A Day In The Park & Raw Apple Pie

Today Daniel and I vegged out at Kensington Metropark on blankets by the water, read some books, talked a little and enjoyed the sun. It was a wonderful way to relax together. We were super excited when we got to Kensington because they were holding an Organic Harvest Market in the farm area. It was lovely! So many fantastic local businesses poping up! I am truely blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people being creative and thinking about their impact on the world and being so loving!

Right now I happen to be reading a book on The Raw Food Diet and, coincidentally, I met a lovely gentleman at one of the market booths who invited D and I to The Tree House in Farmington Hills in a few weeks to learn more about Raw foods and biodynamic farming! We are so thrilled! I was so excited that I came home tonight and decided to try out one of the raw foods recipes in the book. Raw Apple Pie! My girlfriend has made me one of these once, but from a different recipe and it was soooo delicious. I wanted nothing about it to be different!

Here are D and Heidi loving each other in the kitchen while waiting for their yummy treats. :)

D getting excited to try his baby pie!
So here's the finished product! I didnt follow the recipe (its just what I do...or rather, dont do). :) I had no dates for the crust and so I used raisins, and I used pecans instead of walnuts. I made up the rest of the pie based off memory from the pie my girlfriend made me. Its basically a pecan crust pressed into a little glass dish to make a well for an applesauce (not cooked) type mixture of spices, apples, lemon juice and then whole raisins. I topped it with fresh sliced apples and it was soooo delicious! A really fun and refreshing experiment! And about 1/5 the time it would have taken to make a typical crust and bake a pie!

The power of NOW...

Yesterday I was buzzing again. I felt the strain of reaching to touch the "better, happier" future I'd creatively imagined in my head. Maybe you know it, the untouchable, ideal world that we never quite seem to live in but chase after like the golden carrot in front of us just out of our reach? Yah, that's where I was. Again. One of the first times I became profoundly aware of the now, the moment I was truely living in, and stopped struggling to reach an impossible place in the future, was when I read through Echkart Tolle's book A New Earth. Since then, I've had lots of moments where my conciousness shifted and I returned to the now. Of course, I still spend a tremendous amount of time in my past and potential future, as was apparent to me yesterday when I read this quote on my Echart Tolle calendar...

"Surrender each moment to the reality of that moment. If you abide in this state of acceptance, you create no more negativity, no more suffering, no more unhappiness. You then live in a state of nonresistance, a state of grace and lightness, free of struggle."

- Eckhart Tolle

If you've ever paused and asked yourself how time flew by and felt like you didn't know where it went, may I make a recommendation and suggest the two books by this incredibly present, thoughtful author, Eckhart Tolle. I read them in this order and they were profoundly awakening: A New Earth, and then The Power of Now. I hope you enjoy them.

A Weekend In Berlin - Part 1

stop.

go.

A street I could live on...

LA MANO VERDE.

A vegan resturant thats completely sophisticated, delicious, creative, relaxing, adventurous, playful, concious and beautiful. I highly suggest it to carnivores and veggies looking for a place to eat in Berlin.

And they have extra dishes for your furry friends should they be dining with you.

Ok, so this blog is going to be in reverse. We actually visited La Mano Verde just before we left Berlin. So that will also explain to you why our evening here starts with desert. This is D's ginger mint sorbet with a vanilla-raspberry sauce. See, I told you! Sophisticated but adventurous and fun!

My absolutely incredible vegan chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce. This was gorgeous and tasted divine! I am not sure how it was made because there surely wasnt a hint of tofu in there. It was light and fluffy like mousse but really rich in flavour. D's dish with basmati rice, marinated tofu, cashews and lots of veggies in a yummmmy gravy.

My *raw* dish of "fettucini" noodles made from zucchini with a delicious cashew cream sauce, deliciously marinated mushrooms, fresh basil pesto and "vegan parmasean" made from housemade spiced pine nuts. I loved the creativity in my dish. And the flavors were amazing. Actually, being raw, it was also quite refreshing!

Amazingly delectible avacado gazpacho with pumpkin seed oil. "lecker!"

Housemade crackers - sundried tomatoes, herbs....hmmm, and deliciousness!. Not sure what else! :) Gluten free though!

Really great organic and biodynamic wines.

The Charlottenburg Schloss - Aka, Castle. :)

This is a photo of a photo of the castle. We were very impressed with how long the castle was.

No corny tourist pictures here :) This was an incredible walk through a tree-lined boulevard leading to the castle and flanked by gorgeous apartments with beautiful balconies and lots of flowers. It was slightly chilly but sunny and people were playing bocci (?) ball in small groups and having a picnics.

Ok, once again for good measure.

Oops, out of order but here is D sitting down for sushi. He was so giddy to eat our mushroom and avacado sushi that he couldnt stop makng funny faces. This is typical D. Everyday. :)

I ignoring you.

Seriously, what is you doing?!

Classic D face! He just looked at me and said, "YOU'RE POSTING THAT!?!" To that I say, "heck yes, I am!"

Hahahahah. He loves to laugh at himself. A fabulous trait if you ask me.

:)

A sushi night dinner with a crazy cat! Those were LED eyes that blinked and made you feel a little trippy. I was wondering the whole thing about asian people eating cats while I looked at it.

Where did my suhi picture go?????? Hmmmm. Well, so then, isnt that an interesting placemat?

The new Parliament building.

Wiouldnt it be great if in the US we built the new things to look a little more like the old architecture we've seen here?

A museum. Sorry, not sure which one.

Caskets of the many kings and queens of Germany's past.

An entire floor filled with them and their children.