Canning Cherries ~ Summer Fun in The PNW

It's definitely summer and the local fruits and veggies are beginning to show up in abundance.  I like to store lots of them for the winter months while they are 'in season' and fresh.  Much of the fruit and veggies we can get locally I freeze, dehydrate, or can.  I've already got about 50 pounds of strawberries in the freezer and dried, some cherries, and blueberries too.  In the next few weeks I'll get about 100 lb of tomatoes and peaches canned.  I ran out of tomatoes about a month ago.  I can hardly wait for them to begin ripening.

Got together with Rachel and Allison yesterday for a full day of canning cherries and fun in the kitchen.  We canned about 60 pounds of Washington Bing and Rainier cherries.  Rachel whipped up some cherry lavender jam using  dried Stevia for a sweetener.  She also pureed some fresh raspberries and blueberries and added a bit of lemon zest to be used in ice creams and sauces.  No sweetener was added to the raspberry and blueberry puré.  That way they can be used tart or sweetened later. The cherries don't have any added sugar either, just a bit of stevia in some water with lemon juice and a bit of red wine.

How many cooks can you fit in a 'single wide' kitchen?  We did great considering the space we worked in.  Special thanks goes to Scott, he was a great cherry washer, cherry stoner, stem plucker and photographer.

Keep moving forward

I didn't have such a successful morning yesterday.  It started OK. I got up early and finished pressing and snipping the last 20 tote bags made. I gathered my supplies and headed over to the farmer's market to sit in my friend's stall and sell them.  We set up the rack with a couple bags and showed it to he farmer's market board.  Unfortunately the market has rules about selling the fundraising items.  I understand that, I guess.  The money made at the market really should go to the farmers and not a national organization.  I packed it up and I'll try the Bridge Market today.  Christy has a produce booth along with plants and offered to share some of her space.  Hopefully I can stay a little while this time.

After leaving the farmer's market, I headed over to Rachel's baby shower.  At least I'm on-time, I thought.  The party starts at noon and I said I might be late due to the market.  I got to the house on the street with the balloons in front.  There was a party at this house, but it was a child's birthday party. Ah heck, not only is the party at the house across the street, it is Sunday, not Saturday.  I was a little early.  Oh well, went home and packed up and had a great afternoon in the garden.

About the Tote Bags

Michele read an article last year about how to make a tote bag out of a tee shirt.  She shared it with Donna and I and thought maybe we could use this idea for a Relay for Life fundraiser.  Looked pretty fun to me.  There were a lot of shirts no one ever used for past Relay events. The director of the local event even found us some more shirts to use from other counties. Donna and Michele snipped out the collars and sleeves of the shirts and I sewed them into shopping bags.  The white bags needed some personality so I took them over to my friend's art studio in Rainier, Oregon and she turned them into what I think are the coolest shopping bags in Longview.  These shirts are now useful tote bags good for groceries, gym clothes, or beach bags.  We're selling them for $10 each and the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

Introducing Live Nachos

Ruth, my organic farmer friend, and I have been talking to a nutrition class once a quarter at the local community college.  The instructor invited us to come share what we know about organic gardening and plant based eating.  Ruth talks about her farm and shares her trials and rewards of organic farming.  She covers the documentation, the successes and failures of her crops, farmer's markets, and answers many questions about gardening.  Since it is finally spring around here and the gardens are getting planted, there were lots of questions for Ruth this time.  For the next hour I get to talk about the food and why someone chooses a plant based lifestyle.  I've brought in books, articles, recipes, other resources, and share some of what I've learned through this journey.

The first two sessions, I brought some home made vegan treats such as cookies, kale chips, flax crackers, and I think I brought some vegan cupcakes.  This time I brought my Blendtec and my recently acquired Vegan Fusion training and demonstrated how to make vegan nacho cheese.  It was a lot more fun then just talking and an opportunity to practice my own teaching skills.  We weren't sure at first where we were going with this, it seems to be evolving into a nice presentation.

I made the chips at home in the dehydrator ahead of time, a batch of cheese, fresh salsa, and chipotle cream and handed the students a beautiful serving of raw vegan nachos as I began my demonstration.  I wanted them to taste them before I told them I used raw butternut squash and cashews as a base.  There were a lot of questions and really good comments.  I think, it went over very well, I didn't see any in the garbage can when I cleaned up.  Most of these students had not tried a vegan or live dish like this. 

Spicy Nacho Crackers/Chips and Nacho Cheese are from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw.  They're very tasty!


This was more than just sharing the plant based food this time.  The classroom was in a different building than it has been.  It was in the rooms the business classes are taught in. As I walked near the classroom carrying my supplies memories of carrying a heavy backpack in this very hallway came back.  This was not the first time I've demonstrated and shared some of my kitchen witchery with students.  Twenty-five years ago in this very building I was taking some businesses class here, a marketing and a business communications class.  As with most classes I took in college a research paper and a presentation were required.  I usually started with what I know, food, and did a presentation for a business idea, a deli with delivery service.  I decided if I was really presenting a business idea to investors I'd like them to know what I can do. So, of course, my presentation included fresh strawberry cheesecake.  I used my cooking skills through business classes a lot.  But, Oh my Gosh! my cooking habits have changed.  Back then, you could have watched your arteries hardening right before your very eyes from my cheesecake.  I used lots of cream cheese and three or four eggs, processed ginger snap cookies for the crust, cooked in real butter.  I still love to make strawberry cheesecake, but the recipe is much different now.  No animal products and the ingredients in the base of the recipe, cashews or tofu, are usually very high in nutrients.

I can't believe it's Tofu ~ Tofu Quiché

I made some awesome tofu quiché in muffin cups yesterday.  I created a variation of my friend Felicia's recipe.  She brought some to the last potluck and I always have some tofu and fresh veggies around. Thought I'd give it a try this weekend. This is an easy meal and can be made with just about any vegetables.  She did find out while creating her recipe that the vegetables that contain the most moisture, like zucchini, should be dried a little or sauteéd first. I sliced a yellow zucchini very thin and weighted the slices between paper towels for about 30 minutes.  I had some fresh asparagus spears and just chopped them in about 1/2 inch sections. I also chopped some green onions to add to the vegetable mixture.  I didn't use mushrooms this time, but that's OK, my honey doesn't care for them much.  I also didn't have soft tofu, but I did have some vegan cream cheese in the fridge, which is made with tofu.  It worked great.  The little quiches came out firm, but fluffy. For my gluten intolerant friends, it's not only vegan, it's also gluten free.

Tofu Quiché

      by Felicia Divina

2 tsp minced garlic
1 c chopped vegetables, spinach works best for me but anything low moisture, if you use zucchini saute first to get moisture out or dry it with paper towels. (I used asparagus, green onions, & sliced yellow zucchini.)
1 1/2 c chopped mushroom, sauteed (add the rosemary here if you are using dried)
tsp chives
tsp rosemary
1 box firm tofu
1/2 c soft tofu
3 or 4 TB nutritional yeast
2 TB cornstarch  (I omitted the cornstarch)
2 tsp tahini (heaping, I love the stuff)
1 tsp tamari (Tamari is my addition to her recipe)
pinch freshly ground black pepper
pinch turmeric (I used big pinch turmeric, about a teaspoon)

I also added a sprinkle of cayenne to the top of each and a little Daiya cheddar and mozzarella style vegan cheese.

Spray muffin tin, spoon veggies into tins

Blend everything but the veggies in food processor or blender until smooth.

Pour over the veggies. Bake at 350º for about 25 to 30 minutes, they will be firm and golden brown.

LV Community Vegan/Vegetarian Potluck October

Last night was the sixth Community Vegan/Vegetarian potluck in Longview and I think it was one of the nicest.  We had about the same amount of people, thirty or so, made some new friends and ate some great vegan and vegetarian food.  We didn't have very many vegetarian dishes this time or the last. It seems the potluck is going in a vegan direction all by itself.  There were lots of gluten free dishes including cookies, pumpkin scones, and brownies.  I made two batches of the popular vegan mac & cheese one with brown rice noodles and the other with quinoa noodles. I omitted the bread crumbs for gluten free mac & cheese.

