Good raw blogs, thoughts and quotes from Anastasia

As I go to write this I keep thinking of something I read last night - an article about what makes a good raw food blog. The #1 thing is to stay on the topic of raw food. Damn.. I was going to post thoughts/ideas/quotes from the 3rd Anastasia book I just finished. (Its just too hard for me to keep it in - I love to share this stuff - and to me it is related but it's not directly about food)

#2 is quality writing. Yikes, I'm not sure if I'm capable of that either.. I didn't ace English class or anything. hmmm...
#3 - photos are a bonus. I think I probably should get a digital camera if I am going to keep this up.
(I am starting to wonder at this point what I am doing here ; )
#4 is posting is current or has a solid ending. That I can do!
ok, I'm staying..I'll just have to work on the above.

& Thank you for the advice. I love the raw blog I got it from:
Raw Food, Right Now - The raw blog for people who live in the real world
I just found this site last night.. lots to explore.
& I was looking at the link Raw Girl in Japan
ok, now that I have some Raw content I will continue onto my thoughts. These are all taken from the 3rd Anastasia book "The Space of Love" by Vladimir Megre.
(& I've added raw pics, of course!)

My favorite fact from the book, although I am not sure where in it I read it, you will have to take my word for this one..and this one is huge. It is that 'Every rock has a pulse which beats once per day'. That's so cool! I always thought of them as living.. but never thought of them as having a pulse.. makes sense though.

quote from p 156: "Perhaps we should give our children the freedom to grow up without our dogma. And then ask the children where and which way to go."

p 155: "The time will come when mankind will understand. The most important scientists will come and pay a visit to the grandmother on her plot of land. Famished. they will ask her to give them a tomato for something to eat. The scientists and their illusory creations are not needed by that grandmother today. She knows nothing of them herself, nor does she want to know.She lives a quiet life without the scientists' help, while the can not live without her. The inhabit a world of fruitless illusions, leading nowhere. She is with the natural earth and the whole Universe. The Universe needs her, it does not need them."

"In trying to gain the grace of a holy place, think what you might offer in return. And if you have not learned to emit light yourself, then why take it and bury it in yourself, as though in a grave?"
~Anastasia p 139

on Anastasia recognizing her soul for the first time: "All at once, sensing my gaze, the wolf started wagging her tail. Then I began to notice how all the creatures were so delighted when I looked at them with joy and tenderness. How big they were or how far away they were was not important. They were delighted just from my looking at them, or my thinking about them with love. I realized they were just as happy as they had been earlier when I was stroking them with my hand. "Then I became aware of something. Here was 'I' with my hands and feet, and yet there was also this other me, larger than could be shown by someone's hands. And this larger, invisible entity was also me. That meant every Man was set up just like me. And this larger me was indeed capable of embracing the whole Earth."

last thought of the day - well, not not even close!!! lol .. last thought for this post:
The Forces of Light "are all the bright thoughts ever produced by people. All space is filled with them."
We have access to every question, every answer, all of the information of the universe. "Everything depends upon the purity of one's thoughts, and the motive for asking."

apples pic from http://www.ritterfarms.com/apples.html
oranges from http://www.hermann-uwe.de/taxonomy/term/558
strawberries from http://www.caes.uga.edu/news/kits/gaagres/commodities/strawberries.html
blueberries from http://www.stemilt.com/2006/products.php?t=berries
watermelon from http://www.watermelon.org/watermelon_festivals.asp

Juicing and crackers

I have been adding more juices into my diet lately. I am trying to make a big green juice every morning before I go to work.. I have this technique of getting the dark greens in. Because I don't enjoy them as much I usually seperate my cut up veggies and put the stronger vegetables - kale, chard, etc through first with just enough carrot, romaine or celery to make it palatable.. usually 1/2 glass.. down that while I make the rest of the lighter greens.. more carrot, romaine, celery..

It works for me. Also.. I have been experimenting with making crackers with the left over pulp. Especially when you are using all these gorgeous organic vegetables.. its nice to use the whole thing. My last batch was the best. These are mild.. almost remind me of a 'Triscut' (s/p?) type cracker.. see? I'm forgetting already! : )
Vegetable crackers

2 c vegetable pulp
1/2 c sunflower seeds - soaked together with:
1/2 c pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 c flax seeds ground
1T tamari
1 T agave
1 1/2 c water (approx)

Drain seeds and process until chunky in food processor. Add flax, pulp, tamari and agave and process together.. mine was fairly fine, adding enough water to process smoothly and so it is thin enough to spread onto teflex easily.

