Ravishingly Raw

The Passionate Side of Living

Durian, I Love You!

Jul 9

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Durian, god how I love you! As I walked into the Asian market yesterday, I could feel you calling out to me. I couldn’t help but see you sitting there clustered together with others of your kind. You were frozen, yet I could smell your pungent funk and I knew I had to have you. Why do I love you so? What is it about you that makes my mouth water?

Your skin is sharp, hard as nails and you look like an alien creature sent here from the high heavens. I approach you and as I get closer, even though you are frozen, I smell you. I pick up the mesh bag you were placed in and you pierce my skin…but not enough to draw blood. Even if you did make me bleed, I wouldn’t hold it against you. I just need to be more careful when I pick you up. I put three of you in my shopping cart and begin strolling you around the market. As I’m walking and minding my own business, the curiosity of others takes over and I am stopped four or five times to ask “What the hell is that? Do you eat it?”  I don’t have the time to get into a conversation explaining how in just a few short days you will smell like vomit and cat piss, but taste like sweet custard when your seams split, nor do I want to explain that when you aren’t ripe, but instead green inside, you taste like rubbery rotten onion flavored green eggs! I didn’t have time to explain all that, because I was too busy getting what I needed so I could get home to see if you were ripe enough to eat!

You are definitely an acquired taste, durian, my love. I remember the first time I tasted you. I hated you. I nearly threw up at first scent. Victoria cut one open, stuck it in a blender and handed it out as a pudding. My stomach still turns from the experience. I never thought I would eat you again! But I came to realize that you weren’t as ripe as you should have been and I decided to give you just one more chance. I’m so glad I did.

My second experience eating you was far more pleasurable and that first experience quickly left my palate. I was hooked. One day when Dom and I were hanging out with Paul, I told him about how much I loved you, and he made me jealous beyond belief when he told me that there is nothing like eating you fresh and ripened…not frozen. Paul had you fresh! Well, frozen will have to do for now, but someday maybe I will get to feast on you straight from the tree and ripened, splitting at the seams!

You are a delight sitting in my kitchen, because as you ripen, your aroma tends to attract more birds than I have ever seen before. They love you! Something in your scent draws them. This morning I opened my back sliding doors and I had so many visitors to my kitchen. Birds flying in and out, risking their very existence for just a taste of your goodness. All different birds too…you seem to drive them all nuts! Watching them on the ground outside the house this morning and then hop into the kitchen and then hop back out was amazing. They will risk life and limb just to get a closer look and taste! Just one hour ago, I had to close the slider because it was getting too hot outside and when I did, there were five birds lined up at the door, pecking at the glass.

Even though you weren’t splitting at the seams last night, when you thawed out, you were soft. I couldn’t wait till you were fully ripe and decided to cut you open anyway. I know it would have been better to wait another day or two, but you tasted so good. You weren’t as sweet as you could be, but I enjoyed every mouthful of you! One of the things I love to prepare you with is raw Kim Chi, green leaf lettuce and dried nori. I seem to be the only one that enjoys you this way, but that’s ok. I was in heaven last night as I rolled you up into sushi. I love the taste of very spicy Kim Chi tempered down by your fatty sweetness.

It’s been so long since I had you last, but alas, you never seem to disappoint and you are simply RAVISHING!

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Check Out My Cool New Little Beauty!

Jul 8

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While I was looking on Craigslist, I came across this nifty little food dehydrator called “Jacks Dehydrator”. It cost me $20.00 and is the cutest little relic I own to date. We are continuing to make our plans for the built-in dehydrator, but I thought this was a good one for the meantime.

I don’t think this dehydrator was used more than once or twice, it was very clean and looks like it just came out of the box new. I lucked out. I’ve gotten other things off of Craigslist before (free or purchased) and the worst thing about it is receiving things that the previous owners never bothered to even dust off. It always grosses me out when we pick up something and the person couldn’t take a few moments out of their time to just brush off their dirt. You know what’s in dirt right? Dust mites and skin. Oh yum! So we always get to take a little bit of the other person home with us. Anyway, I thought it would be the same with this dehydrator. It wasn’t! It was extremely clean…no dust or food particles to be found throughout the whole unit. I just want to give a shout out to Keith and tell him thanks for selling us a CLEAN and awesome little dehydrator.

