Joe and I have been taking private pottery lessons for about a month and a half now. We met our teacher at the Farmer’s Market and its been a joy to go over there every Monday to play on the wheel.
Here’s a sample of what we’ve been up to over there. I’ll get some pics of the other stuff posted as well.
The color change on the handle turned out to be a complete accident! I love it, though. I have to say drinking and eating out of cups and mugs you have made yourself if an amazing thing. It tastes better, too!
Tuesday afternoon I found myself in a major bind. For one thing, Joe and I rode our bikes for 7 hours the previous night and we rode for at least an hour that morning. We were at the banks of a beautiful reservoir with no other place to go, and unsure if we could even ride to another place at that point.
Unlawful Act #1: I went skinny dipping in the reservoir. I wasn’t supposed to do it. The place is a watershed with signs that say “No swimming” on it. I went anyway. It was so hot outside and it felt so good. There were some people fishing there, but I don’t think they saw me. Boo hoo if they did. I know that its important to protect our water, but hell, there are fish, ducks and all sorts of animals (we even saw a snake swishing around) swimming and most likely leaving their waste in the reservoir. Is it really going to make that much difference if a sweaty girl jumps in for a few minutes? Apparently, yes. I did it anyway.
Unlawful Act #2: We camped at the reservoir in which we swam in. The same signs which read “No Swimming”, also read “No Camping”. I would normally respect the wishes of the Wilderness Gods and abide to their rules, but at this point, Joe and I did not feel we could make it back to the campground we spent the night at previously. Plus, we had to pay $10 at that campground and we didn’t have any more money. This was absolutely the only place left to stay the night, so we laid low at one of the picnic sites until dusk, then quietly set up our tent. We spent the night in it, then quietly took it down before sunrise. There was no campfire, there was no loud music, there was no drunken debauchery. Just two people who needed a safe place to spend the night. I don’t think there was so much harm in that, do you?
So, there you go. I’m a lawbreaker. What can I say? I’ve always had a rebellious streak and I’ve never liked conforming to rules and regulations. Of course I understand that they make rules for a reason, but sometimes there needs to be a bit of room for flexibility. Sometimes, you have to take the best course available to you, and that might not always be lawful, logical or normal to other people’s standards. Do the best with what you have, enjoy life and savor every minute of it!
This is an exquisite dish from the book “Raw” by By Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein. I love almost everything about the recipe from its dynamic flavor combinations to its sweet, creamy dipping sauce. It epitomizes all that is raw food gourmet. The only thing that puts me off about this dish is the amount of time it takes to make it.
As you can see from the recipe, the ingredient list is quite big and there are many steps to making the dolmas. Just when you think you are finished, you still have to roll out the mixture onto the grape leaves before you can enjoy them.
This is a recipe I created for anyone who wants to enjoy the depth of flavor in a dolma quickly in a salad form. I make it all the time now, and its very easy to put to together. You can also store the extra mixture and throw it on some greens later for a fast meal.
Ingredient list:
2 Parsnips peeled and chopped
1 Celery stalk chopped
1/3 Onion chopped
1 Clove of Garlic chopped
1/2 Cup Raw Sunflower Seeds
1/4 Cup of Raw Cashews
1/4 Cup Raw Macadamia Nuts
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice of 1-2 Lemons
1 Bunch of Fresh Dill
1 Tsp Ground Cumin
Sea Salt to taste
1 Tomato Chopped
1 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1-2 Cups Chopped Salad Greens
Blend all ingredients except the greens, tomato and apple cider vinegar in a food processor until is slightly chunky. The mixture should stick together and have texture to it. Toss the salad greens with the vinegar and if you like a bit of extra virgin olive oil, and then add the parsnip mixture on top. Garnish with chopped tomatoes and a tiny sprinkle of cumin.
I’m convinced that these bars are a slice of heaven. After all, isn’t anything with good chocolate in it? I use my basic raw energy bar recipe and I add 1/4-1/2 cup of organic cocoa powder to it and about a tablespoon of coconut oil. The result is delicious! Chocolate has recently been gaining status as a health food due to its high antioxidant content. While, I don’t believe that all chocolate is created equal, I think that adding some high quality cocoa is definitely a good thing.
Skip the corn syrup laden Hershey bars and try some of my Raw, Chocolate Energy Bars! It’s easy to eat well when it tastes so good!
I don’t have the best pictures of my bars, but here is what one looks like while in action. Joe and I packed a couple of them on one of our long bike rides and it was a lifesaver!
And here is what a happy girl looks like after eating one on a ride.
I always have a hard time staying raw when the weather gets cold. I seem to get cold very easily and it feels very nice to have something warm to heat you up. I also stay active in the winter with a variety of outdoor sports and I feel as if I need more than what most raw food meals have to offer.
It’s kind of a vicious cycle because it takes me off of my course and it gets me hooked on cooked foods again. I still eat a good deal of raw, but it is probably only around 85%. There is also the disadvantage of having all of your food being shipped in. That is a struggle many foodists deal with. Raw blogger GoddessoftheGarden does a good job of weighing out the pros and cons of staying raw in the winter time here.
Even right now, in the middle of the summer, I am having a hard time staying all raw. I would really love to, but for the amount of calories I burn in a day, it is hard to get enough I need from raw and still keep things interesting. I am high raw, but I do eat a couple of cooked meals in a week. But I’m ok with that. I decided that I needed to not take myself too seriously about this and to be kind to myself.
I’m sure the time will come again when I will be able to go back to 100%. That will have to be after our Continental Divide Mountain Bike Tour, of course and all the training that is going into it. While we are on tour, I will have to eat some cooked food, such as rice and beans mostly because I will need the calories and they are much easier to pack along than a lot of vegetables and fruit. I will, of course stock up on any fresh foods when we are in towns, and I will have dates and nuts sent to us by family members. But, I will still need more food to sustain myself.
I think when we are living full time in Costa Rica, I will be able to be completely raw again. The year-round, moderate climate will make growing all my own food possible, and the lack of freezing weather will not tempt me to eat hot meals. Until then, I will eat a variety of foods to suit my needs and try to keep a high raw diet.
Yesterday I modeled for a group of fine artists who are starting the Bridge Academy in Provo. It was a very interesting an unique experience, very different from the figure drawing meetup group that I modeled for last weekend.
The Bridge Academy artists are amazing. I checked out some of their work and it is really quite remarkable. You can see their portfolios in the link provided. I only saw one finished piece yesterday, and I hope I see it again sometime. It turned out very nice.
My photo shoot with local photographer Dennis Mecham went extremely well. You can see the result here.
According to Frances Largeman-Roth, the nutrition editor for “Health” magazine, it is recommended to try fermented foods including kombucha to boost the immune system. Here is the full story.
Largeman-Roth also advises people to experiment with a new food each week. I do believe she means food in a Michael Pollan sense as well. Foods which are mainly seen as close to nature as possible, i.e. fruits and vegetables. Great advice, Frances!
It’s good to see kombucha getting the respect it deserves in the mainstream media.
When you can buy a grass fed hamburger, organic fries and a bottle of kombucha in one place, then you know that organic and healthy eating has hit the mainstream.
The new O! Burger in Los Angeles offers all of these options and more. It’s kind of cool to see organic “spreading its wings”, but I fear that putting the O label on its food would cause many people to consider it healthy and just fine for every day consumption.
I’m sure its more healthy than a lot of places that produce the same type of food, but I would only eat here on very rare occasions. Just because it has an USDA approved organic stamp, that does not mean it is completely good for you. But still, the idea of a fresh made veggie burger with a kombucha to wash it down sounds mighty tempting after a long, hot bike ride in the sun.
Yesterday I didn’t eat that much. Or so I thought.
Joe and I had a running errands day and on the way out, we bought a bottle of kombucha and 12 oz. of Medjool dates. Check out how many calories I ate from dates alone here! Eating only 2 dates will give you 120 calories. With their high sugar content, dates give you an immediate rush of energy and they are delicious! I think dates and macadamia nuts are probably one of the best sources of energy for a raw foodist in training.
The Saturday performance went a bit better than I expected. The coffee shop didn’t have that many people in there, which I appreciated. I think most of the people in there were members of Eliza’s band and family and friends of the performers. A few stray people wandered in as well.
There was only one other student who showed up and he was about 7 years old and he played one song. He did it quite well, too! Then I was up. I played “Murder Tonight in the Trailer Park” by the Cowboy Junkies and then two of my own songs. I messed up a couple of times, but I just smiled and kept on going. I had a hard time making any eye contact with any of the audience, but I suppose that will come with time.
I’m really glad I did this. Now that I got my first public gig out of the way, I feel it will be much easier for me next time. I kind of hope that next time is sooner rather than later, too.
We weren’t able to video tape any of the performance at the coffee shop, but I was able to record myself singing one of my songs on the Photobooth Application. This was one of many practice attempts, and its not perfect, but it gives you an idea of what my songs are like:
