Sunny Raw Kitchen Tour East Coast Adventures - Pennsylvania

Ooopsie! I'm starting to fall a little behind with my blogging! Eeek!

Such an interesting challenge this Sunny Raw Kitchen Tour is... "Lots of balls in the air" as we need to juggle with the Present (meeting what Life is delivering moment to moment, such as connecting with folks along the way, giving classes, oh and let's not forget prepping our food as yes, we still gotta eat too! lol), the Future (organizing upcoming events) and of course the Past (telling you all about our adventures).

Life's intensity has really turned up a huge notch since we left Canada almost a month ago, but especially so in the last 10 days. There's been a sort of feeling of urgency with the people we've been staying with; you know how it is when you haven't got a great deal of time and there's so much to be shared and explored together! We didn't go to bed earlier than 1 am during our time in DC, which is totally like being in an alternate reality! lol

But I'm getting ahead of myself. What was I saying? Oh yeah, I haven't been keeping you guys up to date. Let's try to remedy that right now! ;-)

Change of Plans
One of the really cool aspects of this trip is seeing how each stop comes together, sometimes in the most unexpected way. One day I received an email from Marty in Pennsylvania, telling me how she'd love for us to come and give a class in her area. At first, I wasn't sure if we could make this work as we already had classes scheduled in NJ and DC, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we had to somehow find a way.

It actually proved to be pretty simple; all we had to do was push dates around a little. After all, plans are there to be changed! ;-) And so we left New York state and headed down to NJ in order to give a class, but then zoomed back up to PA for another class two days later. As we were driving to Marty and Davis' house, we were curious to see whether this last minute reorganization would prove to be the right thing to do. It didn't take long though to realize that it was yet another one of those 'meant-to-be' kinda things.

What we didn't know when we agreed to do it is that for Marty to invite anyone (especially strangers!) to her home was a totally unusual thing. She confided that she was very moved by the way we trust as we've embarked on this journey across the US, and she felt like being a part of it. We feel so grateful that she did, as we all had such a lovely time!

Marty and Davis live in a beautifully renovated old house on a quiet property near Carlisle. They set us up in a part of their barn which they have converted into what they call 'the Pine Room'.

Our own little private hideaway!

In record time, Marty had managed to talk a bunch of her friends into attending the class. Few were actually into raw per se, but they were all interested in more healthy and conscious eating. It's so neat to see how each gathering is completely different. In this case, it was all very informal and relaxed as they all knew each other.

Notice the old recycled beams?

After the class, Marty's daughter Jessica and her boyfriend Ian (who had come all the way from DC to attend) and friend Carol joined us for dinner. Carol just took over a charming inn hidden in the foothills of Pennsylvania called Warm Springs Lodge. It has been used for 3 centuries by local folks for all sorts of purposes: weddings, reunions, conferences, luncheons, picnics and retreats. Sure sound like a lovely place. I wish we had more time to check it out... But anyhoo, we had a fabulous evening around the dinning table. In fact, it became clear that we needed to spend more time with Jessica and Ian so they invited us to stay with them in DC.


After giving two classes back to back, we were due for a rest and Marty and Davis' home proved to be the perfect spot! We even enjoyed the rare luxury of going to bed at 9 pm, like in the good ol' days. Yay! ;-)

Puss and I making the most of this opportunity to recharge our batteries before the next (and as it turned out SUPER busy!) leg of our journey.

The property is away from the road so Kyky could run around and chase deer to his heart's content. It was lovely and sunny for most of our stay. What a treat to do the Tibetan Rites with the sun caressing our skins.

Puss also enjoyed the sun's company.

On one of our daily walks, we hopped onto the famous Appalachian Trail, America's first National Scenic Trail that stretches from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, that passes in a nearby town.

In Marty's Sunny Kitchen
Marty has the most gorgeous rustic kitchen straight out of a Home & Country magazine which was a real pleasure to play in. Not to mention that she is also the proud owner of the latest Vitamix 5200 with which I immediately fell in love! I adore my 5000, but Vitamix keeps improving and has managed to make their high-power blender even more efficient and comfortable to work with.

Some of the dishes we enjoyed...

Marinated Fennel & Tomato Pizzas: Rich Cheddar Sauce, thinly sliced fennel in a marinade of tamari, olive oil and agave, and cherry tomato slices marinated in olive oil, salt and dried basil on Matthew Kenney's Cumin Flatbread (as all of our buckwheat based pizza crusts had gone moldy! boo hoo)

Asian Veggies in Ginger Marinade

We served these on zucchini angel hair along with a mixed green salad.

When I found out that Marty had never made a raw dessert, I decided we ought to do something about that! I opted for Heathy's super simple but utterly stunning Triple Berry Cake.

Doesn't Marty also have the most gorgeous dishes?

Mr. Didge Comes Out of Retirement
I probably have mentioned it already somewhere on my blog, but in what feels like my 'past life' now, I used to make a living with the didgeridoo (a traditional instrument played by the aborigines of Australia). In addition to giving private lessons and group workshops, I went to elementary schools in order to teach children. I also made didgeridoos out of PVC pipes (yeah, yeah, I know!) to give people an opportunity to see whether they connected with it enough to invest in a real eucalyptus didge which is made of a branch of eucalyptus tree hollowed out by termites.

As Davis has a passion for music (he's actually quite the bluegrass expert) and plays the guitar in his spare time, he was very curious to hear the didgeridoo. Although I haven't had a chance to play much in the last 9 years, the night before we left Don got the didges from the top of the van and we had a little jam.

Back in 2000, just before I put down my didge so as to focus on my internal work, a friend gave me a stalk of agave that he had harvested in Arizona. By cutting it open, scraping out the pulp and re-gluing it, I obtained a super light yet resonant instrument which you can see in the next picture.

Bet you never thought that agave was so versatile, eh?

Marty decided to call one of her friends, Camille (who also has a didgeridoo and plays drums) to see if she'd like to join us. Since it was getting late, Camille wasn't too sure at first, but then hopped in her car to come for a little visit. As a bonus, she even got to enjoy a piece of Triple Berry Cake. Bet if she'd known that from the get go, she wouldn't have hesitated for even a second! lol It was such a fun way to end our time at Marty and Davis'!

OK, I think I better stop here for now before getting into the uncooking blitz Kelliann and I had in her kitchen.

Stay tuned for a bunch of droolsome pics and yummy recipes! ;-)

To find out more about our Sunny Raw Kitchen Tour itinerary, click here!

Sunny Raw Kitchen Tour East Coast Adventures - New York State Part II

I was telling you how much being on the road has been a major adjustment for us. (You can read my first account of our US adventures here). Just to give you an idea, we've given 3 classes and attended 2 potlucks in 8 days! Phfew! Talk about shifting gears! If you'd told me that only a couple of months ago, I probably wouldn't have believed you! Amazingly, we've been able to take it pretty much in stride. It took a while to get our sea legs but we're getting better at pacing ourselves and adjusting to this new hundred miles (not kilometers! lol) an hour flow.

Checking Out The Raw Scene in Syracuse

We zoomed up to the Syracuse area one day in order to meet Carrie - with whom I'd been emailing back and forth for a while - and in order to attend a Raw Meet-Up. Don and I arrived at Carrie's home early afternoon so that we'd have some time to connect and to show her how to make kombucha tea. Actually, on a side note, later that evening we tried GT's kombucha which I'd been reading raving reviews about for ages. In our humble opinion, it's nowhere as delicious as our homemade brew. ;-)

Carrie, her husband Peter and their little guy Andrew.

After sharing a delicious raw meal (Russell's Spinach & Wild Mushroom Quiche filling on zucchini pasta and salad), we left for that evening's potluck which was being held at Speedy Greens in Cicero, NY. Believe it or not, it was only the second raw potluck Don and I have ever taken part in! We thoroughly enjoyed tasting all the different dishes that people brought along: onion bread, bruschetta pasta, bell pepper strips and salsa, watermelon soup, kale chips, pumpkin squares, brownies... Strange that food tastes soooooo much better when someone else has prepared it, hey! ;-)


It was the first time that the members of the local Raw Meet Up were getting together and a dozen people attended. As you know, support is soooooo key, especially when it comes to something so not mainstream as eating raw foods.


Carrie had arranged for us to stay at Cathy's, the owner of Speedy Greens. After driving around in the dark for a while (thank goodness we had a guide!), we came to an unexpected sight; Cathy and her partner Michael live in a gorgeous log house that they have completely designed. From composting toilets, to poured concrete counter tops, to radiant heaters, to an electromagnetic stove... A green dream home!

Wood everywhere you look!

Although Cathy and Michael aren't really into raw, the next morning they prepared us a breakfast of chopped fresh fruits, dried fruits, almonds and sunflower seeds. How thoughtful! We had fun swapping stories and actually realized that we shared lots of common interests. We would have liked to stay and connect longer with them, but we had to head back towards Ithaca in order to get ready for Sunday's uncooking class.

SRK Live in Ithaca
The class was held at Tanya and Claire's spanking new raw commercial kitchen, and our timing couldn't have been better as it was the very first day of it going operational. Tanya and Claire recently took over an already existing raw company called Good Stuff by Mom & Me. We had the opportunity to sample several of their awesome products which got me really excited about their new venture: Pecan Pie Bars (my personal fave!), Sweet Almond Granola, Hazelnut Fudge, Fig Bars, Pecan Sandie, Walnut Fudge Brownie, and the list goes on... Oh, and they even have some raw breads that I am told are to LIVE for! You guys just HAVE to drop by their site and check out their yummy goodies!

With the lovely Tanya and Claire of Good Stuff by Mom & Me.

One lucky Don! ;-)

I was telling folks at the Meet-Up in Syracuse how I hadn't had a single cold since going raw almost 9 years ago. Ha ha Wouldn't you know it, I started to get a sore throat a couple of days later! No doubt that my body was protesting about my recent lack of sleep and going a little overboard at a Thai restaurant in Ithaca. When I woke up on Sunday morning, I could hardly speak but thankfully my voice was back in time for me to teach the class. ;-)

As you can see, I had a captivated audience of future little raw chefs. They were so attentive and oh-so-cute.

Don preparing food for people to sample.

Everything was kid approved which is totally cool in my book!

Before the class began, Claire's son had asked about the funny looking gadget I had sitting on the table (the spiral slicer). When I told him it was to make zucchini noodles, he immediately offered his help. I took him to his word, and later invited him to join Don. Next thing you knew, all the kids were lining up in order to get noodling too! hehe

Potluck At the EcoVillage

The day after the class we arranged a last minute potluck at the EcoVillage; a cool co-housing community that currently includes two 30-home neighborhoods, FROG and SONG. There is also an organic CSA vegetable farm, an organic CSA/U-Pick berry farm, community kitchens, a neighborhood root cellar, community gardens and varied natural areas.

With all that was going on Sunday, we hadn't really had a chance to connect properly with Tanya and Claire, so it was nice to have an opportunity to spend more time together. A funny little anecdote... I complimented Tanya on the delicious dressing she used to toss her veggie salad with and asked her for the recipe. Laughing, she replied that it was actually the almonnaise that I'd demoed the day before! lol Like I said, food tastes so differently when prepped by someone else. ;-)

My head was still feeling pretty stuffy on the day of the potluck so I completely forgot to take pics of the food. Ooops! But I did have the wit to take a little walk around the Village before night falls in order to take a few shots.

The EcoVillage has a lovely view over Ithaca.

Notice the solar panels?

In addition to the community gardens, several homes also have their own.

Our Daily Dose of Green and Fresh Air
In spite of all the busy-ness since our arrival in the States, we've managed to go for walks almost every day; a wonderful way to explore the local scenery. One great thing about heading south is that trees have retained more of their leaves due to the warmer weather. An extra long Autumn. Lucky us!

Walking around Groton.

While visiting Carrie, we went for a walk at the nearby Chittenango State Park. Simply gorgeous! We were even blessed with the sight of a bald eagle flying right above our heads.

Chittenango Falls

We'd been told to make sure to check out the famous gorges around Ithaca, so one afternoon Don and I went to Treman State Park, just outside town. Oh man, what a feast for the eyes!

Kyky had a great ol' time!


Unfortunately, the photos aren't doing that good a job at capturing how majestic the gorges are and how magical it is.

Here you can get a sense of the ginormous cliffs. See the little black and white smudge in the water? That's Kylo going for a dip. ;-)

Some of the many waterfalls we encounter along the path.

Greeted by vibrant fall colors in the distance.

And Now A Little Surprise...

Lisa and Michael (our adopted family which I introduced you to in my last post) have a nifty new gadget called a Flip that makes high definition videos. That thing is almost smaller than my camera (wow!) and allowed us to capture moments of our time in the Ithaca area.

I thought you guys might enjoy watching little extracts. Just bare in mind that this is my first time playing editor and that the class was held in a big and nearly empty space so the sound isn't very good. Ah well! At least it will give you an idea of what we're like "live" and "in the flesh". ;-)

What Next?
We are blown away by all the beautiful people that we've encountered on our path so far, and how smoothly it is all unfolding. What a promising way to begin our journey across the US! It's so interesting to watch our itinerary come together; canceled stop here, new possibility opening there...

Right now we're in Pennsylvania, taking a much welcomed break, and will be headed for Washington, DC next week. At this point, we have arranged to stay with friends who have a teeny apartment for a couple of days, but we'll be needing a different place for the remaining time in DC. If any of you would be prepared to host us, please send me an email at:

sunnyrawkitchen(at)gmail(dot)com

Coming up next on our Sunny Raw Kitchen Tour...

- Washington, DC :

• Raw in a Flash class on Wednesday Nov. 11th at 6:30 pm
• Raw Desserts Made Easy class on Saturday Nov. 14th at 2 pm

For more info or to register, contact Sarah at threecrows@verizon.net

Other planned stops include:

- Melbourne, Florida: class during the week after Thanksgiving
- St. Augustine, Northern Florida : early December
- Nashville, TN (in the works)
- Houston, TX
- Austin, TX
- Patagonia, AZ
- Phoenix, AZ
- LA, CA
- Santa Barbara, CA
- San Francisco Bay area, CA
- Medford, OR
- Anacortes, WA
- Seattle, WA

We'll be having some kind of raw get together in most of those places, so drop me a line if you'd like to be kept posted. Also, if you live somewhere along the way and would like to hook up or even help put together an event, please send me an email to:

sunnyrawkitchen(at)gmail(dot)com

Looking forward to connecting with some of you!

Sunny Raw Kitchen Tour East Coast Adventures - New York State Part I

Before I get started with our rawkin' adventures in New York State, let me back track a little and tell you about what goodies we prepared to take along for the road. I am notorious for stocking up: raw products, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, you name it! Even now, with all of our worldly possessions in the van, almost half of it is food! lol So before leaving my sister's home a few weeks ago, we had pounds and pounds of nuts and seeds, so I figured that we might as well carry those in 'munchable' form. Plus, during our travels across Canada this summer, we had taken a bunch of dehydrated foods that proved to be so key in helping us stay raw while on the move. As it turns out, it took 3 D (dehydrator) days in order to prep all the yummies I had in mind!

We made some obvious staples, but also tried a few recipes for the first time: Onion Bread, Rainbow Flax Crackers, some left-overs from a flax cracker experiment, Soft All Veggie Wraps, Cumin Flat Bread and another one made with almond flour and oat flour (sorry, I can't recall the exact name right now) from Matthew Kenney's latest book Entertaining in the Raw, Nori Snacks with my Sunflower Garlic Spread, and Herb Pizza Crusts. We also had a few sweet goodies: two different kinds of Sweet Seed Crackers from Purely Delicious magazine, Raw Food Real World's awesome Cranberry Maple Granola, Heathy's Chocolate Chip Granola Bars, and a modified version of the CocoNut Chewies Bar that Clairecunn posted on Raw Freedom Community. Phfew! I'm exhausted just reading over the list! lol I told you we were at it for some time!

And The Journey is On...
Don and I are highly aware of how plans and ideas are, well, just that, and that when the rubber meets the road, Life may have something very different in store. In fact, to us, it's a wonder that anything turns out at all as we imagine it! Approaching the US border crossing, we really didn't know what to expect. As we pulled up next to the custom officials, we were prepared to get refused and have to head West back to British Columbia. (Although I have to say that this would have been a surprising turn of events, as there has been so many indications that going on this journey across the US was our next step.) The guard did his thing, asking us a few questions (some of them a tad strange like "How did you two meet?" lol), then waved us forward.

This is when it hit us that it was truly happening; this new and exciting chapter in our journey had begun! Don and I kept looking at each other, shaking our heads. We knew that our lives were about to radically shift - in the way that traveling always does - but in the 10 days or so since our arrival in the US, it's almost like we've been living in another dimension! lol And to think that only a little over a year ago, we still lived on a mountaintop, pretty much coming down only to go grocery shopping!

A Growing Fammunity
When we set off on this journey, we had a sense that it wasn't going to be only about raw foods, but rather that the latter would act as the bridge or 'excuse' in order for us to connect with amazing and beautiful people. Man, were we ever right! (And our travels have only just started!!!)

The first stop on our American tour was Groton, NY. (Pronounced "Graaaaaaawton" by the locals. ;-) ) After some initial confusion (I highly recommend to take Google maps' instructions with a grain of salt!), we finally made it to Lisa's centenary Victorian home. I won't give you all the details as to how we came to stay with them, but believe me, it is an awesome story with the undeniable signature of fate all over it. Lisa, her husband Michael, their little guys Graham (5) and Gabriel (2), and grandma Sally welcomed us with such opened arms! In just a few days we simply couldn't shake the feeling that we were family.

After one of our many (very) late talks.

The kids also adopted us in no time. They are sooooooo adorable! The day after we got there, Graham candidly told Lisa: "Carmi & Don could stay here forever!" Awwwww

Oh lookie, Donnie... Pumpkins!

In Lisa's Sunny Kitchen

While Lisa and Michael were at work, Don and I would take over the kitchen and whip up some raw yummies for dinner. The most challenging (but also fun!) meal we prepped for them was on the day after our arrival. After snooping around their cupboards and fridge, I opted for a Carrot Curry Soup my dear Mosaica had been raving about (oh sooooooo good!!!), Kelp Noodles in Peanut Sauce served in collard wraps and Russell James' Wilted Kale Salad. At some point, Graham, their 5 year old, looked over at Don and I working in the kitchen and solemnly declared: “You two ARE very good cooks!” ;-)

Carrot Curry Soup

I just have to tell you the little story around the kelp noodles. Lisa decided to order those from the Raw Food World after she read this post and hadn't gotten around to using them yet. Of course, she'd have never guessed at the time that I'd one day be standing in their kitchen and preparing that very dish. “Buy the noodles and she will come!” Lisa said laughing. ;-)

Kelp Noodles Wraps

We also had a little extra to enjoy on its own...

Kale Salad

Everyone loved the meal, even Graham who usually is a bit suspicious of new things. Lisa told me he normally eats very slowly, but he wolfed down his food and reached out for seconds! lol


Some of the other delicious food we've shared included...

Snowdrop's Corn Chowder

Jozzie's Fajitas

My Spinach & Cream Casserole

One afternoon, Graham gave us a hand in making my Super Caramel Chocolate Tart.

First he helped Don press the crust.

Then he beautifully decorated it with pecans. See the smily face?


Proudly showing our handiwork.



Ooops, caught in the act! hehe

Can you tell everyone's happy to dig in?

Meet the whole family: Graham, Gabriel, Lisa, grandma Sally and Michael. They're giving the Tart the thumbs up!

I also made my Fruit & Nuts Choccie which Graham helped me demold.

Gabe and Graham enjoying their raw dinner consisting of apple, cucumber and avocado pieces.

I'm so so happy that the food we prepared went over so well and to have introduced them to recipes they'll actually feel like making again. Yay! Even Sally was open to trying our juices, smoothies and various raw goodies and thought they were delicious. ;-)

Behind the blogging scene...

After a real good laugh. (Hey Puff Ball!) ;-)

Be back soon with the rest... ;-)

Oh, and in case you missed it, you can find out more about our upcoming stops in this post.