Okay.  I know I’ve written a cookbook and just co-wrote another one, but I’m not really a cook… I mean, I can put good vibes into food, and I  have a decent understanding of the energy of foods, but I’m not sitting around thinking up new recipes every day.  Which makes it THAT MUCH MORE exciting when I do think up an original.  YAHOOOOOO! I’m not a total idiot!!!!

So here goes.  Christmas Stew.  I call it that because it’s red, with a green garnish, but you could make it anytime.

The Stew

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 onion, sliced in half moons

8 - 12 cups filtered or spring water

About one cup of yellow split peas

2 cups of kabocha squash, cut into biggish chunks.  If unpeeled, orange is best.  If using green, peel it.

1 large beet, diced

1/2 a large daikon, sliced into 1/2-inch wide half moons.

3 stalks celery, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

Mellow white miso to taste (about 3-4 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons kuzu, diluted in a little cold water

Heat oil in a large pot.  Saute onion for at least five minutes, letting it get soft and translucent.  Add the water and the split peas.  Bring to a boil and let simmer about 20 minutes.  Add squash and beets.  Simmer another 20 minutes.  Add daikon and celery and simmer 20 more minutes. 

Stir in diluted kuzu, whisking vigorously until it comes to a boil, at which point the stew should seem glossy and a little thickened.  But not thick like a gravy. 

Using some liquid from the stew, mix with the miso in a suribachi, grinding it with a surikogi.  If you don’t have them, mash the miso into the liquid in a bowl or mug, using a fork or whisk.  Return miso liquid to stew.  Taste to see if it rocks your world.   Serve in a big bowl over rice with a big spoonful of Yummy Green Dollop which follows:

Yummy Green Dollop

1/2 a ripe avocado

3 large scallions, chopped

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon brown rice syrup

1 teaspoon (give or take) umeboshi vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil (more, if sauce is too thick)

Whiz all ingredients in a food processor.   Adjust to taste.   Spoon onto stew. 

By the way, I did a radio interview the other day.  Hopefully I didn’t sound like a complete doofus.  Click here to listen.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Blog, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

So yeah, I’m basically a movie star now.  No biggie.  It feels fine.  I don’t have paparazzi at my doorstep (yet)… I haven’t signed an autograph (yet)… and my apartment still awaits its ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’ renovation, but hey, those are just details.

I was asked by some friends to play a part in their upcoming independent feature film.  "Sure, what part?" I asked, getting all ready for my close-up, imagining myself kissing a gorgeous guy , or wielding a prop gun , and they said "um, like, a hypnotist?  A hippie hypnotist? " And like all my actor colleagues–Meryl, Marlon, Miley–I thought:  "Hm.  Type-casting!  ALREADY!!!!"

But that’s just the biz.  You see, this summer, at the Kushi Institute Summer Conference (go next year–it’s really great), I met Arin Crumley  and Isis Masoud .  He made Four-Eyed Monsters, a huge web-driven hit about his relationship with a former girlfriend.  Isis, a dancer and choreographer, is one of the founding members of the Pole-ite Girls  who were launched to national notoriety when they pole-danced on New York City subway trains.  These two were documenting the conference and, having seen me do a speech on hypnosis the year before, asked if I would do some witch-poo brain-washing on them!  Of course, I agreed and we filmed a couple of long, intense, life-shifting hypnosis sessions starring themselves .  It was really fun.  I have no idea what that footage will eventually become (if anything) but over a couple of days, we forged a nice bond and they–maybe the grooviest and hippest people I know–knighted me an ageing hipster in the court of 21st century cool .  Thank God. 

So now they want my skills for their feature film about Burning Man.  Their assistant director would be Roger Ingraham , who holds the record as the youngest filmmaker to ever show at Sundance, with a little vampire flick he made at 19 years old called Moonshine. 

Hmm… what shall I charge for all this?  What would Reese do?  Can I get Nicole on the phone?  Do I have them remove the brown M & Ms like my friends in Van Halen  or am I not that big a diva?  I decided that I would forgo my regular 7-figure fee and just go along for the ride.  I flew to New York , made my way to a vast loft in Williamsburg filled with every conceivable type of costumed, body-painted, sparkly twenty-something and entered into the world of the silver screen .

