissues ready!
You can watch if for free on Youtube here.
The whole expression of this film and title-song seems to be from another world and higher level.
I have pasted the translated lyrics under the video on Youtube.

 
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Tao Te Ching Chillstep Mix (Read By Wayne Dyer)

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One of my favorite books that I was lucky to stumble upon over a decade ago is Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life: Living The Wisdom Of The Tao by Wayne Dyer. Therefore I was super excited to find that someone has made a Chillstep Mix with bits from the audiobook version of that book.
Perfect mix to center yourself and get in touch with what’s truly important. Enjoy!

'Race In The Rain' is out today :)

 

My latest track ‘Race In The Rain’ is out today :D After a few years only doing jazz, RnB and Soul it was fun to write, sing and produce some Dance music. Other than the track I put out this summer (‘Surfboard Love’) this is the first electronic music inspired track I’ve produced …many more to come :) Listen via Spotify above or:

Listen via Itunes/Apple Music
Listen via Google Play
Listen via Amazon
Listen via Tidal
Listen via Deezer
Listen via iHeart Radio

XO,
Seena

 

Stopping by Katy Keene

Seena_KatyKeene+2.jpg

I did a cameo in this weeks episode of Katy Keene! It's super short - definitely a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. That being said I'm really happy that they chose to cast a female in the role of 'music producer'.
This would probably not even have been thought of as an option two decades ago,
due to the gender inequality in the music business.
The world is moving forward every day and it's cool to be a small part of the change :)
Thanks for having me team Katy Keene!

Contact: booking@seenamusic.com