Yoga Classes and Cooking Classes in Warwickshire for 2012

Hello internets!  This is just a quick note to say that I've been busy planning my cooking classes for 2012 and preparing for at least three months in New York City, starting in late March.  Sorry about the lack of recipes lately.  I did recently make up a great dish with leeks, white wine, sweet potatoes, spinach and a few spices and herbs, topped with goat's cheese and crumbled hazelnuts, made into a bake/gratin sort of thing, which was delicious.  I need to either post here or add to the cook book.

And now for a little "shameless self-promotion" as they say...to let you know about upcoming events in 2012.  As always, these are all FUN, very affordable, pleasurable (!!!) and all designed to increase your vitality and wellness!  Why?  So that you can enjoy your life, enjoy the amazing body that carries you around every day and have more energy to be there for yourself, your life, your dreams and the people you love.

My regular Thursday night yoga class, the only one I teach that's open to the public, starts again on the 5th of January at 7:30 pm, at Motionhouse Dance Studio, Leamington Spa, CV31 3SY.  Please check out the poster for it.

Cooking classes start the weekend after New Year's with what will be a very fun and delicious "Naughty but Nice" baking class, including the always amazing Black Bean Brownies, pumpkin ginger hazelnut bread and more.  There will also be a detox class to get your body bouncing back after Christmas and New Year's indulgence, and to help you accomplish your health goals in 2012 - whether that's weight loss, better skin, strong and healthy digestion, relaxation or something else health or wellness-related.  If it's just mouth-watering, delicious and absolutely healthy food you want, there is a Thai class and a Mexican Feast class.  I've even got two Cooking and Nutrition for Menopause classes scheduled, which will cover how to flourish at any time in your life, reshape your body if you so desire and prevent illness over the long term.

There's also my "You Don't Need Chocolate" workshop in late January, which helps participants overcome unhealthy eating habits by giving them tools to change whatever isn't working in their lives.  It's a physical, emotional/mental and spiritual approach to eating and loving your body!  It also includes a cooking class for lunch!  Please contact me for more info by viewing my website for my email and phone number.

So, that's what I'm up to!  If you'd like to get in touch, to know more about the lady teaching these things, or to hear what others say, feel free to stop by my website: http://www.michellepalmer.net.  It's under construction, but soon it will look fabulous.  Or my LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=13571131&trk=tab_pro 

Whatever you do to start off 2012, I wish you much abundance, fun, health, vitality, joy and fulfillment.  Lots of love and peace on earth.
Michelle xx

Dublin, Ireland: Jonnie Fox's, Dunne & Crescenzi, Queen of Tarts and more...

(This post would take me for-EV-er to do as a one-part thing, so I'm dividing it in two: first Dublin, later Kerry.)

If you're single and you love to travel and experience new cultures, I recommend dating a foreigner.  You know your country, they know theirs and you get to show each other around.  It's even better if you meet a European and get married, because besides having a lovely partner you now get to spend as much time in European countries as you like (or as much time as you can afford to spend away from daily life).  And Europeans usually like America...or at least parts of it.  Sometimes, as in my case, they like it very, very much...so the benefit is mutual, a la "I scratch your back, you scratch mine."

It's also nice if you each speak another language or two; and if those languages are different.  In our case, I speak Spanish and he speaks Irish Gaelic and passable French (some Parisians actually listen to him).  That enables us to get around in a good few Western countries.  Now, finding an Italian, Spanish or French-speaking European that you have chemistry with is another matter...

For the past two weeks, we were in Ireland - which is great because that's his turf and it's lovely visiting a foreign country with someone who's completely at home there.  We spent a week in Dublin for work, a week in Kerry for play and a few days in Mullingar, visiting family.

I love finding little gems of places to eat, shop, hike, see, etc. and so I wanted to share some of those from Ireland...as usual, the eating places are healthy or at least high-quality, with good vegetarian or seafood options.

Let's start in Dublin, a place that many Americans swoon over due to their heritage and love of the Irish people.  I've been there about five times now.  Colm studied at Trinity and now he does some work, sometimes, at UCD.  We usually stay at the Stillorgan Park Hotel, a nice hotel with a strange name.  It isn't central, but it's near UCD and they have a gym in the basement and bring you complimentary tea while you're sitting in their lobby.  It's very comfortable, and if you're going to drive to Jonnie Fox's, Ireland's highest pub just outside of Dublin towards the Wicklow Mountains, a great venue for Irish music and really nice pub food, it's a good place to stay at.  There are buses every 10 minutes for under 2 euro that go to the town centre in about 20 minutes. 

We went to Jonnie Fox's twice.  First with one of Colm's students.  I had escargot, which I love, and somehow I feel, as an animal lover who's 95% vegetarian, that it's really not a big deal to eat escargot.  Snails have to be about as low on the food chain as you can get.  They're also fairly good sources of protein and vitamin E.  Just like almonds.  And they sure are nice with herb butter on brown Irish soda bread.  There were also mussels in cream sauce, Irish lamb stew, smoked salmon or fresh crab salads, vegetarian curry and plenty of other delicious things.

Jonnie Fox's is full of entertaining antiques and kitsch.   Chamber pots on the loo doors, stockings hanging above the fireplace as though you've traveled back in time to before the invention of washing machines, old 'WANTED' posters and ladies toiletry ads on the walls, mining tools from two centuries ago secured to the ceiling, portraits of someone's great great grandparents...you get the idea.  You don't run out of things to look at.

They also have live music seven nights a week.  On Monday, our first visit, a man started singing very nice traditional Irish music on acoustic guitar at 9pm.  The same guy was there on Thursday in the main dining area, but then as we were about to leave (after a dinner of smoked salmon salad, mussels in white wine sauce, an amazingly good carrot and sorrel soup, and a shared slice of whiskey cake), I passed a hallway on the other side of the bar and could hear a very enthusiastic fiddle, coming from some undiscovered part of the pub and saw people walking towards it as if they were on a mission.  I pulled everyone down the hall and into a huge room full of long tables with benches, a stage at one end (in front of a giant old fireplace with more long stockings pinned to it) and a bar at the other.  The tables were lit only with candles, some incredible Irish music was blasting and a four-piece band was setting up.  Everyone was tapping their feet and clapping to the recorded music while bar staff fixed audience members with pints of Guinness.  We managed to find seats and proceeded to have the best night I've ever had in Ireland.

The lead singer was a total comedian, making jokes in a lovely Irish accent the whole time.  One of the members was supposedly one of the best musicians around, and from the way he played the fiddle and the tin whistle, I believed it.  The other band members were awesome too, great on the guitar with lovely singing voices.  It was one of those magic serendipitous things that you just can't manufacture.  But going to Jonnie Fox's on a Thursday night at 9 pm would be a good start.

Two friends from Arizona arrived in Dublin a few days after we did, to get a much needed break from the 40 C/100+ F degree weather they'd had for months.  One woman's cold and dreary is another man's paradise.  I was entrusted with finding a dinner spot.  I had made reservations at The Winding Stair, a bookshop/restaurant I've been wanting to go to for four years, but that didn't work out; instead, we ended up at Dunne and Crescenzi, which was atmospheric with gorgeous food.  Their prices are in the middle, the Nero d'Avola wine we had was excellent and they served some of the best pesto I've ever tasted.  I really love pesto.