All the cooks put on an impressive buffet.  Among the wonderful dishes we had were:  Black eyed pea salad with a homemade dressing, steamed cauliflower with onions, fresh frozen peas, and a sauce made with veganaise and mustard, French green lentil stew, Turkish garbanzo bean salad, a harvest grain salad, a fresh fruit bowl, spinach salad, tofu adobo, a cactus and black bean salad, a pitcher of fresh berry smoothie, and lots more.  The desserts were plentiful, all vegan, and most were gluten free:  Pumpkin spice carrot cake with cream "cheese" frosting, raw cashew chocolate, coconut fudge, Gluten free pumpkin scones, gluten free chocolate brownies, and Gluten free vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  What fun it was trying all the different dishes.  I was thinking that it was such a joy that everyone made something wonderful themselves and it was obvious that they put care into it.  I remember hosting potlucks for another organization years ago and I was usually disappointed when the store deli fried chicken and pre-made macaroni and potato salads showed up. 
Many of our guests are new to plant based eating and it's such a treat to see the joy on someone's face when they discover the many things they "can" eat that they didn't think they could before.  The gluten free folks, for example.  I know many women who are gluten intolerant or avoid it for pain issues and didn't think they'd ever get to eat baked goods again.


Our guest speaker didn't appear, but that didn't hamper our fun at all.  It was a rainy night and there may have been bad traffic.  I was told by Jill from NW Veg when I was thinking about this potluck that sometimes that happens there is no speaker, so they've often just gone around the room and introduced themselves and talked about why they are there.  So, after a lively dinner filled with the conversations about the new and interesting foods we were eating, I talked a little bit about why I suggested we start this potluck and opened up the room for questions, comments, or success and/or failure stories. We had a great discussion.  There was some sharing from a couple people about how eating a plant based diet has changed their health for the better.  There were questions about diabetes and other diseases from people who's doctors have suggested they try a plant based diet to improve their health.  It was a warm, interesting, conversation between us all.  We all got to know each other a little bit better too.   As it turned out, no one missed our speaker at all.  I've had a couple emails and phone calls today from attendees who wanted to tell me what a good time it was and that the discussion was very good.  Each one of them told me they learned something last night.  YES!  That's why I started this potluck.  Smiles and JOY!  I am hoping we can all learn more together.

Thanks everyone for your culinary efforts and for showing up!  Our next potluck will be in January, probably around the third week on a Friday night again.  I'll let you know the date.  I think I am going to round up some equipment and show Forks Over Knives after dinner.

Fall is Upon Us and We're Storing the Harvest

It just might be fall.  Our hot streak is over and we're back to the normal cool, grey weather in the 60's.  Usually we're cold immediately after Labor Day, but this year we were blessed with two weeks of hot summer weather. Soon the sandals will all be put away and the socks will come out.  The pumpkin, winter squash, and root vegetable recipes will appear on the blogs and Facebook posts. I took proper advantage of the summer's harvest and managed to put up 100 pounds of organic tomatoes, 100 pounds of peaches, 50 or more pounds of strawberries, some blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. Many are canned, some are in the freezer ready for smoothies, desserts, and jam. We've got garden fresh green beans canned and this year, lots of fruit and vegetables dried. I won't be buying dried tomatoes this year. There's garlic and herbs of all kinds hanging in the kitchen and onions and potatoes stored for those winter meals.  The garden didn't do as well as other years, but we still harvested plenty enough to keep us from buying at the grocery store. What I didn't grow my local organic farmer grew.  The peaches come from Eastern Washington.  They had a short season too this year, they were only at the markets for about two weeks.

Went over to Rachel's house for a good day of canning a couple weeks ago.  She also has her canning set up for outdoors.  She has a double gas burner.  I show up early, bring my canner and we get busy.  Everybody gets in on it.  The guys snapped all the green beans, Scott helped us with the canning, and Damon grilled the tuna. With her burner we can get two batches of jars done with her canner and mine going at the same time.  She can blanch the peaches and get a batch of jars going at the same time.  I get a lot of exercise going back and forth from the deck to the kitchen at my house.  I think I need one of those double burners. We canned 50 pounds of peaches and the close to the same amount of green beans.  When I left late at night, she was putting on another batch of the jars of beans we filled and getting ready for her tomato canning adventures the next day.

