Teddy Bears Forever

Heart Lamb

It is a Matter of Heart

If you decide to take your valentine to Maharani here is the address- Maharani Restaurant -1122 Post Street (between Van Ness and Polk) San Francisco, CA 94109- (415) 775-1988. mention- nirvanastyle.com for discount.

It does not matter if you have college education, or come from an average family background. What really matters is what lies deep within your heart. The nobility of your intention is at the core of your heart. It is a blessing to be gifted with sublime intellectual faculties, or to have a higher I.Q. than most of your colleagues. But that alone is not enough to make your life an extraordinary one.

When I speak of the heart, I am not referring to the mechanical heart that pumps blood night and day, but rather, the intangible heart. This intangible serves as an invisible source of energy. It’s not readily available to all, but accessible to those in the know, and those who use it with awareness and true intent. This unique source of energy stems from the heart; its like magic or a genie that makes things happen or manifest when least humanly possible. If you know how to tap into this ocean of energy, all obstacles disappear. Most people react to what happens to them. Others shape the events to happen at will. People who are connected to this invisible energy know how to shape their destinies at will, without outward struggle and fanatic activity.

Intention is powerful, particularly when it has been culled by the mind and sifted through the heart. Without the benign touch of the heart and without the positive consciousness brought to it, it can be destructive particularly when used in the name of religion or some fanatic creed.

The nobility of intention is not a product of the mind or intellect. Nor it is a mechanical process or a product of the machine. It is also not a number’s thing, or a random theory of isolated occurrence or some fate or destiny.

It is directly connected to the source of the heart. It is connected to the very source of the Universe where things emanate from nothing. There lies the greatest source of energy, infinite in nature. That energy makes it possible for the people to be capable of doing things that are impossible for others to do. There lies the gift of Infinite abundance, infinite wisdom, where in a miraculous ways, men material and resources all line up to be at your service, at beck and call, without struggle. All you need is to learn how to connect with that infinite source in fulfilling all your desires, your fondest dreams. When a person gets deeply anchored in his or her heart chakra or heart center, he or she begins emanating a quality of integrity, a kind of discipline and slowly, it becomes his or her mode of thinking.

.The universe is abundant in the myriad ways it speaks to us and how we express ourselves to others.

It is this connection to the heart that can be particularly powerful in the restaurant setting. Obviously it is the quality of food that has the most impact in the success of the restaurant. Secondly it will be the service, ambience and cleanliness, are also very important. Going a step beyond will be to be innovation, vision and expertise should be seen through presentation of food. Beyond that, would be the harmony of colors, look, tastes, textures and fragrances, that not only stimulate our senses but harmonize our inner being and bring balance to our day today struggles.

Take Valentine Day for example. One can make use of colors associated with love and romance like pink and green. Pink color by itself lifts the spirit of the diner. It also represents the dawning of love, purity from the core of the heart, spiritual love and bashful modesty. It says it all without saying it. The use of pink fragrant candles and crystals like rose quartz has been in vogue since the fifteenth century renaissance period. Green is very heart uplifting since it is the color of heart chakra. It is also the color of Venus. Green is the balancing point between the colors of rainbow as it is the fourth color from each way like the heart chakra. It intuitively harmonizes any emotional conflict, any struggle or confusion of the heart. It helps to cure people suffering from weakness of heart.

The springtime brings in lovely flower of love like primrose (the sacred flower of the goddess of Venus), pansy (this flower is worn to attract love in India), wild violets (it is used to sweeten the breath), its aroma is said to have aphrodisiac effect and who can forget the blue flower Forget-Me-Not, which represent love in parting. .

Aromas and fragrances wafting from the freshly prepared dishes are equally stimulating our appetites and revitalize our spirits of the heart and bring back the feeling of joy, passion, buoyancy and optimism. . Pink roses with their haunting aroma, work magically and wreck havoc in the hearts of new lovers.

There are herbs and spices like mint, cilantro, marjoram, basil, garlic and ginger have become the heart of our daily cooking. The trick is to know the proper use of herbs and spices according to the season and kind of vegetable or the meat used. Also each person displays a distinct set of inherent preferences and predispositions. Their taste buds are uniquely their own and each one of us enjoys his or her own likes and dislikes in foods and spices.

Enjoying a tastefully prepared food with love and cooking by a spiritually mindful cook are two facets of the same coin.

In spite of all that diversity, the joy and nurturing that comes from tasting foods prepared with love and care cannot be described with words. Without the benign touch of the heart, food is just an eating experience. With the touch of the heart, it is an uplifting and invigorating sensuous experience of joy and ecstasy, not the emptiness of eating food to fill our tummies.

Apart from the fact that one has to be well versed in art of cooking, the feeling with which one cooks, has a long way to go towards the total effectiveness, well being and nutritional value of the prepared dish. If the dish is prepared with right and noble intentions, it will help to transform the diner by taking the person away from the awareness of just the body, towards a higher consciousness. Indeed food prepared with love, kindness, compassion and good intentions will be a lot more nutritional, healthy and delicious and it is full of vitality and energy and it will make the body radiate with divine aura, enriching the lives all around.

Needless to say, it is the heart that sets the tone to enjoy a great feast of senses.

It is important that the vision of the founder of any dining establishment is based upon his beliefs anchored deep within his heart and his creation to be in sync with vision.