I don't know how they did it: maybe they flew the basil in from Italy that afternoon.  Maybe it was the olive oil.  I'm guessing it was light on the cheese, medium light on the garlic, plenty of amazingly tender juicy basil and exceptional olive oil with pine nuts and gourmet salt.  It was ground very fine, perhaps by hand in a mortar and pestle.  Whatever was in it, it was good.  The hake with artichoke puree and balsamic reduction was pretty nice, too.

After dinner we walked over to Dawson Street (which has restaurants like Carluccio's and The Farm, bars like Cafe en Seine and classy clubs like Sam Sara) and had half a pint at The Dawson Lounge.



Colm said it wasn't much bigger than a closet.  The sign claims that it may be the world's smallest pub.  It's actually not as claustrophobic as all that.  But it is cozy.  Go just to say you've been in there.  Or go to Porterhouse Central on Nassau Street, just around the corner from Dawson Street in the direction of Trinity College, an independent brewery (no Guinness! good for those who want to support smaller companies, more artisan-crafted real ales and micro-brews).

The next day I googled "best cafe Dublin" and came up with Queen of Tarts, which has two locations very near to each other: a small tea shop on Cork Hill, Dame Street and a more spacious location on Cow's Lane, also off of Dame Street.  I went to the shop on Cow's Lane and had a roasted vegetable, rocket and hummos sandwich on gluten free bread. Gorgeous and easy on the digestive system.

Obviously I had a tart, too: a plum tart, with a nice surprise of marzipan under the sweet-tangy plums.

There were many other tempting items...oh if I only had three stomachs...

 Cow's Lane is perhaps my favourite street in Dublin in my favourite area of the city.  It's in Temple Bar, a very touristy area, but Cow's Lane is away from all the touristy stuff: away from the chain stores, the high street stores, and full of independent shops like Cows Lane Designer Studio, full of collections by Irish artists: clothing, hats, jewelery, ceramics and other art.  There's also the studio of Claire Garvey, an amazing designer whose creations I always stop to drool over.

There's more to Cow's Lane...a shop that combines antiques and art objects, a wine bar, another bakery or two if you walk downhill (toward the river, away from busy Dame Street) and turn right, a bookshop...spend a couple hours wandering around.

Other places to check out in Dublin: Powerscourt shopping centre has tons of great eye candy.  I'm not a fan of malls or shopping centres but everything in this place is unique, beautiful, and they have some nice restaurants on all levels, like Cafe Fresh on the top floor with organic vegetarian food and a cupcake stand on the bottom floor that usually has free samples on its counters.  Avoca, which is sort of like Anthropology but more, is located very near to Trinity Uni on Suffolk Street, but it also has other locations, including one on the Ring of Kerry.  Avoca has lots of overpriced stuff that you don't really need but can still enjoy looking at, as well as an upscale cafe, which is also pricey.  We ate at their Ring of Kerry spot later on in our trip and the lemon meringue pie was fabulous (and HUGE).

There were a number of other restaurant that I scoped out and took cards from while I was walking around, such as The Cedar Tree, a Lebanese restaurant that looked amazing; Salamanca, voted Dublin's best tapas in 2010; and Bruno's in Temple Bar, an elegant looking spot with upscale traditional Irish food.

Want a facial?  There's a place called Lotus on Temple Road in the neighbourhood of Blackrock, near where we stayed, with a second location in the city centre at 54 Talbot Street.  Aimee gave me a back massage and a facial with something called an "ultra-sonic scrubber" that was much more pleasant and far less 'scrapey' than it sounds.  Actually, it was super fantastic and I plan to go again next time I'm in Dublin.  I even contemplated buying my own ultra-sonic scrubber online.  Check their website for internet specials.

Last but not least, we took a tour of the Bru na Boinne area in County Meath, about an hour's drive from Dublin centre, and went inside Newgrange, the oldest surviving building in the world (I think that's what they said - over 5,000 years old, older than the pyramids).  Newgrange is a passage tomb built with sophisticated astrological knowledge, and probably not enjoyed by claustrophobics. Book your tickets in advance, by at least a week or so, because it's probably the most popular historical site to see in Ireland, aside from Dublin.

That's about it for Ireland part une.  Ireland part deux coming soon!

Moroccan Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Hazelnuts, Popcorn and Pepitas

I don't think I've ever seen a full Oprah show (I watch TV very rarely), but I love her website and newsletters.  That amazing woman has access to the best of the best, and much of it is available for free online.  Articles by the best writers, spiritualists and health experts out there; recipes from the top chefs; fashion tips from chic designers and stylists.  I receive the weekly food and recipe newsletter, and last week a collection of recipes for ethnic street foods caught my eye.  In particular, a recipe for Moroccan Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Pecans, Popcorn and Pepitas.  Whenever a recipe title starts with 'Moroccan', I'm interested.

I had two large sweet potatoes getting bored on my counter with question marks hanging over them, wondering what they would become and when, and this recipe calls for some of my favourite spices, so I got to work.  I also love popcorn but rarely think of making it.  Very exciting.

Sweet potatoes are very rich in beta-carotene/vitamin A, which of course is good for the eyes, but also for the immune system.  They're high in fiber and, I think, are a fabulous vegetable for children who need nutrients, love sweet things but already eat (generally, in developed nations) way too much sugar.  Sweet potatoes, when cooked, are very easy to digest and a source of complex carbohydrates: preferable to white rice, flour, cereal, etc.  In fact, the recipe below calls for sugar but you could easily leave it out.  I used my darkest, least refined sugar but you could also use maple syrup, date syrup or molasses.  That would be perfect.

Moroccan Spiced Sweet Potatoes with Hazelnuts, Popcorn and Pepitas

I'd say the popcorn is optional.  It gets a bit soft when mixed in with the rest, and mushy popcorn is...well, there's just something not right about that.  Not to mention the kernels getting stuck in your teeth.  It's up to you - you might prefer it on the side.

2 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons ghee, macadamia nut oil (if you can get it) or olive oil
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon and 3 Tablespoons dark muscovado sugar, divided
3/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
about 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice or mace
1/8 teaspoon unrefined salt
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 Tablespoons butter (or ghee, or macadamia nut oil)
1 cup plain or salted popped popcorn (see note above)
3 Tablespoons chopped pecans, hazelnuts or almonds, toasted
3 Tablespoons pepitas (toasted pumpkin seeds)
optional: 1/2 cup bio yogurt (optional: original recipe uses sour cream)

Preheat oven to 350 F/175 C. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons oil, cumin, 1 teaspoon maple or date syrup or molasses, paprika, pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, cloves, mace, and 1 teaspoon salt. Add sweet potatoes, toss to coat, and arrange on a large baking sheet in a single layer. Roast, tossing occasionally, until just tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the pepitas: you can do this in the oven by tossing them with a teaspoon or two of oil, sprinkle with salt and then pop them in the oven for 5 - 10 minutes, until starting to brown.  Or, my preferred method, toss them into a small skillet with a bit of oil and salt and toast them on medium or a touch lower until they start to brown; they will also start to pop and jump a bit, which is how you know they're almost ready.  Like popcorn.

Melt butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in remaining 3 tablespoons of maple or date syrup or molasses and cook for 1 minute. Add roasted sweet potatoes, popcorn, hazelnuts and pepitas; salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, until glazed and heated through, a few minutes. Serve in bowls.

The original recipe says to top with sour cream (what Americans call creme fraiche, I think; it's popular on Mexican food).  I used organic soya yoghurt instead.  It was nice, but I'd say it's optional.  It does cut and balance the sweetness of the potatoes, nuts and sugar and the heat of the spices, which is lovely.