I've got six more heads of cabbage from the garden. I'll get in the crock for some home made sauerkraut tonight.  A few more weeks of fresh local vegetables, I'm not sure what I'll put up next, but the tomatoes in my garden could still ripen, I hope, and need to be 'processed'. If they don't I'll just have to get out all the green tomato recipes:  salsa. enchilada sauce, and I even have some for  bread and muffins.

Rachel also enjoys cooking with fresh, whole foods.  She's a great cook and a talented kitchen witch. She has some unique flavor combinations.  I always enjoy whatever she makes. As usual we combined our talents and made a wonderful dinner. She made her vegetable gyoza with a sweet & spicy dipping sauce.  They were ready before the main dishes and were quite welcome with the hungry gang around the fire pit. I had to remember to stop eating them so I could eat dinner.  Her husband brought home a fresh tuna which we grilled on the barbeque.  I made baked fresh bell peppers from the garden stuffed with quinoa, black rice, vegan sausage, and herbs. I topped them with a raw pasta sauce and Daiya cheese. Rachel put together a fresh green salad with her garden veggies and we roasted an eggplant.  It was a perfect summer feast. Her dad joined us and brought in some fresh blackberries he'd picked the same afternoon. She whipped together a blackberry polenta cake.  I think we ended up calling it blackberry pudding cake.  It was so good, like jam filled cake. Very nice of her to include some of it in my leftover package.  After the long day of canning and an hours drive home, it was a very welcome snack when I got into my jammies and settled in the house.

Vegetable Gyoza

Quinoa & Black Rice Stuffed Bell Peppers

Marinating Eggplant

Blackberry Polenta Pudding Cake - Blackberry Goodness

The Bottle Flu & Near ~ Two songs by John S. Crocker

Thanks John for the lively entertainment at our fifth community vegan/vegetarian potluck. I uploaded my first YouTube upload. **giggling** We managed to get about five or six videos on our little Sony point and shoot camera. I am surprised how good they are. When I sent John's wife Mary a Facebook message telling her I was posting it on, the phone rang immediately. It was John and I was afraid he disapproved. He just wanted me to include his middle initial because there are so many John Crockers. :-)

Happy Birthday Gracie Marie Camba

Gracie Marie Camba

Born Saturday night, August 13, 2011 at 8:50 p.m., 8 pounds, 20 1/2 inches and very beautiful.

Congratulations to my dear friends Rhonda and Lupe on their first grandchild.  I feel so blessed to be included in such a special event.

I have many pictures of Rhonda in this pose with a baby, but none with a smile this big.

 

 Proud Abuelito, He looks like it's love at first sight.

***Smiles***

Creamy Coconut Milk Marionberry Ice Cream ~ It's an Ice Cream Party

You scream, I scream, we all scream for Ice Cream.  Yum.

Had sort of an ice cream party this weekend.  A few of my friends made ice cream and we all posted on FB. It began with Felicia, she just bought an ice cream machine last week and she was anxious to get started.  She asked for some ideas and I gave her some tips as well as went shopping with her to pick out some key ingredients. She promptly whipped up some chocolate chip ice cream using bananas and coconut milk as her base.  I got to try some and it was delicious. I didn't get a picture of hers though.

Last week I gave Rachel some of my organic cherries I put up in the freezer last weekend.  This weekend she made some Cherry Pecan frozen yogurt. She used: Greek Yoghurt, Coconut Milk, Homemade Vanilla (w/alcohol to ensure it doesn't turn to a brick in the freezer), Fresh Cherries, Honey, Handful of Pecans.  She described it as "Rich and Delightful".  It looks like it is.

Rachel's Cherry Pecan Frozen Yogurt

Barb made homemade apricot preserve cream cheese ice cream.  Looks very creamy. 

