Happy Winter Solstice! Tonight is the longest night of the year. Here in Seattle, the sun rose today at 7:55 am and set at 4:20 pm. Less than 8.5 hours of sunlight. And on this long winter night, with the flick of just a switch or three, I can turn on the fireplace, the Christmas tree lights, and some holiday music, creating a festive holiday spirit to welcome the return of the sun. And to complete the cozy picture, I’ll mix up a batch of chocolate brownie bites. I first made them last Valentine’s Day using the recipe from this video. And have made them many, many times since. Just a few weeks ago, I made then with a 4 year old friend of mine. They are that easy! It is a simple, nutrient dense (filled with anti-oxidants and omega-3 fattys) recipe that you can make into a cake, snack bar, cookies, or brownie bites – as the occasion warrants – in less than 10 minutes. Many of you have asked for the recipe and so I wanted to share it with you here:
Raw Brownie Bites
Ingredients:
3 cups walnuts
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
20 Medjool dates, pitted
Directions:
1. Put walnuts in food processor and process until walnuts are the size of grains of sand, maybe a bit bigger.
2. Add the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt, and dates and process until everything is well blended.
3. It is ready to eat! It is really that easy! For holiday cookies, press and roll a small amount of “dough” into balls and roll in your coating of choice: cocoa powder, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, powdered sugar or enjoy them naked!
Enjoy-
Jess
Let us give thanks
Let us give thanks for the bounty of people.
For children who are our second planting, and, though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are.
Let us give thanks
For generous friends with hearts and smiles as bright as their blossoms;
For feisty friends as tart as apples;
For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that we’ve had them;
For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;
For handsome friends, who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn, and the others, as plain as potatoes and as good for you.
Let us give thanks
For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussel sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes, and serious friends, as complex as cauliflowers and as intricate as onions;
For friends as unpretentious as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini, and who, like parsnips, can be counted on to see you through the winter.
Let us give thanks
For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening time, and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;
For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our blights, wilts and witherings;
And finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested, and who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter.
-Author Unknown
How grateful I am for my cornucopia of dear friends.
Happy Thanksgiving-
Jess
This past Saturday morning, this past blustery, rainy Saturday morning, I was sipping tea and sorting through my recipe box. While seeking autumnal inspiration as I prepared my weekly grocery shopping list, I came across a recipe that I had completely forgotten about (I love it when that happens). I only tried it once five years ago. A classmate of mine from Bastyr University was giving a talk about…hmmm…I don’t remember what the talk was about…but I do remember this salad that she shared with the class. I remembered it as being incredibly delicious and aesthetically beautiful. Straightaway, I decided to try the salad on my friends at dinner that very evening.
And my memory served me well. It was absolutely wonderful. I could have eaten the whole salad myself, and by the continual moans of delight, I believe my dinner companions could have as well. We all agreed it was the best salad we had ever tasted. And it is perfect, absolutely perfect for a holiday dinner. The deep, rich color of the pomegranate seeds against the green of the arugula and the dusting of asiago cheese looks like holly berries and ivy on a snowy day. Okay, so my imagery isn’t great, but trust me, this will be a holiday hit.
And share the adventure of seeding the pomegranate with loved ones…that really makes it a special holiday dish!
Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad with Arugula and Asiago
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 clove garlic, finely diced
2 tangerines, juiced (~ 3 tablespoons juice) – fresh squeezed orange juice works fine as well
Seeds from one fresh pomegranate
2 small Fuyu persimmons, thinly sliced
1 bunch arugula
2/3 cup slivered asiago cheese (like parmesan)
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, maple syrup, salt, and minced garlic. Taste for balance and seasoning.
2. In a large salad bowl, toss the persimmons and the pomegranate seeds with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
3. Add the arugula and gently toss.
4. Arrange the salad on a platter and scatter cheese over the top.
Enjoy!
Cheers-
Jess
My son (who hasn’t yet tasted them, mind you), says cheesy kale chips look like something you would scrape off the bottom of a boat. Let me assure you – to try them is to LOVE them.
As my new favorite recipe, I make a double batch most weekends. And, with a little bit of mindfulness, I can make them last until Tuesday. I bring them to potlucks, make them for guests and visitors, share them with everyone…because they are so delicious!!
And, to expand on what I said: to taste them is to love them – and to want the recipe. Per my many requests, I have emailed the recipe, written it down on napkins at restaurants, scrawled it on the back of wet cardboard in the produce section at the local co-op. And now, for all of you who have asked, I am going to post it here so it is ever accessible:
Note: You do need these three important pieces of kitchen appliances for this recipe:
1. A dehydrator: I recommend the Excalibur 2900 Economy Series 9 Tray Food Dehydrator 
2. A high quality blender. You may give your regular blender a try. If so, to make it easier on a smaller blender, blend just half of the recipe at a time. If you are interested in a high quality blender (I use my blender for everything from smoothies to soups to sauces and every morning I blend a quart of vegetable to make delicious green drink that I sip on throughout the day), I recommend Vita-Mix 1700 Turbo Blend 4500
3. A friend. When you are up to your elbows mixing everything together, it is just a tad easier if someone is hanging around with a pair of clean hands to move the trays around. Not essential, of course, but definitely useful…and so much more fun! And, no, I have not included an Amazon.com link for a friend.
Cheesy Kale Chips
Ingredients:
2 bunches dinosaur kale
2 cups raw cashews, soaked for 2-4 hours
4 cups chopped red pepper
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1-2 lemons, juiced
Sea salt (to taste)
Directions:
1. Blend all the ingredients, except the kale, in the blender until smooth and creamy. I hold the cashews until everything else is well blended, then add them at the end. This helps maintain a nice creamy consistency without heating the blender or the ingredients.
