Monday, August 16, 2010

Holiday bliss, blossoms and my raw kitchen









Nothing quite beats the feeling of a relaxed holiday. I love planning for these getaways. Andrews parents live in a lovely coastal town just 6 hours away. I marvel how cold it is here and how they never seem to have a Winter. The children swam every day. Days at the beach have definitely recharged my spirit. Andrews sister came out from Germany and our family gathered for a lovely reunion. On return, we were greeted with our peach tree in bloom. Those signs of Spring are definitely on their way and my heart is happy. I have had a few request to see what I have been up to in my raw country kitchen. Never a dull moment of course. Andrew has managed through all these cold months to keep us in supply with wheat grass and sunflower seedlings. The most powerful healthy energy in those. That is our morning starter. I have been so lucky to find mostly organic fruits and vegetables this Winter. I also have a wonderful few local online shops that I purchase my super foods from. things really seem to be falling into place. My kitchen is a buzz with constant preparation. The smell of fresh live food is a regular here too. Our orchard has been ever so kind to produce just enough greens for us too. I have had garlic hanging from my ceiling for almost a year and I am still using it. I cannot be more grateful for a growing orchard of fruit and vegetables as I am today. Growing your own live food is just such a wonderful blessing.

Here is a list of the raw food books I have in my kitchen. I made the most delicious raw cheese seen in the jar above. That has been made with pine nuts and basil,tomato and onion, then dehydrated. I have come up with some of my own recipes too. The baby marrow and dehydrated brown mushrooms in one of the photographs being one. I dehydrated my mushrooms having soaked them in olive oil and braggs. I then took some of these mushrooms and made a mushroom sauce with cashew nuts and a little warm water. That made a lovely meal. I too have purchased the equipment to help me on this journey and I must say that makes all the difference in preparation.

Book list~

The art of raw living ~Doreen virtue and Jenny Ross
The raw transformation ~Wendy Rudell
Living Cuisine ~Renee Loux Underkoffler
Living in the raw ~ Rose lee Calabro
Ani's Rawfood desserts ~ Ani Phyo
Raw for dessert ~ Jennifer Cornbleet
Sweet gratitude ~ Matthew Rogers and Tiziana Tamborra
Rawlicious (our local South African book) Peter and Beryn Daniel

Its wonderful to be back and in high spirits ready to face a new Season . I hope you are all so very happy and well~!

Lots of love
Suzanne

14 comments:

Linda said...

Hello my friend:)
Sounds like you had a lovely holiday. Your raw kitchen looks wonderful and thanks for the raw links:)
xo
Linda

Bending Birches said...

hi lovely lady!
glad to see that you have returned:)
All the food looks scrumptious...mmm....esp. that pie! (hello, sweet tooth!)
looking forward to reading your updates:)

suzanne said...

Hi Linda and Rebecca

Thank you for popping by. Its great to be back . I will visit soon too.

Warm regards
Suzanne

Ariad said...

Looks delicious! And the beach looks lovely too. Hope you had a great holiday.

Susan said...

Hello my dear friend~You sound invigorated by your holiday and your raw dishes are so inviting. Spring will do that to you!

I've missed you, but know get-aways with the family are a must. Love & xoxo, Susan

Tonya Gunn said...

So nice to "hear" from you Suzanne.
Glad you are well and as you are opening up to embrace spring, we are closing in on more routine and will be slowly drawing inward as we welcome autumn.
Warm wishes, Tonya

Kelly said...

Hello my dear friend,
I am sure you all feel so refreshed after being by the sea. It really looks so beautiful there. How wonderful that your family in Germany were able to join all of you this year! Special memories must have been made. I can't believe how good all that raw food looks. Really so very tasty. And spring is now reaching you..hooray! It has been a cold winter for you. Have a wonderful week.

valarie said...

Hi Suzanne,
I'm so glad you had a great holiday with your family. It looks so lovely there. It's great to hear that spring is on it's way. Maybe that means that autumn is on it's way here. We are having quite a heat streak here. Thanks for all of the great references on raw food eating. I've been interested in this for a long time.

Dina said...

welcome back. your raw kitchen looks very inviting and so interesting. Thanks for the links

Unknown said...

How beautiful the beaches are, with the rough African seas! Sounds like you had a wonderful time with your family. I look forward to a complete raw food adventure some time in the near future. Your food looks absolutely scrumptious.

Theresa said...

Yum.
I'm moving in.
OK?
Hope you got the CD...

Hullabaloo Homestead said...

I too have been pulled into the area of raw. I have a coupel of friends who gathered at my house tonight to share some raw foods. It was great and I am noticing how important it is to have some support and people around you that understand what the heck raw eating even is! Your food looks absolutely delicious! That cake!!

:)Lisa

Hullabaloo Homestead said...

Thought you might enjoy this raw endeavor. So simple and delicious!

http://www.earthmama101.com/2010/08/peach-cobbler.html

:)Lisa

Jenny of Elefantz said...

I'm new to your blog, but love that your journeying through the raw food way of living. I have dabbled, and wish I could go further, but my family are not in any way for it.
A couple of other great books are Serene Allison's 'Rejuvenate Your Life', and Matt Amsden's "RAWvolution".
We also homeschool...isn't it a wonderful thing to do!?