Dance Breaks for Joy and Pleasure

I have been super inspired, lately, by people like Dr. Christiane Northrup, Mama Gena and other women teaching similar "women's health, prosperity and joy through pleasure" philosophies (and backing it up with science!).  I've been on a spiritual path for years now but I'm feeling like, instead of "working on our issues" and all of that heavy duty stuff, what most people really need is to create more pleasure in their lives, especially to balance out what you read and see in mainstream media news on a daily basis...or if you keep telling yourself things like "I never have enough time/money/whatever" or "life is hard" or "I'm too old/young...". It takes courage to break out of that spell because other people will say things like, "oh, you're lazy, eh?" or "how are you going to make a living if you do that?" or "how selfish of you - who do you think you are, the queen of Sheba?" and then we start feeling afraid or ashamed.  Even if other people don't discourage us, our own thoughts pipe up to say "oh my god, I can't do that, I've got a book to write! When will I ever finish it??  I need to make some money, damn it!" or "but if you don't clean the whole damn house (cook the whole damn dinner, etc.) by the time (insert partner's name here) gets home, he/she might be upset."  Well, scrap all of the excuses and do something that feels good, that meets your needs for fun, nourishment, enjoyment, fulfillment.  Seriously.  Now!

I think this is especially important as it relates to the work I do with food, teaching others to eat well, change their eating habits, enjoy their bodies, etc.  It's necessary to know your "primary foods": that is, what feeds your soul?  What non-food substances FEED you?  Maybe it's music, art, nature, sports, dance, massages, hot tubs, singing, on and on.  Bring those things that give you joy and pleasure into your life so that food is no longer the primary way of escaping the activities you don't fully enjoy but think you "have to do".  Then, little by little, realise that you always have a CHOICE and start eliminating those things you don't like that you don't have to do, or work on changing yourself or your situation to create a life that is more in alignment with who you are.

That's a short and sweet way of generally summing up a process that can take years for some people, and that usually puts you on a big learning curve; but the great thing about food is that it's a great place to start a new self-care and self-love practice...and to notice your ability to receive and make time for something that is good for you.  You don't have to change careers or move house or change relationships; just eat something healthy yet totally delicious today with complete mindfulness, with awareness of the tastes as they hit your tongue and the pleasure and enjoyment you feel in your body as you chew, swallow and benefit from nourishment.

Another way to start feeling great is to take dance breaks. I just made a short but great playlist of dance songs that really get me going, and danced to about three. I was sweaty as anything when it was over, and felt totally different! It also gave me the chance to confront my own resistance to feeling good: at first, I felt silly.  I wondered if I really needed to be dancing.  I'm a yoga teacher, aren't I??  I wondered how I should move.  But then, the more I got into the drum beat and the uplifting lyrics, the more I wanted more and more!  I jumped around, moved my hips and shoulders, kicked, clapped, snapped my fingers.  It was so fun.  And hey, it's a busy day: I worked out, I'm doing some of the cleaning around the house to get ready to go away and I have a book to write. So I needed a dance break. But it's really important to take dance breaks even when you don't NEED them.  That's one way of knowing that you're making your own pleasure and joy a priority.  Living a healthy, vibrant life is more infectious than saying 'yes' to the requests of others even when you want to say 'no' and then feeling over extended, overly busy and resentful of either someone else or yourself.  Take care of yourself.  It changes the world.

My other inspiration is my cat. Miso knows her boundaries but she's not afraid to get in there when she wants to be snuggled. She goes where she wants, scratches and stretches when she feels like it and isn't ashamed to bear all in front of the fire on cold winter days and really relish in the enjoyment of warmth.  She also loves sleeping in the sun in the grass, or in the middle of the herb bed or under the kale, rolling in the dirt and pondering the lady bugs and beetles that walk under her nose. She feels no shame about eating. When she wants something, she lets me know. She knows her needs and isn't afraid to state them.  She allows others to love her and take care of her. She really knows how to receive. I think these are all exceptionally admirable qualities!  Miso is totally in the flow of life. She goes with it. She doesn't resist or try to force things. She may be a bit on the chubby side but it doesn't affect her self-esteem: she knows that she is worthy of unconditional love and care (which I love giving her), whatever she might look like on the outside, however many tufts of fur she innocently leaves on the carpet.  Many people spend years in therapy trying to achieve what she naturally has.  What a great guru.

Anyway, whether it's an aromatherapy bath with rose petals, lighting some candles on your desk while you work, eating some delicious food with total presence and awareness, lying in the sun or whatever, make sure you take time for pleasure today. Regardless of your situation!

Here are some songs from my Dance Breaks!!! playlist:

1. an amazing video to "Human" by The Killers, a great song!

2. I Can't Break Away, by Big Pig, from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (except you have to sing  "I CAN Break Away" and change some of the lyrics to be more empowering):

3. Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire.  Needs no introduction.

4. What A Feeling from Flashdance - never fails to make me feel good.  "I can have it all, now I'm dancing through my life!":

That's all for today.  Take a break from work and go have FUN!

Dino Kale with Pasta and Pesto

The organic farm down the road keeps us supplied with the most wonderful kale all year round.  Red Russian, Dino Kale (called Cavalo Nero in the UK) or good ol' Curly kale.  I adored dino kale when I was in New Mexico, sometimes eating a dinner composed entirely of sautéed kale with spices, ghee, garlic and a bit of lemon juice.  Yum.  It's also great in dal, any hearty soup, or steamed with a soft boiled egg on top.  In really cold wintry weather, I love making a kale bake with stock, onions, garlic, plenty of dark kale, gluten free breadcrumbs and gruyere cheese on top.  That's one reason to accept the chilly weather in England these days.  I've also started juicing vegetables again, so I save my kale stems and juice them with a small apple, half a cucumber, maybe some lettuce or a carrot.  The apple (or pear, or carrot, etc.) balances the bitter green flavour, making it palatable.

If you have some basic knowledge of nutrition, you probably know that kale is really good for you.  It's linked to the prevention and reduction of five types of cancer, it lowers cholesterol when you eat it cooked, and is basically one of the best foods out there (click on link to read more).  It's best to cook your vegetables a bit because your body isn't really able to digest plant cellulose unless it's cooked, and kale's cholesterol-lowering ability is aided by the cooking process.  Very tender greens such as rocket and lettuces eaten raw are okay: it's a good idea to have some raw vegetables along with the cooked.

We grow kale in our back yard.  It grows all year round, doesn't mind cooler climates, even developing a sweeter taste after a frost.  It's a good plant to start with if you're just getting into growing your own food.

One easy, quick and delicious way to eat dino kale is with pasta, pesto and pine nuts.  I use gluten free pasta (I like Orgran's buckwheat spirals).  Any sort of pesto will do.  I used a variety with almonds and lemon instead of cheese, from the nearby organic shop.  Pine nuts are very pricey these days, so feel free to use walnuts or maybe sunflower seeds, pepitas or almonds.  Other types of kale, or any green cruciferous vegetables, also taste lovely.  I used some tender young broccoli shoots along with half of a large bunch of dino kale, all from Canalside Farm.



