I have released four recipe books so far:

The Best of the Sunny Raw Kitchen
The Best of Raw Freedom Community
Delightfully Raw and
Deliciously Raw

These feature some of the most delectable creations to have come out of my raw kitchen and will appeal to anyone interested in a healthier diet, regardless of their level of knowledge and experience. From easy one-step everyday fare to more elaborate and involved gourmet dishes and layered cakes, they offer something for everyone and every occasion. Incredibly tasty smoothies, creamy and comforting warm soups, sexy salads, delicious nut cheezes, satisfying entrees and scrumptious guilt-free desserts...

Healthy food never tasted so good!

To learn more about my recipe books, click here!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Raw On The Road: The Adventure Continues

As I like to say… “Life is so full of surprises!” and we've certainly been getting our share of those lately.

For example, as you probably know by now, after spending many years just the two of us living at a mountain retreat, during the past fourteen months we have not only moved four times but also shared our living space with some other people. Then this spring, would you believe that out of the blue we suddenly decided to give away most of our possessions and travel across Canada to Quebec. (You can read more about our journey in this post and this post.)

The big changes haven't been only in terms of location though. We recently, for the very first time, took on a catering contract, preparing 2 full course raw meals for 15 people (I just wrote about it here); something we never dreamed we'd ever do. (Talk about a major shift from the virtual to the 'real' raw world! lol)

Well, it now looks like Life isn't finished delivering the unexpected!

From Our Raw Kitchen To Yours
From time to time people write to me to express how much my blog has been helpful on their own path to health. Such letters always fill me with warmth and gratitude. I feel so blessed for the internet and the opportunity it affords to share my experiences and all the yummy raw creations that come out of our kitchen. (And all without even setting foot outside the door!) I’m still shaking my head in amazement at the wonders of technology.

A few weeks ago, one particular email caught my attention. It was sent by a lovely lady whose kind words made my heart sing. She was telling me how much she appreciates my blog and that she herself barely has time to prepare a smoothie or salad at home. "If only I could have you as my personal full-time raw food chef!," she wrote. Although I’ve received similar messages before, her words just wouldn't leave me, and I found myself pondering possibilities. We truly feel that Life keeps guiding us by the hand - nothing happening 'by chance', and that She constantly gives us hints, which we can only see if we are open and paying enough attention. In this light, the letter acted as a trigger for me to consider new avenues and directions. The strangest thing (and a real confirmation) is that right around the same time, even though he hadn’t even read the lady's email, thoughts along the exact same lines had come to Don.

Ding Dong, It's Carmi and Don!
I know, I know, I'm an awful teazer, but please bear with me just a wee bit longer. hehe

After careful consideration, Don and I feel it's unlikely that we’ll be able to stay here at my sister’s over the winter months. That, of course, raises the question: “Where to next?” At this point it's still unclear, but what we do know is that the recent trend has been to ‘lighten up’ and become more fluid and mobile. Therefore it seems that settling down and setting up our own house again might not be honoring this new phase. In other words, we feel that Life is trying to tell us that we need to keep on the move.

Soooooooooooooo, it looks like The Sunny Raw Kitchen is...

Going on Tour!!!

Yee- hah!

We figure that since some of you guys have been hanging around our Sunny Raw Kitchen for almost 3 years now, maybe it's about time we drop by yours! lol

Although it's very much early days and there's lots of details to be worked out, the tentative plan is that we and the furries would continue our travels around North America this fall/winter and slowly make our way back to BC. We have no itinerary yet as that will take shape according to the responses we get from youse. Our general idea would be to visit those of you who express an interest in us dropping by if we're in your area. There are so many possibilities we can play with; from uncooking blitzes and sharing insanely delicious raw foods, to things like raw demos or potlucks. Yummyness all around!

A Little Bit About Us
Between this blog and our forum, Raw Freedom Community, I'm sure you can get a pretty good sense of what we're about, but just for the sake of making things easier for those of you who aren't yet familiar with us...

Our names are Carmella and Don, and we've been dedicated to living a healthier, ever growing and more fulfilling life together for the past 9 years. This has included eating mostly raw and living foods. Besides being the author of this blog, I have released two raw recipe ebooks: The Best Of The Sunny Raw Kitchen and The Best of Raw Freedom Community.

In addition to our central passion for self-knowledge/personal growth, some of our specific interests and expertise include:
  • Vipassana meditation
  • the Five Tibetan Rites
  • freeing/purifying our body/minds
  • building harmonious relationships and community
  • simple living in harmony with Nature
  • raw food prep, from simple everyday meals to gourmet feasts
  • kombucha tea brewing
  • sauerkraut making
  • sprouting
  • organic gardening
  • alternative building

How Do We Propose To Go About The Whole Thing?
In light of all this, for those of you who might be interested in participating in the next phase of our rawdventures, simply send us an email with the subject line “Sunny Raw Kitchen on Tour” at:

sunnyrawkitchen(at)gmail(dot)com

Please bear in mind that while you probably know heaps about us, we, on the other hand, haven't had a chance to 'meet' most of you (albeit in a virtual way) so a few words about you would be helpful and greatly appreciated. Also, you might let us know such details as your location and perhaps what you have in mind.

