House Stinkin’ Party

Whenever we’re invited over, we always try to bring more than we take.
Last night our friend Nick was celebrating moving into his new place.
Like the Clampits that we are, we of course brought our dogs. He’s on ten acres of open space and the dogs were in pure heaven running around like hyenas.

We had a lovely evening and toward the end of the night an overwhelming odor floated onto the patio as Boomer (our dog) approached. We knew within a split second he had been skunked. Poor boy got hit in the face and his eyes were burning, as he madly rolled himself on Nick’s lawn. Boomer often wears a t-shirt, so we pulled the soaked t-shirt off of him, he rolled some more. We squirted his eyes with water and wiped them off with paper towels and he rolled some more. By this time, we both were reeking.

As nice of a guy as Nick is, I couldn’t help notice how he tried to close his front door on me as I tried to walk in. Imagine that. Soon his whole house was reeking and all his guests were groaning. By then my olfactories were desensitized so I didn’t see what the big deal was. We called the vet who gave us a concoction to remove the odor:
-1 qt hydrogen peroxide
-1/4 c baking soda
-1/4 c dishwashing liquid

We ungracefully bowed out with Nick enthusiastically waving goodbye through a closed window (I think he was holding his nose).

We got home and bathed Boomer and it was much better except for the fact the damn skunk got him in the face and we couldn’t put the mixture too close to his eyes. So you only smell it if you kiss him, or when he kisses you! He of course slept with us last night, after all he’d been through I couldn’t reject him from his comfort zone.

But we had to chuckle this morning, realizing that Boomer had probably wiped most of the skunk smell onto Nick’s lawn, right in front of his front door. I wonder how long that smell will linger? And imagining the skunk-soaked t-shirt laying in his yard as a special “gift” made us laugh even harder. Happy House Warming, Nick!
Yes, we’re givers.

Next up: Open Faced Tomato Tart & Ceasar Salad with Rawmesan & Croutons!

Tengusa Seaweed MIA, Recipe #10 DOA

Did I say this project has taught me to be courageous about substitutes? Did I say that?

No Japanese market in the vicinity has heard of Tengusa, so I tried Kombu. Kombu allowed me to skip the tedious steps of making a gel sheet out of the tengusa, dehydrate and then roll it up.

Like I could have ever done that anyway!

Hey, not finding tengusa was a favor. As was not finding sea beans. Actually, I think I’ve eaten seabeans before and I sure would have liked to try them, but if I expect to do a recipe almost every damn day, I can only search so far and wide. So it was julienned French beans mixed with seaweed salad. Close enough, right?

So do I announce my failures to the world? That eating kombu was like eating a rolled up piece of kelp you step over at the beach? I ate one and spared my husband. Sea vegetables make good compost.

Cucumber Rolls and Jicama Corn Salad, 9 down and 44 to go

Evening plans meant I had to throw together recipes number 8 and 9 over lunch. Rick & Alane invited us to a private screening of a new documentary Semper Fi, One Marine’s Journey. This story, about a courageous and gentle man’s discovery of the truth of our “war on terror” and about himself was powerful. I hope you’ll check it out on Showtime, see http://www.semperfithemovie.com/. This is a man who follows his passions. I believe our passions lead us to heal the world in some way, yet here I am involved in this passion. How superfluous this project seems when compared to what this man is doing. And yet, I know in my heart we are all part of that "grand orchestra" each with our part to play. We have to fully honor the part we play and trust, trust (underscored) that what we are following is somehow a contribution, and never second-guess it no matter how small or silly it seems. I guess that is the challenge. That somehow something as seemingly insignifcant as my own indulgence here with this project can somehow contribute in some way for the greater good of all. I don't know, maybe it's just a drop of sweetness that the world needs.

Back to lunch. Daniel came to the rescue, sharpening the knife and cutting the vegetables “brunoise.” No dehydrating necessary and I had all the ingredients. With Daniel’s help, all I had to do was put it together. Then I realized I had forgotten the Asian Pear for the salad. What to do? One thing this book is teaching me is to have the courage to substitute. I spied a green apple, why not? In fact, it was the perfect substitute. Really, I think the pear would have blended in too much with the jicama and corn. The sour apple really gave the flavor a pop that was terrific! The cucumber rolls? Well they just would not roll. I guess I shaved the cucumber too thickly. I forced a couple for the photo (thank you, toothpicks), but for lunch we just used the cucumber as “bread” to scoop up the stuffing. Both recipes were sublimely delicious, fresh and energizing. I wish it could always be this easy.