My vegetable pulp had lots of carrot & some beet, kale, celery, romaine

Dehydrate overnight, remove teflex, flip onto mesh and contine dehydrating 6 hrs approx.. give or take a few hours.. dehydrating is so easy!

juice pic from http://www.soymilkquick.com

We Like it Raw, GLiving, Sarma, Spicy Thai vegetable wraps, Ginger Tea and my new dentist

2 great resources for the raw foodist:

We Like It Raw - 'We Like It Raw is about bringing presence to food. We cover superfoods, supermodels and sustainability, testimonials, restaurant reviews and so much more.'
I like their before and after page.

GLiving - The Contemporary Green Lifestyle Network
'The G Living Network is all about a next-generation lifestyle simply called G. The G Lifestyle is the next generations preferred lifestyle.'
Check out their food section and their green chefs. Some great videos!

Both of these 2 links have Sarma of Pure Food and Wine as a guest blogger/chef.
Her (& Matthew's) book Raw Food, Real World is one of my favorite raw books!

One of my favorite recipes of hers is the Spicy Thai Vegetable Wraps

Can you tell I am having fun with the links button now that I've finally figured it out!

I went to a new dentist yesterday. I think I am going to absolutely love it there. They served me fresh squeezed carrot juice after my 1st appt. I went back for a second appointment (cleaning) a few hours later.. it was that good! They served a ginger tea that was amazing.. but had brown sugar in it. So I copied it, raw style, last night.. I may be hooked onto something new.
It's so easy, so good!

Ginger Tea

1/2 " ginger peeled & sliced
1/2 lemon - juiced
Pour in water, just hot enough not to burn your finger and let steep a few minutes.
Strain and add agave to taste

Darryl Hannah, lovelife - Live Food Episode and Pure Food and Wine

Darryl Hannah has our car on her show!!!!
The exquisitely beautiful Tesla Roadster.. and also in RED!

You can see her show, about electric cars and with footage of the beautiful Tesla.

The dh love life show

"You can not make gasoline on the roof of your house. You can make electrons on the roof of your house.. you can power your car with your rooftop."

(Our, above, meaning my partner-to-be, who first found this car..
& who also told me Hannah is raw.

Last night I found this on YouTube

Daryl Hannah, Love Life - Live Food Episode



p.s. Oma is going to NYC. I told her she had to go to Pure Food and Wine for me.
Now Jim wants to take me this summer! : )
here's a clip for you.

Happy Mothers Day!

I am reading a part in the 3rd Anastasia book (The Space of Love by Vladimir Megre) where she talks about being against systems. She has an anti-system. I like anti-systems. Systems never work out in the end when we apply them to our life because we are part of nature and nature doesn't go with systems, it is intuitive and flowing and changing all the time. Systems and rules are static, fixed, inert. ie. It would be hard to follow rules of watering outside plants according to a schedule because rain does not fall according to a schedule.

She asked if people in our society are happy & he replied, not very. Everyone seems to have something not quite right in their lives, not enough money, illnesses, quarrels etc. To that Anastasia questions how can we expect our children to escape the same unhappiness if we squeeze them into the same system we have all been brought up in.. that they will grow up to be like everyone else - not very happy. It is a repeated pattern.

"No Matter what the system. It is still only a system. It is always calculated to wean the heart and soul away from Man when he is still small and subject him to the system. So that he grows up like everyone else, in a way that will fit the system. And so it goes on for ages on end, so as to prevent the human soul from experiencing clarity of vision. To prevent Man from discovering himself in his beauty as a whole, with a God-given soul." p 108

I am blessed to have my Mom for may reasons. One most important one to me is for having been given the freedom when I was young to make decisions on my own. ..and treated with respect and honour for the decisions I made. I always felt - even if they were seemingly unwise decisions, that they were respected. Thank you!

Anastasia says in regard to parenting: "They must not interfere, they need to see their children clearly in their own thinking the way God himself has wished. It is the aspiration of all the forces of Light in the Universe that each newborn child be endowed with the very best of creation. It is the parents duty not to hide the creative light under the erudition of invented dogmas. For ages upon the Earth debates have arisen as to which system might be the wisest. But think about it yourself, Vladimir. Debates arise where Truth is hid from sight. Fruitless debates can go on forever more as to what might be found behind the closed door. But one only has to open the door and it will be clear to all, and there will be nothing to debate, since everyone will be able to see the Truth for himself."

Everyone wants happiness. But we have forgotten the way to happiness. "That is why we perpetrate violence out of good intentions".
We need to get back to nature and follow our hearts. We need to open the eyes of the soul and gain awareness. We need to look at life with an open heart.
There are many systems but there is only one Truth.

Your soul knows this Truth and it makes you very happy.


I wish all the Mothers everywhere a very Happy Mother's day!!!


P.S.I think eating raw leads one in a path towards the Truth. It's not something to debate, it is something that is felt deep in your soul.

"Ashes and Snow" photographer screens rarely-seen film

"Ashes and Snow" photographer screens rarely-seen film

For more than a decade, Gregory Colbert has traveled the world and collaborated with 40+ species to create "Ashes and Snow," a ground-breaking exhibition of more than 100 photographs and three films, housed in the Nomadic Museum. Colbert's extraordinary sepia-toned images reveal a rarely seen poetic beauty in man's relationship to the animal kingdom.

Junk food Rant

Junk food Rant by Storm from www.thegardendiet.com

Raw news - Restaurants and articles with glass mandalas

In the Raw news..
In Lowell, they're lining up for Life Alive cafe's raw deal
from Boston.com - May 9, 2005
by Rosie DeQuattro

& their website - Live Alive

Raw affirmation
theage.com.au - Australia - May 8, 2007
by Christine Mahlke

This article is about Gafe Gratitude. Jessica, raw culinary artist, came by work yesterday, she just got back from California, where she tried out all the raw restaurants - Julianos, his trippy, dark restaurant.. she saw him come through with his spaced-out looking girlfriend, grabbing a bottle of something.. I don't know - I have heard lots of stories about him.. he's just so out there - like he's from another planet. He really intrigues me. ..but anyway.. she said Cafe Gratitude was by far the best restaurant of all!


another article, another restaurant. This time in NYC..

Pure Food and Wine's David Moltz Hangs With Gisele, Chases Raw Foodists for Tips

NY Restaurants - Ask a waiter - May 1, 2007

quickly now.. raw recipes here (like the look of their pomodoro)


& Finally.. last but not least.. I really liked this one. written by the editor of Common Ground Magazine, Todd Spencer, about his brother who's gone raw.



Oh, P.S. 1 more - this one's too good!

We Like it Raw

The ultimate fringe food culture sexes it up for the mainstream

Whole Life Times - May 2007 - by Becca Campbell and Ritzy Ryciak

P.P.S. - There was a sushi article that would have gone with this one.. had I chose to include it.. I didn't.. but I really like koi! (I've painted them a few times. : )


mandalas from http://www.artglassmosaics.com/mosaic_mandalas.htm

Cookies and Ice-Cream for breakfast

One of the wonderful things about eating raw is that I feel good eating anything I feel like, whenever I feel like it. For instance I am sitting here now, typing this, with a container of cookies, fresh from the dehydrator - mmm, & a bowl of ice cream.. for breakfast! Loving it & knowing its really good for me also. It's just a win-win situation.

The cookies are something I came up with to use up the almond pulp from making almond milk yesterday. They're quite good. This is the recipe.. but you can substitute things. I used hemp butter.. I just happen to have some that Michael made & gave me awhile ago.. but it's not the easiest thing to come by. So use almond butter or hemp seeds ground or more nuts and coconut butter.. you know. My Mom sent me this amazing organic vanilla powder.. same deal, just use regular vanilla.. but anyone who's been raw for any length of time knows that recipes are easily changed & often come out great.. It's really fun to experiment with raw foods.

Cookies

1 c almond pulp
1 1/2 c dates
1 apple
1 banana
1 T hemp butter
1/2 t vanilla powder
1/2 c walnuts
1/2 c coconut flakes

Blend 1st 6 ingredients in food processor. Then add walnuts & coconut and pulse chop in.
Place by spoonfuls on teflex sheets & dehydrate overnight. 115 degrees. You can then transfer to mesh & dehydrate another couple hours.. mine didn't make it to this stage.

Ice Cream

There are so many ways to make raw ice cream. The simplest is probably just putting fresh fruit through a juicer with a blank screen (single or twin gear juicers) You freeze the fruit first and then put it through. Bananas & mangoes stay soft when frozen. For berry flavour alternate berries with banana. You can also use coconut & cashews and lots of other things.

Many people use a food processor to make ice cream - make cashew cream in ice cube trays first - then they can be blended with other fruit in a processor.

I made this batch in my blender (K-tec, now known as Blend-tec) I had bananas that needed to be used up so I put them in with some maple syrup (I know not raw - you can substitute agave), hemp butter, and squares of Chocosol chocolate that I happen to have here. Mine are a vintage batch - we were joking about collecting different flavours, we could trade them., sell them on Ebay.. they change the flavours so much! lol (Their Sawako Snow w/coconut would have been amazing also.. ). Oh & then after it was blended I chopped up a few chocolate cookies and mixed them in. I called the ice-cream Chocolate Cookie Explosion.

p.s. if any Chocosol people are reading this.. I know I owe Michael a ton of cookies!!! (I really stocked up on chocolate when he left and we're bartering.) & I will make more soon. Tell him, ok? .. and say hi & give him a hug for me.. & well, give everyone a hug from me.. I am having a very funny visual of you all hugging over there.
Oh, and what about a phone #??? That's just crazy.. the only business I know where you can't call. & no way to get in touch with you through your website.. how underground can you go???
http://www.chocosoltraders.com/

I miss you! Big HuGs!!!

Many paths to get there

Burger Wrap - great meal for after a swim!

I made a burger analogy - raw style, for lunch on Sunday & then I had left-overs - the rest I had made for dinner. I enjoyed it so much that I made it again yesterday - and made more!

It consisted of a burger (sort-of) with toppings of a spinach-walnut pesto, tomatoes, sprouts and a pine nut sauce topping all wrapped up in a romaine lettuce leaf.
Other great topping ideas: red onion, marinated shitake mushrooms, olives, etc

The Burger = equal amounts (I used 1 c each) of Brazil nuts & sun-dried tomatoes. Thats it, process them together in a food processor & then when it is all blended together form into patties.

Spinach Walnut Pesto = 1/2 bunch spinach, 1/2 c walnuts, 1 garlic clove, 1-2 T olive oil, 1 T agave, dash of Celtic salt & cayenne. Process all together in food processor.

Pine nut Sauce = pine nuts with a bit of lemon juice & water to make a sauce pureed together. I used my little spice grinder.. but it was a little messy. I think next time I'll try the magic bullet (mini-blender).

Happy Anniversary Rawketscience! - Top 10

I just received an e-mail which I need to share. This is great!

Has it been a year? Wow.

My very own - a Rawketscience - Top 10!
: )

1) So many things, so many topics.. I am amazed when I hear someone say they are bored. That is so symptomatic of a junk-food, depressed state of mind and body. Raw food gives you so much energy, enthusiasm, creativity etc etc.. & I truly, truly believe it.
& miracles do happen.. every day!

2) Thank you to the universe, & for being blessed with the knowledge I have about life. Thank you for music and rainbows and laughter and smiles. Thank you for humour, Thank you for love. Thank you for tropical islands.. and colourful fish, and not so colourful fish, and tropical fruit, and not so tropical fruit and green smoothies and babies and sprouts and my computer and my zebra blanket and Hugs and life, and life, and Life! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.


3) It was this.. maybe a little hard to explain or understand unless you've felt it.. but it is a very alive, aware, plugged in, connected feeling.. almost sexual, but not sexual.. something different.. I remember thinking it was like having intercourse with the universe.. very high.. & I'm still tingling


4) I have so much, the beauty & love of the roses & mostly about the breatharian and how he really needs nothing, not even food, he has so much abundance.. we all do. At one point –in the most frustrating moment of being late, I almost felt teary at the worldly frustration/spiritual joy of everything..


5) Am off.. bursting back into real life.. had this image of being a 2d character coming back to 3D.


6) We know a lot less than we believe.
& yet we know everything.
because we are everything

7) my cells were buzzing, I felt in love with everything, that's not so unusual, I get that a lot.. but everything loved me back.. I don't know, it doesn't sound as good as it felt.


8) So we would have freedoms that we don't have now – like we'd be able to have sex on the street.. hey, not hurting anyone (interesting example ; ) Made me think that maybe this is where my authority issues come from. I do have them.. have always been a natural born rebel, in a very peaceful way.. can't help it, its just who I am.

9) For instance once I was really seeking to be more spiritual, and I suddenly saw the light in fruit, literally, like how light shines through it, and it glistens, and I realized that I could become lighter by eating lighter. Fruit literally brings light in to your body.


10) For instance, say I'm red and my partner is yellow, we would both become orangish. If my partner was blue we would both become purplish. However if my partner was green then we would both become mud.. , which is bad.. unless you like being mud.

p.s. that was amazing. I enjoyed that very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

(I would like to give credit for the pic but not sure where it came from.)

Anastasia's Ray

I am reading book 3 in the Ringing Cedar Series about Anastasia. But there are a few things in the 1st book that I keep thinking back on. So I am going back to book 1.. this part, about her Ray, is from Chapter 7.

In it Vladimir tells about the invisible ray she has..in fact a ray that we all have, only most of us do not know about it & are unable to make use of it. She talks about there being nothing in technology, nothing created by Man which is not already in Nature. She tells him about daydreams, visualizing, intuition. She talks about dreams.. and interestingly how we are able to control our dreams. (lucid dreaming). We see our dreams usually as chaotic and random but we have lost the ability to control our dreams. We are meant to be able to control not only them but also other natural phenomena and ourselves.

This invisible ray gives you the ability to see individuals at a great distance and what is going on in their lives. Through it you can "obtain information or transmit. It can cheer up a person's mood or partially take away someone's illness. There are lots of other things it can do, depending on the energy available and the degree of feeling, will and desire."
The ray "consists of information one possesses - concepts, intuitions, emotional feelings and as a result, of dream-like visions consciously controlled by Man's will."

With it you can see the future and the past -"they are pretty much the same thing. It is only the external details that are different. The essence always remains unchanged."
.."for example, a thousand years ago people wore different clothes. They had different instruments at their disposal. But that is not the essence. Back a thousand years ago, just like today, people had the same feelings. Feelings are not subject to time.
"Fear, joy, love. Just think, Yaroslav the Wise,Ivan the Terrible, and the Egyptian pharaohs were all capable of loving a woman with exactly the same feelings as you or any other man today."

Vladimir asks Anastasia about training or exercises that may be developed to make the ray stronger. to which she responds that that may possible help. However, she say there is one absolute condition before the ray can be controlled by the will...
"It is absolutely necessary to keep one's thoughts pure, as the strength of the ray depends upon radiant feelings."
Pure thoughts and radiant feelings are what power the ray.


P.S. in science, a phenomenon like this ray is known as a torsion field.

P.P.S. This reminds me of something that Jinjee wrote before. www.thegardendiet.com/
She said how Storm told her that to stay on the raw food diet one had to be pure of heart. That thought stayed with me ever since I read it. & so if this is true.. raw foodists would have the strongest rays! : ) !!!

pic from http://www.childrensbooksireland.com/childrens_book_festival/2006/opener.shtml

Some great Raw websites

Living Nutrition Health Magazine
http://www.livingnutrition.com/

Chad Sarno (he's one of my very favorite chefs!)
http://www.rawchef.org/

Living Light - Cherie Soria
http://www.rawfoodchef.com/

Loving Foods - Jeremy Safron
http://www.lovingfoods.com/

Rhio
http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/

Alex Malinsky
http://www.rawguru.com/

Karen Knowler
http://www.fresh-network.com/

Nothing's Random!

ENZYME - A protein molecule that catalyzes chemical reactions of other substances without itself being destroyed or altered upon completion of the reactions.

from Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary

Shopenhauer was one of the first major philosophers to realize that most people don't realize they are sleeping until they wake up.



My brother was surprised that I didn't know what a ludite was. ..but, for the record, I am def. not a luddite!
luddite - one opposed to technology and machines.

The Luddites were a social movement of the English textile artisans in the early19th c. who protested — often by destroying textile machines — against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt threatened their livelihood.
(They were named after a mythical leader - Ned Ludd.
- from wikipedia


Thoughts from Jay Douglas :

"Whenever you are given an opportunity to do good - You must take it!"
&
"A talent is a gift from God. It is given to you to share with others. You need to share it with the world."


from Jinjee's Daily Raw Inspiration -4/29/07 Quarter Pounder Facts

http://www.TheGardenDiet.com

Every quarter pound of hamburger was produced via 100 gallons of water, 1.2 pounds of grain, a cup of gasoline, greenhouse-gas emissions equivalent to those produced by a six-mile drive in your average car, and the loss of 1.25 pounds of topsoil, every inch of which took 500 years for the microbes and earthworms to build. How can all this cost less than a dollar, and who is supposed to pay for the rest of it?