It is through creating an environment, where the pursuit of excellence, is not only envisioned and followed by the management but creating an atmosphere where it is easy for the employees to emulate the higher ups and everyone in the organization strictly follows the higher principles of truth, integrity and heart-set values, clearly manifesting in everything they do and profess.

With every deed from the heart, sows the seeds of everlasting beauty and integrity

With each line on menu, with every word we say, with each dish we serve, in every glance the guests make, in any direction in our restaurant, the way the servers walk, the very tonal quality of their voice, the sincerity and the way the servers handle any objection from the guests, all contribute to the extent to which our guests have an enjoyable dining experience from the heart of those serving to the hearts of those being served.

I tell my chefs: “Cook it from the heart and it will show”. I ask my wait staff “ Put a little extra smile and effort from your heart and see the wonders that it creates.”

I sincerely believe: “I exist because I have a heart!”

(Written by Joy Kapur, Executive Chef and Owner, Maharani Restaurant, San Francisco; is a published poet and artist, and his one million hearts-paintings adorn the walls of Maharani Restaurant)

Kama Sutra Maharani Love Banquet

“To know and feel many facets of love, including the pangs of love, is a great BLISS, the greater BLISS is being in love 24 hours a day, and the greatest BLISS on Earth is when love is reciprocated and nurtured everyday”…J.Kapur

101.00 per person

Love tenders

(If love could be so tender!)

Chef’s Special Appetizers

Rani Scallops: Pan seared scallops in bed with peppered sweet corn

Chicken T. Kabob: lettuce wrapped, lightly sautéed, sprinkled with mango dust

Chaat Papri: Hearts on fire variety

Heart to Heart

(The heart does it…you can be romantic without saying a word)

Maharani Organic Green Salad

(Organic baby greens with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes & toasted pine

nuts honey’d walnuts, pomegranate seeds with special ginger-rose dressing)

***

Loving Engagements

(Taste of the following entrees)

(If love could taste that good…Life would be Heaven on Earth)

Maharani Rack of Lamb Marinated with pomegranate & yogurt, roasted in clay-oven

Tand. Jumbo Shrimps Jumbo shrimps infused with garlic & ginger & cooked clay oven

FishTikka Masala The most sought after dish in our menu

& Mint Raita

Served in a Thali along with:

Special Kashmiri Pulao Basmati Rice

Freshly Baked Naans

*******

Grande Finale

(When you only hear the music & feel the heartbeats skip)

Mango Ambrosia Dream Fantasy

(Strawberry nipples of Venus in a tongue slithering sauce, with our Special Valentine Ambrosia & Gulab Jamun suffused with Grand Marnier)

A Special gift for each couple…

A Package of 54 Love Poems: “Be My Valentine”

autographed by

For photos and more

http://www.nirvanastyle.com/html/fashion_articles.php?id=232

About the Author

http://www.nirvanastyle.com/html/fashion_articles.php?id=232

What did the lion, lamb, and heart bracelet symbolize in medieval times (not Twilight)?

I found the bracelet here:

http://www.badalijewelry.com/fantasy-lord1.htm

I was looking up vintage charm bracelets to see what charm bracelets looked like before and this came up. I know Twilight compares Edward and Bella to a lion and lamb, but that's not what I'm talking about. This is from the medieval times, and I was wondering what it meant. I'm thinking it's about romance, but I'm not sure. Does anyone know?

The charm bracelet as we know it was not in use during the Middle Ages; while some people wore charms or amulets, they were not worn on the wrist. Rather, they might be carried on the person, or perhaps worn around the neck.

The charm bracelet in its most familiar form became popular in the reign of Queen Victoria, who made the wearing of this jewelry item popular among the nobility and well-to-do.

Like most fashions, they would go in and out of style, but enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the 1950's, when collectors would add charms to a bracelet to note various milestones in life: high school/college graduation, marriage, the birth of children, various wedding anniversaries, etc.

Now, to turn to the symbols of lion, lamb, and heart, the lion was often a symbol of courage and strength. As "king of the animals," he was associated with the virtues of an ideal monarch: nobility, chivalry, honesty, justice, and honor. Theologically, the lion was also associated with Jesus Christ, a physical descendant of the patriarch Judah, whose symbol was also the lion.

The lamb is associated with innocence and purity. Again, there is also theological significance to this animal; John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the lamb of God, and Jesus' death has been compared to the slaughter of a lamb (or a kid, a baby goat) for the feast of the Passover. Other attributes associated with the lamb are gentleness and nonresistance in the face of death.

The lion and the lamb in conjunction also symbolize perfect peace; the prohet Isaiah spoke of the perfection of the kingdom of God in which the "lion and the lamb" would lie down together; this was symbolic of the lion putting aside his predatory nature to the extent that even so gentle a passive a creature as a lamb need have no fear of him.

The heart has long since been associated with emotions, including that of love. It also can symbolize fidelity and loyalty. Most of us have heard the expression that someone has "a heart of gold" to describe one who is generous, kind, and always willing to help others.

Steve HACKETT Acoustic Trio - Hairless Heart

Braised lamb shanks
For the braise3 lamb shanks1 carrot1 stick of celery1 onion6 garlic cloves3 bay leavesA generous amount of fresh rosemary8 peppercorns1 Tbsp tomato paste250 ml red wineBeef stock to coverGremolata crust4 tbsp bread crumbs1 tsp lemon zest1 garlic clove, finely chopped2 tsp parsley, finely choppedDijon mustard1 egg yolk