I’m still looking for salsify. Any takers for finding this little devil?

Daikon Lo Mein and Stuffed Chard, Yin and Yang

I did these recipes so long ago I barely remember it. It was day before yesterday.


That was the day when I happily invited Sue, my professional photographer sister (I have a lot of sisters) over. I said, why don't you come by and photograph a recipe and have dinner?

It was no problem because I had planned to whirl up a lentil loaf for the main course and attempt the daikon lo mein as a side dish.

Then I tasted the lentil loaf and remembered...I don't like the flavor of ground sprouted lentils...yuck! Then I was in a panic. What would we have for dinner? I slapped open 'The Book' and selected the next appetizer up: Mung Bean Salad Wrapped in Swiss Chard with Marinated Vegetables and Thai Vinaigrette. Alane had delivered fresh picked chard from her garden the day before, so all I had to come up with was:

• cauliflower mushrooms


• yuzu citron juice


• water chestnuts (fresh, of course)

Being incredibly foresightful (is that a word?) I opened another recipe and hurriedly wrote down some more wierdo ingredients I would need for future. Thinking ahead. Tengusa seaweed, sea beans, and agar agar, I think it was.

I hopped on my bike straight for Takahashi Market. Yes, on the yuzu and agar. no fresh water chestnuts so in flew the canned version. Try the bigger Japanese market. OK. No. To Draeger's: No. Since the mushrooms were basically for garnish, I got some frisee salad, that would look good. But at check-out I learned it was like $7 for a bunch. Frisee rejected. By now I was spinning. Sue would be there in less than an hour and I had to throw it all together. The kitchen was a mess. I got stressed (equals yelling at poor husband).

Sue arrived and actually liked the lentil loaf so much she took some home. The funny thing about daikon is the taste seems to change if you julienne it or shave it, as this recipe calls for. I don't like the strong hot-radish flavor, but shaved, it seems to soften and the flavor improves. Both dishes turned out ok, but not very flavorful. But it was certainly healthy and we were satiated. Then I realized I had forgotten to include the pureed waterchestnut in the chard rolls! doh!

And so is life. A rush of stress spreads into a wave of ease. A wave of good times squeezes into a hard time for awhile. Sometimes things are good, but they don't taste as good as you want. Sometimes you don't feel understood, then you feel you love everything on this world so much you can't stand it. The yin and yang of life.

Peaches, Ice Cream and a Taste of Motherhood

I spent the last three days preparing to serve "cheeseburgers" tonight. Attempting to use our oven as a dehydrator for five recipes now, has finally pushed me into purchasing a dehydrator. The Excalibur was recommended to me, so that's what I bought, can be purchased from Elaina Love's website: http://www.purejoyplanet.com/.

It's not that I think the food will taste any better, it's just that once you get more into this, you become very conscious of the nutritional value of food, and they say cooking beyond 105 kills the enzymes, vitamins, and life-giving properties of the food. The lowest my oven will go is 140. And the more into this you get, the more you want to eat like this. It's addictive in a great way. Now instead of my cabinets being stocked with flour and cereals and bags of chips, canned goods, etc. I have jars filled with lovely nuts, grains and dried fruits. And I'm actually using them in the most delicious recipes!

My sisters Lise and Lady Lori brought baby-Gael for the afternoon and dinner. I could tell they kind of looked at me in awe as I excitedly explained to them about preparing live foods. Lori’s a mom with two kids, and Lise is a new mom with Gael, almost 2 years old. Lori came sans kids tonight. I mean, they’re both so exhausted and taxed by caring for their children, they couldn’t imagine taking something like this on, they barely have time to think about the next meal, much less indulge in this “fad” that is so time-consuming. But, of course, I look at them in awe. They’re both such good mothers, like the kind I would want to be or have! Really living the dream of feeling the curl of their child in their arms. And as much as I wanted to be a mother, I’m not, and now that I’m over it I’m really having a good time throwing myself into things. So instead of spending all my energy caring for my kids, I have energy to do these crazy projects. Somehow, this is my motherhood. And in this way, I see we can look at each other in complete awe and admiration of how we’re doing things.