For more about this and many other interesting environmental facts, see http://www.overpopulation.org/consumption.html

Of stinging nettle, pineapple cores, seedless grapes and men

'To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle" George Orwell

I woke up this morning and was thinking about all the things that happened yesterday. It's kind of an empty atmosphere there now, after Chocosol left on the weekend. I came in & it was sooo quiet & put on some music to fill it up a bit. But then I got the feeling, like you do after a big clean up - kind of like a zen moment, when you can look and appreciate eveything individually. Each person who came, each bit of information and thing they brought was like a gift.

Every day is like a birthday party.
I was thinking of the Gebo rune , it looks like this: X ..it is the rune of exchange and I always think of it like a gift. But Randy told me before that it always has to be returned, in one way or another. It took me awhile to get this concept. I like the idea of giving without anything having to be returned..but he said it doesn't happen that way. Everything needs to balance out & be returned. But the gifts are not only material.. but often and more often they can be an exchange of knowledge.. even a Thanks is a gift. yk?

some of the gifts I received yesterday:
- I learned that the middle part of the pineapple is the best part. Whitney told me this first, that AAron told her hes studying nutrition.. and I said 'Oh I don't think so, thats probably an old wives tale to get you to eat the middle part.' but then in comes Simon & says 'hey, did you know the middle part is the best part' (I was cutting it out) He said that that is where the bromelain is found ( I knew this enzyme came from pineapples & papayas - but not where it was found in them) He said that they dry & powder the middle part to make digestive enzymes.
& all this time I had been throwing it away!

- Simon had a big bag of stinging nettle that his Mom brought him. & I had been thinking about it. A lady came in the day before looking for it, and other very nutritious weeds & herbs..but I didn't know much about stinging nettle or where to find it. So then Simon comes in with a huge bag of it for us to juice. He said he completely cured his allergies with this stuff. I wore gloves at first but then took them off to experience the sting.. it wasn't bad & Simon says its really good for you when you get stung anyway. (Hmm.. that sounds familiar! - yes, I am thinking of you John.. and my meditation group - in case you ever read this - I miss you ! Hugs! : )

- Jay cam in & told me how much Sly & Tony loved their sandwiches. I packed up a loaf of bread (raw, of course) & sunflower pate & sprouts & even our lemon-ginger-date dressing for them, I was thinking Sly would need food for the trip home to Jamaica. & Jay said they ate it almost all Fri eve. loved it! : ) & Jay, I have to repeat, I liked this "It takes Amazing to know Amazing" I appreciated the journey in to visit.

-Horace came in & I got to ask him about guava seeds - yes, you eat it all & they are amazing for you. We talked about seeds. It's amazing how everyone wants seedless fruit these days. The seed is where all the nutrients are. Even before I went raw, when I was taking all those supplements from the health food store.. one of the last to go was grape seed - cause I knew it was making such a big difference. But really you can just eat grapes with seeds in them. When you think about it the seed is the whole food..the whole fruit & the whole plant.. it contains everything in it.. all the nutrients. & not only 1 plant but thousands and thousands of plants.. the progression of all of life of the plant, every generation is in that seed.. its endless. when the fruit is gone , it's gone..but the seed can go on forever & ever. Sometimes the most obvious things are right in front of us, right under our noses and we don't even see them.

all these things and so many, so many more.. each & every day!
Love Life!

Exotic fruits

I tried jackfruit last night on my way home from work for the 1st time. It was in a smoothie with mango & honey and water - from Gingers, a restaurant around the corner from work, right across from Organics on Bloor (where I was headed). Most of the food is far away from raw but they have durian and jackfruit & lots of other fruit smoothies.
I was curious to try a jackfruit & still am anxious to try it on it's own. Amy was telling me how much more she likes it than a durian. Its something like a durian in shape but smoother bumps, not as spiky on the outside.

On Sunday I went to Little India to get some saffron for the raw Paella dish I made and tried guavas again. I tried them last year and they were not good.. but I had heard they were. This time they were amazing. Weird seeds in there tho. they're hard - I just ate the whole thing, seeds & all. But I could really use a fruit expert around here.

There are so many amazing fruit - the mangosteen! I have tried this one and it's so good.. but it's expensive - esp for the size of it.

& I haven't tried a cherimoya yet, but hear it's incredible also.






& passionfruit!
I made a passionfruit sauce before.. Mmmm...

Wow! I am looking up so many fruit pics that I have never tried before.. it's amazing. One day I will try them all! granadilla, kiwano, kudoonia, rambutan, salak, vigiimari..

& I could go on & on.. but have to drive Kaiya to her friends & get ready for work.

& Then there's real life. ..and maybe another jackfruit smoothie on the way home. : )


P.S. Simon says K&K market on Spadina, in Chinatown, close to Kensington market.. has the best fruit. They usually have durians and you can get the best papayas there. They let you taste things, theres a guy out in front with fruit who will cut pieces off for you to try. I think I've been there.. will have to go see if it's where I am thinking. yikes, I better run.... later..

Have a most adventurous and triumphant day!!! : )

guava pic - http://www.harekrsna.com/practice/prasadam/ingredients/glossary/f-guava.jpg
jackfruit pic - http://www.rigual.ee/index.php?lang=est&mid=4&nid=11

cherimoya pic - www.rarefruit.com - home of Leo & Betty Manuel -

At our home in San Diego, you will find such fruit as Mango, Banana, Cherimoya, Pitanga, Guava, Rose Apple, Cherry-of-the-Rio-Grande, Atemoya, Capulin Cherry, Longan, Passion Fruit, White Sapote, Black Sapote, Papaya, Jakfruit, Carambola, Citrus, Jujube, Pineapple, Japanese Persimmon, Pitaya, and a few others. Most people in the United States would call those rare fruit.

Mango is my favorite fruit, but Pitahaya (aka Pitaya, Dragon Fruit, etc.) has taken up most of my time and energy in recent years. Paul Thomson in nearby Bonsall has experimented with crossing different Hylocereus varieties. Most of my plants came from him.

mangosteen pic - http://www.fredshouse.net/images/mangosteen.jpg

passionfruit - http://www.naturesflavors.com/images/passionfruit.jpg

Meet me in Vatu Vara

P.S. ABOUT Vatu Vara's Beach House

Vara's is the ONLY backpackers / budget accommodation set right on the beach, from the most popular and prime beach of MURI BEACH and stretching up a private hill estate. Famous for the small islands called 'motus' that you can swim, kayak or walk out to, Muri Beach offers the best location for anyone coming to the islands with the largest lagoon of Rarotonga right infront of our Beach House!!!!. Being the most popular backpackers / budget accommodation in the whole of the Cook Islands, we offer rooms to suit everyone's needs - from those looking for fun and excitement to those wanting peace, privacy and quietness in our lovely hillside estate only minutes stroll from our Beach House, or stay in our deluxe ocean front house where one can explore the reef life and whale watching from the large balcony. Vara's accommodation starts from the beach side of popular Muri Beach and stretches up on the hillside about 5 - 8 minutes walk from the Beach House with fully furnished houses, cottages, villas and bungalows set on a private hill with great ocean and village views, as well as having communal houses scattered along the village of Muri Beach. The Beach House has a huge beach sun deck with sun chairs and hammocks over stretching the beach under swaying palm trees, with the most picturesque view. There is a Beach Hut that hires out snorkeling gear, kayaks and does fishing tours, spear diving tours as well as hires out one of the cheapest scooters on the island. Absolutely convenient to everything with shops, restaurants, cafes and bars, bus stop, dive centers, sailing club, car and bike rentals and much more only minutes stroll. We also offer self-catering accommodation for those looking for something upmarket and more private but still the ability to meet and mingle with others. Please note our accommodation consists of beachside AND hillside rooms, with beachside subject to availability. Vara's has a CAFE/Restaurant, souvenir shop and pharmacy on site, as well as bus stop at front entrance right next to all the local shops. We organise tours and activities and popular island nights and pub crawls. Only 15 min drive to main town Avarua.

HOSTEL RATING INFO This hostel has been graded by 10 Hostels.com customers Character: 93% Security: 80% Location: 100% Staff: 93% Fun: 80% Cleanliness: 80%