Barb's Homemade Apricot Preserve Cream Cheese Ice Cream

It all looked so good, I had to join in with my vegan version of ice cream.  Wasn't sure which flavor I wanted to play with.  It was a toss up between cherry and marionberry.  I mentioned it to Barb and she said she wanted some marionberry. I was lucky enough to be at Payton's Produce when a berry picker came in with his berries a couple weeks ago.  He had fresh raspberries and two flats of plump fresh marionberries.  I took home three flats of his raspberries and one flat of the beautiful marionberries.   I mixed up a creamy coconut milk marionberry ice cream.  

Deb's Creamy Coconut Milk Marionberry Ice Cream

Creamy Coconut Milk Marionberry Ice Cream

Makes 6 cups

Ice Cream:

3 cups organic full fat coconut milk, chilled

2 cups fresh marionberries, or substitute your favorite fruit

3/4 cup agave nectar

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

seeds of one vanilla bean

1/4 tsp sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender, and process until well blended.  I strained the berries and used the juice in the ice cream mixture.  About five minutes before the mixture was finished I added whole berries.   Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to your maker's directions.  Mine takes about half an hour. Once processed, pour into freezable container with a lid, and place in the freezer for at least a few hours, or overnight to firm up for best results.

I mixed about 1 TB pure maple syrup to about 1 cup berries for a juicy berry topping.

Vegan Fusion Workshop

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a two day Vegan Fusion workshop with Mark Reinfeld, co-author of one of my favorite vegan cookbooks, Vegan World Fusion Cuisine.  I've been using this cookbook for about six years now and was delighted to learn from the creator of these recipes.  I met quite a few very nice people.  My friend Vickie came along so we rode to Portland together and talked about what we learned all the way home. It was a fun and worthwhile weekend.  She's a bit new to vegan cooking and it was fun to see her get excited about all the wonderful vegan choices available.

I haven't been writing this blog very long, but you could probably search Vegan World Fusion in my blog and find quite a few dishes I've made using the recipes either in whole or as a part of a meal.  One of the best points I thought he made during the class:  He teaches his students to find base recipes for soups, sauces, and desserts and add or substitute ingredients to get the desired taste you want. I've often done that as I usually start my cooking by going to the farmer's market and the produce store and let the available ingredients decide what we are eating. I look for ideas online and many times substitute an ingredient for something I have on hand.

Mark is a delightful teacher, patient, and knowledgeable.  He's got a great attitude about cooking, "There are no mistakes in the kitchen." he says.  "If you don't have the ingredient, substitute."  "If you happen to cook the rice a little too long, it's toasted now."  "If you think it's not the way you want it to be, adjust something." That's the way I cook everything. I look forward to learning more from him.  I am going to take the ten day class online and, hopefully, next year get around to taking his three day class to become a certified vegan cooking instructor. I'd love to share what I know with others.  I think this way of eating is not only easy, once you get the hang of it, it's colorful as well as tasty. 



One of the great things I've learned about vegan cooking is that many of the dishes are raw, prepared using a food processor or blender, and usually contain few ingredients making them quick and easy to prepare.  I've learned a lot about pre-preparation of my ingredients and have been cooking this way long enough, I can find a nice recipe and have most the ingredients to prepare it.  During the weekend we were able to prepare and eat all of this:


Day 1
Sun-Dried Tomato Flax Crackers witjh Cashew Cheese
Raw Carrot Ginger Soup
Coconut spinach Rice
Macadamia Nut Crusted Tofu with Golden Gravy
Organic Mixed Greens with Toasted Pecan Vinaigrette
Chocolate Dream Pie

Day 2
Mushrooms Stuffed with Spinach Paté
Creamy Broccoli Bisque
Raw Pesto Pasta Puttanesca
Coconut Curry Tempeh over Quino Pilaf
Raw Chocolate Mousse with Macadamia Cream

Mark is in Europe now teaching classes and gathering ideas to finish his "Taste of Europe" vegan cookbook soon to be published.  He has also written The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw.  I've recently been playing with this book and it's full of very easy and tasty recipes complete with nutritional information for each one.  I've already made a few things, only having the book about two weeks.  One of my favorites so far has been the Raw Nachos with Nacho Cheese Dip.  It's very close to the nachos served at the Blossoming Lotus in Portland, also created with the help of Mr. Reinfeld.  If you're in Portland, Oregon, check it out sometime.  You won't be disappointed.

Summer is Here!

The last two weeks seem like I've been in continual motion.  Summer is here, and I've been taking full advantage of it. Our vegan/vegetarian potluck was June 26 and another success.  We had about 25 people and the sun showed up so we were able to sit outside and visit.  The musicians who contacted me didn't show up, but it was not a problem.  We had a great time getting to know each other and sharing what we prepared with each other.  We had some door prizes this time and my husband made some great flower arrangements with flowers from our yard. Our next potluck is August 21 and my friend John has agreed to play  music for us.  He has his own original folksy-blues kind of music, it should be very enjoyable.


Right after that, we held a bake sale at work for our Relay for Life team and baked for three days. I made about 12 dozen vegan cookies, spelt foccacia bread, and some chocolate beet cake. Donna, Tracy, & Michele were also busy in their kitchens, we filled two long tables with goodies and I think we raised a little over $200 for our team. My favorite was Michele's chai muffins with pistachios.

The very next weekend was the fourth of July and we played with the hippies up at the Rainbow Gathering.  That was an enjoyable experience, it involved a bit more hiking than I was ready for.  If we ever decide to go backpacking, I might have to start working out a bit more before we get going and definitely pack less.  I am so glad we made it, much of it did feel just like home.  I had so many memories of our friends and family in La Honda, especially the ones that are no longer with us. I volunteered at a vegan kitchen on "Serenity Ridge".  It was a beautiful spot with a lot of friendly people, musicians playing their guitars, drums, and singing camp songs.  The weather was great, a bit cold at night, but the sun came out for all three days we were up there.  It was just like being a kid at summer camp.

Last week we were blessed with a reunion with old friends. Tony & Catherine were visiting Oregon from Virginia to support their niece who is walking the Oregon Coast for charity.  We spent Thursday afternoon walking around Portland and had dinner at the Blossoming Lotus, in Portland, and in my opinion one of  the best vegan restaurants in Portland.  The last time we saw them was about 22 or 23 years ago when we met in Yosemite for some camping and hiking.I've known Tony and Catherine since I was about 22, we've had some crazy times together.  Cathy & I were reminiscing about a weekend, long ago, we traveled from LA to Las Vegas in the back of our Chevy Luv truck. Yes, we went all the way on a small mattress in the back of the truck and had a great time.  Can't imagine doing that now. I remember our 'truck lag' lasting all weekend.  Standing still felt like we were still moving.

The garden is growing well and I'm beginning to find treasures every time we go out.  Last week I harvested kale, spinach, garlic scapes, a couple artichokes, and lettuce.  Garlic scapes are the curly flower top that shoots out of the hard necked garlic.  I cut them off to give more energy and nutrients to the garlic head growing below the ground. The garlic scapes are great sautéed and can be stored and used for flavoring future dishes. I've rough chopped them and placed them in the dehydrator.  Woo who, the house is filled with the smell of garlic, so strong, I wonder if the neighbors can smell it. I'll grind some into a powder when they are completely dry to use in raw marinara sauces and other goodies I make this year. Our artichokes are coming in strong this year.  I've already plucked a nice big one to try.

This weekend I'm attending a 2 day Vegan Fusion workshop taught by the co-author of my most favorite vegan cookbooks,  Vegan World Fusion Cuisine, Mark Reinfeld.  I'll be sure to post about the fun I had there.

May Veggie Potluck

We had another very successful vegan/vegetarian potluck in Longview.  I am pleased how well it's turned out.  There were about 25 people and we're seeing new faces each time.  I am impressed at the wonderful dishes we're all getting to try.  This time there were a lot more gluten free choices as well as many raw choices.  Desirée did a great job demonstrating raw cinnamon rolls.  They were very tasty.  I had enough walnuts at home to whip up a batch the next day.  Had to have some more of that.

Just some of the items at the buffet tables:

Arugula-Orange Fennel Salad
Lentil Apple Potato Salad
Black Rice, Mango, & Sugar Snap Pea Salad
Vegetarian Pie Crust Pizza
Sugar Cookie Fruit Bites
Potato Salad with tofu and herbs with a little cumin
Penne Pasta Primavera Salad
Collard Green Roll-Ups
Gluten Free Brownies
Three Bean Salad
Vegan Mac & Cheese with Broccoli
Live Lasagna
Israeli Cous Cous
Raw Berry Cheezecake
Vegan Five Grain Cookies
And Lester grabbed a few pounds of fresh asparagus, steamed and tossed them with herbs and olive oil.

The next one will be on June 26 and this time we have some folk musicians coming to entertain with their songs about plant based living and animal rights.  I was contacted by a couple out of Eugene Oregon who travel around singing, sharing poetry, and telling stories.  They are on a year long tour spreading the message about plant based eating and the benefits.  They will be bringing some vegan soaps, lotions, and fun. If you are interested in adding plant based meals to your life, come on down.  Maybe the sun will show itself and we can have an old fashioned Sunday afternoon party outside. I know, all you PNW residents are giggling at me right now.  But, we do call it liquid sunshine.

Weekend Ramblings and Lots of Pie

Had a very nice time out at Rachel & Damon's place last Sunday. As usual, it was a refreshing break.  As we got a little out of town and around the winding road, we were greeted by the sun.  So glad we ventured out that way, it was raining when we left our neck of the woods.  We have to drive along the Columbia river to get there and took the opportunity for some photo practice on the way out and the way back.  We were only gone the afternoon and evening and managed to take something like 200 photos in that time period. I practiced my skills with Rachel's birdhouses. I love the sculpture-esc way she's arranged them on this old piece of nature's artwork.  Birdhouses she made with her nieces and nephews when they were small.  A project I would have liked enjoyed participating.

As always, we had a great meal, with plenty of fresh ingredients.  Rachel made a great vegetable and shrimp stir fry and some of her honey bread.  I brought a spelt berry salad and a big raw vegetable salad.  Her neighbor had delivered some fresh pea soup made with the peas from her garden last summer.  I had also made the cherry rhubarb Pie.  Rachel made her berry pie.  And I took another try at the banana cream pie.  The first time I didn't even get a whole piece.  It disappeared so fast. Even though all of our pies with low on sugar, it was a good thing dinner was full of fresh vegetables.  It felt like we so when we've had too much Thanksgiving dinner when we left.

Stir Fry, Peas Soup, Spelt Berry Salad

Spelt Berry Salad

Vegan Banana Cream Pie

They also has a little brood of baby Australorp hens, who provided lots of delightful entertainment.  This one is the only one left after the others were returned to their little home.  She was telling us all about it. There was quite the conversation going on here.

The Potluck Adventures Continue In Longview

The potluck adventures continue. Our next vegan/vegetarian potluck in Longview, WA is Friday, May 20th at Payton's Produce.

This time we're having a raw foods demonstration by Desirée Livingston Ouellette. Desirée is a Live Food Certified/Raw Food Enthusiast & RYT, Registered Yoga Teacher. She teaches Raw Foods preparation with the Parks and Recreation Department of Longview and the reviews have been awesome.

This is for anyone who is interested in plant based eating. No matter
where you are on your journey, if you are interested in adding more
plant based meals to your life or are vegetarian or vegan already. We
can share some food, ideas, maybe a recipe or two and learn together.

The potluck is at Paytons Produce, 1132 Washington Way, Longview, WA.

If you are participating in the potluck, please bring a vegetarian or
vegan (vegan contains no animal products, including honey) main dish,
salad, or dessert; a card listing its ingredients; and plates and
utensils for your use.

Need plant-based ideas? Send me a message, I can direct you to a good
location. If you come alone, figure the amount to serve 4–6 generously;
increase the amount 4 servings for each additional person in your
party/family. This is an alcohol free event. For more information,
email kaydebbie25@yahoo.com. A donation of $2–5 per person is suggested.

