FULL MOON + WINTER SOLSTICE

 

WINTER!  I have to use that term loosely as I write from my home in Northern California, an hour from San Francisco, where the daytime temperatures are in the high 60's to low 70's. That's not to say, it hasn't been freezing - mostly at night. It has been fascinating to track the weather around the world in these past few weeks. For some reason Santa Rosa has a 40º temperature range - wider than any other place I've found. Hmmmmm. Well, some of the local farms lost some fields of crops this past week and it forces us chefs and farm eaters to GET REALLY CREATIVE with what was left standing. I'm here to say - it can be done! In fact, I've been inspired to create a project for the new year called:

MY FARM STAND CHALLENGE: shopping, cooking and eating from my local farm stand (with backup from my local farmer's market and community natural food store - no more Whole Foods!!!

You can follow along with my progress if you wish. Starting in January, I'll be posting pictures of the fields, recipes featuring what's coming out of said fields and CSA boxes, nutritional information and food cost comparisons to help paint a picture of how we can save money AND our health by shopping locally and seasonally. I hope to pass this field data along to the upper ups of the community to encourage more school gardens, community food parks, gleaning opportunities, etc. and hopefully raise the consciousness of commercial food businesses, city planners and politicians in order to avoid the prevalence of food deserts, empty calories, fat-sugar-salt packaged foods/staples, ETC.

I've been featured at the farmer's markets of Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Windsor, Guerneville and Petaluma for the past year (at least once a month) doing food demos, handing out my repertoire of recipes and gathering local lore from market attendees and vendors. What a rich bounty of connection and nourishment! I intend to keep the vibe going into the next year and will be looking to you for input as to what you would most value coming from a NUTRITION AND EVOLUTION-BASED CHEF. I'm always looking for indoor venues for teaching, demos and support groups - so if you know of any commercial kitchens that can double as teaching and gathering spaces, I'm all ears. So far, I've looked into spaces in Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Windsor and Healdsburg, so other surrounding communities are yet to be covered. Do tell!

If you are reading this from farther afield, not to worry! With the miracle of the internet, I will be focusing on creating some ways for us to connect and learn from each other ONLINE in the form of tutorials for specific vegetables, recipe breakdowns in the form of videos demos plus worksheets, check lists and journals to use to personalize the information. If it makes sense, we can create groups to share our experiences and keep in touch. It's the best way I can see how to overcome my FRUSTRATION of not being able to meet you in person and take you on the CULINARY ADVENTURE you are seeking, if not CRAVING! More on all this to come........

                                           
                                                    WHITE WINTER ROOT SOUP

serves 4

2 T. coconut oil (or butter, grapeseed oil)
1 large white onion, peeled, diced
4 leaks, trimmed, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped
2 parsnips, peeled, diced
1 salsify root, peeled, diced
2 large white potatoes, peeled, diced
1 small celery root, peeled, diced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
water or stock to cover
drizzle of olive oil to finish
a few drops of lemon juice to finish
a few drops of chili oil to garnish
a pinch of chopped parsley to garnish

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium low heat. Add onions and leeks and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another few minutes without browning. Add parsnips, salsify, celery root and potatoes and toss in pot until coated with onion juices, stirring for a few minute per vegetable added. Add salt and pepper and sauté. This will caramelize the vegetables and bring out flavors before adding water or stock.

Add enough water or stock to cover vegetables. Bring to low boil. As soon as boil is reached, reduce heat to lowest simmer. Simmer until roots are soft enough to mash with a fork or back of a spoon. Add more stock if necessary. Taste for salt.

Remove soup pot from heat. Using an immersion (hand) blender, begin to purée the soup and continue until uniformly smooth. Check for seasonings. Use a few drops of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to enhance/adjust flavors. Continue to blend until completely smooth. Garnish with a few drops of chili oil and chopped parsley and serve.

Make up a pot of soup on the Solstice, light some candles and revel in the longest night!

All blessings for the holidays and I'll see you in the new year,

Jennifer

                                       

                                       
                                       

FULL MOON, DINNER + A SURVEY

CALENDAR UPDATE

Just to recap October, I would say it was a juicy and bountiful month indeed!

I served at two retreats at Stillheart Institute in Woodside California, my favorite retreat center to cater for. Both groups were wonderful to meet and prepare food for, my team was awesome and I loved going out on the balcony to breathe in the redwoods between kitchen tasks. I really feel like those trees have a lot to do with the healing quality of the food and sustaining our energy for those all day             shifts! Sadly, the center is being sold and the new owners will be using their own in-house kitchen staff. But I am grateful for all the work I was entrusted with over the past few years. It will be a hard act to follow!

One of the retreats (led by Rony Reingold) asked me to speak briefly to their group about my food philosophy and hold a Q & A which proved to be a wonderful opportunity for me to organize my thoughts and experiences in the format of a mini class with a group of people that are striving to reach the highest level of awareness around their health, relationships with food, and kitchen skills             that reflect those prinicples. I felt that I stepped easily into that mentoring role and look forward to many more opportunites to share that knowledge and consciousness.

Mid-month I was invited to join a panel of culinary professionals that was hosted by Piner High School near me here in Santa Rosa. Their school has a garden and culinary program and this event ~  "Three Sisters: Garden to Plate" was a showcase of their efforts and a fundraiser for their programs. I was so honored to be asked to present side by side by seasoned chefs from our community. And it warms my             heart to see the tenets of sustainable agriculture joining with food vocations for these kids and their families. Thank you to Slow Food Russian River for their efforts in organizing this event and for inviting me to contribute!

Last but not least, a local farm, CSA and farm stand, Tierra Vegetables partnered with me to do a demo and tasting at the farm stand using their right-from-the-field produce. I created a number of recipes for the attendees to taste and take home to try. We sold about 20 tickets and everyone stayed the whole 2-3           hours as I went through the menu. This is currently my favorite farm - they grow everything they sell right here in Fulton, nothing is shipped, packaged, stamped, stickered, boxed, bagged, sprayed, waxed,  or anything other than grown, picked, carried a few yards to the barn and laid out for sale or boxed up             for CSA members.

I will have one more Farmer's Market this year - Saturday, December 14 at Wells Fargo Center, Santa Rosa. That will mark the end of an entire year of creating recipes, meeting farmers, teaching and cooking outside, connecting with the community and marking the seasonal changes by the harvest all             around us, some less than 5 miles away! I now feel like I have a much more intimate connection with this terroir and have reached hundreds of people with a true healthy eating model - mostly plants! Since most of the food prepared at the market features local meats, cheeses, eggs, and bakery goods, I decided from the start to focus the fruits and veggies. I was told over and over how much folks appreciated this because many times there was produce for sale that they had never seen in its natural form much less known how to transform into a dish or a meal. It's been extremely satisfying to be the one to             introduce them to items such as celeriac, kohlrabi, watermelon radish, romanesco, burdock root,            2 kinds of persimmon, medicinal mushrooms and much more! I hope to put it all in one place - a book perhaps? - so I can share what we have discovered together.

The next step will be to take the outdoor demos and teaching inside. I've located a wonderful new teaching space where we can meet, watch demos, and learn hands-on kitchen skills. I am working with a new designer on a website that will feature all you will need to know to find out about and sign up for next year's classes. Do stay tuned!

RAW-LIDAY!  a special dinner by reservation prepared and presented by me and my team.
            
I have been hosting a Raw Cuisine Meetup at my home for the past year and we will be culminating the year with a sit down dinner (vs. a potluck buffet).
            
Menu will include:
       
beverage, appetizer, soup, salad, main dish and dessert           

Tickets and Menu ~ are available on my website. 

Go to: www.PassionPalate.com   and click on the "Monthly" tab. There you will find info about the dinner and a Paypal button to buy tickets. Only $25 for 2.

It's coming right up on Sunday the 24th, so R.S.V.P. A.S.A.P. Love to see you!

SURVEY

Would you be willing to take a short survey (coming your way SOON) to help me craft my upcoming culinary programs?  I've written up 10 questions that would help me *immensely* to home in on exactly what you might desire for classes, both LIVE and ONLINE - depending on your location!

            THANK YOU GIFT:

            For anyone returning the survey I will be sending a free eBook as well as a discount good 

            towards a future class or one of my programs. Thank you in advance for your 

            time and input!!


Good night for now. 

           

PUMPKIN FULL MOON + MY BIRTHDAY

Did anyone notice or feel a certain satin-y glow about the moon just now?  There's a creamy dreamy quality that is inviting me to soften and surrender to its seasonal spell. I've been meditating on the theme of change and starting over, in part because I am shifting gears in my work and also because I do this psychic housecleaning every year as my birthday approaches.  The dichotomy of being born at the dying of the year feel extra strong this year for some reason. As everything (at least in the Northern half of the Northern hemisphere) begins to pull inward, darken and contract I can't help feeling that my personality was honed by coming out into life at just this time. It's made me adept at greeting the darkness, welcoming the cloak of mystery and silence. Making me an old hand at summoning uncertainty when the old needs to fall away. That part of the design process where the canvas lies empty, the warp is unstrung, the page is left white. It's the quieting, imagining time. Less outward activity, energy building underground for new things to grow and become. It's familiar and I welcome it.

There will be some changes in the near future. Probably the most tangible is that I am re-posititioning myself from doing demos outside at the farmer's markets and farm stands around the county to an indoor venue where I can go deeper and teach more of what I have to share with  people.  I won't be catering as much. If I do take those jobs, it will be for smaller and shorter events closer to home. I will be gathering together all the recipes and materials I've developed over the past several years as a chef and nutrition educator and forming a culinary program of my own to pass on to my students. And I have mixed emotions about that because although I will still be in the community, there is some sadness at letting go of a role that I can no longer sustain. I'm trying to look at the transition as a "re-alignment" rather than giving up or quitting. I know there will be some people who will be affected by my decision to move on. The friends and colleagues at the markets and the folks who gathered around to taste and learn - I'd like to think I can still serve them in this new capacity. The people who have been working for me or training with me - I hope they will continue to learn and follow me into the classroom - in person as well as online.

Last year about this time, I had barely moved into my new home, when it turned out I had to move my father into assisted living. Most of the Fall and the holidays got eclipsed by that process. I was fortunate to begin the new year with my market gigs so I was able to trace the whole year season by season by what was being brought to market, creating recipes that highlighted the produce, setting up an outdoor kitchen to prepare the dishes on the spot, give out samples, recipes and nutritional information to inspire the market attendees to gather their ingredients from the vendors and go home and make it for themsleves. So rain, wind or shine the demo booth was there and it is satisfying to know that as this year's end is approaching, people have learned about many once mysterious vegetables, gained kitchen skills and confidence, adopted new cooking methods, been inspired to upgrade their eating habits and even lost weight and addressed health issues from what I demonstrated for them at my booth.

As 2013 winds down, I'm getting ready to take all I've learned from the vegetables, the farmer's, the customers and begin to develop a program that in essence will teach people EVERYTHING I KNOW. It will include everything I learned from my culinary programs, my internships, my catering, my private chef clients, my teaching opportunies, community classes, etc. It will include everything I've learned from my friends and their mothers and grandmothers and a few fathers and grandfathers too. Everything I've learned from traveling and eating around the country and in other lands. Everything I've learned from the cookbooks and magazines and articles and conferences and trade shows. I look forward to breaking it down into teachable units and watching the magic as people get turned on by the sacred space that is THE KITCHEN.

So, more details to come. Be looking out for the schedule and early bird sign up opportunities. You can be part of the drama as it unfolds! For those of you that are local to me, you will be able to come and learn in the live, hands-on classroom. And for those who are farther afield, I will be working on a home study program that you can explore in your own space. In each case, I look forward to being your guide and mentor. Cool, huh? Tell your friends that are looking for ways to discover their Inner Chef and cooking their way to health!

In the meantime, a few recipes..................

CHICKPEA APPLE CURRY            cooked, vegan, gluten free

makes 6 servings

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

1 T. curry powder

      or

1 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. coriander

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. chili

pinch clove

pinch black pepper

2 onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1" ginger, grated

6 large apples, cored and diced to size of chickpeas

2 large tomatoes, cut in quarters, seeds removed, chopped

handful cilantro, chopped

2 cans chickpeas, rinsed, drained

1 cup of water or stock

handful spinach

juice of 1 lime

juice of ½ lemon

Heat coconut oil in skillet over medium-low heat. Add curry spices. Cook until fragrant; about 1 minute.

Add onions, ginger and garlic. Cook until onion starts to soften and is well coated with curry spices; 2 - 3 minutes.

Add apples, tomatoes, chickpeas and cilantro. Simmer using water or stock to keep from sticking and make a sauce. 5 - 10 minutes.

Continue to simmer until sauce is reduced and chickpeas get a little drier. Remove from heat. Stir in spinach, lemon and lime juice.

Butternut Squash with Asian Pear, Apple and Ginger      cooked, vegan, gluten free

makes 8 servings

A comforting pureed soup that is both savory and sweet. Perfect for late summer/early fall, when Asian pears and apples are still in season.

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced into 1" chunks

1 T. grapeseed oil

1 large yellow onion, peeled, coarsely chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 tsp. fresh ginger, minced or grated

¼ tsp. ground allspice

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. sea salt

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

1/8 tsp. nutmeg, freshly ground

2 Asian pears, peeled, cored and chopped

2 apples (Rome, Fuji or Macintosh) peeled, cored and chopped

enough water or stock to cover vegetables

salt

lemon juice

olive oil

agave or maple syrup

½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds

Heat oil in heavy bottomed stock pot. Add squash and sauté until getting tender. Add onion and shallot and continue to sauté until onion is getting carmelized. Add ginger and other spices. Stir a few minutes.

Add pears and apples. Sauté until squash is quite soft. Add stock. Cook over medium heat until flavors have blended.

Transfer a couple of cups of soup to blender and blend until velvety smooth. Pour into another container. Continue blending the soup in batches until all is blended. Return all the pureéd soup back to stock pot. You can also leave soup in pot and use an immersion hand blender if you have one. When blended, balance flavors with pinch of salt, a few drops of lemon juice, drizzle of olive oil and drop or two of sweetener if needed.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with pumpkin seeds.

BAKED APPLES                                                 cooked, vegan, gluten free

makes 6 servings

Preheat oven to 350º F.

6 large firm apples, washed thoroughly.

Use an apple corer to remove stems and cores.

Place in a baking pan.

Drizzle over apples:

juice of one lemon

1/4 C. maple syrup

1 T. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

pinch clove

pinch cardamom

pinch anise powder

Optional~

Stuff inside cored apples:

a handful of raisins or other bits of dried fruits

a few chopped nuts, seeds

a few chocolate chips (!), shredded coconut

Put about 1/4" of water in bottom of baking pan and place

in oven uncovered for about 30 minutes or until apples are

soft through (use a fork to test)

When done, remove from oven. Place apples on platter or individual plates

and spoon up all the "sauce" in the pan and drizzle over.

Can be served immediately or left to room temperature.

If making a larger pan of apples, you can store in a covered

dish in the fridge for several days. Nice to chop up over cereal,

add to cookies, breads, soups, grains, etc. Adds juice, sweetening and spice.

FULL MOON + FALL EQUINOX

I've been waiting for this for weeks, now! The moment that feels right for opening this new blog, that is.
Previously I had tried to stick to "the first of the month" or "every Friday", but when I had my big revelation this summer that I wanted to return to my roots of aligning myself with the seasons, the moon cycle and other magical vibrations living here on Earth, I realized that it would be perfect to put it out on the full moon of every month! It will never fall on the same day of the week or month, so it will encourage going outside from time to time and checking in with the real weather and sky. Some of you may already be lined up with that because you grow things and are in touch with what's going on out there. That's good! During the full moon, our feelings and emotions are amplified, so I like to create a space in which to be still, breathe, focus, envision, dream, imagine, manifest and send blessings.

And it's cool that the Full Moon this month is so close to the Fall Equinox which has always had auspicious energy for me. It's that balancing point between the two strong seasons of summer and fall, of growth and decay, of light and darkness. For some reason the polarities feel strongest at this point than any other time of year, even in a place (Northern California) that at first glance doesn't seem to have much seasonal differentiation. Especially to a NE Coast transplant, it can be fairly non-dramatic. But I've come to feel that summer and fall could almost be called the fire and rainy seasons. And even that is changing as the weather patterns are changing almost everywhere.

I once used the Equinox to symbolize the marriage and the mirrors of male and female energy when I chose it as my wedding day (09-23-90) 23 years ago. The night before there was a fire on the hill behind our house and the morning of, it rained. Fire and Rain. Man and Woman. Kind of cosmic. The marriage didn't hold up, but the date is still an anniversary.

I also love it, because it's not snarled up with other Hallmark, religious or patriotic type holidays. It's just thrown in there between Labor Day and Halloween and has some breathing room of its own. That's partly why I think its a good moment to start something or end something or just be present to the wisdom around change. One could call it the dying or the darkening of the year, but the creativity that goes dormant for a while is full of promise and mystery. Even if nothing comes out at this time, something comes out of this time. I can't help but feel that I am planting seeds now that will sprout and come up in a season or two and I will ride on that anticipation throughout the dormant time in between.

So, I'm starting this blog, just to put down my thoughts of the day and the season. I'll probably get around to talking about what I'm doing with food since that's part of the overall theme. And I may report discoveries in the artistic realm as I find it essential to my evolution and overall sense of well being to go into the creative depths and return with the visions, the dreams, the mysteries, images, language and healing. I'll keep this as a log of my journey into wellness where I will attempt to create an intersection of all the means of expression that are available to me now.

It would be marvelous to hear back from the blogosphere if anything resonates or if you want to connect around any of the subjects I share here. Maybe not so much a conversation, but at least a landing place for our inspirations and journeys. We'll see where it goes.

Can I share a recipe?


Last month I was able to get ahold of kohlrabi, a vegetable that looks like a creature from outer space. Kind of full moon-ish, too. I had always shied away from it, I'm not sure why. It's in the cole family along with lots of other familiar edibles like broccoli, cabbage and kale, but I guess no one ever fixed it when I was growing up, even my veggie conscious German grandmother, so it slipped by. Anyway, I try everything now, so when it showed up at the market, I incorporated it in one of my demos and it was a big hit, just sliced up like an apple. And even though its just plain green, even the kids liked it. It was crisp-juicy, slightly sweet, not too "cabbage-y"and I would describe it as tasting like a cross between broccoli stems and apple. Nice! Here's what Yotam Ottolenghi say about it in his sumptuous cookbook, Plenty: "People always ask me what to do with kohlrabi, an often unwanted child in the organic vegetable box. It seems too healthful, too weird, too German!" He includes a recipe for a cabbage and kohlrabi salad, but I will include the recipe I came up with that is more of a slaw. Try it!

HARVEST MOON APPLE AND KOHLRABI SLAW
makes 6 - 8 cups

4 leaves of dino kale, cut into ribbons
4 small crisp apples, grated
1 small bulb fennel, shaved
1 small kohlrabi, peeled and grated
1/2 small green cabbage, cored and grated
1/2 small red cabbage, cored and grated
1 large carrot, grated

Dressing:
makes about 1 cup

1/2 C. unsweetened, unflavored yogurt
1/4 C. olive oil
juice and zest of 1 lemon juice
1 T. honey
1 T. poppy seeds
1 clove garlic, grated
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Prep and toss vegetables in a large bowl.
Whisk dressing ingredients together in medium bowl until well blended.
Pour dressing over vegetables and mix well. Salad will improve with a little time to marinate.


OK! This was fun! See you back here, soon, I promise.