Taste of Place

I will be vending at the next Taste of Place market by Root Sellers. This event is December 11th in Niwot at the Left Hand Grange. Please come out and support local foods and entrepreneurs! Mention that you heard about the market here or on Facebook and I'll give you a free treat!

I plan on bringing Kava beverages, Guarana Fudge, Herbal hard candies, Teas, Flower Essence Sprays and Tinctures.

Taste of Place: A Holiday Artisan Food and Craft Market will be held on December 11 from 10:00am-2:00pm at the Left Hand Grange in Niwot. The market will feature a wide variety of foods and crafts made by local artisans, so come ready to do some holiday shopping!

Roast Chicken

Do you remember the commercial with the mom in the kitchen, reading her romance novel, who then throws flour in her face and flounces out with a perfectly cut plate of rice krispy treats? Her family is vastly appreciative of her hard work producing such a culinary delight. They're so good, they must take skill and effort!

That is what roasting a chicken is like. To those who don't know how to do it, it must take great skill to produce! They are tasty, but they are also ridiculously easy to prepare.

Roast Chicken

I heat the oven to 375 F, rinse the chicken, place it in a roasting pan, sprinkle it with whatever spices catch my fancy that day, and put it in the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Sometimes I get all herb-lady-fancy and smash fresh herbs in a mortar and pestle with sea salt and olive oil. Those herbs get tucked under the skin, or you can cut into the flesh and tuck them away inside the bird.

I wrap a few sweet potatoes in foil and put those next the chicken.

This dinner is always well received. Being allergen-free, there is no food coma, despite the tryptophan content of the chicken. This is a happy belly meal!

The best thing about this meal, is that you can use the carcass to make a nourishing bone broth, which will help to feed you for the rest of the week.

Broken Bone Soup

chicken carcass, with larger bones cracked or cut to expose marrow

Onions

Garlic

Veggie Scraps

Splash of Vinegar

Tonic herbs like Shiitake, Astragalus, Codonopsis

Place all of the above into a crockpot, cover with water. Heat on low for 12-24 hours. Strain to remove solids.

You can freeze this in ice cube trays, and pop a cube into anything else you cook to boost the nutrition. You can add a cube or more to grains, other soups, stews, casseroles, etc. Heat and sip when you're feeling a little off, and with the minerals from the bones, it is especially good for you when you've broken a bone of your own.

Paleo economy

Sometimes concessions are made in efforts to balance a Paleo diet with economic realities. Subsidized grains make dinner immediately cheaper, but don't pay off in the long run. Tonight's dinner is ALMOST Paleo, I stretched things a bit with Lentils. I'm also using up some older spices in the pantry, and random ingredients that I find tucked away. This is free of Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy and Nuts.

Soak 1 C lentils in filtered water overnight. Drain and rinse. Soak several handfuls of dried mushrooms in filtered water overnight. Do not drain. Add drained lentils and undrained mushrooms to Crockpot, along with lots of dried onions, dried minced garlic, a can of green chilies, several shakes of chipotle hot sauce, diced sweet potato, 1 C chicken broth, and 2 C filtered water. Let that cook all day.

In a separate skillet, brown 1 pound of ground meat, I used goat. When cooked, remove all but what you need for your meal, refrigerate leftovers. Add washed and torn spinach to the meat you've kept in the skillet. Put in more than you think you need, it cooks down. Cook until spinach is just cooked, and is a dark yet bright green. I didn't season the goat and spinach, as I put a lot of flavor in the crockpot, but I could have, it would have been fine.

Mix together enough of the crock pot concoction and your goat with spinach to make a hearty serving, add a splash of your favorite vinegar, and enjoy! The leftovers keep well, and can feed a single person for 3 or 4 more meals.

In this recipe I used dried mushrooms, garlic and onions, and canned green chilis because I am making way for this year's fresh ingredients. Economy is using what you have, and everything was hiding in the freezer, pantry or came in today's CSA share. Vinegar gives your dish some sparkle, and increases the availability of the minerals in the spinach.

