A Young Chef's Dream of Paris

  

At 11 years old,  Nathaniel has a dream of one day being a 

Master Chef at his own little sidewalk cafe in Paris.

To begin saving money for this great adventure, 

he opened his cafe in our very own kitchen 

and invited my parents over for lunch.

Lunch Menu

Chicken Tortilla Soup with Homemade Chicken Broth

Deviled Eggs from Pasture Chickens

Organic Green Salad with Cucumbers and Carrots

Dessert:  

Blended Fresh Fruit

It may take a few years to get there, but his enthusiasm 

and interest warms the heart.

The Babushka's Gift of Kombucha

Watercolor by Teresa Thorman

       Peter had arrived earlier than expected as he parked the Volga outside the Russian farmhouse noticing the Babushka or 'grandmother' sitting stoically on the porch.  Like a tree trunk rooting the ancestry of the past to the porch of modern industrialization booming after WWII she didn't move but watched him with indifference, as if his coming or going was a matter of swatting his ass against the wall like a swatter to a fly, if he proved annoying. 

       Peter was a scientist working in Moscow.   Due to post war industrialization and pollution fall out, Russia’s people were reporting significantly growing numbers of cancer.  The anomaly was two districts, Berezniki and Solikamsk, which were both practically cancer free.  His job, along with a team of scientists, was to figure out why.  The area of Berezniki was no different than the rest of industrialized Russia, so it seemed, and in addition it was a mining district with potassium, lead, mercury and asbestos in the environment.  Some of the world’s wealthiest men mining potash to produce fertilizer would come from this region. There was an incongruity here he had to figure out so he was making a series of home visits with the hope of discovering the missing puzzle piece.   

The Babushka motioned for him to come up to the house.  Living in Moscow with a modern upbringing Peter could only recall childhood stories of Babushkas.   One story he’d never forget was of a Babushka wielding a saw as she headed to the barn to butcher a pig. He imagined her stout body moving like a tractor that would bulldoze the animal to a platter of barbecued pork. His stomach was tight as he got out of the car and walked toward the porch.  

       The other Christmas bedtime story his mother told him was of The Three Kings stopping by a Babushka’s house on their way to visit the Christ Child who's star they were following.  They invited her to go with them but she felt unprepared and would follow later when she readied herself.  When finally ready and laden with gifts for the Christ Child, she searched for the path to follow the Three Kings but got lost.  The old woman wandered in vain until she came across children to whom she bestowed her gifts.  Since that time, all over Russia, the Babushka leaves Christmas presents for children since she could not find the Child herself.

       Peter approached the steps. The wizened old babushka with an orange kerchief and deep wrinkles where stories of old lay like treasure etched in the folds of her skin, gestured to him to sit down on the rickety wooden chair on the porch.  "They will be home soon," she said as if to assure him that he was in the right place.   She went into the house and came back with a tall glass which she filled with an amber liquid from a five gallon vat that sat in the cool shade on the porch. Not wanting to be rude, but also not wanting to drink a potion that Baba Yaga herself may have concocted, he grasped the cool glass and held it, relieved when he saw a car pull up with the rest of the family members.

Gathering around the table inside the house, Peter watched as kids and adults grabbed tin mugs from a wooden shelf, headed out to the porch and returned with the same liquid he had in the glass.  They drank freely of the brew in the vat, all sitting down to talk about what they did that might make this region so different than the rest of Russia.  The old Babushka brought the glass filled with what he now understood was Kombucha and placed it in front of him.  He had surreptitiously set the glass down on top of the vat when he joined the family inside the house, hoping nobody would notice.

Peters' cheeks burned as if he were a child caught in the act of deviance.  He dutifully sipped the cool drink as penance and watched as the Babushka sat down chuckling with a toothless grin.  Perhaps he was forgiven despite his Baba Yaga thoughts of a witch's brew bubbling in the light of a full moon.

Watercolor by Teresa Thorman

       Months later, in Moscow, Peter picked up the missing puzzle piece lying in front of him all along. The jigsaw puzzle now created a picture of clarity.   The majority of homes in this region made their own Kombucha, filled with immune building and healing properties while detoxifying the body.  Almost every household in Berezniki and Soliskamsk drank the nutritional brew.  It was stunning, really, that such simple nutrition over the years could combat the pollutants spewed from the mouths of factory smoke stacks. 

