I am very excited about this little delicacy because it is one of my own creations. I’ve been starting to improvise a little more, and this is what came up. Now I just have to figure out exactly what I did.

There are three layers. The bottom layer is a nut crust. I think I used dates, brazil nuts, walnuts, cocoa powder, and some buckwheat crispies (from ANI PHYO’S book). The middle is a chocolate mousse layer using avocados similar to the one I used in this wonderful BLAST FROM THE PAST. The top layer is a cream layer similar to THIS with VANILLA, lots of mint from my WINDOW GARDEN, and a little WHEATGRASS for color. Then I just drizzled a little chocolate sauce in a pretty pattern.

I used a cheesecake tin and set it in the freezer (also between layers) and thawed it a few hours before serving.

Now all that’s left is the eatin’. Chocolate Mint has been my favorite since I was a little girl. So it feels pretty fulfilling to have this in my repertoire.

This is another recipe I got from ANI PHYO. I got some new recipe books this week which I’m VERY excited about, but I’ll save that for another savory post.

I was attracted to this recipe because I had an abundant supply of MICRO GREENS that I needed to find an outlet for.

This is a bowl of freshly cut sprouts (mostly buckwheat with some spicy sprouts) from my garden. I got the seeds from SPROUT PEOPLE. They have a nice selection of different mixes. I have to say that eating sprouts for lunch esp. fresh sprouts (though I suppose these are officially micro-greens since I grew them in dirt) makes you feel really good. A certain clarity and focus that you can’t quite put your finger on.

As for the recipe, it’s very similar to the GRAPEFRUIT FENNEL AVOCADO SALAD which is one of my favorites. Not quite as gourmet, but definitely easier to prepare. While I prefer the flavor of the other salad, this micro green punch definitely adds something to your day…

Well…everybody said it would happen. And it is. Before I started paying attention to my diet, I didn’t own a plant. But now the little WINDOW GARDEN I started a few weeks back is quickly expanding to the capacity of my extremely SMALL apartment.

It’s hard not to do though. I keep coming across these herbs that I MUST have. Plus, the weather is nice now. So I can keep some plants on the windowsill.

So far, I have oregano, peppermint, thyme, dill, spearmint, rosemary, and basil.

I’m most proud of the basil because I grew these babies from little seedlings. The rest I kind of cheated at the farmer’s market, but the basil seeds I got while I was in Austin in March. They look so good that as you can see, the birds are starting to eat the leaves. Why do they have to pick the biggest juiciest ones? Save some for me!

I also got this interesting rainbow shrub. I’m not sure what it is, but it sure is pretty. Yesterday, I went crazy and planted a couple cherry seeds from the cherries I was eating. I’ll keep you posted on what happens with those…

So…as many of you may have noticed, my posting has been slightly more irregular as of late. It all started with some TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES and was lengthened by a couple trips to the HOSPITAL. Anyway, admittedly I haven’t been as vigilant in my raw preparation as I have in other periods. I’ve read lots of accounts of people who have a more all or nothing approach. Overnight, they become raw sensations. Me, I’m more of a creature of habit, I’m afraid. I have these periods of clarity and progress, but then I also have periods of interference and falling back on old habits. It’s more of a gradual shift in consciousness.

Slow and steady wins the race, they say. Anyway, today I’m featuring a couple of the recipes that I keep coming back to. The ones that make me realize that I’m developing some new old habits. Signs of progress, so to speak.

TOMATO TARTAR was the first recipe that made me realize, ‘Hey! I can do this thing. Even with my overdeveloped palatte.’ It was the first thing I made that was really great.

STUFFED ANAHEIM PEPPERS WITH MOLE SAUCE was the first recipe that made other people realize that maybe all my ‘weird’ food wasn’t so bad. In the beginning, I was endlessly razzed by co-workers thinking that I would eventually give up and go back to my old ways. Now, whenever I bring mole sauce to work, everyone wants to try it. AND what’s more, my BOYFRIEND who was morally opposed to eating at home likes to make it.