2. Clean the kale and remove the center fibrous stem (I tried the recipe with the stem intact and it was touch chewing). Cut the kale leaves into 3-4 inch sections.
3. Place 1/2 of the cleaned kale in a large (really…a large) glass or ceramic bowl. Pour 1/2 of the sauce over the kale. Wash your hands! And dive in. Gently massage the kale until it is completely covered with cheesy sauce. Gentle is key. If you are too vigorous, the kale breaks down, becomes hard to handle, and makes crumblier chips.
A dear friend was visiting last month when I was on Step 3 of this recipe. She walked into the kitchen and showed very mild but polite interest in the project at hand. I had told her about my favorite new recipe but she wasn’t looking convinced. But…you know how the story ends…the next morning she wakes up to the smell of fresh kale chips and is amazed and awed at how delicious they are.
4. Place well-coated kale pieces onto the dehydrator’s mesh trays. Place them close together (because you just made a really big batch!), but don’t let them overlap. This step is great for the brain – like doing a jigsaw puzzle!
5. Set dehydrator on 105 degrees F for 12 hours or until chips are nice and crisp. The amount of “doneness” is subjective. They are “done” before you even dehydrate them, but are tastier after you have done so. If I am not planning on keeping them for any length of time, they don’t need to be completely dry and flaky. Taste them at various intervals and see what you like. Time also depends on how thickly coated the kale chips are, so varies from batch to batch. There is no “wrong” here. It is done when you say it is done.
Try it…and tell me what you think. Better yet, have your kids try it and tell me what they think!
Happy day-
Jess
P.S. There are many similar recipes on the web. I am unable to find an “original” source.
Food costs can be a big part of your overall budget, especially when you are trying to buy the healthiest foods for you and your family. Being mindful about what you buy (and eat) can make a positive impact on both your health and your wallet.
There are many ways to cut food costs. Here are 10 tips that help me afford to nourish my body with healthy foods:
1. Plan a weekly menu. Know what you are going to eat for the week…and know what you are not going to eat.
2. Make a grocery list based on your weekly menu. Impulse shopping adds up quickly. A grocery list keeps you focused. Shop with a grocery list, a full belly, and stay on task.
3. Buy local, seasonal foods. Shop at your local farmer’s market , or join a community supported agriculture (CSA) for direct-from-the-farm seasonal produce. Read more
Every moment is my favorite moment. And as “new-agey” or zen-like as that sounds, it is just one of the many lessons that I learned that from my dog.
Being out of the loop, I missed the following email that made the rounds a few years ago. Thanks to a dear client who also appreciates what we might learn from out pets, he passed it on to me. I am including it in its entirety because, even if you have read it before, redundancy is a good thing. And from my perspective the “dog’s diary” reminds me to be in the moment, and love it for all it is.
Pet Diary Excerpts
The Dog’s Diary
8:00 am – Breakfast! My favorite thing!
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:15 am – Back in the car for a ride! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm – Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing! Read more
During the winter months (meaning November, December, and January here in Seattle) I get in the mood to slow cook yummy dishes that I dote over lovingly – dishes that bring me through the long winter nights.
But once February rolls around, and the daffodils bloom, and the days are noticeably longer (and warmer), the sunlight calls me to come outside to play. My fading interest in slow cooking is a sure sign that springtime is arriving.
So now that I’m into quick and easy, I wanted to share with you the quickest, easiest beef and root vegetable stew. Ever.
This beef stew took me 10 minutes to prepare. Chop. Chop. Chop. Once the pressure cooker was whooshing away, I was free to bike, play fetch with the dog, sit in the afternoon sun and read, whatever, for the next 40 minutes, only to return to a delicious, savory stew. Read more
I made a delicious chocolate cake on Valentine’s Day. From scratch. It had only five ingredients (walnuts, cocoa powder, dates, vanilla extract, and sea salt). And it took me only 10 minutes to make from start to finish – with the help of my food processor. That it was gluten-free, dairy-free, and raw was just a bonus.
And not only is the recipe easy, it is fun. After you mix everything in the food processor, you take the clump of “dough” and shape it, like a sand castle, into any shape you like. Given that it was Valentine’s Day, I patted my chocolate cake into a (very original) heart-shape. Served it with sliced strawberries. It was yummy. As a matter of fact, I am enjoying a slice of it this morning as I write this.
There are lots of similar raw chocolate cake recipes available at the end of a Google search, but I like this video because it shows you how easy it really is…
While I did see signs of springtime during my weekend walk, today it is snowing. And over much of North America, we are still smack in the middle of winter. Summer raspberries and peaches seem forever away. Even the fresh shoots of springtime asparagus or spinach are beyond the horizon. “Fresh” veggies and fruits are transported from Florida, California, Mexico, and Chile.
So in search of a fresh, local option to those far away foods, I want to remind you how fun and easy it is to have a winter garden right on your kitchen counter. Sprouts!
Sprouting is way easier than those science projects your kids bring home. To create your winter garden you just need seeds to sprout, a quart jar, and a screened lid. Simpler still, you can use a hemp bag. And, if you like gadgets, more elaborate sprouting devices are available. The Sprout People provide a plethora of information and guidance for beginners, and have high quality seeds and a variety of sprouters. Read more
What if our thoughts manifested immediately? No lag time whatsoever?
Imagine.
We could immediately be swimming with dolphins in the Bahamas, or skiing down the best powder run in Colorado, or dining on delicacies with good friends on the patio of our dream home.
Or.
We could immediately be handed a pink slip, or receive a dire medical diagnosis, or stall on the freeway, or lose close relationships due to resentment, misunderstandings and long-held grudges.
Stay with me here. Read more