       Peter recalled the image of the toothless Babushka at the farm house sitting at the table surrounded by her family and decided that the legend of the old woman carrying gifts to the Christ Child was the one that fit her best.   Peter wondered if one of the Babushka’s gifts she carried that legendary cold winter night wasn’t a jug of the amber golden liquid, Kombucha. She couldn’t deliver it to the King of Kings, but she gave it as a gift to the Russian people.  Little could she know that so small an act of kindness in the gift of Kombucha would extend to the far reaches of the world in years to come.

Watercolor by Teresa Thorman

The above story is written by Teresa Thorman and is an imaginative retelling of the two districts in Russia that recorded little to no cases of cancer.  The amazingly low cancer cases were attributed to the region's use of the drink, Kombucha, which almost every household had as part of their nutritional diet.

The Alchemy of Dehydrated Strawberries

Tangy, slightly chewy, with a delicately lingering sweet aftertaste.... meet the delicious dehydrated strawberry!

The alchemy of dehydration is removing the water from the strawberry using low heat with dry, moving air.  I use the Excalibur dehydrator on 115 degrees.  The transformation that takes place is a smaller and lighter slice of strawberry that is still nutrient dense from its original state.  

The most obvious benefit to dehydrating fruits is preservation.  This perfect snack is great for backpacking, hiking, and camping.  Summer's strawberries gets those tastebuds activated and before you know it that summer fruit is gone.  So, looking ahead...prepare dehydrated fruits from summer's harvest and pack them in school lunches for the kids, for yourself, and for the workplace!  They won't last long!

Beet Kvass- The Elixir of Life

The Alchemical Kitchen

Where fundamental transformation of thinking and 

authentic living begins in the gut.

I overheard my 14 year old son talk to his friends who were eating lunch around the table that he had to drink 'beet kvass' - a natural gatorade- before a basketball game.  My 10 year old chimed in sharing the story described by Tolstoy how Russian soldiers took a ladle full of kvass before venturing from their barracks onto the Moscow streets during a cholera epidemic. With potent healing properties they could all share the same cup without getting sick. Pretty soon I was pouring 4oz samples of beet kvass for the boys to taste.   My teenage son called it mom's 'poison' but he followed it with a caveat that 'it is more hydrating than water and people all over Europe use it to heal cancer!'  

"Folk medicine values beets and beet kvass for their liver cleansing properties and beet kvass is widely used in cancer therapy in Europe.  Anecdotal reports indicate that beet kvass is excellent therapy for chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivities, allergies and digestive problems." (www.westonprice.org)

After a fair amount of research, it could be said that beet kvass is an Elixir of Life.  It may not keep you young forever but it sure has enough creative properties to keep the body and mind in a state of  balance, and enduring health.  The Elixir of Life, also known as the Philosopher's Stone, is a legendary alchemical substance capable of inner transformation... creating the conversion of the base metal of one's lower character to the golden properties of one's higher self. As I am discovering, Fundamental transformation of thinking and authentic living begins in the gut. Pretty powerful stuff!

Beet Kvass Recipe

My favorite recipes for beet Kvass are from 

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, 

Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon,

  the Heal your Gut cookbook by 

Hilary Boynton and Mary G. Brackett 

Alchemical Ingredients:  Beets, filtered water, sea salt and 

whey juice or fermented pickle juice.

Taking Stock in Your Life

I found fifteen different uses for the word 'stock.'  All the way from livestock, to finance stock, to taking stock in one's life.  Today, I'm sharing with you chicken stock....as a way of taking stock in your life.  The origin for the word 'stock' in Old English as well as in Old High German means 'tree trunk.'

I think of the Tree of Life.

Watercolor by Teresa

Adding a daily warm mug of chicken stock or chicken soup to your diet is highly nourishing.

Watercolor/mixed media by Teresa

"Why is chicken soup superior to all things we have, even more relaxing than Tylenol?  It is because chicken soup has a natural ingredient which feeds, repairs and calms the mucous lining in the small intestine.  The inner lining is the beginning and the ending of the nervous system.  It is easily pulled away from the intestine through too many laxatives, too many food additives (Including sugar!)...and parasites.  Chicken soup heals the nerves, improves digestion, reduces allergies, relaxes and gives strength."   Ageless Remedies from Mother's Kitchen by Hanna Kroeger

Chicken broth is  mild tasting...you can add ANY of your favorite vegetables to the stock to make a delicious soup.  The broth is soothing and provides a wealth of nutrients that are very easy for the body to absorb like calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur, collagen (gelatin), trace minerals and probably a whole lot more! Chicken broth can help reduce inflammation, heal the gut, and boost the immune system.  If sugar cravings are eating away at your core- your Tree of Life- then take a daily dose of chicken broth.