Now, it’s natural to expect hysterics and ego-centered insanity on any movie set.  Les Artistes can become quite dramatique at times.  But this set was different.  Sane, friendly, patient and fun.  When I started to get hungry and went over to the food table, I figured out why:  Isis, who has been macrobiotic for a number of years, had made a spread centered around a delicious brown rice salad (See recipe below).  There were beans, organic corn chips , fresh salad and a pasta dish.  Not a shred of meat… no dairy… and no white sugar.  I was not the only one to connect the dots between the calm and balanced food and the nice vibe of the set.   After working for more than 16 hours, Arin, Isis and anyone still waiting around at 11 p.m. was still in a decent mood . 

We finally shot my scene and I’m pretty sure of the following:  I did not barf, nor pick my nose on camera.  Other than that, it is a blur.  Fingers crossed I was okay.  Apparently, I looked like this:  .  For more than that, I’ll see you at the movies!

Chew well,

Jessica

P.S. Here is Isis’ recipe for her brown rice salad:

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 5:52 pm and is filed under Blog, Living Your Dream, My Life, Photos, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

To tell the truth, my life is already half-vacation.  As a self-employed person, I pretty much make my own rules, and as a hypnotherapist, I have a tendency to go DEEP into relaxation, especially at work!  But this semi-retirement has a flipside; while my regular life might seem relaxed to many, I don’t really know how to take vacations.  I think I feel a little guilty about living a cushy life, so I don’t know how to unplug completely.  The iphone is always at the ready, emails flying and my on/off button is rarely entirely off.  So it was with great pleasure that I invited a friend from New York out to California to take HIS vacation, thinking I might pick up a thing or two about diving into the vacay. 

My friend Hiram, had never been to California.  He’s been many, many other places in the world, but never here.  I looked forward to watching his pupils dilate and his jaw drop open as he took in some of the many gifts this state has to offer.  After a tofu turkey Thanksgiving (if you plan to make one for xmas, click here for recipe) dinner, we headed to Big Sur, a hefty chunk of real estate where the Santa Lucia mountains decide to rear their heads along the Pacific coast.  Among its bon bons of eye candy are images like this: and this: and oh yeah, this: 

but forget the lousy aesthetics; the best part of Big Sur?  No Cellphone service!!! 

Being a bit of a researcher, Hiram found us a place to stay called Treebones where groovy meets sunset, all wrapped up in a yurt.  You heard me: a this: .  Sort of half-tent, half-teepee, a yurt is completely round and well, the feeling inside is… groovy.  There’s even a big skylight at the top, through which you can see the treetops and at night the moon shone through so brightly well, it was almost rude, frankly.  THE MOON NEEDS TO TAKE A VACATION! First with the tides… then with the menstrual cycle… OY!  But it wasn’t just the moon that interfered with urban rhythms… it was the crash of the tide and the annoyingly cute elephant seals  playing in the middle of the night… Whatever!

Treebones, in all its grooviosity, served ridiculous, organic, fresh-from-their-garden meals that looked like this: and offered COMPLETELY overrated sunsets from this porch: .  If that wasn’t bad enough, Treebones had the bad taste to offer a hot tub in which Hiram’s and my relationship sank to new lows: .  After just ten minutes in this torturous contraption, Hiram was rendered speechless: .  I couldn’t blame him.  Vacations are clearly awful and I’m not surprised I have avoided them for so long. 

P.S. A practical tip:  Many people ask me about how to stay macro while traveling.  In the past, I brought a whole mini macro kitchen on the road with me.  It was a knapsack-like bag I packed with small amounts of a few grains, beans, sea vegetables, dried fruit, salt, kuzu, ume plums, miso and just about every seasoning and condiment I could think up.  That way, I just had to find veggies to round it all out.  These days, I’m a little more chill, but I do adhere to 2 basic rules: No white sugar and no dairy (and I don’t even worry about red meat or chicken–they’ve been off the radar too long).  These two "foods" have a tendency to bring a vacation to a grinding halt, either with mood swings or stomach cramps.  They also set up cravings for more of the same.  I find that it’s possible to get beans (or fish), vegetables, fruit and some kind of complex carb anywhere I go.  When craving sweets, I find something made with maple syrup, agave, or I give it a pass.  Even convenience stores have little gems like sunflower seeds and apple juice.  Did you know that Fritos (yes, Fritos by Frito-Lay) are made of corn, corn oil and salt?  No preservatives or flavorings or chemical additives of any kind!!  Sure, they’re GMO and deep fried, but life is life and I might have them twice a year in a pinch.  If you’re dealing with a serious health condition, take the mini macro kitchen and take your practice very seriously.  If you just want to enjoy life and not arrive home with a food hangover, stay away from the big baddies and have a great time.  Oh yeah, and chew well.  That makes all the difference in the world.

Jessica

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Blog, My Life, Photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.