The unit doesn’t have a temperature gauge, and it can get up to 185 degrees. According to the directions, the only way to regulate the temp. on it is to open some of the drawers to allow the heat to escape. I’ll be making some wraps soon and I’ll let you all know how it all comes out.

On a side note, I took this picture on July 4th of a double rainbow behind my house:

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Has Anyone Built a Homemade Solar Dehydrator?

Jul 6

Posted by admin in Inspiration, My Raw Kitchen, Videos | No Comments

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I have been doing some research on food dehydrators, and came to the realization that I don’t know if I simply want a nine tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator. I’ve had them, but since we have been on a build-it-yourself kick, I thought it would be awesome to build a food dehydrator custom for underneath my counter with a full glass door (probably made from a salvaged window). The design on the left was made by Charles Sanders and I’d like to take the principles of his design and create a built in food dehydrator in the first bay of my under counter space.

As I continued to research, I realized that the sun heats up so beautifully here in New Mexico so why not also have a solar dehydrator outside as well.  We’re excited to build something outside that is totally solar, but the biggest challenge for me is building it to look good in the yard as well as being functional. I have a real aversion to our yard becoming a scene out of the old TV series “Sanford and Son.” Since we have big plans for the back yard, I want to plan it permaculturally and add my elements in such a way that everything looks like it belongs. This is not an easy task when you have funky looking plywood boxes lined with aluminum foil! If anyone reading this has built a solar dehydrator please leave a comment and tell me all about your experiences. What is the “good, the bad and the ugly” to having one of these homemade beauties? Did you use mostly salvaged materials? We are planning to make the whole thing from mostly salvaged materials…the challenge? Form and function! It needs to look good and work well.

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I’ve Filled My Containers

Jul 4

Posted by admin in My Raw Kitchen | No Comments

jarsfilled insertOh happy day! I’ve been looking at empty containers for almost a month, wondering when I’d get the opportunity to fill them up. Yesterday was the day! I had a lot of fun going to the market, especially since organic almonds were on sale for $3.00 per pound. I’ve filled the containers with buckwheat, almonds, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, cashews, golden flax, coconut shreds, mung beans, hard red wheat berries and pecans. I’m not too fond of walnuts. Next will be the macadamia, Brazil, and cacao. I have never liked chocolate, but lately my body has been nudging me for some. I took a cyber trip over to Gnosis Chocolate and started to drool. I guess my body is changing.

I’ve been really going with the flow concerning making meals. I just grab whatever appeals to me in the moment, whip up a dressing and make my salad. I’m hoping in the next few weeks to start making some foods to put up on the site that will include the recipe as well. Right now, I guess I just do all my measuring by eye adding a dab of this and a pinch (or shake) of that. I’m making things that would have never appealed to me six years ago. I made this dressing last night after getting all my new stuff and I thought is was kick ass.

Here is what I used, and it really was just a quick “bit of this and that” but in the end it came out to be a really nice blend:

  • Olive oil
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Agave
  • Tahini (just a little drizzled into the mixture
  • A little red pepper flakes
  • Curry
  • Cilantro (dried)
  • Chili powder

I added some pumpkin seeds, thin slices of apples, and some cashews and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then I just poured the mixture over the top of arugula and added some grapes and cucumbers to the mix…it was really good. I don’t over power using too much of any spice, and I also only added the nuts to give a nice texture every once and a while.

I added a curtain to the window today, and I plan on adding the other curtain to the sliding door tomorrow. I decided to create a design for the six inch header under the counter top and I’ll be adding a bean, nut and legume mosaic. That should keep me busy for a few days!

Have a great rest of the July 4th weekend!