Nourish the core stock, yep, your gut, the roots,

 in your Tree of Life (YOU!)  

with chicken broth. 

Chicken Stock Recipe 

with Chicken Feet

Ok, lets talk chicken feet for just a minute.  Chicken feet are full of gelatin which is found in cartilage and connective tissue.  This gelatin is downright healing from common colds to malnutrition (from sugar addiction).  It boosts the immune system and improves bone density.... super important if caffeine is high in your diet (it steals calcium from your bones). Your broth is alchemy at its best if it is gelatinous.  So put those chicken feet in the pot.  I get mine from my local co-op and they are super clean...weird to look at... but just toss them in!

My favorite recipes for chicken stock are from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon,  the Heal your Gut cookbook by Hilary Boynton and Mary G. Brackett and just google it and you'll get it.  Organic and pasture raised chickens and ingredients are important, too!

Fundamental transformation of thinking and authentic living 

begins in the gut.

Transformation Requires Authenticity

Mint and cucmuber...in a smoothie.

Transformation is a slow
 process

I am finding myself hungry for that cappuccino, ready to reach for that cinnamon roll, ravenous for that sugar.  I feel rumblings of anxiety about doing it right.  How do I write a blog about transformation when it is the hardest thing I have 

ever done?  Perhaps even verging on 'impossible'?  MORE than accountability....this blog is demanding authenticity.

Add coconut water to a smoothie.

Transformation requires authenticity

But I am authentic, right? I ask myself.  My friends say I am a sincere person....that must mean I am authentic too.

 I know, for sure, that if you grab for things in your external life to make you happy, to comfort and self soothe the gripping fear that visits your psyche more times in a day than you care to admit, then authenticity takes a back seat.

And so does transformation.

I know that each of us can name what we grab for when we want to 'cheek out' or self soothe, ...whether it is comfort foods, alcohol, drugs, shopping, sex, channel surfing, gaming... you fill in the blank...but if that is the primary way we dig deep to be with ourselves in an uncomfortable moment, then authenticity is missing.

To be nobody but myself- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make me somebody else- means to fight the hardest battle any human can fight, and never stop fighting.  e.e.cummings

Brene Brown, in the her book, The Gifts of Imperfection,  writes about a whole hearted and authentic living.   She says, "I am never more courageous than when I am embracing imperfection,, embracing vulnerabilities, and setting boundaries with people in my life."
Gentle, kind and firm.
If you mess up, pick up where you left off.
This is a lifetime, a lifestyle, a lifeways.  Perfction is not the goal. Ongoing health is!

Slow and steady wins the race.

What's the race?

 A life well lived.  A personal journey of wholeness, health in gut, clarity in thinking, joy in the soul.

 Slow and steady wins the race.

Cucumber Mint Smoothie

Tip: Peel  a bunch of bananas.  Cut them in half and place them in a tupperware container in the freezer.  You will have ready access to frozen bananas all week to put into your smoothies!

In a blender add:

1 peeled cucumber

handful of mint leaves

frozen banana

2 pitted dates (optional)

coconut water

ice cubes optional

The Best Time To Start Is Now

Procrastination is full of excuses.  

I love new beginnings and I always set the start date for further down the road.

"I will begin my New Year's resolution  on the first of the year..."
"I will begin on the first of the month..."
"I'll start at a holy time of year, a special sacred festival to mark a new beginning...."
"I'll do 40 days...that is a number with significant impact for change..."
"I'll begin after the weekend...on Monday"
"Next month is birthday month and that will be too tempting so I'll start after that..."
"I'll start when there is less stress, less distraction, less going on...."
"I'll start tomorrow...."

 I'll start today, in the middle of the day, no special time... 

just right now.

For A New Beginning

by John O'Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

The beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the gray promises that sameness whispers,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

For A New Beginning is by John O'Donohue-Irish philosopher, poet, priest and 

the poem is from To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings