Magical Mount Shasta

Back to The Land of Snow
We left Medford just in time before a snowstorm and crossed the mountainous Grants Pass into Northern California. Thankfully we only caught a bit of it as we arrived in Mt Shasta. It felt strange to suddenly find ourselves in Winter Wonderland (and we thought we'd left that behind us up in Canada!) So much for escaping winter, eh?

Our friend Sathya awaited us with open arms. She has been following my blog for several years and we first met her in Medford last spring when she attended some of my classes. Almost as soon as we settled in the nasty signs of a head cold sneaked up on me. Sathya's beautiful quiet home overlooking Mount Shasta proved to be the perfect haven for me to recuperate and get back on my feet.

The latter is considered one of the seven sacred mountains and as such it has attracted a large spiritual community. Mt Shasta is actually a really cool, laid back little town that reminded us a great deal of the Kootenay area in BC.

The weather cleared up after a couple of days and brought along gorgeous sun and blue skies. Yippee! When I felt better we made the most of this blessing and explored some of our natural surroundings.

Lake Siskiyou

The lake offered an impressive unobstructed view of Mount Shasta.

 

Sathya explained to us that Mount Shasta is actually the bigger peak on the right.

The smaller one on the left is known as Mount Shastina.

After admiring the incredible view for a while, we then went for a lovely walk on the snowy trail. Kyky was a very happy camper to be back in the wild after weeks of city walking!

See that huge grin on his face?

And so were we! ;-)

The town of Mt Shasta has some of the purest water in the country, as it comes directly from the Sacramento River headwaters. It was soooo nice to be able to enjoy chlorine free tap water! One afternoon we went to see the river's headwaters and collected some fresh spring water; something many of the locals do.

We then went for a walk along the Sacramento River.

Here you can see the snowy top of Black Butte in the distance.

Peaceful Haven
We also spent a lot of time indoors, enjoying Sathya's cozy home. Da Puss had been confined to the van for our entire stay in Medford (we couldn't let her in Jozzie's house since it would have been infringing on Punkster's territory.) She seemed happy to have a bigger space to roam freely around, and of course, a wider choice of spots to nap in.

She immediately took a liking to Sathya and usually snuggled on her lap while we watched movies in the evening. 

In Sathya's Sunny Kitchen
I didn't do much food prep partly due to my not feeling too well and also Sathya's intention to give me a little kitchen break after all the uncooking at Jozzie's. Guess we'll just HAVE to come back for an earnest uncooking blitz! ;-) That's not to say, though, that we didn't enjoy some mighty yummy food!

Sathya already had all the components for Calzone in her freezer so assembling it was a breeze. This is soooo good! One of those things that you can hardly believe it's raw!

A simple feast of crackers, veggie sticks, spreads and condiments on New Year's Eve.

Sathya had made one of her very own creations: Edamame Hummus. I had never tried edamame before and thought they made for a super tasty spread.

Sathya's Edamame Hummus
1 pkg 10 oz thawed Edamame Soybeans
1/2 cup Tahini
1/4 cup water or more for consistency
1/3 cup lemon juice 
1/8 cup Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic
1/4 medium onion
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cumin pwdr
Pinch black pepper

Mix together in food processor and enjoy!


Our first meal of the year was Taco Salad. I couldn't help but be reminded of the Mexican feast we enjoyed for the same occasion a few years back.

Our various fixings: Tomato Salsa, Guac, a plain cultured cheese that we later thinned out as Sour Cream and lettuce strips. Sathya made a batch of Chad Sarno's Sprouted Corn Chips which were really excellent.

 

I had never had Taco Salad before and I must say that this is my new favorite way to enjoy Mexican food! So delicious and fresh!

Cheers to the New Year!

Sathya found kelp noodles at her small (but awesome!) health food store so we served them one day with Cherie Soria's Teriyaki Veggies. Very good! These were accompanied by a Wild Rice Pilaf; my first time playing with sprouting wild rice. We all thought that the dish itself was a little bland and nothing special, but it did spark my interest to experiment more with wild rice in the future.

Vegetable Teriyaki Stirred, Not Fried
By Cherie Soria
From Living Light Newsletter posted here

Yield: 3 servings of marinated vegetables (or 6 skewers)

Teriyaki sauce is a combination of sweet, pungent, salty, and lively flavors that make this dish irresistible. The aroma and flavor of this enticing sauce combined with an abundance of fresh seasonal vegetables like broccoli, peppers, bokchoy and shiitake mushrooms, makes it one of the most popular standards in our cafe and deli, Living Light Cuisine To Go. When the vegetables are marinated, they soften and take on the texture and appearance of cooked vegetables. I enjoy this dish served with Asian Wild Rice Pilaf. The sauce can also be brushed onto skewered vegetables of your choice, as shown above.

Teriyaki marinade
1/4 cup tamari
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons flax oil
2 tablespoons evaporated cane juice
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed (1 1/2 teaspoons, pureed)

Veggies
1/4 large pineapple, peeled, cored, and cubed Vegetables
3/4 cup snow peas, halved lengthwise
3/4 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms (sliced 1/8 inch thick)
3/4 cup thinly sliced baby bok choy
3/4 cup Asian bean sprouts
1/2 cup broccoli, including stems, cut into very small pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, finely julienned
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery (sliced crosswise)
1/4 red onion, finely julienned
1/2 carrot, finely julienned
6 six-inch skewers 


Asian Wild Rice Pilaf
By Cherie Soria
From Living Light Newsletter posted here

Yield: 2 cups (2 to 3 servings)

It’s worth the 24 hours it takes to “bloom” this wild rice, which not really rice or even grain--it is a seed that grows in marshes, mostly in Canada and the northern United States. It is harvested by Native Americans and processed in their traditional method, which involves smoking. Even though it is not technically raw, most raw food enthusiasts enjoy wild rice when it has been soaked until it “blooms” to a fluffy texture. A few drops of toasted sesame oil gives this wild rice dish a traditional cooked flavor makes it a wonderful compliment to any Asian meal.

1/2 cup wild rice
2 cups purified water
1 small rib of celery, diced
1/2 green onion, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, shredded ( 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup mung sprouts
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons minced cilantro, packed
1 1/2 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon tamari
3/4 teaspoon light miso
1/4 teaspoon Hot Lava Sauce

1. Rinse the wild rice and place it in a 1 quart glass jar. Fill the jar with purified water, and place the covered jar in a 105-degree dehydrator for 24 hours to soften and “bloom”.

2. Drain the rice well and put it into a large bowl. Add the celery, green onion, carrot, sesame seeds, cilantro, mushrooms, onion powder, and garlic, and stir.

3. Combine the lemon juice, oils, tamari, miso, and Hot Lava Sauce in a small bowl, and whisk to blend.

4. Add the lemon-oil mixture to the rice mixture and stir again, thoroughly.

5. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to four days.

In keeping with the Asian theme, the Satay Veggies from Delightfully Raw on a mixture of kelp and zucchini noodles

After treating ourselves to the left over desserts we'd brought from Jozzie's, we finally whipped up a couple of our own. 

We learned that Sathya had a brand new ice cream maker that had been hiding in her cupboards for a year but had never been used. We just HAD to do something about that! Since Don had been bragging about my Berry Jubilee for days, we decided it would be the perfect way to give the ice cream maker a little work out.

Matthew Kenney's Frangipane from Everyday Raw Desserts that we made with mixed berries and served with a dollop of Almond Cream.

While having dinner I had a beautiful view of Mount Shasta. Wow, what a majestic sight! It was especially stunning at sunset when draped with what is known as 'the alpine glow'.

And that wraps up our time in scenic Mt Shasta. Coming up soon; the breathtaking landscape that unfolded before our eyes on our way to Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Raw Chef is Having A Sale!
Just as I was about to send this off to your inbox, I received an email from Russell James announcing a special sale.

Until 9pm GMT, 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific on Monday 10th January you can get his entire Raw Chef DVD Homestudy System for 33% off.

But that's not all... You'll also get eight FREE bonuses!

If the 33% discount isn't enough to have you heading to his special offer page, these EIGHT free gifts will surely do the trick:

* IMMEDIATE ACCESS to his online course too (normally sold for $297)

* FREE Membership to his monthly Academy training (normally $27)

* His 6 eBooks included FREE (normally $58.97), that's...

- Thai Style raw food
- Christmas recipes
- Chocolate recipes
- No dehydrator needed, quick recipes with no waiting!
- Raw nut cheese recipes
- Mexican raw food

WHEW! That's a lot of goodies!

To check out Russell's sale on his Raw Chef DVD Homestudy System

CLICK HERE!

Voting Has Begun for the Best of Raw 2010 Awards!

The Annual Best of Raw Awards are in honor of those people who are assisting the people of our planet to add more raw, organic plant foods to our diets. Educators, Chefs, Authors, Celebrities, Athletes, Musicians, Manufacturers, Websites, Products, etc. are all being honored and celebrated for the magnanimous work they are doing!

The BEST OF RAW philosophy is to have fun while encouraging the energy of playful coopetition — cooperation plus competition. We truly wish to celebrate all leaders and to have some fun with an engaging community activity designed to be delightful and promote the raw vegan lifestyle.

Join us and cast your votes in 40 different categories, including your favorite raw people, media, products and places.

Once again, my websites and I have been nominated in several categories (Thanks guys!):

Best Raw Simple Chef: Carmella

Best Gourmet Raw Chef: Carmella

Best Raw Vegan Blog: Sunny Raw Kitchen

Best Raw Vegan Community Site: Raw Freedom Community

This year voting will take place through the entire month of January. Winners will be announced on the Visionary Culture Radio!

So don't forget to pop by the Best of Raw website and cast your votes for your faves by clicking on the link below!

VOTE NOW FOR BEST OF RAW 2010!

Four Candles

Four years ago on January 2nd 2007, I was typing my very first lines on this Sunny Raw Kitchen blog. Wowsers, has it really been that long!?!

When I look back at the impact that opening our kitchen to the cyber world has had on our lives, it brings tears to my eyes. My original intention in doing so was to reach out from our very secluded home at the time, in order to share some of the recipe experiments and insights on my raw health journey. "If only my words could be of assistance to a single person," I thought (and still do!), "then all the time and energy that would go into blogging would be worth it!"

I remember feeling my heart swelling and on fire as I first conjured up words for an unknown audience, so grateful to be provided with such an extraordinary medium to reach out to people all over the planet without even having to leave my home.

As has become a bit of a tradition, here's a little overview of what all has been going on in my sunny raw kitchen this past year.

The summer of 2009 saw a new element come into The Sunny Raw Kitchen; that of a travel journal. After years of a very sedentary lifestyle we gave away most of our belongings, packed our kitchen, some clothes and our two furries and began a long trek that was to take us along the entire periphery of North America. January 2010 found us passing through Louisiana and Texas, right in the middle (quite literally!) of our Sunny Raw Kitchen Tour. Besides camping at various state parks, we also had the privilege to visit and uncook with over 20 different readers of my blog and members of our Raw Freedom Community forum.

We actually kicked off the new year somewhere in Mississippi. To mark the occasion I managed to whip up some chocolate truffles in the tent; a feat that seems to have inspired many and certainly spoke to how creative you can be with raw foods regardless of your circumstances. ;-)

Some of the highlights of our trip in the winter/spring 2010 include a close encounter with alligators in Texas, walks in the Sonora desert and magical Sedona, Arizona, picking avocados right off a tree in California, getting the grand tour of Cafe Gratitude's Central Kitchen in San Francisco and flying over Washington state in a private airplane.

At long last, 18 states and 13, 000 miles later, in the spring we finally landed back in British Columbia where we started the whole journey. What followed was a period of mostly cyber silence as I went into mega 'recovery mode', completely exhausted by the previous 10 months on the road.

But amazingly, energy eventually began to trickle back and then with a revenge, I might add. After almost 3 months of doing almost no food prep whatsoever (thanks to my invaluable sous chef! hehe) I hit the kitchen running and managed to create over 40 new recipes in less than one month! I had barely enough time to assemble these, along with other old favorites, into my third recipe book, Delightfully Raw, before we were becoming nomadic again this past November.

This time around our intention is to take things more easy and be mindful not to over extend ourselves during this new phase of our travels. And so far so good... we've been getting plenty of rest, lots of walks and exercise, yummy food, AND I've even been able to stay up to date on my blogging! Yee-hah!

And to wrap up this short recap of the past year, I thought I'd share some of my favorite recipes of 2010. As I was jolting down the list it occurred to me that more than half of them happen to be my own creations, but what can I say? Them's how it breaks!

My Top 10 Raw Recipes for 2010:

(In no particular order)

1. My Curried Kale Chips

2. My Spinach & Almond Soup

3. Russell James' Olive, Caraway and Fennel Cheese


4. Russell James' Cauliflower Cheese

5. My Heavenly Berry Jubilee

6. My Zucchini Pasta in Mushroom & Chive Sauce

7. My Green Cucumber Soup

8. Natalia of Glowing Temple's Creamy Peppercorn Ranch Dressing

9. Cafe Gratitude's Brazil Nut Truffles

10. My home-brewed Raspberry Ginger Kombucha


I thought it might be fun to also share the ingredients/products I had most fun playing with this past year, again in no particular order:

1. Irish moss
2. Hemp seeds
3. Thai young coconuts
4. Durian
5. Kelp noodles
6. Ultimate Superfoods cacao products
7. Penzeys Spices' curry and herb blends
8. Chia seeds
9. Macadamia nuts
10. Almond extract

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for being part of what has been an amazing, growthfully challenging, fun and full-of-deliciousness adventure!

Here's to a rawesome new year in every way!