Denver Update While Back in Santa Rosa

To encapsulate my trip to Denver in a short blog post would not do the trip justice but I want to share a few of the highlights.


Off the bat, I got to go to Boulder with my friend Jules and eat at Leaf restaurant which has great small plates and main course dishes, most more than passable such as the spring rolls, Asian seaweed salad (don't let the seaweed in the title scare you) and the chopped salad. The blackened tofu was disappointing in both amount of tofu and technique but was the only flaw of the evening. The roasted beet ravioli was beautiful and also quite tasty. Dessert was good but made the after-dinner walk essential as I was pretty stuffed. I really enjoyed the walk down the Pearl Street Mall and think that Boulder has a Santa Cruz feel and liken it to a number of other cities such as Ocean Beach (San Diego), Austin, TX and Madison, WI to name a few.


Another highlight was meeting Mary of Mary's Gone Crackers which is part of my travel pack that I wrote about yesterday. I was thrilled that Mary came to see what the culinary people were up to, and cared enough to provide some delicious gluten-free education.


The conference topic was sustainability and there were lots of opinions. I have to say that I was no wallflower when it came to mine, and many heard about it. I am happy that I had a chance at the microphone more than once. I got to address the 600+ in attendace to bring up my issues with eating local, and how people aren't willing to give up their coffee, tea, chocolate or sugar. Chef Michel Nischan said that we need to value what we trade and it must be efficient. Flooding Texas to grow rice instead of importing it from India (or other places in the far east) is not sustainable.

Fred Kirschenmann also commented but Nischan found that Fred's comment didn't really address the issue. I just wanted people to realize that trade has always been important in eating.

Another big highlight was eating at Root Down, located in a converted 1950s gas station. My friend Katie Alvord said that she's thinks that it's a great reuse for such a place. Considering the funky and recycled way that they upgraded it to a classy place, she is right. It appeared to be a local hot spot, despite not being on the lips of many IACP members (probably because they've only been open 3 months). Many members flocked to toney places such as Rioja, Bones and Frasca which meant that we didn't have IACP competitors and enjoyed the meal immensely. Great for all eaters with amazing cocktails containing herbs and other botanicals.

The best part of the conference revolves around all the incredible colleagues that I meet. Some are known such as John Ash, Peter Reinhart, Joanne Weir, David Joachim and Andrew Schloss (just a small smattering), and others are less well known but equally as much fun to hang around, and these include my good friend Fran Costigan, Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo, Rebecca of the blog From Argentina with Love , Ragavan Iyer and far too many other people to list. We share a bond but we also share that with you, for we all eat every day. Most of us, though, are privileged that we have enough food on our plates every day.

I often,think of others who need more, here in the US and abroad. I am working on ways to teach them to eat better with food abundance or not. I hope that you will do the same.

Back to Blogging -- The Fancy Food Show and More

After 2 days of standing on my feet and managing the kitchen at SOMA mushroom camp where we served an all-out mushroom meal to 240 happy people, I attended the Fancy Food Show, where I walked the floor of Moscone Center for many more hours.

Luckily at Moscone, I was buoyed by chocolate. I mean lots of chocolate. One of the first booths that I arrived at was Newtree chocolate. They have a functional and nutritional line (right!) that contains roasted flax and rice crisps which are made to resemble a bar made by Nestle. This is quite unlike the bars from my youth as they are made with Belgian chocolate, high quality ingredients and each bar likely retails for around $5. But they score high on the tasty scale, and if you're going to eat something decadent such as chocolate, you really want the good stuff, which for me, is at least 65% cacao content. (They were included in my story on the new chocolates that I wrote for Natural Food Network magazine last year.)


After starting off with chocolate, I was on my quest for new beverages and found 2 very new ones at O.N.E., a company now known for its coconut water. Their newest products are Coffee berry which is just what it says, with the caffeine content of green tea, and cashew fruit. They are unlike any other fruity beverage and worth trying if you are looking for fruit juice. (I don't drink much fruit juice.)

Next I encountered old-fashioned sodas called Fentimans. I generally don't drink soda but had to try this because they had one with dandelion and burdock root, both of which are good for your liver. (They don't make any claims about their drinks.) It was tasty, as were all their products, most of which are ginger-based. If you're going to drink a sweetened carbonated beverage this might be a good choice.

Aloe drinks were prevalent. And I also saw a drink made from with hibiscus, and another with rose juice.

I could go on and on about what I saw but will now just write a short round-up. Be on the lookout for more gluten-free products, tea of all types, especially in biodegradeable bags and packaging, more chocolate than you'd ever want to eat (and I mean ever), exotic fruit in lots of different items and the next great thing. It just could be roasted flax from Flax USA in North Dakota (which I will be giving away in March for National Nutrition Month).

And if you want to get an amazing tea maker, to go with all that tea be on the lookout for the Analon one that has 6 different settings for your type of tea. But you better start saving your pennies now for later, as it comes with the hefty price tag of $350.

The one thing that I did get while there was an amazing grinder called The Spice Ratchet which I will be selling along with my new herb and spice blends which are in the works.

I am still sorting through all my Fancy Food show information so expect to hear more, hopefully before you see it on store shelves.

The 'Veggie Queen Finds All Kinds of Tea at New Mexico Tea Company

I just wrote about tea for Vegan Culinary Experience online magazine but somehow I didn't know about New Mexico Tea Company when I wrote the story. They contacted me on Twitter about their rooibos tea with vanilla and blood orange. And I am looking forward to trying it.

If you've read this blog, you know that I am a big tea advocate so I am drooling a bit, into my tea cup, as I look at the New Mexico Tea company website. Heck, if I had put a link to the site in my story, I wouldn't have had to write anything at all about tea -- it's all on there. From white to green, black and oolong to Pu-erh plus 41 herbal tisanes, which are more up my alley.

If you're into tea and don't have a wonderful tea shop, like I do here in Sonoma County at Infusions in Sebastopol, then check out New Mexico Tea Company online or next time you are in Albuquerque. I can honestly say that I have not yet tried their products but love the way that they have divided up the tisanes into categories, including medicinal.

Remember that plants are your best medicine, so get them everyday. Tea certainly makes the grade and will enhance your life if you give it a chance.

Stevia Approved for use In Soda

You will see the new Coke soon with stevia. I am not sure how this will affect the soda drinking public but we shall see, likely a few years from now. This blog post chronicles the history of sweeteners. It's very interesting.

I say, drink water, drink tea, drink juice and stay away from soda, unless you've fermented it yourself. To find out more about that, check out how to make your own root beer.

Learning to eat and drink real foods is vitally important to your health. Choose whole foods most often, especially during this chaotic season.

A good dose of garlic, hot chilies, shiitake mushrooms and miso in some combination will likely do you good.

Getting and Staying Hydrated in the Winter with Tea

I cooked myself a delicious lunch today of onions, blue potatoes, red pepper, garlic, spicy tempeh and greens. I ate quite a bit and felt satisfied but it was a late lunch, around 2 p.m. After I ate, I realized that I hadn't even finished my morning cup of tea.

A couple of hours after eating, I thought that I was hungry and was tempted to eat the rest of my delicious tempeh lunch dish when I realized that I had only had 1 cup of tea (it's a giant 24 ounce cup) all day. I thought that maybe if I had another cup of tea, my hunger would subside.

Often, instead of drinking and getting hydrated, we reach for food. So, following my own best advice, I am now drinking a cup of Rooibos (red bush) and lemongrass tea. And it is very satisfying.

I drink a lot of tea in the winter, and my tea choices change according to my mood and health. I consume a lot more medicinal teas in the winter than any other time of year. I also think that it's easy to not notice when you are thirsty in the winter, although indoor heat is drying.

Having just turned on our heat for the first time just days ago, I had forgotten about the drying effect of heat, and now remember how easy it is to get dehydrated when it's cooler out. Hot tea can also be warming, especially if your fingers are cold and you hold the cup.

Discover your favorite teas or hot drinks, such as Teecino, and make yourself many cups all winter. If you'd like to know my absolute favorite winter time drinks, leave me a comment.