Dino/Cavalo Nero Kale Pasta with Pesto and Toasted Pine Nuts
serves 2-4 depending on how hungry you are and what else you're eating

pasta: enough for two to four people
pine nuts or other nuts: between 2 tablespoons and 1/4 cup, depending on how many people you are serving
1 bunch dino kale (or other cruciferous green vegetable)
2 large garlic cloves
1 small onion (optional)
1 tablespoon (one glug or spoonful) of ghee or butter or macadamia nut oil
several large spoonfuls of pesto
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika powder
pinch of chili flakes (optional)
liquid: stock, broth or water
juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste
optional herbs: oregano, parsley, thyme
unrefined salt to taste (not table salt)

De-stem the kale to the degree that you prefer (some people like stems) and slice the leaves widthwise into thin strips.  Dice the onion and mince the garlic.  While you're prepping, you can boil a pot of water for the pasta, and pour in a bit of oil and salt.  When the water is boiling, pour in the pasta and cook until done (this can be done while cooking the kale to save you time). 

The other thing to do while the kale is cooking is toast the pine (or other) nuts.  I recommend doing this in a small skillet.  Nearly every time I toast nuts in the oven, I forget about them and they burn, so I recommend keeping them where you can see them.  Pour them into the small skillet, heat over medium and toss occasionally to toast evenly, adjusting the heat as needed, until lightly browned, perhaps 5 - 8 minutes.


Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium or a touch hotter. When it's heated, add the (optional) onion and cook until soft and beginning to brown.  Now add the garlic, stir and cook for another minute or so.  Add the kale, stir again until coated in the oil.  Add the paprika, cumin and (optional) chili flakes; stir.  Begin adding the liquids with the stock or broth, a generous splash at a time.  Turn the kale over occasionally to let the heat and steam get to all the leaves.  Turn down the heat a bit to medium/low so that the pan doesn't dry out.  Add the lemon juice when you don't need too much more liquid: it has a tendency to caramelize quickly on the bottom of the pan.  Towards the end, when the kale is nearly done, add any herbs you fancy using and mix them in.

Stir several spoonfuls of pesto through the pasta, then add the cooked kale and toss.  Sprinkle with pine nuts, maybe some grated grana padano if you eat cheese, and serve.

Reducing Sugar

I think I need to set the record straight, before people start telling me to re-title my blog as 'please pass the browns.'  Ok, I post a fair number of recipes for desserts.  They're crowd pleasers, or they're in response to requests.  Sometimes, they're just pretty.  It's always good to have a gluten-free cake recipe for special occasions.  But I actually think that eating sugar is one of the worst things for you, and have been re-examining my intake of it, swapping simple carbohydrates for protein and vegetables.

When I say sugar, I'm usually talking about white sugar and products that have similar effects, like high-fructose corn syrup (even worse that normal white sugar), golden syrup, demerara, unrefined cane crystals, etc.

Most days, I try to avoid sugar altogether, and I never eat sweeteners like aspartame.  I don't care if the FDA has approved it - for one thing, companies like Equal, NutriSweet, Spoonful, etc. are subsidiaries of Monsanto and the less money you send their way, the better.  Also, I think it's a terrible idea to take the government's advice as gospel when it comes to health.  They're much better at supporting companies and economic interests than they are at supporting your unique needs for vitality and well-being.  But if you're reading this blog, you probably already have a sense of that.  Artificial sweeteners also keep you craving overly-sweet things instead of allowing your taste buds to adapt to real, unprocessed food.  I recommend Stevia if you are looking for a sugar substitute.

Refined sugar is ultimately dehydrating, it actually depletes your body of nutrients and after the initial buzz, leaves you feeling lethargic.  It's addictive (if we consider an addiction as 'continued use despite adverse consequences'), it's one of, if not the, main contributor to weight gain, obesity and diabetes.  The list goes on but you get the idea.  Research suggests that high carb, low protein diets create a release of seratonin (the relaxing 'feel good' hormone), one possible reason why we turn to sugar for comfort when most of us feel too short on time to run a bath or take a walk.  We get desensitized to the presence and intensity of sweetness due to it being added into so many foods (sugar in mayonnaise??), creating a dependency on and continual craving for it.

I see people abusing their bodies with sugar everywhere I go.  It's a socially acceptable addiction, and sadly, often the cheapest food option due to big-business farming practices (for affordable vegetables, check out Community Supported Agriculture farms or learn to grow your own vegetables in your yard or at an allotment).  I sat in a coffee house yesterday, working, while the woman next to me ate a slab of carrot cake and slurped down a large frappuccino-thing with whipped cream for lunch.  On the plane back from America, the woman in front of me, traveling with a group, announced, "anyone want snacks?  I knew we'd get bored so I brought MnM's, Oreos, Nutter Butters..." the list of branded, sugary junk rolled on and then she produced a large plastic bag full of it.  The food they served on the flight was also loaded with the white stuff, plus extremely high gluten white rolls, muffins, crackers.  These foods feel much like sugar to me when I eat them, in terms of their effect on my energy levels.

The sugar thing has also come up recently from listening to podcasts by Dr. Christiane Northrup and reading "The Four Hour Body" by Tim Ferriss, author of my favourite business/lifestyle book, "The Four Hour Work Week".  Christiane discusses sugar (and a high glycemic diet, which also includes white flour, refined grains, white potatoes, milk, alcohol, etc.) as a major contributing factor to digestive issues such as heartburn, IBS, etc. not to mention hormonal problems, fertility, depression and weight problems.  Additionally, our sugar cravings can actually be a sign that we need protein or water.  Eating sugar with caffeine (coffee and donuts, anyone?) creates a release of stress hormones in your body because of the huge jolt to your system of stimulants.  I'd say most of us already have enough stress.  I can't help cringing when I see all of the energy drinks in stores: on their own or coupled with the high amounts of sugar in American's diets, it looks like a recipe for adrenal fatigue (your adrenals sit on top of the kidneys and one of their functions is the production of stress hormones like adrenaline).

So why not decide to enjoy the potentially marvelous human body that we walk around in, instead of enjoying another cinnamon roll or brownie that won't really nourish you?  Well, depending on where you start from, that can be a long process but it's fully worth the work.  I'm not promoting perfectionism, just more awareness of what you're really eating and how it affects you.  I eat sugar occasionally: when my brother, a professional pastry chef, whips up chai creme brulee or his dark chocolate covered salty caramels for Christmas, I tuck in, in moderation.  You'd be mad not to!  But, over the years, I've noticed a direct connection between the amount of chocolate I eat (regardless of the quality of it) and the amount of skin breakouts I get.  And the less sugar I eat, the more I'm able to feel the buzz, the crash, the sticky sour taste it leaves in my mouth.

So, for these reasons and more, I've been starting my days with an egg or two and vegetables, or maybe brown rice or oats.  I've reintroduced small amounts of poultry and fish.  I never really stopped eating fish completely, but for a long time I only had it once every one to six months, and I haven't eaten chicken in years.  My energy levels feel steadier, I have less of that "wilting, must eat now!" feeling and it's just nice to be eating less sugar.  At first, I tried Tim Ferriss' idea from T4HB of having 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up, but this was making me gain weight, or retain water, or something.  I don't seem to do well with objective rules about food that don't come as an answer to "what feels nourishing to me?"  When I listen to my body, I get the nutritional answers I need.  Under the 30 grams of protein plan, I had to supplement my breakfast eggs with protein powder, and it never works for me to eat 'edible food-like substances' such as whey.  I always end up back with my beloved vegetables.  Also, I'm a yoga teacher who cycles and hikes.  I need some starch, some energy-rich food.

My cardinal rule is 'listen to your body.'  Many of us listen to our minds when we make food choices.  That's why we end up trapped on a plane with bags of junk.  Your body wants to be nourished, it wants real food that contains nutrients that it can process in the way it evolved to do.  Food is the best medicine there is, or it can be poison, depending on what you're eating.  And the voice of your body, and what it truly wants, is much quieter than the voice of your cravings, especially if you're not used to a wholesome diet.  If you want to listen to your body, you usually just have to sit down, take a relaxing deep breath into your belly and ask your body or your belly (as a thought, so that you don't look like a nutter), "what would nourish and sustain you right now?"  Wait a bit and see what comes up.

They say that 'the path gets narrower' and I have found that as I refine my health, my body's tolerance for junk gets lower and lower.  I'm far more sensitive to and aware of the true effects that substances (food, products, etc.) have on me.  Ten years ago, three quarters of my diet was sugary, floury things.  My body had adapted to my lifestyle and I often felt sleepy and unwell but didn't see the correlation (or didn't want to).  Our bodies are amazingly adaptable, for better or worse. 

Growing up, ice cream or something sweet was nearly required after dinner, and if we ate out, I ordered desert, because why else would one eat at a restaurant if not to 'treat' yourself?  That was my thinking then.  Trips to Dairy Queen or other ice cream shops were a way of spending family time together, or celebrating any occasion.  These days, I almost never order dessert at a restaurant, because I'd rather leave without feeling stuffed and sleepy, and be able to look back on that dinner as a lovely time without negative after-effects.  I enjoy my dinner far more now that I'm free of that remorse.  It also reduces the cost.

And so, in the end, I've reduced my sugar intake and slightly increased my protein intake while keeping my main focus on vegetables, always vegetables.  I get a couple of egg whites or a bit of fish or chicken almost daily, and make up most of my diet from vegetables, whole grains without gluten, nuts and seeds, lentils and beans.  I've done this because, in following my 'listen to your body' rule, it feels right.  I don't eat much fruit, but if it's seasonal I'll have a bit.  While in Oregon recently, I freely noshed on the fat, sweet blueberries that were in abundance in my mom's front yard.  Heaven.  I get starches from brown rice, sweet potatoes, corn chips (with hummus or a bit of aubergine pesto) and oats.  Oats, being low in gluten and sometimes gluten free, seem to suit me best.  Perhaps that's a genetic thing, being of Celtic heritage.  I love the big, organic rolled ones.  Home made granola is easy to make: I sweeten it lightly with apple juice or maple syrup, and add cinnamon, ginger, coconut flakes, sesame seeds, maybe a bit of grated ginger root, chopped almonds or hazelnuts.  It's delicious with rice or nut milk.

If I eat sugar now, what form does it take?  While on holiday, I had some dairy-free coconut lemon sorbet several times, and a slice of wedding cake, and some really amazing local ice cream on my last night there.  It almost never gets hot enough to properly enjoy ice cream or sorbet in England, but that's not the case in the USA at the moment.  Day-to-day, I'll have a couple of pieces of candied ginger.  Good for digestion and small.  I sometimes put honey in my tea (I add it in after the tea has cooled a bit so that the heat doesn't reduce the fabulous health benefits of honey - it also comes from the hive that my friend keeps, just a five-minute drive away).  I bake, probably twice a month, vegetable-based low-gluten breads with a little bit of organic unrefined demerara sugar in them (zucchini bread, pumpkin bread...).

What do I avoid?  I never eat breakfast cereals, fast food, processed food, commercial cakes and pastries (unless in France - their wheat harvesting, baking traditions and process are totally different than the ones that produce your Tesco criossants and baguettes).  The food I eat (or don't eat) in the morning sets the tone for the day, and my ideal breakfast is one or two soft-boiled eggs over steamed greens, or lentil vegetable soup.  If you're a coffee and muffin type, that probably sounds crazy, but it tastes great and feels great.  If you're looking to make one small change in your life that will have tons of positive effects, breakfast is a great place to start.  I actually almost never eat granola, even though I mention it above.  Dessert and ice cream are only for special occasions.  I drink very little alcohol (your body processes alcohol just like sugar).  I also avoid other foods that contribute to high blood sugar levels, like white potatoes, white flour and any other whites.

All that being said, I don't sweat it too much.  I don't want to spend my life obsessing, and at the moment, if I avoid most chocolate and keep my gluten, cheese and cream, alcohol and coffee to a minimum, I can eat just about anything and feel great.  But that's because in the past, I committed to periods of several months where I cut out all dairy, gluten, soy, sugar, chocolate, alcohol.  Not all at the same time, but as I improved and refined my health, I had to heal my digestion.  I've never felt better than when I was totally dairy, gluten and soy free for 90 days.  And since then, my body can tolerate a bit of gluten occasionally, especially if the source is organic, non-GMO or grown in France.  Thank GOD for French baking...

All of this is food for thought.  The point is that it's probably a good idea to reexamine your intake of sugar and high-glycemic foods.  It's also no fun to be a perfectionist who restricts food.  There are other sweet, pleasurable things in life, like massages, taking in some fresh air and beautiful scenery on a hike, a good movie with friends (without MnMs), loving your pet, allowing yourself some much-needed rest, snuggling on the couch.  If all else fails, there's always candied ginger.

Chocolate Pistachio Cake: Dairy and Gluten Free

While eating dinner with friends a couple of weeks ago, I was trying to describe the sort of recipes that I create, and one person perked up and told me she had a cookbook that I needed to borrow. She brought in 'Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache' by Harry Eastwood (Harry being a woman's name in this case). The book features 80 vegetable-based gluten-free baked goods recipes, the majority of them desserts, with a few savoury biscuit and scone recipes. Parsnip fudge, dense chocolate cake made with aubergine (aka eggplant), orange and butternut squash cupcakes. Harry uses finely grated vegetables, and sometimes finely ground nuts, in place of butter. It's my kind of cooking.

There are a number of recipes that I want to try at some point (particularly the Red Velvet cake, when I have enough beetroot), and I thought these cakes would be the ideal kind to keep in the freezer. You know, just in case. I don't really keep snack or junk food around the house, so sometimes I open the cupboard and all I see are ingredients: soy sauce, bags of lentils, balsamic vinegar, tahini, sea salt, basmati rice, honey, bay leaves, gram flour, cream of tartar, tamarind paste, black beans. Not exactly appetizing fare! And sometimes it's 3:25 pm and you want something with your cup of Earl Grey but you want it to be healthy-ish. And there's nothing prettier than a home-made cake sitting on the counter, flecked with sliced green pistachios. So I made her Chocolate Pistachio Cake with courgette (aka zucchini). Mmm.

The trick, if you're baking for vegetable skeptics, is to make this when they're not around so they can't see what you're doing.  Then, after they've eaten a piece and told you how good it was, break the news that there was green plant matter in their cake. Okay, courgettes are totally harmless and on the tame side of vegetable baking, but in many people's minds, vegetables live in one field, sweet things live in another and they should never cross-pollinate. But c'mon, people, it's 2011. Modern technology. Innovative thinking. Turnips in your Steamed Golden Syrup Sponge Pudding. It's a brave new world.

This recipe is a modification of the one in Harry's book. The icing recipe is mine, in the sense that I just threw it together with coconut milk instead of butter. I've added cinnamon because I like that spice with chocolate and with courgettes (just like zucchini bread), and because it helps balance blood sugar levels.  This cake is fast to make. It bakes in only 30 minutes, and doesn't require too many ingredients. Don't be put off by having to grate the zucchini/courgette: trust me, it grates very quickly.  You have to do these things for the sake of good food.  And the pistachios grind down to a powder in just a few minutes.

The original recipe seemed to imply that this would provide enough batter to make two layers. I prepared two spring-form pans but half the batter didn't even cover the bottom of one (unless spread ridiculously thin), so I scraped it all into one and ended up with a perfect, 1 1/2 - 2 inch high cake.  Works for me.

A note about lining a spring-form pan with greaseproof baking paper: it's a pain in the arse if you try to fit the paper in perfectly with it going up the sides and all of that. So just do this: open and remove the sides (ring) of the pan; lay a piece of paper over the circular base; push the ring down around the base and lock it into place, securing the paper over the base like a drum. Trim away the excess paper and lightly grease the sides and base of the pan with oil or butter. You can easily run a knife around the sides after baking if you have to.  Having paper over the base is sufficient.

A note to American readers about the measurements in 'grams': this sort of thing happens when you live in England. But having a kitchen scale is extremely handy, so this is your excuse to get one. And while we're on the topic of measurements, if you don't have an oven thermometer, please get one when you can. They're cheap and many ovens vary widely in temperature. If I set my oven to 150C, it shoots up above 200C (hotter than hell, in other words) for some odd reason.  I guess it's not a great oven.  So unless you have a fabulous oven, an oven thermometer will serve you well.

Chocolate Pistachio Cake
Adapted from 'Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache' by Harry Eastwood
Dairy and gluten free.

FOR THE CAKE
100 grams shelled pistachios
3 medium organic eggs
180 grams demerara sugar
300 grams topped, tailed, peeled and very finely grated courgette (zucchini in the US) (about 3 medium courgettes)
120 grams self-raising gluten free flour blend
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
60 grams good quality cocoa powder
optional pinch of salt unless the pistachios you buy happen to have a bit of salt on them

FOR THE ICING
60 grams icing sugar
20-25 grams good quality cocoa powder
3-4 tablespoons coconut milk (full fat - I open a can of the stuff, then keep what I don't use in a glass jar in the fridge and put it into oatmeal or curries)
1 handful roughly chopped pistachios

METHOD
-Line the base of a spring-form cake pan with parchment or baking paper and lightly oil the base and sides of the pan.
-In the bowl of a food processor, grind the pistachios into a fine powder. This takes several minutes. A good idea is to add a tablespoon of the flour to the pistachios after an initial period of grinding: this helps them 'skate around the bowl' instead of clumping and turning into pistachio butter. Which sounds nice, but won't work here. Make sure you really do grind them to a powder: the texture of your cake depends on it.
-Start heating the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
-In a large mixing bowl, with electric beaters, beat the eggs with the sugar for two full minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the grated courgette and pistachio dust.
-Using a sieve (the kind you'd wash lentils in), sieve the flour, cinnamon and cocoa powder in to the courgette mix. Cocoa powder tends to have lumps in it. You can push it through the holes of the sieve with a spatula to break up the lumps. Before you turn the beaters on again, swirl it all together to moisten the dry ingredients so that when you turn on the beaters, you don't create a cloud of cocoa. Now beat again to incorporate everything really well, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Pour into the prepared pan and place in the oven. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes (the book says 30, mine took nearly 40, probably because I had all of the batter in one pan).
-Meanwhile, to prepare the icing: in a medium mixing bowl, sieve in the icing sugar and cocoa powder using the spatula method above. Add two tablespoons of coconut milk and mix with a spatula to smoosh out any clumps. Continue to add coconut milk, 1/2 or 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until you have a nice, thick, spreadable consistency. Set aside.
-When the cake is done (test it by inserting a thin knife into the centre, making sure it comes out clean), remove the sides of the pan. Allow it to cool for fifteen minutes or so, then turn it out onto a plate and allow the other side to cool. At this point, you may want to pop it in the fridge for 20 minutes. You want it to come down to room temp or a bit lower, otherwise the heat in the cake (there's a lot of it in there!) will totally melt your icing.
-When the cake has cooled, ice it. Sprinkle roughly chopped pistachios on top. Serve. Feeds 12 health nuts with sweet tooths.

The Complete Guide on How to Use Coriander and Cilantro (Coriander Coconut Chutney Recipe)

If you're new to spices, or you could use some new ideas to jazz up your meals, then this monthly series where I pick one spice or herb and cover natural remedies, health benefits, a recipe or two and other tips is for you. I'll do one spice per month until I've worked my way through my entire spice rack, which has 40 jars on it! So I better get started.

But first, as far as any natural remedies in this post (or anywhere else on my blog) go, please see my disclaimer.

I didn't start cooking until I was 24, and I started with Ayurvedic Indian food. I didn't realize how adventurous I was being, as a cooking virgin. The recipes were full of items I'd never heard of, like asafoetida and turmeric. But I knew cilantro from eating it in guacamole, even if I had never cooked with its seeds, called coriander (in the UK, coriander is used to refer to the leaf and seeds of the plant).



Cilantro/coriander's leaves taste astringent and sweet. In Ayurveda, this makes coriander very cooling. Wherever there is fire, coriander will be there! You do start to notice that it's used most commonly in dishes that also contain chillies: Indian, Thai, Mexican and Chinese foods. It also goes well with sour tastes, as in yogurt dips (yogurt being sour) or with lime, as a garnish.

Some people have a huge aversion to coriander leaves because they find it tastes a bit like soap. I'm in the 'love it' category. The seeds of the plant are much more tolerable, lacking the funny flavour that puts some off the leaves. I use the ground seed in place of the leaves if I have to (I'd rather not). The leaves have the stronger flavour, so it's not usually advised to substitute them for the seed, but hey, rules are made to be broken. I like to use a bit (or a lot, depending) of ground seed along with the leaves to sort of 'layer' the flavours: meaning, if you have a dish and it calls for coriander, putting a bit of ground seed in with the leaf creates more complexity in the flavours in the dish. As an example, you can also layer flavours when you need a dish to be hot: heat can come from black, white, green, pink or red peppercorns; or from dried chillies of all sorts; horseradish, wasabi, mustard; perhaps try putting in two or three items from the same taste 'category' instead of only one, and adjusting amounts accordingly, so you don't overload the dish with heat but you build the flavours in complexity. Curry powder, for example, has heat from black mustard seeds, ginger and black pepper. It has sweetness from fennel and cinnamon. And so on. Hopefully that makes sense.

Here's where I use coriander/cilantro the most:

*leaves as a garnish in Chinese style stir-fries, ground coriander seed as part of the spice in the stir fries; a bit of coriander seed is nice in other hot or sour Chinese dishes where you might not use the leaves;
*Thai dishes such as Tom Yum soup, Thai curries, Thai rice and noodle dishes. I cook the coriander stems along with other vegetables in the curries and soups, then sprinkle the leaves over at the end, and ground coriander seed and stems would almost always go into a home-made curry paste if I was making it;
*Indian foods: chutneys, any Indian curry, vegetable dish, rice dish, home made curry powder, and Ayurvedic teas;
*Mexican dishes: chili tomato rice, guacamole, most chili-laden Mexican dishes. Cilantro also freshens and 'greens' up a Mexican dish that has cheese, helping to cut through the sour and oily qualities. The leaves are excellent as a balance to spicy mole sauces, and the stems could be cooked with any roasted veg that you're putting into your enchilada;
*yogurt dips: leaves and ground seed, perhaps with lemon and cucumber? Sort of like Tzatziki?
*Chutney! Recipe below.
*summer drinks: pound up a few sprigs of coriander with a handful of mint leaves, pour boiling water on them, steep for a while and drink; or, steep then chill it in the fridge, add some lime juice and a bit of stevia or raw agave nectar and enjoy your cilantro mint ice tea. Yum!
*digestive tea: one of the most popular Ayurvedic recipes is a soothing tea to drink at anytime, for anyone, made of 1 teaspoon each: coriander seed, cumin seed and fennel seed (use whole seeds). Place the seeds in a pot, add a pint or two of water, boil, turn to a simmer, simmer for a few minutes, covered, then strain and drink. This healing brew is helpful for indigestion, acid stomach, cystitis, sluggish digestion and many other conditions. You can make some in the morning and take it in a thermos to sip on throughout the day.



