Deliberate Eating

Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: “I am with you kid. Let’s Go.” – Maya Angelou
I have spent most my life eating at the kitchen sink. Literally. Even as a chef (or especially, I don’t know which) I rarely sit down and enjoy a meal with my friends and family at an actual table with actual silverware and actual time to enjoy the experience. I spend hours and hours creating a dining event for other people every day and never enjoy one myself. I grab the first thing to hand (usually bread) and slather it with the second thing at hand (hummus…romesco…tapenade…smart balance …you get the idea) and call it a meal. My justification is that I am tasting all day long so I don’t really need to eat…
And while I am getting enough to eat calorically (although definitely not nutritionally) I am not doing something equally important and that is feeding my soul. Most traditional cultures observe some sort of divine appreciation at the beginning of the meal and enjoy the event of eating with friends and family as part of the social fabric. Food is a part of the cultural identity, an integral part of communal entertainment as well as woven into religious rituals and cultural practices. As Americans we consume most of our meals by food that has been either handed to us through a car window, alone standing in front of the microwave or in our cubicle spilling ketchup and crumbs between spreadsheets. Food becomes merely a vehicle for existence not a primary sensual and spiritual pleasure.
In examining our relationship with food one of the most important things to ask ourselves is why we eat the WAY we do. Part of the process of remaking our relationship with food is to redefine the way we view the actual event and eliminate that which does not nourish our soul as well as our body.
Compound this with the fact that your body wants to be well. Each day that you give your body clean nourishing soul sustaining food it is repairing and regenerating positive growth and healthy energy. Clearly the most important thing you can do for yourself is give permission for this healing and growth to occur. One of the things we will be focusing on for the next two months is channeling and directing this positive energy to its greatest possible benefit.
Do we eat alone? Oftentimes the idea of eating alone is so distasteful that we pretend we are not doing it. Do it while occupied with almost anything else. Personally my favorite places to eat are in the bathtub, in the sink, on the computer, and in bed all the while doing something else to occupy myself from the fact that I am consuming food. Have an eating place in your home that is separate from your other activities. Not typing with one hand on the computer keyboard while trying to consume calories not sustenance.
Do we eat with deliberation? Do we savor each and every bite taking time to chew slowly and enjoy the experience or do we bolt our food finishing every last morsel like we are competing for a land speed record? As a chef I sometimes get lost in the flavors and essence of a dish and this communion is one of the most exciting parts of my job. Tasting, really tasting, every subtlety brings a whole new awareness to what you are eating.
Do we eat with utensils? The ceremony of eating is part of the intrinsic sensual enjoyment of the process. Laying out the table with cloth, cutlery, chopsticks, candles and giving the event the sense of circumstance that it deserves. Even if only for ourselves the ceremony of the dining event makes it an act of deliberation. This does not mean that “finger food” is not acceptable just that it has its place (foreplay) and its time and should not be considered a substitute for the actual ceremony.
Do we appreciate the divine source of our sustenance? Many religions and traditional cultures observe the ritual thanking the source for their sustenance. By acknowledgement we appreciate that we are stewards and recipients of this gift and it might become one we are less willing to take for granted.
By simply changing how we eat we are also more focused on what we eat. No longer does a Mickey D’s combo meal fit the bill for the slow savoring of each and every deliberate mouthful. In fact, if we are thanking the divine source for nourishment then let’s actually do the work of making sure what goes on the plate is fulfilling and nutritionally complete. If we are going to enjoy the event with our family and friends then it seems worthy of the time and effort required for preparation of a home cooked meal rather than one from a box or carton.
Homework for Conscious Eating:
Deliberately plan your eating events this week. Even if you live alone make each meal a conscious action by eating at the eating place and slowly savoring every morsel. Note your physical reaction to your food. Note your emotional reaction to treating food with ceremony. Try and plan at least one meal eating with others if you live alone and at least one meal as a family if you live with your partner. Plan the event as if you were inviting someone very special to dinner (you are: you) and treat the event with the ceremony and gravity it deserves. Have fun and take longer to eat the meal than it did to prepare.


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Foods We Eat A Lot Of

Whole Grains – anything that has not been refined or processed – this means that it does not come in a box with a boil packet that renders it instantly ‘delicious’ in 5 minutes. Whole grains are work. You must cook them and then work with the product. See the Grain and Bean cooking guide for some novel suggestions and things you have never heard of eaten or worked with before.

Beans, Legumes, Pulses, - again anything that doesn’t come in a premixed or pre prepared packet , While you may keep certain beans on hand for emergencies (being just too tired is an emergency) for the most part you want to cook these yourself.

Rice – as long as the rice in question is not pre-cooked, boil in a bag, already mixed with herbs and spices or instant you should be ok – the real key here is that it is a raw as God made it and never bleached or processed or polished in any way. Anything that has a just add water and stir or microwaveable option is not a part of this program.

Seeds and Nuts - any type is fine as long as they are raw and unsalted. Obviously if weight control is an issue then nut quantity should be controlled, but for the most part sesame, sunflower and flax seeds can be unlimited.

Soy and Tofu - ORGANIC ONLY. This is another case where the contamination of the food supply is so critical to what you eat . Because most soy produced in this country is genetically modified by the Monsanto corporation you must make sure that you buy organic to guarantee it is GMO free.

Vegetables (at least 7 per day) and fruits (at least 3 per day) – focus on color – orange, red, purple, dark green- this is almost a whole book in and of itself but we will focus on local, seasonal and organic or clean produce.

Wild Seafood – this is includes all local and wild fish and shellfish.

Extra Virgin Olive oil and flax oil - this is such an important part of what we are doing that if you don’t feel comfortable eating vast quantities of oil read my guest blog on the crushandpress.com insider section. EV Olive oil is an absolutely essential part of any healthy diet and even more so as you approach your 40’s and on.

Vegetable stock and herbs. Any and all herbs and make sure that your vegetable stock contains no preservatives and msg. There is simply no way that I could make the quantity of vegetable stock that I use on a weekly basis. Find a good brand that is low in sodium and msg and preservative free and stock up!

Seasonings including all vinegars, shoyu, tamari, hot sauce, EVOO and mustards – again the only item on the label should be the item itself.

Fermented vegetables – limited quantities – this means vegetables that are actually fermented and not filled with chemicals and sodium – examples of this would be kimchee, umeboshi plums, homemade sauerkraut etc

Canned emergencies – beans, beets, tomatoes, soups

corn tortillas – ingredients masa and water ONLY

Snacks - popcorn (newmans or smart balance), brown rice chips, rice cakes and corn cakes, hummus (sabra is good making your own is better), nut butters – again all label reading rules apply

Whole Grain Cereals – granola, oatmeal, cream of rice, grits, Ezekiel, kasha make sure that sugar is not in the first seven ingredients

LOTS of red wine – enjoy but do not drink and drive, do not let your dog drink, do not drive your children to drink and let your dog drink and drive ….i think I am required by law to say that J

The Mind Body Relationship

Open the blank page before you

Let your book begin

The rest is still unwritten

These are words from one of my favorite songs and to me they pretty much say it all. Every day is your opportunity to write your story. Just because you have been stuck in patterns of destructive behavior, unhealthy food choices and negative thought patterns doesn’t mean that you need to continue them for one more day or even one more minute. We are going to work through the next 10 weeks to think about your body and treat your soul in a different and more loving way.

When you talk to your body it hears you. Sounds silly doesn’t it. Of course it hears you! I’m here! I’m LISTENING you think….But when you look in the mirror and say negative hurtful and hateful things about your body that becomes a belief system that is self perpetuating. “You’re so fat,” “I hate my body,” all prevent you from recognizing and appreciating the wonderful miracle that your body actually is. Imagine someone or something that works and functions and does the amazing feats that your body does but is constantly abused and berated: would you want to continue to perform at your optimum level? It would be the equivalent of my car. I never wash it or clean it, remember only sporadically to get the oil checked or the tires pressure checked, and then I wait till it breaks down to take it to the mechanic and I am surprised when it doesn’t perform well…. Incredibly short sighted, right?

When I was getting a divorce I was miserable and unhappy and would say to myself constantly in a sort of mantra “I hate my life…I hate my life…I hate my life…” Admittedly, things were pretty sucky at the time but it wasn’t getting any better and it still wasn’t getting any better and it still wasn’t getting any better so I decided to positively reframe the way I looked at the situation. Every time I thought about how miserable I was I would say instead, “My life is filled with lessons to be learned by the challenges I face. Today is a great opportunity to grow.” OK admittedly it was still pretty sucky but it got better and I felt better about the process and myself as a part of it…

We are going to work on positive reframing when we look in the mirror.

“My body is a miracle in every way. I am healthy and strong. I am beautiful in all parts of my being”

“My body is a gift from God and I appreciate this miracle I have been loaned for my lifetime. I will take responsibility and pride in its stewardship.”