A Good Time Was Had by All ~ LV Potluck #2

Our second vegan/vegetarian potluck in Longview was again a success.  There were about 25 people and a great variety of wonderful food.  Mike McKee from Willow Grove Farms talked about organic farming and I learned quite a bit about how to improve my own garden this year.  I always learn something new talking to Mike.  I also found out that I shouldn't have my lettuce bowl under the lights downstairs.  Even before unpacking all the supplies from my car, I ran down and moved the lettuce to a cooler spot on the deck.  They're doing great, by the way.  I should be starting up some gardening blogging soon.  Peter Spendelow from NWVeg also came and spoke to us about the WA initiative 1130 to ban confinement cages for chickens.




Among the wonderful food we had:

A couple fresh fruit salads
Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with vegan chocolate chips and shredded coconut
Roasted Yams and sweet potatoes with molasses
Veggie Ragout with mozzarella cheese
Garden Vegetable Soup
Curried Quinoa Salad
Polenta Casserole
Vegan Deli Cole Slaw
Sengalese peanut, spinach, yam stew
Spanish Rice
Zucchini Pie
Green Salads, herb salads, hummus, and much more.

Thanks to all the cooks, Mike McKee, Peter Spendelow, Jon for arranging the chairs, everyone who helped set up and clean up, and Christy and Lester for allowing us to transform your produce store into a dining room for the evening.  A good time was had by all.

The next one will be in May and I'm hoping to have a raw foods or vegan cooking demonstration.

Vive Bene

Art Crawl in Portland Saturday Night

Went to play in Portland Saturday night, one of our favorite playgrounds. After an unusually pleasant visit with our son in St. Helens, Oregon, Saturday afternoon, we wandered to Portland towards our final destination, The Alberta Rose Theater for an eight o'clock show.  We stopped at a cute little vegetarian grocery store called Cherry Sprout Produce. We've wanted to stop in many times, but hadn't found the time yet.  Since we were pretty early we stopped in and picked up some wonderful produce as well as a couple seedlings for the garden, a couple fava bean plants, jerusalem artichokes, and some spicy herb blends for herb hill. We found the theater, parked the car, and took a walk in search of food for our camera as well as our bellies.  We stopped in a a Thai restaurant and enjoyed a wonderful vegan meal. Then we wandered around enjoying the paintings, sculptures, and wonderful creations all around us. I do love this part of Portland, it's so full of art everywhere you look.  There was a life size piñata type sculpture of a mermaid on top of one of the coolers of the Cherry Sprout.  A creation of one of the nearby artists.

We met this lovely lady, Laura Stokes, on our Baja Beach Daze trip in 2009.   She was one of the people who got on in San Francisco,  we spent ten wonderful days traveling through California and most of Baja. We spent five days camping at a private beach on the Sea of Cortez, a little north of La Paz. She and her partner travel the world performing their art. We've been looking forward to seeing her performance for sometime.

Last night we finally had the pleasure of seeing this awesome show.  Not one person left that theater wishing they had done something else last night.  The theater was full and there was an enthusiastic standing ovation at the end. There were no words spoken during this performance,  but strong messages about ourselves in this busy, stressful world came through quite clear. Laura and her partner are absolutely impressive as they demonstrated the ability to control every muscle in their bodies.  This is an event I highly recommend if the The Ricochet Project comes to a city near you.  They've been in Seattle a couple times in the past two years, but we haven't been able to make it. Check out this trailer for a sample of some of her expressive art.

I added a little art to our house this weekend too.  My friend Melanie of Oregon Grape Stitch just finished a pair of brightly colored curtains I just couldn't leave hanging in her store.  They made a quick appearance as tablecloths at the potluck, then  we hung them where Kaylee sleeps, she's going to love them.  She also likes the rainbow colors like her grandma.  The room I hung them in is lit by the sunshine in the morning.  At at certain time, it's usually too bright.  The colors in these curtains filtered the sun and brought in the light in a different way. When I came in this morning, I was greeted by a bright, cheery room.