It's not often I get to have my sisters for a few precious hours alone, so I was pleased to be serving an all-living menu, but nervous the damn burgers would not turn out. By late afternoon they were still soggy and I wasn't sure my "dehydrating" was working. My husband ran out and purchased ground sirloin and buns and fired up the barbecue as 'back up.' But once again, somehow these live-food recipes are delicious no matter what! To my surprise, they loved the burgers (Juliano's cookbook). And then we only sampled the cooked burgers. I served Corn Wowder (from Vibrant Living Cookbook) on the side, another live dish...a great summer soup. Anyway, from Roxanne's book, I did dessert: Indian Red Peaches with Vanilla Ice Cream and Pecan Praline. It was heaven. We couldn't believe how much the "ice cream" tasted like real ice cream--no dairy and sweetened only with agave nectar. I cheated on the fruit and did not dehydrate it, served it fresh. I cheated on the praline as well, no dehydrate, can you say "toaster oven?"

47 more recipes to go in only ten weeks. Oh no! That's basically a recipe every night!

Tomorrow: Daikon Lo Mein.

And if you have a sense of humor, check out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=vr4_RfJxwsU

On Fire!

After eating this way all week, I started to get a real energy boost on Wednesday, but by Thursday, I was ELECTRIC! I just FEEL SO GOOD eating this way! I worked a full day, took the dogs out, started on the "cheese slices" and "bread" for the "hamburgers," prepared lunch and dinner, got a little work-out in, worked on my music, met with Rick to sing through our song list, then even went to Deb's to look at the paint job in her kitchen. Of course I went over there in my house shoes and left wearing only one. When it came time to leave we couldn't find the mate anywhere. Those damn dogs.


Truthfully, and I know this sounds cliche, but when you eat live you feel alive. It feels great to be human when you feel good.
And it's amazing what actually tastes good once you get into it, for example, yesterday for lunch this is what I had:

red onion and cherry tomatoes with wine vinegar+olive oil

julienned (gotta use a mandolin, folks) raw sweet potato

with pine nuts

that was it! totally satisfying and the sweet potato was INCREDIBLE...it didn't need a thing. I ate every scrap. For dinner I rummaged through the Vibrant Living recipe book and made a Cucumber/Avocado Soup that had chopped zucchini in it. Now I don't even like raw zucchini, and this was DELICIOUS! I don't know what it is, but you gotta try this! I went a little off the raw, and simmered up some cracked wheat and served it over spinach, tomatoes, etc., and the dressing was pureed tomato and basil. Yum! For dessert I brought the rest of the Sharlyn Melon granita I had left over to Deb's and had it with her. She was rinsing her nuts and was showing me her raw cookbooks...she's totally getting into this! I'm in the middle of an interview with her to put on Sarah's website. She was the first woman electrician-forman in San Francisco, so i'm interviewing her on what it's like to be in an almost entirely male trade.

I like the brain dead aspect I enjoy from using a cookbook. Sometimes it's hard to get into the kitchen to figure out a meal. With this "mission" of mine, I just open the cookbook, and all I have to do is follow the steps. My dad was a big cookbook guy, maybe that's what infected me. But it's just so easy instead of wondering what to have for lunch/dinner, I just open one of the living recipe books until I run across a recipe I have all the ingredients for. Sometimes they don't even sound that good, but then, they'll taste suprisingly terrific. I think that's what is getting so many of us into this concept of eating live, and is keeping us here: it's delicious!

Morning Love

One thing about preparing food this way, your kitchen is easier to clean up.

I don't say this because my husband does all the dishes now. no, he just thinks he's doing all the dishes...but I say this because there's no grease. no splattered olive oil, no greasy pans, no big pots, and the stove top is immaculate! And just think, that's what's going into your body! It's just raw fruits and vegetables, but overall, pretty easy to clean up. OK, a dog food can that needs to be cleaned out because I insist on recycling, plus stray dog hairs. And I also insist on composting, which enrages my husband. I mean what's the big deal? A few fruit flies buzzing around. This really bugs him (ha!) but it has cut down on our trash, and I've made some killer soil from it.

This morning I skipped the favorite part of beginning my day: the Morning LoveFest.

With two rescue dogs, one who sleeps with us and the other who climbs up about 6:30 am every morning to wedge himself between my husband and I, we (or I, really) ritually begin the day with a snuggle fest of kissing and rubbing these canine angels.

This morning, anxious to start "nacho cheese" for a "hamburger" recipe from Juliano's cookbook, I skipped our routine. Shortly after I'm up, the dogs sauntered into the kitchen bleary-eyed, heads down, nudging me. They needed their morning coffee: LoveFest.