We'll then be contacting you in order to further explore the possibilities together, and once it starts shaping up, a tentative itinerary will be posted here and on RFC.

Like I was saying at the beginning... "Life is so full of surprises!"

Looking forward to spending some awesome rawesome time with you 'in the flesh'! ;-)

16 comments:

  1. That totally sounds like a blast! You guys will have so much fun, I'd suggest you come visit me in Seattle but given my tiny one bedroom apartment on the 6th floor in downtown Seattle, probably isn't in the cards. But have fun regardless!

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow, that's so exciting! keep us posted. i am on a raw tour of sorts right now. one month without my kitchen, can I survive?

    rita, i live in seattle too and have a futon for carmi and don. plus there are tons of folks in seattle who would love to benefit from your amazing talents.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome! Thanks girls! ;-)

    We're thinking of getting a small RV (if it's in the flow) which would make things easier for both us and the furries.

    Will definitely keep you posted!

    ReplyDelete
  4. wow!!

    that sounds awesome. If you are planning to go south come to Mexico!! At least to the border with California, to Mexicali to be exact! I have a big house (my parents') where you can stay! (we also have a huge bedroom for you!)

    How far are you planning to go?

    All the best wishes in this new adventure!

    Mango hugs!

    Lau-raw ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have recently discovered kombucha and love love love it! but unfortunately it is sooo pricey, especially for the raw version. Can you do a post on how to make it yourself? That would be awesome! (and raw-some!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, looks like Seattle is really calling you guys, because I live in Seattle too! And while I don't personally know ANYONE else who is into raw foods besides maybe my mom, reading these couple of comments from other Seattle-ites lets me know there are some out there! It would be wonderful to experience some kind of Seattle-Raw-Group thing. I will definitely be looking forward to seeing your itinerary and dearly hope you will be coming to Seattle!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, what a great sounding plan! Too bad I live in an another country far away.......

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi there! My name is Missy, I live in DC and am fresh back from the Raw Spirit Living Festival! I wished we could have seen you demo a few recipes, but now I read you're coming on tour!? So exciting. Our place is too small to stay, but I'm sure you could stay & put on classes at the Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Center here in Columbia Heights! It is sunny and beautiful inside with a huge park next door. If by chance you've never heard of them, do look them up. They are huge & do wonderful humanitarian work. Let me know if you'd like me to check with them :0)

    Light & Love,
    Missy

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks Lau-raw!

    How far? Hum, we've got no idea really as we intend to go with the flow. It's starting to look like we'd make our way along the East coast, then travel across the southern US (plus warm weather would def help given that we might have to sleep outside), then back up along the West Coast (yes, through Seattle! ;-) )

    Your parents' home sounds lovely, although I'm not sure what the law is like about taking animals into Mexico... Will look into it.


    Thanks Missy! I was invited to the RSF last year but couldn't make it. *shrugs* Wow, the Center seems like a wonderful option. We'd love it if you could approach them for us. My guess is that we'd be passing through DC sometime in November. Perhaps you could forward them this post so they can also get a better feel for who we are and what we do? Thanks a bunch!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ooops, forgot to address the kombucha comment...

    I actually started documenting the process almost a year back with the intention of doing a post but never got around to it. Will do my best to publish it before we hit the road. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. sure thing!

    i'm on the job :0)

    best
    missy

    ReplyDelete
  12. what a fabulous idea for people to experience you live with your amazing live food talents. will keep an eye open of where you are in ny and maybe there will be a group workshop that you will create and i can attend. good luck on your new venture.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Carmella!!!

    That would be great if you both could come to Brussels!!! we would love to meet you in person!!! Let me know if you would be interested! :p

    I wish you great journey and lots of experience and fun!

    Daga

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey Missy! You still around?

    Could you send me an email so we can explore the possibilities of a stop in DC further? Thanx!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Carmella,

    I am new to raw foods and learning so much from your blog! I live in Montreal and I wonder if there is possibility for a raw food preparation workshop here in Montreal before you leave Quebec for your tour? I don't really know any places here that would host such events except for those organized by RawDivas.com. But if there would be a class with an affordable fee for attendance (around $20 to $30) I would definitely sign up and bring a couple of friends too. :)

    Thanks and all the best in your rawdventures!

    Sasha

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Sasha,

    You're the second person from Mtl contacting me in the last hour so a class may very well be in the cards. ;-)

    Can you send me an email at sunnyrawkitchen(at)gmail(dot)com so we can talk about the possibilities?

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete