Five Ways To Chill

1. Creamy dark chocolate sorbet. It's dairy-free and vegan. Rich but not filling. Cool and dark as midnight jazz. A respite from the shimmer of summer heat. Spoon it into chilled glasses. Turn off the lights. Light a candle. Music: Melody Gardot

2. Quinoa salad with lime and fresh mint. Cook quinoa in a rice cooker and keep the kitchen cool. Toss with just squeezed lime juice, good olive oil and garden ripe tomatoes. Spike it with whatever your heart desires- scallions, red onion. Kick off your flip-flops. Music: Crowded House's new album Intriguer

Read more + get the recipe >>

Read More

Blueberry Smoothie- Veganluscious

Blueberry smoothie- dairy-free gluten-free chill.

Wilting from the heat? I've got a deep blue chill for you. Dairy-free. Easy as pie. Cool as a blueberry. I'm emancipating this recipe from the archive depths because it's just too luscious to get lost in 2007, never to be slurped again.

What does a brave and spunky vegan girl do when she is suddenly famished and her Crowded House whistling husband is scrambling up some free-range eggs and cheese for brunch? I'll tell what you do.

You reach for your power tools.

You haul out the Vita-Mix and thank your twinkling stars you have a bag of organic frozen blueberries in the freezer. You grab the carton of organic almond milk. You dip into the Nutribiotic vanilla rice protein powder. You smile slyly. You sprinkle in some stevia. 

You switch the button to HIGH and sigh.

You froth with pleasure.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Read More

Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookies

Almond flour cookies with the nutty crunch of pecans.

Here I am again. Baking cookies. It's one way I cope with the world. Which, in case you haven't noticed, is totally moon bat crazy. So what do you do? The older I get the more I let go. And it's not just letting go of the obvious stuff, like that box of canceled checks from your first marriage or those hideous platform shoes you bought after seeing Saturday Night Fever. I'm letting go of things I once cherished. Stuff I used to believe. Opinions. The Right Way To Do Something. Why?

Because the older I get the less convinced I am that I know what is best. Sometimes it's hard to tell. I know from experience that the best laid plans can will often fail. And that sheer dumb luck can plop in your lap and splatter you with an unbidden opportunity. I've lived long enough to see the truth in my favorite line from Little Big Man. Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn't. So I don't grasp anything too tightly anymore. 

Which brings me to Cheez Doodles and why you need to let go. 

Read more + get the recipe >>

Read More

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins with Almond Flour

Tender almond flour muffins bursting with fresh blueberries.

Today I am sharing a new gluten-free muffin recipe, and a health update on my Gut Instinct post. I know, I know. Another muffin recipe? Most food bloggers are waxing poetic about grilling burgers and dyeing frosting for their red, white, and blue recipes this upcoming July Fourth weekend, but the truth is, Babycakes, I'm just not into it. I'm in such a different head space that it almost seems comical to me, reading headlines in my Inbox about the "Ultimate Burger", or how July Fourth wouldn't be a real celebration without a hunk of charred All-American meat or a Philly cheese dog. 

Um. What? 

Our founding fathers might disagree. In fact, wasn't Benjamin Franklin a vegetarian?

Don't worry. I'm not gearing up for an anti-meat rant or anything. That would be downright unpatriotic of me. Though, come to think of it, Thomas Edison was pretty patriotic, wasn't he? He invented the light bulb. An American light bulb. And I like what Tom said, "Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages." 

A powerful thought. 

So hang with me for a minute. I've been thinking about America lately, and her addictions. To oil. Fast food. Meat. I've read Michael Pollan. And found Fast Food Nation informative. I was disturbed by Food Inc. And inspired by Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I'm a thinking human. 

I like to ponder stuff. 

So after living most of my life as a vegetarian (sometimes flexitarian), when I was told, post hip-surgery, to eat animal protein in order to mend my fractured hip, I complied with my surgeon's advice. I went the organic, free-range, wild caught, sustainable route. And my hip healed. And three years later, I walk without a limp.

But here's the thing. My monkey gut hasn't been happy. Some of it's nerves, I know. Triggered by said hip incident and general, all purpose economic worry. Better known as STRESS. The Devil. Pure evil to your happy little cells.

Life'll kill ya. As Warren Zevon said.

So when I recently went for six days nil by mouth to calm my digestion and heal my sad and wounded duodenum, I tried to look on the bright side. Hey. I had an IV- I was detoxing by default- no caffeine, no alcohol, no red meat, no refined flour. No nothing.

Darling, it was like a trip to the spa.

But without a masseuse and Carlos Nakai.

Doctor's orders upon leaving shot a shiver down my spine. Four weeks of non-pointy food. Blandville all the way. No wine. No spices. No coffee. No tea. He paused and looked at me over the rim of his glasses and reiterated, Not even de-caf! 

Forever? I asked. He shrugged a Well, yeah, as to a slow witted child. I blinked and nodded my best upbeat gluten-free goddess nod. I went home. And I did it. Banana smoothies and mashed potatoes defined my life. I was the Queen of Puree.

Five weeks later I underwent something I have feared for years. The dreaded endoscopy. I have issues with people stuffing tubes down my throat, okay? Not to mention, cameras. I demanded good drugs. It went off without a hitch. Sitting up in recovery, I yelled out to the anesthesiologist passing by the curtain, I love you! 

I get that a lot, she said.

The good news? No villi damage (go gluten-free diet!).

My doc was happy. We even discussed trying an anti-inflammatory diet. It turns out he's gluten-free by choice. And receptive to the idea that our diet can influence our health (what a concept, right?).

Read more + get the recipe >>

Read More

Carob-Almond-Banana Smoothie

Almond milk smoothie with carob and banana.

It's the little things in life. So they say. And today I would agree- wholeheartedly, in fact, with every rebel piece of my dairy-free chocolate verboten heart. The heart that beats without the comfort of gluten, without the silky swirl of cream, without the sexy burn of Tapatio sauce and raw red onion. The heart that misses Penne Arrabiata and roasted tomato salsa. The pragmatic heart that now beats on a mission, to quell this monkey gut of mine long enough to heal a stubborn duodenal ulcer.

And that is why, Babycakes, no chocolate will grace my tongue. Or peppermint tea (which I drank by the gallon to calm said monkey gut). Apparently chocolate and mint exacerbate little things like hiatal hernias. And, oh yeah. Holes in your duodenum. 

The things you learn. Better late than never.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Read More

Gluten-Free Blueberry Crumb Cake Recipe

Blueberry crumb cake- gluten-free summer goodness.

Coffee cake for the road.

Sometimes in life- when you least expect it- the stars are kind. Synchronicity smiles. And disparate pieces of your dreams bump up against one another and nestle snug into place. I'm referring, of course, to my dream of California. Summer by the Pacific, walking the beach, shopping the Farmers' Market, reuniting with my sons. Cooking. Writing. Haunting book stores and coffee shops.

I've been trying to get there for two years.

No, the house hasn't sold yet. But Plan B is under way. We found the elusive summer rental. Just when I thought it wasn't going to happen. A sublet in Santa Monica. In the nick of time. A lovely, light filled creative space. With a sweet kitchen. So I am back to making lists, mapping our drive south to Flagstaff, AZ, turning west to aim for the coast. I am lying in the dark alert, at 3 AM, pondering not the mysteries of the collective unconscious, not the properties of desire and effect, quantum attraction and Zen detachment, but favorite flavors of chocolate chip cookies. I am imagining herbed sandwich wraps (recipe soon!). Bags of salted popcorn. iTunes playlists. And this, a new blueberry cake recipe I felt inspired to bake. With a cinnamon crumb topping.

I think it's perfect to pack for a two-day road trip, don't you? Or even a two minute trip, scooting across the back yard barefoot to visit your best friend and neighbor. She'll make the coffee. Or iced chai. While you unrap the cake you get to eat, too.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Read More

I Spy: At Santa Monica Farmers' Market

Fresh lavender at the Farmers' Market.

My favorite childhood book- hands down- was Harriet The Spy. Have you read it? Harriet- the anti-heroine- helped change my life back in the Dark Ages. It was 1964 and girls were expected to giggle and take ballet and dream of party dresses. We were encouraged to walk with books on our heads to cultivate a ladylike gait, and practice buttoning the baby teeth pearls on our slim white gloves with nimble, dainty fingers. 

But, as you may have guessed, I was neither dainty or particularly infatuated with the girly stuff of being a girl. I was bored to tears with feminine training. I didn't long to be an object that was admired. I wanted to actually do something. To create something. I wanted to be Harriet the Spy. I bought a notebook just like Harriet, scribbled down stories and drew pictures. I created a world. It was my book of secrets. 

Today I roam the streets of Santa Monica with an iPhone. I take pictures. I walk and look and catch snippets of conversation. I photograph street life and shop windows, found art and empty spaces. The iPhone is my notebook now. I am recording my observations. 

And today, here is what I saw. Hope you enjoy it.

Read more + get the recipe >>

Read More