As a natural remedy, cilantro is a great herb in the summer because it's so cooling. Meaning, it's helpful if you're prone to heat rash, excess sweat, irritability, if you have acidity, internal inflammation (anything ending in 'itis' like cystitis), skin irritation or other 'fiery' conditions; or if you just need to cool off. The juice is a good thing to drink (along with unsweetened, pure cranberry juice) for urinary tract infections. The juice also soothes skin rashes and burns, burning sore throats, and is excellent for intestinal disorders and as a blood cleanser. I would guess that this is because, as a sweet and astringent tasting green plant food (like cucumbers and avocados), cilantro is powerfully alkaline. That means it counteracts the acidic effects of foods like sugar, coffee, alcohol, wheat, corn, dairy, meat, etc.

To make cilantro juice, wash a bunch of fresh coriander/cilantro in cold water, then run them through a juicer. If you don't have a juicer, put the washed bunch in a blender with a cup or two of water (depending on the size of the bunch) and blend. If you want to make more of a paste to place on heat rash or irritated skin, then add water slowly, in a trickle, while blending until you have the desired consistency. Apply where needed (but not on broken skin - see you doctor).

How to keep your cilantro fresher for longer if you buy a bunch of it from your local vegetable market? Treat it like a bunch of flowers. Snip off the very ends of the stems and place it in a short glass or jar with a bit of water (not enough water to reach up to the leaves, only about an inch or so of the stems). Then you can just leave it on the windowsill or maybe place it in the fridge.

Or, if you buy a bunch of cilantro and know you won't be able to get through it all, make a chutney. This is a really delicious topping for curries or basmati rice. It's also nice as a dip for South Indian flatbreads - like papadums, dosas or kallappams.



Coriander Coconut Chutney

1 packed cup fresh coriander leaves
1/3 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut flakes
1 teaspoon honey
¼ - ½ teaspoon salt (not table salt - sea, rock, kosher or iodized)
2 Tablespoons lime juice (about 1 small/medium lime)
1/2 inch fresh ginger root, peeled with the tip of a spoon and minced
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional!)
1/2 teaspoon (or a bit less) cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon (or a bit less) coriander powder

Blend the coriander and lime juice until chopped; add a little water if it's too thick. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until you have a paste-like consistency (again, adding minimal amounts of water if needed).

Cardamom Snickerdoodles

I love baking. It's therapeutic and can be so beautiful, especially when cake is involved. But I'm also a bit of a health nut. What I consider ideal is having a couple of sporty, hungry teenage boys to pass the cookies to so that I'm not stuck in the house, alone, with an entire cake or batch of cookies. Teenagers have amazing powers of absorption when it comes to food.

Let's cut to the chase. I made some Snickerdoodles in April and took them to dinner at the house of our friends Oleg and Anna, and their sons Dennis and Alex who are...14 and 16, I think. They're both very tall for their age, which makes them look 24 and 26. Their hair is a perfect blend of their mom's curly red and dad's fluffy blonde hair. I hope Oleg doesn't mind me calling his hair fluffy. I simply mean, 'not flat'. It's a good thing. But anyway, they loved the Snickerdoodles. We were over there again last weekend. The lads, plus Lucy, Dennis' girlfriend, cooked dinner for 10 people. I was so impressed, given my complete cluelessness about cooking when I was their age. They wanted the cookie recipe, or at least the spelling of the word so they could look it up.



I guess Snickerdoodles are American – this seems obvious when I think about it. There are plenty of silly words in British English but Snickerdoodle is not one of them. If it was an English 'biscuit', it might be called 'Snickies' or something else with a 'y' sound at the end. They love that over here. Like chocky for chocolate.

As a thanks for dinner, guys and gal, here's a recipe. I thought they'd be nice with cardamom in them. I love cardamom and think it's amazing in the right desserts. Dennis and Alex fondly remember the chai crème brulee that my brother made for everyone at our wedding party in 2008, and last week I had a similar cardamom crème brulee at a very authentic French restaurant near our house. Mmm. Anyway, the cardamom is optional here but I love it.

If you're going to use gluten free flour, it's a good idea to use baking paper so that you don't end up demolishing the cookies while trying to scrape them off the bottom of the pan. Baking paper lets you lift your gluten free wares off easily, with minimal crumble. It's a miracle for the gluten free baker.

I fiddled around to make them a bit 'healthier'. I used half whole spelt flour and half gluten free self-rising flour and modified the amount of baking soda accordingly (self-raising GF flour has baking soda in it). Feel free to use ordinary unbleached all-purpose flour. I also used demerara sugar, but I ground it up in the blender because I didn't want huge crystals but I wanted to keep the sugar unrefined. It's an easy trick that I use when I need powdered or caster sugar but don't want the white stuff.

Cardamom Snickerdoodles

for the dough:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
pinch of salt (not table salt) (omit if you have to use salted butter)

for the topping:
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

In one bowl, cream the butter and sugar with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the egg and mix well.



In a second bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt (if using) and cardamom. Do try to grind the cardamom yourself, the aroma and taste is amazing. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until it starts to clear the sides of the bowl and comes together into a dough. Pat down the top, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for a couple hours or overnight.



When you're ready, take out the dough and preheat the oven to 350F / 180C (I have an oven thermometer and I only have to set my UK oven to 130C! Obviously, these are handy). In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Scoop out spoonfuls of dough, enough for 1 inch balls, and form them by rolling the dough around gently between your two palms. Then toss them in the cinnamon mix to coat and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until just starting to brown around the edges. Makes about 32 cookies. These freeze well. In case you need to save them for the next time you see some teenagers.

How To Beat a Crappy Mood (plus a recipe for spiced greens)

It's been raining since I woke up at 7. I have a sore throat and a sinus headache. Two weeks ago, I had a kidney infection. It was excruciating. I'm better now, but, you know...being able to feel your inner organs (in a bad way) just isn't right. So, I'm lying in bed with a shiny new cold, having just recovered from an internal infection. Schtuff happens. And because I've had to rest a lot and work less in the past few weeks, I start to feel like I'm trapped in a little town in the middle of a foreign country, going nowhere. That's not really true, but it's how I feel today. In other words, I'm in a crappy mood. Just being honest.

So, what do I do when that happens? Here's a list of a few essentials. Try them out next time you're stuck in a rut.

*First, I make sure I'm eating good food, in other words, green vegetables, since they're packed with nutrients (see recipe below). I include spices like turmeric for its antibacterial properties, its benefits for the liver and skin and many other healing functions. I might eat a kiwi or two because of their exceptional Vitamin C levels. I have a couple of eggs for protein, which helps keep my blood sugar steady. But basically, I keep my food light and super nutritious. I don't eat cookies or a chocolate bar. That makes you feel worse, once the sugar high has worn off and you've swallowed it and can't taste it anymore. Then you just feel more lethargic and maybe slightly regretful, and your body still needs the real food to nourish it.



*Second, I move. I turn on this song...



...and I dance. There, now you can do it too! I adore old music videos. They don't make 'em like they used to. I'm diggin' the guy in the orange/red shirt and black trousers on the platform - I don't know what he's up to, but it makes me smile. I almost always choose 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' by McFadden & Whitehead because it's the most positive, uplifting song I can think of. You could say, in terms of Ayurvedic medicine, that 'Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now' is universally beneficial. I jump around, clap to the beat, kick my legs up and really get the blood going. Even with a sore throat. I do this in front of a mirror so that I have someone to grin at. It feels great.

*I drink ginger infused hot water with lemon and add some manuka honey after the 'tea' cools enough to comfortably hold the tip of your finger in. Manuka honey is helpful in fighting off infections (it seems) because of its antibacterial action. Ginger helps to clear any phlegm, perks up your digestion in a big way, and helps to detoxify the body. In Ayurveda, ginger is also said to promote circulation and creativity. You can't lose with ginger. Just slice an inch (or less if you want less spice) of ginger root into 3 cups (700 - 800 ml) water and boil; then reduce to a simmer and cover, simmering for 5 - 10 minutes until it's nice and spicy. Pour into a mug, squeeze in lemon to taste, let it cool down and stir in the manuka.

*I ask myself what I really, really, really feel like doing. In other words, I listen to my body. This is a little like meditating. Maybe I need to rest. Journal. Dance. Stretch. Finish a task that's been on my mind for too long. Clean the house. Get some sun. Turn off the computer. Snuggle the cat. Whatever it is, I take the time to do it.

After all of that, I can usually fight off any encroaching ailment, feel better and get some good work done. Like writing this post, so that you can have a better day too.

Dark Greens with Garlic, Lemon and Spices

As usual, use organic where possible to avoid giving yourself a dose of pesticides. The better the vegetable, the less you have to do to it to make it taste gorgeous. So hit up your local farmers market or save money, support independent farmers and join a CSA (in the UK or the USA).

The point of this recipe is simplicity and ease. It can be as fast as: steam greens. Toss in lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve. Or you can get fancy with the garlic and spices.

Chard, kale, tenderstem or purple sprouting broccoli, broccoli rabe, beet greens, turnip greens, spinach, arugula (rocket), mustard and dandelion greens...these all work. If you're using dandelion or mustard greens, you might want to use them as an accent to a different green like chard, spinach or kale, unless you're really hard core about your bitter foods.

2 bunches of greens, about 300 grams, or 4 big handfuls after you chop them
1 - 2 Tablespoons olive oil
2-3 medium/large garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds, enough to sprinkle over the pan
1 - 2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice (save the rind and put it in tea)
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon each: cumin, coriander and paprika powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
pinch of chili flakes (optional)
fresh herbs (optional): parsley, coriander, basil, oregano...it's up to you. A sprig or two of each.
fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (to taste, or leave it out here)

Wash the greens, remove any tough stems and chop them. Mince the garlic. Heat the oil on medium in a medium/large skillet, then add the garlic and sesame seeds. Toast for a minute or two, just until the garlic starts to brown a bit. Then add the greens, lemon juice to taste and crack the pepper over the greens. Stir occasionally until the greens have wilted down.

A minute or two before the greens are cooked to your liking, add the cumin, coriander, paprika and turmeric powder; also add the fresh herbs. Sprinkle a bit of salt over everything. Mix well. With dry spices, you want to add them just before you're done cooking. They dry out the pan and will stick and burn quickly if there is very little moisture in the pan. You want to heat them just enough to take out any raw taste but not much more.

Taste for salt and pepper, then serve. I actually love this for breakfast, for the way it tastes and for the way it makes me feel, with an egg or two on the side, or fried and placed on top.

Walnut Pesto: Better Than Nutella

I know the title of this post might make some people think that I'm not human, but the truth is that the full cup of walnut pesto we made the other day was gone within 24 hours. We also recently had some Nutella hanging around, since Colm occasionally makes crepes on Sunday mornings. The jar of Nutella, less than a cup, lasted over two weeks.



It's true: I eat pesto straight from the jar. I love it. Not the store-bought stuff, but real, home made pesto. The difference is huge. Actually, let me make that really clear: home made pesto is a million times better (and somewhat cheaper) than store-bought varities. I haven't made my own pesto for nearly a year - probably not since the last time basil was in season. I had forgotten the massive difference between the stuff from the store, made with cheaper ingredients and probably containing preservatives, and the stuff you make at home. I had forgotten the sweet sharpness of raw garlic, how bright the taste of fresh basil is, the tang of the parmesan (or lemon). I made it right before dinner on Wednesday, and we each mixed a big spoonful into our soup. The next morning, I put some of it on a salad that I was taking to work. Colm took the rest of the soup with another big spoon of pesto. When I arrived home in the afternoon, I spread it on oatcakes with goat's cheese as a snack. Then Colm came home and saw how quickly it was disappearing, so he had to have it on rye crackers. And that was it. Done. Gone.

Maybe, if we have this stuff around all the time, then we'll adjust and regain some self-control and civility. It's worth a shot. But before that happens, maybe you should make some yourself so that we can be in good company. It only takes a few minutes to make, walnuts are far more affordable than pine nuts these days (at least they are in England), and they're rich in omega 3 fats. Basil is a green leaf, and green leaves are always good for you, unless they're rhubarb leaves.

If you don't eat dairy, you can use a bit of lemon zest and juice, to taste, in place of the parmesan. This is a trick I learned from Peter Berley's books, and it works really well: the sour, bright taste of lemon replaces the sour taste of cheese. There are thousands of ways to make pesto: with different nuts, vegetables, herbs and spices, so feel free to play around. It's also very easy to make, and involves no cooking. I'm sure that stirring it into mayonnaise would be amazing. On artichokes. Mmmmm.

Walnut Pesto
note: 1 cup = approximately 235 ml, 1/3 cup = 80 ml

1 generous cup of chopped basil leaves, packed lightly
1/2 cup or a bit more of roughly chopped walnuts
1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese (or 1 - 2 tsp. lemon zest and 2 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice - this is a guess, so taste as you go if using lemon)
3 small or 2 medium garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, to taste
good quality extra virgin olive oil, about 1/4 - 1/3 cup - enough to create a paste-like consistency and to cover the top for storing

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the basil, walnuts, garlic, cheese or lemon and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Begin to blend on a low speed and as it's blending, slowly drizzle in a thin stream of olive oil. Continue to blend and drizzle until the pesto is coming together into a paste. Pause and scrape down the sides of the mixer. Adjust the salt if you need to.

If you're happy with the consistency, then stop here. Or, add more olive oil as needed and blend again. I like my pesto thick enough to hold together when used as a spread. Plus, with home-made pesto, you need to put a layer of olive oil over the top to keep it from turning brown (see below), so more oil will go in anyway. Blend for a total of several minutes, making sure all ingredients are well ground.

How to store: Spoon the pesto into a jar with an air-tight lid and pat it down, making sure there are no air bubbles and that the top is flat. Pour a thin layer of olive oil over it and close the jar. The oil will sit on top and keep air out. Refrigerate. I prefer a jar that is tall and thin rather than wide and flat so that I don't need as much oil.

Now you have some delicious pesto. The self-control part is up to you. Good luck!