Category: Healthy Food

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Beautiful People Beautiful Places Beautiful Things Healthy Food

Santa Monica?

IMG_2974No, Nevada City – California – what a gem of a little town.  3 Hr. drive from San Francisco. There’s nothing there and there is something there.  Will have to revisit kind of a place – as this is only a lunch stop…

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Why Santa Monica ?  Because this guy who sat near us looked just like a Kundalini Yogi from LA… Lovely Cafe …oh, it’s a brewery –  lots of fresh veggies dishes. My thoughts were where did all these beautiful people come from ?  What do they do here?  Do they actually … live here? I know so little about California after all.

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Beautiful People Healthy Food Healthy Living

From last summer … review time for spring Ayurvedic cooking.

I’ve been lucky to grow up with wonderfully healthy Japanese cuisine surrounded by family and friends who are excellent cooks. It’s my roots and source BUT it’s always great fun to discover cuisine from other countries and cultures. From each unique culture, there’s a age-old wisdom about healthy foods that is fitting to the geography and climate of that particular region of the world. There’s a common thread, and at times, great differences but when put in context of the difference in climate, land and history, it all makes sense. Characteristically, Japanese food is all about quality of WATER and UMAMI (& I would add delicate knife/cutting skills – it’s the samurai sword thing 🙂 according to a renowned Shojin cuisine chef; and so far I am discovering that Indian food is all about … SPICES, HERBS and might I say … ghee:) I love the medicinal wisdom behind their delicious dishes as I had misunderstood that Indian food was all about curry and … curry – what a misunderstanding. So wonderful to experience the diversity and to learn from different cultures.

IMG_7863_smallSpices most commonly used in spice trayIMG_7887_smallSome books recommended by the teacher; but we receive a binder full of recipes and helpful references.IMG_7895_smallIMG_7947_smallIMG_7935_smallIMG_8045_smallIMG_8012_smallLooks a bit like Matcha – green smoothie – smoothies are selected based on individual’s dosha and desired effect:)IMG_8048_small
Great cooking class for not only the actual cooking and eating (!!) but for the Ayurvedic philosophy behind the cuisine was very fascinating. Here’s the testimonial from some of her students.
Chef Jyoti Jain’s class, from The Art of Living was excellent. What and how we eat is so important.

For her next session, you can contact her at: jyoti@jainfamily.com

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Beautiful Places Healthy Food

Easter is next week …

It’s about the balance getting across the stream …Stream of conciousness runs through you like this flowing stream … it’s a constant unstoppable reality.sm_IMG_6520Restorative on a tree?Feel the energy in reposesm_IMG_6584Blossoms are everywhere – it’s spring:)sm_IMG_6600
It’s been 2 years since … the pilgrimage to the wonders of Nature here in Northern California.
Devoid of Shinto shrines, maybe Mt. Shasta, is a nature’s shrine that evokes that spiritual feeling where one can tap into the earth’s energy.
It’s very grounding to feel the mountain’s energy and drink its spring water. BUT if one can’t go, one can find that earth’s energy in the herbs harvested by hand …by Yasuko.
Yasuko-san has a beautiful line of products, hand-made… of course, hand picked from either wild woods and meadows at the foothills of Mt. Shasta or grown in her garden overlooking that majestic mountain … she painstakingly makes tinctures, ages them
under the New Moon light for good luck and fortune.
Her craft brings you that
essence of Nature and Harmony:)
Here is her site: click here:)

Our last discovery while staying with Yasuko was …
Most amazing – that there’s an authentic Indian restaurant tucked away in Weed – very funky next to an American BBQ.
Glassy Junction … feels so funny to walk in and the waiter or the owner looks like an actor from a Bollywood movie.
He has a general look of disinterest and boredom watching some Indian version of soaps. This kind of unfriendly service which makes the place even more surreal as we were the only ones showing up – Yet the food was delicious! Yummy Chai:)
naturehahaha … you need a good guide on any journey:) Mt. Everest can’t be climbed without a sherpa; can’t really see the ancient city of Kyoto without a good guide … otherwise, its all a tourist trap …All the apps and GPS I will trade in for that guide who has gone a step further to find what’s unknown to me – far far ahead of me for that authentic adventure.