Delighfully Raw Adventures: The Journey Begins

It's official, we're nomads again! Well, at least for the next five months or so. ;-)

After spending the entire summer and a good chunk of the fall in one place, I was a little anxious about going back on the road (it's so easy to get used to the comforts of a sedentary lifestyle!) As usual, the transition required some adjustments, but we seem to have already found our 'traveling legs'.

And you know what that means, don't you? You better get ready for more of my notoriously loooong epic posts! While considering that I did have what hopefully will turn out to be a brilliant idea. See, the new camera we got last fall does high-definition video and we haven't really gotten around to using this feature much. Since when I travel I tend to accumulate anecdotes quicker than I can type them, I figure this is the perfect time to start doing something about that! To make things easier and more fun I'll try sharing some of our adventures on my YouTube Channel in order to lighten up my writing (and your reading!) load a little. (It doesn't seem to have made a huge difference in this particular post, though. Ah well, we'll just have to see...)

So before I start my storytelling, I'll go ahead and share something I recorded 3 days ago. Please bear in mind that it's our first real home video attempt; the lighting isn't that great and I confide that I was somewhat nervous. Still, I hope you can rise above its many imperfections and decipher through my French accent. ;-)

Alrighty, now that you have a general sense of what we've been up to, I can take you on a photo account of the last 10 days or so.

In Kold Kelowna

On our way to the States we made a short stop in Kelowna, British Columbia in order to connect with our friends, Mosaica and Pontifex, who, as you might recall, we met via Raw Freedom Community. A couple of winters ago, after writing back and forth for a while, we shared a house together in Rossland and have since remained very close. We actually spent two months with them when we first returned from our travels last spring. As they have recently moved to an apartment building that isn't furry friendly we couldn't stay with them this time around. Instead we were hosted by Guylaine, the 'raw lady' of the area.

We met Guylaine for the first time two summers ago, while strolling through Kelowna's Saturday farmer's market. Among the various booths there was one that was featuring raw goodies. As you can guess, I stopped in my tracks and just HAD to check it out. Guylaine greeted me with a huge smile, "Carmella!" she exclaimed while I very nearly fell over with surprise. (It was my first time being recognized in public.) It turns out that Guylaine had both of my first ebooks, The Best of The Sunny Raw Kitchen and The Best of Raw Freedom Community, and in fact several of the treats that she was selling were recipes that she'd found on my blog. Anyhoo, she and I quickly bonded (like me, she's originally from French speaking Quebec) and since then we've touched base whenever we're in the area.

Guylaine invited us for dinner last spring but I was so exhausted from the trip that I just sat there and watched her prepare the entire meal. We were therefore glad to finally have a chance to do some uncooking together. One of the nice things about having released my third recipe book, Delightfully Raw, is that I now have a bunch of new recipes to share with our hosts. Yay! We made the Vegetable Satay, Vanilla Ice Cream and Dazzling Hazelnut Pie.

Here we were about to have dessert with Guylaine ad her partner Doug. As you can see, Kylo would have gladly had some too!

We spent a day with Mosaica and Pontifex, catching up on what we'd been up to since their visit this summer and discussing at length the (gloomy!) future of the economy. At some point, Pontifex suggested to make the infamous 'Conspiracy Theorists Hats' for Don and him.

We all had a really good laugh, especially after Ponti dug out his rave costumes! Behold Donnie with a million dollar bill! hehe What a look, eh?

This summer we discovered the AMWand through our friend John. It's a fascinating new technology that works with the Zero Point Field which is basically the energy that makes up everything that is. What we've nicknamed 'The Magic Wand' looks very much like a pen and acts as a sort of laser, the Zero Point energy shooting out of its tip. We've been using it for the last few months to alleviate pain, energize our food and drink, and for tuning up our energy centers. (It played a key role in my recovering from the exhaustion of the trip!) Anyhoo, you can find out more about the Wand here; there's tons of info and short videos telling you about this amazing and revolutionary technology.

The boys hamming it up!

We had brought Kylo along but he had to patiently wait in the van. (He's such a good boy!) Even though Kelowna was going through an unusual cold snap for that time of year, it didn't stop us from bundling up and taking Kyky for a walk to a nearby off leash park.