I’ve come a long way, baby…

This is what I made for my boyfriend when he came back from Europe (this and the berry cake below). Poor thing. He was busy hanging out with Radiohead while I was slaving away in the kitchen.

Anyway, he really liked it. I got this one from my home girl, ANI PHYO. You can tell how much I like her by how many times I’ve linked back to the post about her. Her web page has gotten FANCY lately (the blog disappeared for a while, but I think it’s back now). The recipe has got an interesting mix of flavors: cilantro, rosemary, and dill plus the curry dressing. I added some raisins to mine which I thought was great, but my boyfriend doesn’t like raisins.

Anyway, this recipe inspired me to expand my window herb garden. So now I’m really cooking with gas…OR NOT. But you get where I’m coming from (I’ll show you some garden pics soon)…

I got this delightful recipe from RAW GODDESS HEATHY’S blog. She is an expert at dessert. I’m looking forward to the fall when she goes to the TREE OF LIFE. I’d really like to go there too at some point. But until then, I’ll live vicariously through her blog.

I changed the recipe slightly. I used strawberries (instead of raspberries), blueberries, and blackberries.

I had this cake ready when my boyfriend returned from Europe. He said that this was about as close to perfect as I’ve come, AND he wants me to make another one so his mom can try some. He’s never said THAT to me before…

Hola. I’m still here. I still don’t have a computer, but I’m still drinking green smoothies. My boyfriend thought the pineapple was very important for the composition of this picture. This picture was taken a couple days after I was released from the hospital. My most wonderful boyfriend brought me food the whole time I was there so I wouldn’t eat the hospital food.

I am still living in the TINY apartment, but it hasn’t stopped me from developing my green thumb. Here are some pictures from my small window garden. Here I have a basil plant.

I also have a mint and oregano plant going. The smoothie in the pic is the delightful MINT CHOCOLATE variety that SHANNON MARIE developed.

Literally, the first thing I did after I got out of the hospital was go wait in line at the Obama rally where he announced that he was the presumptive nominee. It was so exciting to see. The line to get in was 1.6 miles long. They had to turn away 20k people!! It was truly a historical day.

The next day, my boyfriend took me to a Twins game. We got the backstage tour. I am home from work for a couple weeks. So I’m definitely making the most of my time.

OH! I have to tell you. I started using the sea minerals that ANTHONY mentioned on his blog a couple weeks back. I’m literally getting twice as much juice from my WHEATGRASS GARDEN. It’s amazing! It deserves it’s own post. I’m going to try some direct comparisons to show you. I’ll keep you posted…

Well, my computer is still broken and I am starting to feel a little out of the loop. I got TAGGED by SHANNON MARIE a couple weeks ago, and I am just now getting to it. It seems the tag has pretty much gone around to everyone I’m linked to. So I might end up being the weak link. But at least I’ll fill in some details. Let’s see…5 things you didn’t want to know about me …

1) I’m an auntie…Auntie A. Here is a picture of me showing my nephew, Jacob, how to play guitar. He was so excited. He thought it was pretty cool. He made up the most endearing song to go along with it. It went something like this… ‘I’m playing the guitar and I’m so HAPPY.’ So cute!

2) I used to be a scientist. I have a Master’s degree in Oncology. I was going for a PhD, but I was kicked out after my master’s. It’s a long story what happened. The short version would be that there was a philosophical difference of opinion. I’ve never regretted the outcome. I’ve always been really happy that I stayed true to my instinct. I learned a lot from this situation and I think that it was a defining moment in my life. The week I got kicked out, I went out and bought a guitar (though not this one - I ALMOST bought this one while I was on vacation last week).

3) I have a restless heart. My dad likes to joke that I’ve lived in more of ‘America’s Most Liveable Cities’ than anyone he knows. I’m starting to slow down on the moving now that I’m getting older, but I’ve lived in lots of places. Here is a pic of me in Austin, Texas where I went to college. I’ve also lived in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Antonio, San Diego, Tulsa, Madison (WI), Vacaville (CA), and now I live in Minneapolis.

4) I have samurai blood. I’m half-Japanese. My mother is from Shibukawa City, Japan. Apparently, if you trace back my family line a few generations, there is a samurai. I also take karate. Which means don’t MESS with me. As you can see, I’m quite crazy.

5) If it wasn’t for the Vietnam War, I would have never been born. I used to feel kind of guilty about that. Not that it was my fault that it happened. My dad was a GI. He flew helicopters and was shot in combat. They sent him to a hospital in Japan, and that was where he met my mom. I suppose in a certain way this has largely shaped my perspective. Just that everyone has a position on war. And everyone wants to distill it down to something black and white. But in the end, that’s part of the problem. That despite everyone’s best efforts, there are always going to be people trapped in the gap between black and white. We need to stop focusing on whether we should be black or we should be white and start focusing on bridging the gap.

I hope I’ll be back soon. I haven’t been feeling so well lately. I’m feeling pretty trapped in the gap between black and white at the moment. The enormous abyss that is our medical system. Or at least that’s how it feels at times. I’m tired of having my arm stuck and collecting jugs of urine. I’m still not sure exactly what is wrong with me beyond that my blood tests are messed up. But I suspect that whatever it is, I’m on the brink of another defining moment in my life. Maybe just in the fact that I might never know. I DO know though that whatever it is, I’m on the right path…

Well, my computer is still broken, and I probably won’t be able to replace it until I get my tax return. So I’m using my boyfriend’s computer today. I have lots to write about, but my posts might be a little sporadic for a few weeks. I just realized that it’s been a year now since I started experimenting with the raw diet. I haven’t been completely raw in that time. My instinct is that my body has a long way to go on the detox journey. So, I’m being gentle with myself. And trying to follow the cues it gives me. There may be a point in the future where I feel like I can handle that, but I haven’t reached it yet. Anyway, I’ll save my insights on my journey thus far for another post - as my boyfriend is getting anxious about his computer already.

I’ve been getting blitzkrieged lately with signs from the universe - uncanny coincidences that let me know I’m in the right place at the right time. I started a theatre company with my friend DENNIS. He is my neighbor and BFF (though we won’t be neighbors for long as his apartment burned down recently in a blaze of fury). He is also a genius playwright, actor, and director. He’s writing a play now called Julie Fast. It’s a musical comedy about cults - I’m responsible for the musical part. Julie is a runaway who gets usurped by a cult of bee worshippers. We talked about entering the FRINGE FESTIVAL. One day he came over before work to talk about it while I made him a healthy energy smoothie. I filled it with lots of goodies - coconut, veggies, goji, BEE POLLEN. I didn’t think about the connection to the play, and I didn’t know he was allergic to pollen. Poor thing. He had a horrible allergic reaction and had to call in sick (I still haven’t heard the end of that).

Then on a seemingly unrelated note, last week my purse got stolen on the bus (while I was with Dennis, of course). The culprits went on a shopping spree with my credit cards (new clothes, cigarettes, movie tickets, and target). OY! Well, I was at the WEDGE buying groceries one day, and I spotted the cutest vegan handbag set. I fell in love with it right away! Well, come to find out it’s a QUEEN BEE CREATION. QUEEN BEE!!

Why is this significant? Because the name of the theatre company I started with Dennis is QUEEN BEE THEATRE. The play is about bee worshippers. I poisoned him with bee pollen. And my old purse was stolen requiring me to buy this new QUEEN BEE CREATION.  And of course, because our play was drawn in the fringe lottery.  We are IN.  Not that I ever doubted.  Who could ever doubt with so many coincidences behind us?

This is one of the threads of intrigue and coincidence which I find myself in currently. The others are a little more difficult to sum in a post while my anxious boyfriend twiddles his thumbs over my overuse of his computer. So, I’ll have to fill you in later.

Miss you guys…

I think it may be over.  For my computer, I mean.  It’s not working.  It turns on, but the screen dies.  It works, but it goes black.  Anyway, I’m out of commission for a bit.  Check back with you later…