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Finding My Voice

Jul 3

Posted by admin in Raw Thoughts | No Comments

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Back in November 08′, my closest friend introduced me to the world of blogging. Before that time, I was content to just float around online, clicking on anything that intrigued me or tickled me. I didn’t know how much it would impact my life personally because quite frankly, I really didn’t think anyone would read my mental diarrhea. After she helped me launch my first site, The Alopecian Muse, I was hooked. It was a turbulent time in my life because just as I was getting the hang of blogging, our world was turned upside down when we had to flee our home due to toxic mold. We left everything we owned behind, including the computer I was using! Geez, talk about horror right? What do you do without a computer? The computer became a gateway of sorts to finding my voice. Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of ready opinions, but there was something about blogging and staying connected to not only my readers, but also to the online communities that I had grown so fond of. The dilemma of being computer-less was taken care of when I was presented a new one as a gift when I arrived out here in New Mexico. Our lives from the time we entered NM has been in a constant state of flux. There have been times where it was impossible to blog and there have been times when things going on in the world were just so overwhelming, I didn’t even know how to properly express my inner angst. So why start yet another blog? I do have a category on my main blog site that has a category “Ravishingly Raw,” but I just thought it would be better not to overwhelm the blog with just one particular topic. I like to mix things up a bit.

I was thinking about what my intentions were in creating this site, and the only thing I could come up with was that life is far more than food. While the name of this site is “Ravishingly Raw” I want the focus to be more on being ravishing in all I do. Food is just a vehicle and shouldn’t preoccupy the majority of my life. When we are “cooked” we don’t really think much about what we eat, we just smell something and say, “Oooo, I’m in the mood for this or that,” open the fridge or cabinet, grab it and heat it up. With raw foods it is a little more entailed, but I still don’t think we should be spending hours preparing foods. I want my life to be the focus, not what I put in my mouth. On average it usually takes me about 20 minutes to prepare my meals, and I only eat once or twice a day. I only eat when my body wants food, and I sit and enjoy whatever I create. Back when I was raw the first time, I used to sit for hours dreaming up new creations and then spending just as much time preparing very complex recipes. But that was my life, my everything! My husband and I taught workshops, catered parties and provided a raw food delivery service, so how could it not be my life right? Well, what about this time around? The temptation is to move back into teaching and doing workshops, catering and providing a raw meal service, but I couldn’t commit ourselves to that. We are in a different place in our lives now, and for the majority of people that are choosing to go raw, I don’t know if they want to scrap their identity and do a major overhaul of their whole lives to teach and provide raw foods to others. For some reason it seems like the natural progression of a raw foodist. They start out raw, love it and all the sudden they are teaching others. There’s nothing wrong with teaching others, but we can’t forget about our heart’s desire either. What is our passion? What do we want out of this life, and how do we accomplish what we want while being raw? Being a raw foodist means different things to different people. Bottom line is that you eat raw foods. That couldn’t be more simple right? But rules and regulations have been put on such a wonderful lifestyle, causing inner turmoil in the hearts of others. I’ve seen the back biting if a person isn’t 100% raw from so-called veterans that have been raw for more than a few years. I would like to see the shift from always talking about food (which is a distraction from our lives) to talking about who we are and who we are becoming, all the while becoming more radiant and healthy along the way.

Some choose raw foods as a way to loose weight, conquer addictions and to cure diseases that may have taken root. Ok, say you lose the weight, conquer those addictions and cure your ailments…now what? What does your life look like and how how are you living it? Is it always about the food? Or is there more? I want to know what makes a person’s life more radiant…more Ravishing.

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My Raw Kitchen

Jul 1

Posted by admin in My Raw Kitchen | No Comments

I’ll tell you, that there is nothing like having your own designated space for preparing raw foods. I highly recommend it if you have the chance. We needed to create a separate space for me because my grand daughter Simone is allergic to a lot of different foods. I may post pictures of her on here from time to time, but if you’d like to read more about Simone (we call her Simmi), you can go to my blog “Loving Simone” and read all about her.

We converted our sun porch into my raw kitchen and it is coming along very nicely. I still don’t have everything I need for it, but we are getting there slowly but surely. Almost everything that is in my raw kitchen is from salvaged materials off of the Craigslist free section, or from Freecycle.  I still need a dehydrator, small fridge, more powerful blender and a juicer, but believe it or not, you can still be raw without those things. Well, I do have a fridge, but it is in my main kitchen, however, I wanted a small fridge to go under my counter top. I can not purchase certain things right now without having a separate fridge to store them in. Things like Tahini, almond butter, nuts and seeds or meals prepared using these foods.

We had dreamed up many uses for the sun porch, but in the end it became the perfect solution for my raw dilemma because it not only provides a safe place to prepare nuts, seeds and wheat berries, but I can also close the sliding door leading to the main part of the house and it won’t disturb Simmi or anyone else inside. Blenders, food processors, dehydrators and some juicers can be very noisy. Especially a dehydrator that needs to be on for more than three or four hours.

The room is bright and sunny, but it was definitely in need of a new paint job. We used left over paint that we used in our main kitchen and we had just enough. The trim was painted using left over paint from our living room. The shelves were relocated from the utility closet and painted. We didn’t have to cut the shelves because they were the EXACT length I needed. The counter top, wood we used for the counter top support and frame, and the flooring were all salvaged from materials off of Craigslist free section or from Freecycle. I opted to not have cabinets because I wanted to fit different things underneath the counter to save on space. In the first bay the dehydrator will go, the second is for a 4.5 cubic ft. fridge, the third bay has two large baskets for storing bowls and other containers, the fourth bay is for sprouting a variety of nuts and seeds, and the fifth bay is for a worm bin to compost all my scraps. Some of the finishing touches (purely decorative) that need to go into the room is molding to finish off the base of the lumber (I wanted a rough look to the legs) a long rug runner and curtains. I was amazed that someone offered two wicker baskets the exact size I was looking for! It is like everything so far was made to go into this kitchen.

When we first moved into this house, there was chair rail that went around the perimeter of the living room. We took it off the wall and stored it in the shed outside. I was going to offer it up on Freecycle, but after we put the shelves up, I realized we needed something to give the shelves a finished look. We went to Lowes to price out decorative molding for the front of the shelves, but it was too pricey and we don’t have a penny to spare these days. When we got back home, I remembered the molding that we ripped off the middle of the walls in the living room and realized that it would cap off the shelves perfectly. Dom measured everything and it turned out we had exactly the amount of molding needed to finish the shelves…nothing more, nothing less. How cool is that?! He also took off about a half inch from the top of the molding and with those small strips, we only need to paint them and they become the finishing touch to the floor.

The window and back sliding door are both south facing and get the majority of sun through out the day, so using a shelf below the window created the perfect space for growing herbs. I prefer fresh herbs growing because you only have to pay one time, just continue to grow, and are always readily available when a recipe demands them. I have Oregano, Lemon Balm, two pots of Arugula (which I plan to plant outside soon), Lavender, Cilantro, Dill, Thai Basil, Sage, regular Basil and Parsley so far. I love that they are there whenever I want to taste something, but don’t know what I want. (I know, I’m a strange bird)

I found a nursery in Albuquerque that sells fig trees. I was so thrilled to see that gorgeous tree because figs are my all time favorite fruit. I don’t have the money for one yet, but it is on my short list of  “gotta have’s.” I wouldn’t plant it outside until next year, and it will grace my glass slider door until I get a Myer Lemon tree.

Here is a slide I put together of the raw kitchen from start to present. As I said earlier, it’s not complete, but when it is, I’ll make another slide with everything complete:

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What’s in a Name?

Jun 29

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Chef For anyone who is raw or going raw, let me ask you a question…Why do we feel the need to name raw dishes something cooked? What is it about needing to make things “look” like cooked foods? For pasta we take out that handy little saladaco and spiral out strands of zucchini or anything that will go through it to make ribbons, take some sun dried tomatoes and regular tomatoes and make a sauce and then call it spaghetti with marinara? Why? Can’t we call it something else? I wonder if creating things to look and taste like cooked foods is a way to stay one foot in the door of that life we are leaving behind. There are recipes for Rawviolis instead of Raviolis, mock tuna fish, energy bars, pizza, bread,  and lets not forget the huge array of desserts that can be made to look like cooked food. Cake, pie, cookies, candy, ice cream and anything else you can come up…yet, are we doing ourselves a disservice by naming such beautiful foods after something that we feel is NOT good for us? I guess in my mind, it becomes a conflict of interest.

When my husband and I used to teach workshops, everyone wanted to know how to make the pizza. Back then, we definitely used cooked names for raw foods. Why? It’s what our customers wanted. We spent countless hours perfecting our recipes to model the food after things cooked. People wanted things “their way” and of course, we accommodated them as much as possible. They wanted the prepared, gourmet, rich and fatty foods. Crackers, breads, granola breakfast blends, nut milk blends, rich and tasty salad dressings, main meals and of course…dessert. At the start, we tried to call our creations by a different name, but it didn’t seem to “appeal” to their appetite. As soon as we called it by a cooked name, the orders started pouring in. Do we have such a hard time letting go of cooked food, that any remnant of that old life becomes some sort of “comfort?” I often wonder if naming a raw food “pasta”, “bread”, “crackers,” becomes a slippery slope for anyone who is trying to overcome their addiction to wheat. Is the cooked word equivalent making it difficult for people to transition as smoothly as they would like? I think it does. I believe that it can be a form of self-sabotage.

One of the beautiful effects that raw and living foods have on us is that our imagination begins to open up. We become more creative as our bodies heal…so how about starting a new trend? How about making new names for our glorious creations, and letting the cooked world keep theirs? I know that we can become creative and dream up new combinations of food and crowning it all off with a great new name.

Fresh Food of the Day

musa_velutina_300Musa Velutina- Pink Velvet Banana

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Protein Myth

Jun 27

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The Grapefruit

Jun 27

Posted by admin in Inspiration | No Comments

The Grapefruit

Written by my son Noahistock_000006343534xsmall-300x299

Pluck! The bright yellow/orange grapefruit fell into my hand. When the outside covering was stripped from the grapefruit a smell of sweet and sour citrus permeated the air. When I opened it, a dazzling pinkish color caught my eye.Its mouth-watering pulp falling down into the water.This pulp was so delicate, that if you touched it, it would most likely burst out with water.

The grapefruit tasted as if it were candy. It was so fresh and fragile that if a baby touched it, a stream of water would spurt out. It tasted like the smell, sweet and sour at the same time. The outside protective skin was just the opposite. It was bitter. Like a cherry that had not yet rippened. Although it tasted foul, it felt smooth with only a few dents in it. On the inside of the grapefruit was the white puffy skin. Just like an orange. This skin felt a little different. It was half smooth and half rough. And before I knew it, the grapefruit had vanished into my mouth.

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Starting All Over Again

Jun 27

Posted by admin in Going Raw | No Comments

figsThis is my first official blog entry at Ravishingly Raw. I came up with the name “Ravishingly Raw” about five years ago when my husband and I launched our raw catering business. My life at the moment is touch and go because of my grand daughter, but hopefully I will be posting more in the future. I have two other blogs which have suffered tremendously because of her health issues, but I do need to learn how to balance it all.

Going back to the raw and living foods lifestyle is a purely selfish move on my part. At this point in my life, I need something that belongs to only me. I can get caught up in constantly giving to others, and forget about myself. I will wear myself out doing things and at the end of the day I feel like the best part of me has slipped away. Even as I speak, my grand daughter is in the crib (not sleeping yet) and whining and fussing. She has some problems that at the moment require all of our attention. I’m emotionally exhausted and feel so worn out by the end of the day that I don’t want to talk or do anything at all. I went back to raw foods last week…balls to the wall. Usually transitioning is the best way to go raw, but for me, I needed to just do it. I’m glad I did too. The stress of life right now surrounding my grand daughter Simone would be at least 50% worse if I were still eating a regular diet. My stomach would be all in knots and my emotions would be all over the place. Feeling exhausted and not wanting to do anything at the end of the day is better than feeling freaked out and trapped.

Anyway, this entry was an introductory of sorts, just to let you all know that I am here. My hope is to reach out to other raw foodists or those who want to go raw in the Albuquerque, NM area.

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