We're In!
We were planning on making a stop in Vancouver, but as often happens, Life had a different idea. Actually it wasn't such a bad thing as we would have had to sleep in the van and no doubt woken up with icicles on the tip of our noses. After some pondering we decided to cross into the US near Osoyoos, basically straight south of Kelowna, retracing our steps from last spring. At the border the guards decided to search our vehicle (after all, we do drive a hippie looking van! lol) but it only took a few minutes and was virtually painless. In fact, in spite of that, this crossing went much smoother than our previous one. We still get a good chuckle every time we tell the story of how the guard asked us how we met and Don replied that we were a couple. "A couple of what?" he inquired. I very nearly replied: "A couple of wackos!" but somehow managed to contain myself. hehe

Although it wasn't as memorable a crossing, we were glad that "we were now in" just the same! We were officially on our way to somewhere sunny and warm for the winter months! Yippee! But first we had to go through a nerve wrecking drive through Steven's Pass as we headed west towards Seattle. The road was icy and covered with snow and we had to slow down to a crawl. Eeeek. Scary! Thankfully we made it safely to the other side. *wiping the sweat off her brow*

Promising Beginning
Our first American hosts were Veronique and Doug in Bellevue, just outside of Seattle. They would have liked for us to visit them when we came last April, but their German sheppard, Nakhoda, was very sick at the time. They felt it would have been too stressful for her, especially since we have four-legged friends of our own. Since Nakhoda passed away earlier this November, as sad as it was to lose their beloved companion it allowed them to open their home to us, which turned out to be a true blessing. They took us in so warmly and fell in love immediately with Kylo.

DaPuss also didn't take long to feel comfortable in their presence, animal lovers that they are. Just before this next shot Doug had momentarily taken his computer off his lap and a second later found himself with a pussycat instead! In fact, we call her the 'heat seeking missile'; she just looooooves warm anything, including laps! hehe

We all had a lovely and relaxed visit over the Thanksgiving holidays, taking Kyky on walks in some of Bellevue's many parks, getting lots of rest...

... and even massages at the expert hands of their chair! Wow, technology I tell ya! *shaking her head in amazement*

We also found time to play a little in Veronique's kitchen...

Cauliflower Curry from Delightfully Raw

My Spinach & Mushroom Pasta Casserole

Blonde Fruitcake with Young Coconut Maple Frosting

Coconut Almond Joy from Sweet Gratitude

We shared a fresh juice and smoothie with them every morning and even got Nique hooked on raw soups! Yay! Doug had an initial rough couple of days as his body went through a bit of detox from the change of diet, but he was soon on his feet and actually glad for the opportunity we afforded to kick start themselves back into raw. He says he lost 5 lbs just during the few days that we were there!

We feel that our stay with Doug and Veronique was such a wonderful and ominous way to begin our US journey!

Beauty 'Au Naturel'

Veronique has been a long time lover of essential oils and natural beauty products. Her fascination for them started when she was only 14 and still living in France. When I spotted some Castor oil on her bathroom counter I immediately thought of the oil cleansing method that I discovered last spring. It consists of gently massaging the face with a blend of oils (usually Castor oil and sunflower, sesame or coconut oil, depending on your type of skin). You then apply a warm washcloth on your face several times for a few seconds; a step that removes the oil and opens the pores. (You can read more in depth about oil cleansing here.) On Nique's recommendation I finished my beauty session by applying some clay.

Alive and Thriving
Remembering our awesome experience at Thrive last time we were in Seattle we decided to have dinner there one night. Jennifer and Ryan, our hosts back then, joined us for the meal as well as Aimee of the Bitt of Raw blog. We had a short but great time together; it was so nice to have a chance to do some catching up!

Jennifer, Aimee, yours truly and Ryan

Once again the food was excellent and the service very prompt. Don and I feasted on...

Thrive Sampler Platter

This was delicious! A combination of fresh veggies and dehydrated crackers with two dips of our choice. We went with the Onion Cashew Cream (soooooo good!) and Sunflower Pate (yummy but a tad too spicy for my taste buds.)

Bella Burger : A patty made of mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and walnuts, topped with their special sweet sauce.

The burger is normally served on a red cabbage leaf but we asked for lettuce instead as we have difficulty digesting raw cabbage. The patty is super tasty and quite filling. A great choice!

Oh My Samurai: One of their signature teriyaki noodle dishes. Kelp noodles marinated in sweet and savory teriyaki sauce and served with shredded red cabbage and carrot, chopped celery and cashews.

We ordered the large serving and it was huge! There must have been an entire pack of kelp noodles in there! (Yum!) The marinade was a little too sweet for my taste, but otherwise very good.

We weren't gonna go for dessert... until we spotted an entire fridge full of various drool-some looking sweet treats in the back of the cafe. I'm so glad we did as both the Chocolate Mousse and Mocha Pie were excellent! Full of flavor and utterly decadent!

Chocolate Mousse Torte: Almonds, cashews, shredded coconut, cacao, cold-pressed coconut oil, agave, coconut butter, dates, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cherry extract, soy lecithin, young coconuts, crystal salt

Mocha Latte Heaven: Almonds, cashews, cacao, decaf espresso, cold-pressed coconut oil, agave, dates, cacao, vanilla extract, alkaline ionized water, young coconuts, pink crystal salt

We returned to Thrive a couple of days later in order to meet Janine, one of the original owners, who we'd met during our last visit to Seattle. She is such a kind hearted and sweet soul!

As it was the middle of the afternoon and we were expected back for dinner we only had drinks, but boy, were they ever scrumptious!!! We shared a Coconutty (young coconut meat, coconut water, cashews and agave) and a Oh My Wonka! (a chocolate drink with a hint of mint). Soooo creamy and bursting with flavor!

Dinner At Tiffany's
In spite of her working 3 different jobs and studying for finals (call her wonder woman!), our friend Tiffany managed to sneak us into her ultra busy schedule. As it turned out though something unexpected popped up and she had to go away for an hour or so not long after we arrived (hence our filming the video in her living room! lol) I love how creative and spontaneous she is in the kitchen, working with whatever fresh produce catches her attention at the market. Tiffany grew up on a farm in Ohio and is super knowledgeable about organic gardening and self-sustainability.

While she was away we continued to work on dinner. Don made one of his delicious soup concoctions while I prepared a rice with pulse-chopped purple and orange carrots, zucchini, soaked almonds, a touch of olive oil, garlic and salt. Before she left Tiffany and I had chopped some broccoli, yellow bell pepper, daikon and celery which we marinated in tamari, olive oil, grated ginger and garlic. We then popped the bowl into the dehydrator to allow the flavors to blend. We topped the dish with sliced green onion.

The assembled dish was super yummy and oh-so-colorful!

Also, on Tiffany's instructions I tackled dessert while she was gone; a very tasty cobbler made with crisp apples and cranberries chopped in the food processor along with a little raw honey (from her parents' farm!), cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg and ginger root, and blackberries that I folded into the mixture at the last minute. The crumble topping consisted of pecans, almonds, soaked walnuts, Medjhool dates, cinnamon, ground dehydrated orange zest and salt. Oh, and I almost forgot, the crust was sliced banana.

After supper Tiffany made one of her famous ice creams. She likes to use walnuts instead of cashews as the base and the result is awesome! It complimented the warm Apple Cranberry Crumble so well!

 

Strawberry Ice Cream
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup soaked walnuts
2 ripe medium-large bananas
5 Medjhool dates
1/3 cup dried coconut
1/2 cup water or more, until the mixture blends easily

Blend in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.

Run through an ice cream maker. Serve immediately or if you prefer a firmer ice cream, return to the freezer to chill.

While on the topic of Tiffany's ice creams, last time she had whipped up a super delicious cherry dessert. We didn't have time to run it through the ice cream maker and enjoyed it as a pudding instead. Sooooo good!

Cherry Supreme Freeze
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen cherries
1/8 cup walnuts
1 orange, juiced

Blend in a high-speed blender.

Adjust sweetness with stevia powder.

Enjoy right away or chill and run it through an ice cream maker.

 Later I discovered some ice cream left in the maker - what else is a foodie to do?

Mmmmm... Good!

Just before we left Tiffany gave us some pics that she took last spring. Several were from the food demo we did at Chaco Canyon.

Making Tuna Salad. Recognize Aimee in the background?

My precious assistant in action.

I thought this next picture was hilarious! It looks like everyone is absolutely riveted by everything I had to say, but actually the cafe was sooooo noisy that they all had to gather close to the table in order to hear. ;-)

And here's lovely Tiffany with Don

And finally, this last pic was taken during a walk that we took by the river near Lisa, our host in the Snoqualmie Valley.

The Three Muskateers

And that concludes the beginning of our adventures in the US. So far so good!

What with the van's mechanical troubles we decided to invest in a power booster/generator. It has electrical outlets so I've actually been typing this post as we're making our way to Portland. I must admit that I'm particularly pleased to be blogging so close to 'real time'! Woo hoo! If only it could continue this way through the entire journey! Who knows, with the help of the videos and the generator, I might be able to stay up to date!

Talk to you again soon!