This detox is more that just cleaning your body out of all the nasty chemical additives, hormones, preservatives and antibiotics in our food supply it’s also about clearing your own mind of the toxic sludge and residue that have been lingering there for years. Examine, if you will the messages that you have received over the years about food, your body, your health, caring for yourself…I’ll begin with a few from my particularly toxic upbringing to get the ball rolling..

“I can’t relate to you when you are fat.”

“Your not taking care of yourself shows no respect for me or your father and our position in the community.”

“You need to resolve your food problems. People are blaming me.”

OK so my list is endless. No wonder I ended up with raging eating disorders, body dysmorphia and food confusion. I simply couldn’t put food in its proper perspective in my life and I certainly couldn’t love my imperfect body. BIG opportunity for growth here right? So these are my messages to my body and my soul to reprogram the damage.

‘Your body is perfect exactly the way it is. It is strong and enables you to do all the wonderful things in your life. Taking care of yourself is important so you feel good about you and are able to be a better mom, teacher, partner, chef. Making peace with your own food choices allows you to nourish your body without guilt or blame or punishment and to take care of yourself without regards to the thoughts or opinions of others. Your body is a gift from God that has been lent to you for this lifetime. Its stewardship is an honor and a gift, not a burden or punishment.’

Everyone has their own particular life opportunities for growth. Examine yours very carefully in the light of the mirror and see where the new direction lies for you. Make a plan of what you want to overcome and WRITE YOUR OWN STORY. Seriously, write it on a piece of paper and make copies and post them anywhere and everywhere that you get stuck in your head. I had mine in the front of every mirror in the house. And when I was stuck I would literally sit there reading them over and over and over and over. You do not need to continue playing the same old role in that tired soap opera, you can cast yourself as lead in your own thriller.

Homework for next week is to answer the following questions in depth:

When I look in the mirror I see:

The internal belief system about my body/life has been:

The ways I am going to positively reframe these messages are:

If I was speaking to myself as a child what would I say:

Some of the wonderful things my body does for me are:

If I were writing my own story it would go something like this:

Eat Clean Food

A lot of this list is shamelessly plagiarized from Michael Pollan. It is merely a condensed version that is meant to be posted in lots of places to remind yourself constantly of lifestyle choices. Thanks Michael, for all amazing work you have done making the Slow Food Movement a part of the mainstream consciousness.
Eat Food. Mainly Plants.
Eat locally grown seasonal food.
Eat clean unprocessed food you prepare yourself..
Eat food that was made by people not machines.
Eat food that contains ingredients you would find in your pantry .
Eat food that your great-grandmother would recognize.
Eat foods found in nature and that will rot .
Eat your colors.
Eat snacks that are unprocessed.
Eat when you are hungry and then eat slowly…
Eat deliberately and consciously
Eat less than you think you need.
Eat meals that take as long to enjoy as to prepare.
Eat junk food if you cook it yourself.
Eat food that was made in a traditional manner.
Eat meat, animal flesh, animal products as a special occasion or flavoring treat.
Eat alone as rarely as possible. Eat with family, friends, community whenever possible.
If you do eat flesh, eat happy flesh.
Don’t be afraid of good oils.
Don’t eat anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup or Trans Fats.
Don’t eat anything that arrives through your car window.
Don’t eat anything with sugar or sweet stuff in the first seven ingredients.
Don’t eat food that make health claims, including low fat or ‘lite’ or pretends to be something else.
Don’t have it in the house if you don’t want to put it in your body.
Make Peace with your choices.
*This entire document is shamelessly plagiarized from Michael Pollan’s “Food Rules.”

Our Favorite Foods

Our Favorite foods are sustainable, meeting the needs of the present without jeopardizing the needs of future generations.

Grains: Quinoa, Teff, Amaranth, Barley, Rice (anything traditional that doesn’t come either bleached, instant, mixed with other ingredients or in a boil in bag), Millet, Kasha, Oats, Kamut, Wheat (anything from bulghur to couscous to wheatberries) ask for the gluten unsafe foods list if this is an issue

Legumes and Beans and Pulses: Garbonzo, Black, Red, White, Pinto, Northern, Adzuki, Soy beans, Lentils, Mung, Split Peas, Blackeyed Peas ….etc. there is no such thing as a bad bean there is only a bad way to cook them*

Nuts and Seeds: Flax, Sesame, Walnuts, Pecans, Cashews, Almonds, Pumpkin, Sunflower, Sesame, Pistachios, Peanuts**

Vegetables: Local and seasonal first, dark green next , purple, red and orange next, yellow next, white last .

Dark Leafy Greens – kale, collards, mustard greens, watercress, dandelion, wild lettuces, and romaine etc.

Cruciferous- cabbages, brussels sprouts, choys, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower,

Bulbs – garlic leeks onions shallots scallions

Roots and Tubers parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, yams, carrots, celery, fennel, sweet potatoes, beets, kohlrabi , jicama, burdock root, potatoes

Squash – kambocha, butternut, spaghetti, red kuri, pumpkin, hubbard, acorn , sweet dumpling, zucchini, chayote,

Funghi – mushrooms, truffles

Herbs – parsley, cilantro, rosemary, tarragon, dill, chives, basil,

Weird stuff – lemongrass, ginger, sea vegetables, TVP

Juices- Bolthouse Farms , Bossa Nova, Pomi, Odwalla Read ingredients my favorites are the bossa nova and pomi brand cuz it is just the juice on the label

Random- okra, cucumbers, asparagus, eggplant, corn etc etc. There are really no bad vegetables just too much of one. If you look at the China Study the primary reason that agrarian Chinese populations have incidence of cancer in their populations is lack of diversity in their diets. Eat a lot of different things.

Whole Fruits: local and seasonal first, All citrus, All berries, All melons, Apples, Bananas*, Pears, Grapes, Mangoes, Papaya, Pineapple, Coconuts, Plantains*, Dates, Peaches, Plums, Apricots, Nectarines, ALSO Avocadoes, Peppers, Tomatoes

Cereals: anything fromBob’s Red Mill, or Kashi, steel cut oats, puffed rice, grits, polenta, Oat Bran,

Flours: Graham, Blue Corn, Rye, Garbonzo, Rice, Stone ground wheat, Corn meal, Masa, Almond, Semolina, Tapioca, Spelt, Flaxseed, Soy, Teff, Potato, Oat, Barley, Buckwheat, Blue Corn, White Corn

Vegan Products: Smart Balance, Earth Balance, Almond Breeze, Herbamare, Vegannaise, Bubbies, unfiltered Cider Vinegar, Nasoya, Gardein, Thai Kitchen Rice Noodle Bowls, Annie Chun Rice Express and Miso Soup Bowl, Tofutti Cuties,

Fermented: Umeboshi Plums, Kimchee, Traditionally made pickles (Bubbies), Miso, Tofu***,

Sweeteners: Agave Nectar, Brown Rice Syrup, Maple Syrup, Organic Cane Sugar, Succanat, Stevia, Molasses , Truvia, Muscovado, Demerara, Turbinado, Beet Sugar, Honey****, Barley malt,

Oils: EVOO, Grapeseed, Sesame, Canola, Avocado, Flax, Walnut, the most important thing about oil is how its processed

Milk Substitutes: soymilk, almond milk, hemp milk, rice milk, oat milk, cashew cream, coconut milk, everything by tofutti

Companies we love : Amy’s, Tofurkey, Smart Deli, Veggie Patch, Soyrizo, Muir Glen, Dr. Praegers, Herbamare, Bubbies, Bob’s, Hodgson Mill, Red Mill, Kashi, Odwalla, Naked, Bolthouse Farms, Spectrum, Newmans ( not all products) Lucini (not all products), Eden Organic, Ancient Harvest, Wolfgang Puck, Apple and Eve, EdenSoy, Pacific, Riceworks, Smart Balance, Seventh Generation, Tofutti, DeBolles, RW Knudsen, Green and Black, Seeds of Change, Lundberg, Kashi, Natures Path, health Valley, Annies, Garden of Eating, Food should taste good

Things we do not eat: Bleached Flour, HFCS, MSG, Hydrogenated oils, monodiglycerides, aspartamame, preservatives or dyes not found in nature, anything with sweeteners in the first seven ingredients, anything that has been fed steroids, antibiotics or hormones, anything genetically engineered, anything that doesn’t rot in a timely fashion, anything you don’t keep in your pantry, anything advertised on television

Safe Preservatives: salt, citric acid,

*See the bean cooking guide

** Actually a legume, high in oxalic acid and must be organic

***Soy supplies in US are not regulated, make sure you are consuming organic soy and preferably fermented to help reduce health risks

****not vegan

Bean and Grain Cooking Guide

Bean Cooking Guide
Soak Beans overnight if possible. Drain soaking liquid and replenish with cold clear water to cover in non reactive pot. Bring to a quick boil, turn off heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Drain water again (this is the third time), replenish water to cover by two inches. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer till tender. During the second boil you add several pieces of kombu, a tsp of baking soda, vegetable stock paste and seasonings. The second boil is when you add your stock and seasonings.

Legume Cooking Guide
Lentils – Red, Yellow, Brown, Lentils de Puy, Black Beluga– Rinse thoroughly. Put in pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil let sit for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse. Return to pot with vegetable stock and seasonings to cover. Bring to a high simmer and cook till tender. Lentils de Puy or French lentils will be much harder to the bite than the other varieties.
Split peas - Rinse thoroughly. Put in pot and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil let sit for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse. Return to pot with vegetable stock and seasonings to cover. Bring to a high simmer and cook till tender.

Grain Cooking Guide:
Quinoa – Comes as white red or black micro grains - Rinse thoroughly to remove saponin, Put clean quinoa in pot with water to cover by at least 2 to 4 inches, Bring to a boil, lower to simmer for about 8-10 minutes until “worm” pops out. Drain in fine mesh sieve.
Millet- small round yellow circles. Bring 2 cups water to a boil add 2/3 cup millet reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes. Millet will get mushy and disinigrate so watch it carefully! Taking on flavor of whatever it is paired with.
Rye and Farro wheat – 2 ½ cups water to one cup faro wheat – (the whiter the wheat the quicker it cooks) – plan about 15 – 20 for both on high simmer
Spelt, Kamut and Wheat Berries- hard round reddish brown ovals – Rinse thoroughly to remove grit.. Bring 2 1/2 cups liquid medium to a boil, add 1 cup grain, reduce to a simmer and cover for about 40 minutes. Depending on how they are dried they will cook at different times so keep checking. Drain.
Steel cut Oats – bring 3 cups water to a boil sprinkle in one cup oats slowly, stirring constantly, cover and reduce to simmer for 40 minutes to an hour.
Polenta- Yellow granular corn meal – Polenta is really a feel right kind of substance. Start with 3- 4 cups boiling veg stock and whisk in up to 1 cup polenta. I always add some smart butter and herbamare and white pepper early on. Leave to cook for about 10 minutes stirring constantly it should be thick but creamy and not gritty. There is a lot of testing and tasting involved to get this one just right. Cooking times and quantities vary depending on brand of polenta once you find a brand you like stick with it (I am very fond of Roland)I often add roasted onion and smart balance to polenta as I am cooking for creaminess.
Teff- microscopic brown dots – 2 cups boiling water- 1/2 cup teff - high simmer about 15 minutes
Jasmine Rice or Basmati Rice or Green Bamboo Rice- GET A RICE MAKER – one cup plus a smidge water: one cup rinsed rice – sprinkle herbamare, press button voila OR STOVETOP 2 cups water plus sprinkle of herbamare to boil on stove, add one cup dry rice, bring to boil again, cover lower to simmer and cover, 15- 20 minutes and fluff
Wild Rice – 1 cup wild rice to 4 cups vegetable stock or water – bring liquid to a boil – add rice – simmer for 40 minutes – kernel will burst – drain – add seasonings to taste
Sushi Rice – follow directions for jasmine rice – when cooked add 1 TB rice wine vinegar and 2 tsp sugar – toss till incorporated
Brown Rice, Black Rice or Red Rice ---- follow direction above for stovetop only rinse the rice and do about one cup rice to 1 ¼ cups water – there are a million different varieties of each so check ratios on packages ALSO
Pearled Barley – Rinse one cup barley - put in pot with three cups boiling water – cook at high simmer , covered for 40 minutes
Hulless Barley - same as above only cook about 60 minutes and watch water levels
Bulghur types
Fine - Boil mixture of vegetable stock and vegetable juice– measure out equal amount of fine bulghur – pour boiling liquid over fine bulghur –drizzle with olive oil stir thoroughly cover with saran wrap – let steam for 20 minutes –
Medium – 2 cups vegetable stock to one cup bulghur- boil first then high simmer for at least 15-20 minutes – remove from heat and cover
Coarse – 4 cups liquid medium – I like a combination of vegetable stock and tomato juice – add 1 cup of coarse bulghur – let it rip until liquid mostly absorbed – stir, remove from heat and cover for 20 minutes – fluff
Amaranth – Tricky little bugger – 1 TB olive oil or even dry – sauté 1 cup amaranth till toasty about two – five minutes – add 2 ½ cups liquid – bring to a boil – cover and lower heat for 20 - 25 minutes - fluff
Couscous – Boil mixture of vegetable stock and vegetable juice– measure out equal amount of couscous – pour boiling liquid over couscous –drizzle with olive oil stir thoroughly cover with saran wrap – let steam for 20 minutes – fluff
Buckwheat Groats or Kasha – you can toast these first on a dry hot pan for a little extra flavor or you can just boil 2 cups water , add 1 cup grain, lower to simmer and cook for 15 minutes
Millet – 3 cups liquid medium to 1 cup millet, bring to a boil and lower to a simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes. For sweet millet use fruit juice for savory vegetable stock.

60 Day Wellness Program

Greetings and Salutations,
I am thrilled about this journey we are going to start together. This is always the scary part; anticipating the first date before we know each other and wondering what’s going to happen next… I can promise you a few things about our ten weeks together: firstly, that it will not be boring and secondly, that your thoughts about food will change dramatically. Like any new relationship the anticipation is almost as exciting as the first brush and I would like you to harness that enthusiasm while I am gone to accomplish a few things.
Homework:
Watch “Food, Inc.” You can get this from Netflix. I believe it is available immediately via streaming. If you request it from the library it will be available prior to the class.
Read at least one of the following books: “the Kind Diet” Alicia Silverstone / “The Omnivores Dilemma” Michael Pollan / “the China Study” T. Colin Campbell / “Skinny Bitches” Freedman and Barnounin (this is in your face girlfriend talk so it is not for the weak or modest)
Open a facebook account and friend both me and Wendy O’Bier Baker. If you don’t have one already it takes literally ten minutes and allows us all to communicate with each other easily. You do not have to “DO” facebook. Wendy and I will help you set it up so it goes directly to your cell or email.
DON’T DO ANYTHING ELSE! I know this sounds counterintuitive, but there are a lot of different reactions to starting something new. You may feel compelled to eat everything you’ve ever wanted (I have to give it up next week, might as well eat it now) or you may feel like you want to start your “diet” now and get a jump start on the program. I want you to do neither. This is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change and if you start off thinking about it as diet and deprivation you are setting yourself up for failure. Keep track of your cravings and use them to fill out your flavor profile.
Couple of details:
The orientations will be held on either Thursday, January 20th or Friday the 21st . The Thursday orientation will be held at Independence Hall at the Conference Center ( address 23938 Stew Enson Rd. Millsboro, DE US 19966 ...) The Friday orientation will be held at Hobos 56 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach. Both orientations will begin at 6pm and will include food. Please give Wendy an email RSVP so she can plan for the numbers. Bring yourselves, a list of questions and your FLAVOR PROFILES. (document attached) Please make sure you read my sample flavor profile before you panic. Everything else will be clear after the orientation. I promise.
The actual classes begin the week of the 24th so your first classes will be at Hobos starting that week. All classes begin at 6pm and end around 9. Trust me, time flies and you won’t believe it’s only been three hours.
While I am away you may reach me via email or facebook but not via text or phone. You may also contact Wendy with any questions or final details. I will be returning on the 17th/18th and then I am completely, totally, utterly yours for the next ten weeks. We are going to have so much fun.
Can’t wait to begin this marvelous adventure together.
Gretchen Hanson chefgretchen@gmail.com 302.381.1821
Wendy O’Bier Baker wobaker@gmail.com 302.542.7088

60 Day Wellness Program

OVERVIEW

What we are going to learn over the next few weeks is about so much more than just going to a cooking class. We are going to begin a journey that is about changing your lifestyle and the way you think about food as a part of your daily ritual, your cultural identity, and as a source of comfort. I am not going to teach you simply the recipes, there are thousands of cookbooks to do that for you, I am going to teach you the techniques that will allow you to build a culinary skill set. While I was classically trained, the techniques I am going to teach you are not from that tradition; but from my own empirical work in the kitchen over the last 25 years. Similarly, the recipes that you will take home with you are not like any you have ever worked with before. The ingredient list will probably contain a lot of items that you are unused to working with, but more importantly the techniques with which you treat each item are the key to making it taste they way you are used to my food tasting at Hobos (and for those that haven’t been, shame on you). Like comfort food, rich, unabashedly soothing, comfort food with no apologies needed for cholesterol or calorie count. The key to what I do is taking food that is good for you and making it taste amazing. Making it taste amazing without adding animal products, transfats, sugar, preservatives, flavor enhancers, or in many cases gluten.

We have become so used to have our food mass produced in this country, that our taste buds have almost become inured to having our food prepackaged, preprepared, and almost seemingly predigested. The essential idea of this program if it could be stated in one simple sentence is to return to the beginning source. If we were all of sudden teleported to the year 1900 what would we find? Well, to begin with, no type two diabetes; heart disease and cancer are almost unknown, and high cholesterol…high what? At the end of WWII the baby boom was beginning, the era of American domination had begun and we were making the mass exodus from traditional agrarian lifestyles to an urban setting and industrial and technological revolution. The fact that I just grossly summed up foreign policy, national consciousness, and cultural identity in one sentence should not scare you anywhere near as much as what happened next: trans fats, high fructose corn syrup and the beginning of chemical preserving became the cure all answer for transporting mass quantities of food to urban centers without spoilage. Add the birth of McDonalds and Food Inc. is born. A billion dollar industry poised to control what you put in your mouth from the political arena to the grocery store aisle. So, what if we said no? What if you said, “I’m smarter than that. My body deserves better.” What would you eat?

Well, to begin with, imagine again that you were in this pre Food Inc. world and lived in an agrarian culture. Vegetables would be fresh from the garden and abundant. Meat and animal products would be used, but sparingly and as seasoning or flavoring not the base of every meal. Farm animals would not be prophylactic ally treated with antibiotics or steroid enhanced. Animals would eat the food they were intended to by God and not just clear up man’s surplus corn. As a farmer you would work hard manual labor for many hours a day lowering your BMI and increasing metabolism so calorie counting would be superfluous. There would be sugar but a rare special treat to be thought about for days afterward. During the winter or fallow months you would eat more sparingly of preserved food and dried meats and beans. Alcohol would be a rare indulgence for very special celebrations.

Now imagine you lived in any one of the identified “Blue Zones.” Blue Zones are areas of the world where the life expectancy far exceeds the norm in both quality and productivity. Blue Zones are always found in traditional cultural models rather than homogenous urban settings. Primarily, Blue Zone’s are agrarian and have a strong family unit. There are more commonalities than differences with our pre Food Inc. world and Blue Zones but of the most important would be that most blue zone cultures have a predominance of seafood in their diet and olive oil is utilized abundantly.

So to be incredibly simplistic we are returning to our roots with a few small changes. We are dismissing all the pseudoscience of the diet cultures in the last thirty years and focusing on whole and complete foods. We are dismissing the faddism of the low fat/nonfat/high fat diets as so much nonsense and eating only foods that feed us completely body and soul. We are not depriving our bodies, constricting calories, or using food products that proclaim diet anything. We are moving our body, focusing on our support system as a replacement for the strength of the family unit, and replacing most of the food items currently found in our cupboard with ingredients in their raw and unadulterated form. Not only that, we are going to learn to be 21^st century rock stars in the kitchen. In the immortal words of David Spade, “Now that is some shizzit.” It sure is.

Our Mission

Welcome to my revolution.

A Hobolution about the way we live, eat and certainly run a restaurant.

I believe that the most important thing we can do for our community is support it. So, to begin there is our philosophy of local first: from sea, to farm, to table with scarcely a stop in between. And we don’t support just farmers and fisherman, but sign makers, artists, web designers and printers and well the list is pretty endless. We build our village by cementing one relationship at a time.

We are as organic, clean, and green as possible for us to be. Knowing that most local farmers cannot afford the time and money that it requires to be certified organic, we support green local farmers first and then outsource as little as possible further afield. We have contracted with seven local farmers to buy our produce throughout the season. This process began back in December when I first bought the space that would become Hobos. Fantasizing about the seed list, importing them from all over the world and then contracting local growers to build me my dream fields. We currently have twenty three crops with seven different farmers. Once that part was in place, we began to get calls farther afield from local pig farmers, fisherman, chicken, and beef farms. We started contracting our meat and animal products to be grown for us in cage free, hormone free, antibiotic free, and cruelty free environments.

Green is our middle name. From our toilet tissue to our plastic bags and deli containers, everything is recyclable and recycled. Everything. From our linen company, to our packaging and tea service, every company we use is earth friendly, green, committed to reducing their carbon footprint and being active stewards of the environment.

Now, on to the food. Unusual…. Different…. Innovative…… not like anything else in town. OK, yes, all true of course, but what is the secret really?

Well, it’s not just about the food.

Wow, there I said it. I learned to cook the way I do in the street markets of some of the poorest countries in the world. Braziers no bigger than a shoebox would turn out hundreds of “covers” in an afternoon while I would sit and watch and talk and learn the techniques and recipes and ingredients they themselves would use to feed their families and neighbors. The food in these communities is valued and prepared with a loving and passionate concern that it nourish and sustain the lives most cherished. It is food created and cooked entirely with the alchemy of love.

If you truly love what you do and you truly love the ability to feed people, REALLY, REALLY feed them the way God intended for us to eat, then that is the kind of food we have. Food that is a familiar as it is innovative; as unusual as it is comforting; as filled with the joys of discovery as it is delicious and known. Beautiful, loving food. Ahha you say, so the travelling! THAT is where the name Hobos comes from! Well, yes, it is partly, but the journey led us here and we are sharing a meal.

And this is just the beginning.

A little about myself....

I suspect that my introduction to a career as a chef came a little earlier than most. I had attained the ripe old age of 2 1/2 years when I came to the conclusion that the prospect of facing another unpalatable meal prepared by my culinary-challenged parents was just not the way this particular little chef's life was meant to begin. I dragged a chair to the stove and told everyone to keep back - from that point forward I would be feeding myself.

By twelve I had my own little catering business; a burgeoning cottage industry cooking for the "lunching ladies" of our affluent southern California community. Being from the wellness center of the universe certainly flavored the way I thought about food but, without access to big grocery stores or convenience foods, the only things I had to work with were the raw ingredients that were delivered by either the food co-op or the local grocer. Cooking was from scratch, the way God had intended. Was there any other way? If so, I didn’t know it. I cooked my way through high school learning rouxs, salsas, and sauces: reading any cookbook I could get my hands on, dissecting the information and experimenting on my ever-willing family and friends.

Fast forward many years and I found myself at Columbia University spending much of my time in midtown, training in a classic French kitchen. Béchamel, Béarnaise, Brulee and an addiction to Julia Child had turned me into an incurable foodie destined to seek out restaurant kitchens, cheese shops and charcuteries as my natural habitat. My focus during those years had been classic French in all its glory, but now I found the cuisines of the sun calling to me again and my years of travel had begun.

My favorite markets had always been in Mexico, Central and South America; every moment I spent exploring them an adventure in exotic produce, an ongoing introduction to new chilies and spices that cleared the nasal passages and intrigued the palate. Every country I travelled to welcome me with its own tastes and smells. In Europe, olive oils as unique and different as the rustic red wines that graced every meal and every village proud of its family trattoria with its ancient and guarded recipes. Every chef creating a signature of specialty recipes and flavors that was entirely different and unique from their neighbors.

Towards the Far East the flavors became as exotic as the ingredients. Being linguistically challenged in any but romance languages, I was happily content to observe and taste my path through most of the Middle and Far East. The small towns through which I travelled rarely had English speaking inhabitants and yet the universal language of food needed little translation as I became as fluent in curry as I already was in mole’ and caulis. My wanderings had one focus, the food and, for the most part, the women who cooked it. I watched and learned from mothers and grandmothers tending braziers and open flame stoves in the stalls and roughshod kitchens of the daily markets: the alchemy of food as an extension of the nurturing role these women played in all facets of their families and community. Wherever I stayed, I tasted and cooked my way into the heart of each life I was privileged to briefly share.

My eldest child was a surprise and blessing that I didn’t expect. Surprise because he caught me without a supporting partner and blessing because I had to figure out a very clever way to combine food with staying home with him. I started a catering company that focused on cooking wholesome meals for people with medical challenges. Whether challenged by diabetes, heart disease or obesity, I began to see the correlation and relationship in every aspect of how we live and what we eat.

So now we come to Hobos and everything comes full circle. Food as love, food as healing, food as community.

And yet there are still many more journeys left to make, meals to share with friends old and new, and so much more to learn along the way (always that!). I begin this next stage of my life focused on living and cooking a diet based on predominately vegetarian food choices. As I draw from the culinary background I have been so blessed to have, everything is still, and always will be, made from scratch. Like the hundreds of little farming villages that I have visited and lived in through the years, my ingredients are purchased from my neighbors whenever possible; making my dream of a 40 mile menu a reality from our very first season.

Welcome to my table, welcome to Hobos.