Ingredients:

1C Lentils

1C Mushrooms

Sweet Potato

1 C Chicken Broth

Onions

Garlic

1 can Green Chilis

Chipotle hot sauce

1 pound Ground Goat

Spinach

Vinegar

Brown Sugar

Are you still using sugar to sweeten your foods and beverages? While I don't promote sugar, I do understand that sometimes it's the most appealing or appropriate option. What can we do to change white sugar from the highly processed, nutritionally bereft crystalline powder it is into something better?

Add Blackstrap Molasses! Blackstrap Molasses is part of the sugar refining process. Blackstrap contains all of the minerals that have been removed to make sugar white. The problem is that Blackstrap Molasses isn't very sweet. It's actually pretty potent stuff. I love it, but it doesn't help me sweeten my tea on the hot summer days when sugar is what I want.

So, I make my own brown sugar, for those occasions when Stevia, Xylitol or Honey aren't my first choice.

I pour a cup or so of sugar into a jar, and then pour some blackstrap on top of that. Mix together with a fork until you've done the best you can. The bottom will be lighter, but you can put the lid on the jar and shake it until it mixes the rest of the way. Make it as dark as you want!

Blackstrap contains minerals, including Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese and Selenium. There are also trace amounts of some B Vitamins.

Commercial brown sugar and turbinado sugar have slightly more nutrition than white sugar, but it is a slight difference when compared to what you'll have when you make your own with Blackstrap.

A Call to Healers

A Call To Healers ~ The energy is shifting, changes are accelerating, and it is time to get it together. Wrap up your loose ends and deal with the obstacles that prevent you from authentically offering your gifts to the World in Service. Be ready, make a difference, change. What are you waiting for? Love, Pachamama

Sometimes I feel so helpless in the face of things like Natural Disasters and Politics. The scope of what's happening compared to the size of just one person can be daunting. There is fear, and a lack of control. Sometimes there is also a feeling of victimization. Sometimes I get sucked into the political thing, and sometimes I believe the corporate media machine. Sometimes I would prefer to pretend none of it is happening, but that doesn't gel with my solution-oriented personality.

So what do we do? How can we make a difference in the face of such magnitude?

I am reminded that there are many ways to make a difference, some subtle, and some overt. For me, it's the subtle ways that make me feel better. The subtle ways hone my skills and strengthen me.

There are countless forms of energy work. Some are learned, some are gifted, some are intuitively known. All have the ability to make the world a better place, through improving the health of Earth's inhabitants and/or Earth herself.

It can be simple or complex, and I'll be the first to admit that I prefer simple. Here are some of the things I do when I have a problem or challenge that needs my attention, that you can do, too:

• Light a candle with an affirmation and focused intent relevant to the problem you want solved
• Reiki given to yourself, others and the Earth
• Prayer in all forms
• Visualizations of your desired outcome
• Pray to running water - the hydrolic cycle will take that energy around the world. Check out Masaru Emoto's work: Dr Masaru Emoto's Water Crystals
• Tonglen is a meditation technique for relieving suffering. This can be applied to Natural Disasters.

Everything helps, and I encourage you to do whatever works for you!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" - Gandhi

Gem Essences

I had a beautiful time this weekend working on my continuing education. I participated in an Advanced Gem Essence Workshop in Boulder with my Mentor and Herbalist Sisters. It was a wonderful reconnection to the Pachamama, the Cosmos, the soul, and sweet Sisters.

Stones, Crystals, Gems, Rocks - they have so much medicine to share with us. The more you try, the more time you spend asking and listening, the clearer the messages are.

Gem Essences are similar to Flower Essences, in that they help us with our mental and emotional "stuff". Gems differ in that they offer more foundational/structural support, with some of them directly affecting the Chakras.

I use Gem Essences along with Flower Essences in my practice. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in learning more about how essences can help you with your process!

Energetic Self-Care and the New Moon

I have found that when I am working with the cycles of Nature, instead of stubbornly trying to forge my own path, life flows gracefully, and I am able to accomplish what I want with ease. Here we are, with the energy of the New Moon reminding us to look within, and clean house. I am shining light on my dark corners, clearing and organizing cluttered spaces, and facing my personal demons head on.

A smudge a day keeps the Hucha away. Hucha is heavy energy. Everyone has "stuff", and that stuff can build up the same as the way dust bunnies accumulate in the corners of your home.

What do you do for your energetic self care?

My self care changes from day to day, but I try to pull from the following:
Affirmations
Smudging
Eating wild foods
Eating breakfast outside
Flower and Gem Essences to help with balance
Herbal Infusions
Carrying/wearing stones and crystals
Gardening
Soaking my feet
Reiki
Meditation
Singing to plants
Painting
Maya Spiritual Baths
Time in Nature

If you'd like help coming up with some self-care options that work for you, please don't hesitate to call or email. I would be honored to help you.

It's Just A Plant

I still can't wrap my head around how we've become so far removed from Nature that a single plant can be considered a threat worthy of testimony, prohibition, regulations, fear and armed police response. Why do people feel the need to fight against nature? There are enough real things to fear in this world, I see no need to create more bogeymen.

Verna L Luttrell 1926-2010

It's undeniable that my Grandma Verna was loved by so many who knew her. As a child, I remember that everywhere we went, she knew people. She was always running into former students, and they were so happy to see her.

My Grandma Verna was a big part of my childhood. She taught me about conservation, energy efficiency and the difference between a want and a need. She taught me to stand my ground, and hang onto what's important. She pointed out what it meant to be idealistic. She told me to treat myself once a week. She taught my Mother how to cook when my parents got married, and for that and much more, I was given her middle name. I have her nose, her eyes, her stature, and her metabolism. She told me once that I reminded her of her Mother, which I took to be an enormous compliment.

I think the most important thing that I have learned from my Grandma Verna is that I have choices. I may choose how to be affected by what happens in my life. I may choose my situations, my perspectives, my actions. Life is what you make of it. I was fortunate to have such a strong woman as a role model.

I have long thought that to make a difference in this world, you can do the most good by working locally, and working with kids. My Grandma Verna did exactly that. I will continue striving to live a life she would be proud of.

Article published January 20, 2010 VERNA L. LUTTRELL, 1926-2010
Teacher served on neighboring district's board
By MARK ZABORNEY
BLADE STAFF WRITER

LAMBERTVILLE - Verna L. Luttrell, 83, a retired Whiteford home economics teacher under whose watch boys and girls learned parenting and consumer skills and nutrition, died Friday in Marwood Nursing and Rehab, Port Huron, Mich. She had heart and other health problems, her son Bradley said. Mrs. Luttrell retired in 1991 after 23 years at Whiteford Middle School/High School. "She was very dedicated to her profession," said Jerry Wing, Whiteford superintendent from 1985 to 1991. She aced the transition from all-girl classes centered on home skills to the co-ed umbrella, "life-management skills." She once was honored as Michigan consumer educator of the year, said Richard Gunn, Whiteford Middle School/High School principal from 1976 to 2004. Sex education was part of her family living classes. She was on the committee to develop the curriculum. "Her kids respected her," Mr. Gunn said. "In the classroom, a lot of them called her 'Mom.' They would come to her with personal problems, because she created the climate of being open to them."

She volunteered readily for after-school committees, Mr. Gunn said. Next door in Bedford Township, where she lived, she served on the Bedford Board of Education from 1976 to 1984. After her last term, she received the Keys to Boardsmanship Award of Merit from the Michigan Association of School Boards.

Mrs. Luttrell was born Aug. 2, 1926, and grew up on a farm near Secor and Sterns roads. She was a graduate of Whitmer High School and Bowling Green State University. When her sons became Cub Scouts, she was a den mother. She continued to volunteer as they became Boy Scouts, and she received an award for her leadership, her son Bradley said. She and several BGSU classmates traveled the world. "Once she retired, she had a passion to go everywhere," her son said. She was formerly married to the late Hugh Luttrell. Surviving are her sons, Bradley, Richard, and Rodney, 10 grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. The body will be in the Reeb Funeral Home, Sylvania, after 4 p.m. tomorrow. Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday in Lambertville United Methodist Church, where she was a member. The family suggests tributes to the church or the Whiteford high school library.

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them. ~ Henry David Thoreau