One Last Homage to the Summer's Bounty

Fall is now upon us and we've wrapped things up at the garden for the winter months. I wanted to share with you guys some of the photos that I've taken over the summer in one last celebration of the season's wonderful bounty.

As I must have mentioned before, although I've been wanting to play in a garden for a long time our circumstances never really supported that possibility until fairly recently. A couple of years ago I had the good fortune to get involved with a community garden project in the Slocan Valley. A good friend, Larry, generously gave us the use of a portion of his beautiful property to create beds. The soil is simply amazing - it's so dark and rich! - and the garden has full exposure to the sun, not to mention a stunning view of the mountains in the distance. Truly the Garden of Eden! ;-)

I feel that time spent in the garden is so very healing and meditative for me. I love love it! There's something special about being in the presence of growing plants. It gives me a sense of pure connection to Nature, its benevolence and incredible abundance.

It was raining pretty much every day until the beginning of July, but once the sun showed up we scarcely had a day of rain in two months! Woo hoo! This of course meant that we had to go to the garden regularly in order to water. Next year we'll be better organized and have the water system on a timer. Yay!

It being the first year that we've had a garden of our own we took things slowly and mostly planted simple no-brainers, lots of root veggies and greens for our juices and smoothies.

Carrots

We had a variety of beet that was astonishing! (I think they're known as chiogga.) The bulbs were beautiful; dark red with white strips on the inside and super sweet. They grew into the biggest beets I'd ever seen! ;-)

Their greens were also ginormous and very similar to Swiss chard.

Chard

There was lots of kale that volunteered, and while we don't use much kale in smoothies or salads we did make tons of Kale Chips. Mmmmm!

Donnie loves potatoes so we planted a large bed to share with Larry. Many of the seedlings came from left-over potatoes from last year's harvest.

Covering the potato plants with straw to ensure that they're not exposed to light.

We lucked out at the local greenhouse as there was a 2 for 1 sale. Yay! We bought several tomato plants.

Also lots of basil. Yum!

Don harvesting the basil before the frost. I sure got to make heaps of pesto!

At the greenhouse we also bought several summer squash plants, including patty pan. They're so cute and have such a delicate flavor!

A gal who is quite knowledgeable about gardening had beds close to mine, so I got to learn a few tips. Here are some of the veggies she grew.

She also had several sunflowers - something we'll definitely plant next year as I so love them! In case you haven't noticed they've also sorta become the symbol of my Sunny Raw Kitchen. ;-)

I was able to capture a magical moment with little bumble bees drinking their fill.

Bright orange marigolds to help keep the bugs away...

And while on the topic of flowers I'll leave you with some shots I took of our friend Livina's garden.

A lovely Iris

Wild rose

A stunning red begonia

Columbine

Petunias

Foxgloves

Peonies

When I was a young child, probably about 4 years old, my photographer uncle took several shots of me with peonies. In one of the photos I had my nose right up to a blossom which was nearly as big as my head then! lol Now that I'm all grown up, I thought it would be fun to pose with this magnificent flower again. These will warm my mom's heart. ;-)

Ces photos sont pour toi, Jeanne! ;-)

And lastly, a few pics of Miss DaPuss who had a wonderful summer. She was so at ease exploring the woods nearby. We joked that she's turning into a dog as she kept following us around the property. ;-)

A pussycat needs her rest too!

And that pretty much wraps up our summer adventures!

We had our first snow flurries yesterday (Eeek!) so the countdown has officially begun before our departure for the southern US. We figure probably another week or so... Sunshine here we come! Yippee!

Talk to you from the road!
 

Raw in a Flash Video: Chocolate Sauce

As you may recall, back in August I was telling you about my participation in the Omni Video Contest. Don and I decided to jump in with both feet and managed to submit a grand total of 9 short videos, which I've been sharing here every few days for the last several weeks. This is my last video submission. I would have liked to do another one but we've now shifted into trip preparation mode, getting ready to head south around the end of the month. Anyhoo I hope you guys have been enjoying the vids and even learning something along the way!

Today's recipe is a really yummy raw vegan Chocolate Sauce that is once again super easy and can be prepped "in a flash" in the blender. Enjoy it drizzled on fresh fruit, ice cream or whatever dessert you have lying around the house. It also makes a fab cake or cookie icing once firmed up in the refrigerator!

And now for the recipe...

Chocolate Sauce

3/4 cup raw cacao and carob powder (I like to use 3 parts cacao to 1 part carob but you could use all cacao if you prefer)
1/2 cup pecans, soaked
1/2 cup raw liquid sweetener, such as honey, coconut nectar or agave
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons pure vanilla extract or liquid vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

Blend all ingredients in a high-power blender such as the Omni V 3HP blender until smooth.
 
Enjoy it drizzled on fresh fruit, ice cream or your favorite dessert. It also makes a fab cake or cookie icing once firmed up in the refrigerator.

Will keep for about 5 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

To liquify again, simply warm up gently on a bowl filled with hot water.

About the Omni Video Contest
The Omni Video Contest doesn't officially end until November 15th.  The winners will be determined by the number of visitors a participant's video(s) receive until then. These are cumulative, so in other words, it's the total visitors to all of my videos combined that matters.

So it would be really awesome if you could take a few minutes to sit down and watch my Omni Contest videos. It is my hope that you'll find these a valuable use of your time, as I've made a point to select especially yummy recipes that are super simple to prepare and that you can easily include in your daily routine. Hopefully you'll be tempted to recreate some of these at home and maybe even learn a trick or two from the ton of information and tips that I share during these short demos.

And don't forget to share the videos' links with friends and family if you think that they might be of interest to them!

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My Other Omni Contest Videos

Strawberry Banana Shake

Vegan Tarragon & Mustard Cheeze

Raw Vegan Pad Thai

Raw Vegan Basil Pesto

Raw Vegan Cucumber Dill Soup 

Raw Vegan Mayonnaise

Raw Vegan Ranch Dressing

Raw Vegan Cheezy Spinach Almond Soup

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A Little About The Omni
I guess it's no big secret that I'm thrilled that there's a solid high power blender alternative to the more common Vitamix and Blendtec's Total Blender. Not because these don't do a fine job, but because they leave a great big gaping hole in your budget.

At $250, the Omni 3 HP blender costs significantly less than similar machines and yet yields a comparable performance.

Some Omni facts:

• Electronic like the Blendtec but much simpler to use
• Substantially quieter at 85 db
• Somewhat slower RPM means thorough emulsification requires a bit more time than the competition, and for that the motor should experience less stress/longer life
• Comes standard with the 64 fl oz square container and a food tamper
• Has a six blade system
• Comes with a 7 year warranty on parts and labor for the motor/base and 1 year on the drive socket, container and blade assembly

As Don points out in his Kitchen Blender Value Review, "clearly the Omniblend V is the substantial Value King as it is about equal to the competition in functionality and expected durability for a much lower cost."

Finally the Omni also comes with a free copy of a raw recipe book that I've written especially for it: Deliciously Raw. (That's how impressed I am with its performance!)

Thanks in advance guys for your help with this! You all rawck!

Two Sunny Raw Events in the Kootenays, BC!

Our Raw Radiance Retreat was such a success that Ulla of Devine Health and I are already hosting two more inspiring health oriented events:

Raw Vegan Mexican Dinner & Raw Food Prep Demo 
 
Raw Radiance Day Workshop

~ Wanting to incorporate more vegetables and fresh food in your diet?

~ Surprising your health-seeking friends with a delicious raw dish?

~ Moving towards a high raw diet year round?

 

Whether new to the raw lifestyle or already eating a high raw diet, you will be inspired and learn something new in these workshops. Easy take home recipes to try out in your kitchen together with many helpful tips and tricks from an internationally known professional raw chef.

Raw Vegan Mexican Dinner & Raw Food Prep Demo

When: Thursday Oct. 18th, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Where: 4120 Shasheen Road, Blewett, BC
How Much: $30 – includes 3 course gourmet raw vegan meal, 2 recipe demos and recipe hand out

Raw Radiance Day Workshop

When: Sunday Oct. 21st, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Where: 4120 Shasheen Road, Blewett, BC
How Much: $90 – includes 2 gourmet raw vegan meals, 3 recipe demos, presentation, recipe hand out + optional screening of ‘May I be Frank’ movie

  Come to both events and get a $10 discount! 

Space is limited! Please register before October 13th by sending your payment to:

Ulla Devine, 4120 Shasheen Road, Nelson BC, V1L 6X1

For more info contact Carmella by email or Ulla by phone: 250-352-6419 

We hope to see you there!