The Amazing Technicolor Dreamsalad

It's Summer!  Around here, that means an abundance of fresh, home-grown, leafy goodness to munch on.  I love having a garden to pluck from, and in the PNW you can pretty well manage this year round with a little research of what to plant when, even without cold boxes.  But what can you do if you're short on space?  Even in an apartment with a deck the size of a thimble, and a sliver of sunlight you can grow things to brighten up your meals.  Sometimes all you need is a sunny window, and a flower pot!  Some of my favorite, easy to grow, summertime edibles include:

• Red Romaine Lettuce (Often comes as a free gift from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds & can be successfully grown in an 11" pot)
• Nasturtiums - Both the blooms, and medallion shaped leaves are edible, and a source of both vitamin C & Iron.
• Marigolds (Tagetes & Calendula) - Cut petals at their base, and sprinkle over salads, or steep blooms in hot water for teas.  There is a laundry list of supposed uses, and health benefits of calendula blossoms, as well as praise for being a source vitamin C & Flavinoids.
• Pansies - Adorable sprinkled in salads, adorning deserts, or garnishing beverages, these little beauties contain both vitamins A & C.

If you're low on inspiration, look no further than Laurel Anderson's Wild Plate.  This gorgeous
non-cook book is loaded with fresh ideas, beautiful photography, and valuable, rarely shared tips and thorough explanations to help even the most rookie raw foodies out there!  I'm not one who follows a strict raw food diet, but as the temperatures climb I am one to avoid warm meals in the summer heat, and find myself flipping through its pages for new ideas.  If the raw food diet is something you're interested in, Wild Plate is not only the place to look for new smoothies, salads, and juices, but it will take you beyond the basics of raw cuisine, and walk you through what you need to know about raw food prep where others leave off, and gives you all the tools you need to start your raw food adventure!

My go-to Summer Salad consists of (vulgar amounts of):

• Red Romaine Lettuce
• Kale
• Carrots & Radishes (sliced into medallions)
• Black Olives
• Dried Cranberries
• Nasturtium Blooms
• Marigold Petals (snipped)

All tossed & topped with my favorite summertime Strawberry Vinaigrette by: The Gracious Pantry found here.  What I love about this really basic salad, and delicious dressing is that you can stop here, and have a beautiful dish packed with flavor, or  you can keep pushing it as it affords you the opportunity to get creative.  Want a little more heft?  Throw in some mushrooms!  Need more crunch?  Get out the celery stalks!  Swap out the lettuce for spinach ... throw in some walnuts, I mean, wherever you want to take it is totally up to you.  Bon Appétit, my lovlies!

xoxo

P.S. enjoy that blue moon tonight!

L'Amour

The mandala, or मण्डल (for those of you down with Sanskrit) has been used in spiritual practices throughout history, spanning the traditions of Tibetan Monks to Indigenous populations of the Americas, and beyond.  These "sacred circles" are nothing new, but are experiencing a certain resurgence in popularity.  Even late night television commercials are punting mandala coloring books for adults snuggled between scenes of trashy, American "reality" programming -- this makes part of me want to weep for humanity, but the other part thinks it's pure genius!  Who cares how the practice is introduced?  As long as what you need finds you, that's what matters ... Plus, if you act quickly, and call now(!) you'll receive two mandala coloring books!  Don't be greedy, give one to a friend, and spread the Zen around!

The meditative qualities of creating, coloring, or contemplating mandalas are supposed to be quite healing.  Coming solely from an artist's point of view, I can definitely grasp how this could be beneficial.  In the moment of pure creation, when you drop everything else, and surrender fully to becoming a vehicle for something authentic in a way that feels otherworldly is quite a magnificent, and powerful process to be part of.  Imagine honing that process to put the power toward a specific goal?  The results, could indeed, be quite awesome ... And at this point, I'm willing to open all avenues of healing so, with that in mind I reached for my High Vibe Guide by: The Cosmic Collective which consists of Sarah Wilder of The Fifth Element Life, Jo Klima of The Darling Tree, and KV of Aquarius Nation, printed off the first mandala corresponding to tonight's New Moon in Cancer, and got to work.

The theme of this mandala was focused on Self Love, and with that as my "mantra" I began working from the center and let the colors come to me without the force of my thinking-mind getting in the way.  I'm not exactly sure "self love" is what was coming through on this, or if I was just intoxicated by the scent of freshly sharpened colored pencils (seriously, I wish this was perfume -- somebody make this happen) having been away from them for the better part of a decade, but if this really is the visual expression of how I feel about myself, it certainly could explain, well, a lot actually. 

xoxo

[soh-shuh l]•[net-wurk]

I pretty much have a hate / hate relationship with all forms of social media.  Maybe that's a little harsh, it's probably more of a disgust for how we use (read: abuse) it that puts me off.  Here we are, surrounded by The Jetsons-esque technology -- stuff of pure childhood fantasy that most of us never thought we'd ever have in our daily lives, and how do we use it?  We show off, grandstand, thump our chests, bully, lie, cheat, even steal by snatching other people's content and passing it off as our own.  Frankly, we don't deserve it. Our technology has officially (if not far earlier than this moment) surpassed our maturity to use it, not just responsibly, but even graciously.

Step, if you will, through a portal with me to a time when Facebook was emerging from its infancy, before it was public, when it was only open to students currently enrolled in a college or university program.  Sure, I gave it a whirl.  A funny little place where you could keep in touch with friends, and peers, and annoy each other with "pokes," or mildly amusing posts to our "walls" (I mean, what WAS that fresh new term, it's like this personal, digital bulletin board all your friends can see ... WHAT?!).

And then, I deleted my account almost as quickly as I'd activated it.  There was something about those college days of waking up to be at the sewing lab by 6:00 AM before my 8:00 AM class, spending an entire day stomping all over a sweltering campus like a packhorse shlepping materials from one corner to another, finally getting to go home to gulp down a 7:00 PM meal just to turn around and spend the rest of my night in the CAD lab 'til 2-3 in the morning before going home again to catch a few zZz's to wake up and do it all over again that didn't jibe well with the neediness this burgeoning networking platform was creating.  The nail in the pixelated coffin looked a little something like this: