After a 12 month pregnancy, humpback calves are born 16 feet long, and weighing about 3000 lbs. They drink around 64 gallons of milk per day, and the suckling calf can gain more then 100 lbs per day during the first weeks of its life.

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Learn more about Vanessa at wildernessa.com

In Thai, Kin Khao translated means ‘Eat Rice’.  It was also a trendy Thai restaurant in Soho, I frequented in my Manhattan days.  Thai food has come a long way since my parents’ restaurant in Chicago.  Yes, my parents were pioneers of the Thai restaurant trend when I was in high school.  Back then there was one Thai restaurant--it was called, ‘Thai Restaurant’.  Then my parents opened ‘Thai Room Restaurant’, with the goal of having as many Farang (American) customers as Thai.

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Thai Green Curry Paste:

2 Tablespoons Coriander seeds 1 Tablespoon Cumin seeds 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns Toast spices in a skillet for 2 minutes until fragrant.  I use the OG mortar and pestle to ground my spices, but you can use a grinder if you don’t have a mortar and pestle. 8 fresh Thai green chillis (I split in half and remove the seeds so the paste is not too spicy) 2 shallots 4 garlic cloves 1 Tablespoon cilantro stem + root 2-inch piece galangal, peeled 4 kaffir lime leaves 1 Tablespoon shrimp paste (from Asian store) If you have the mortar/pestle; combine all the ingredients or blend all in a food processor with about a 1/2 cup of water.  This will yield about 1 cup of green curry paste.

Thai ‘Green’ Curry

• 1 medium onion, cut in about 8 cubes
• 2 small eggplants  cut in 1" circular rings and cut in half (about 2 cups), or use 1 thinly sliced chicken breast
• 8 Asparagus spears chopped in 2 inch pieces
• 1 pepper (green or red), chopped in 2-inch squares
• 3 Tablespoons of Thai green curry paste (recipe above)
• 1 stalk lemongrass, cut in 3 inch pieces, smashed with tenderizer
• 1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 8 oz of Coconut milk (from a can or fresh frozen)
• 1 Tablespoon liquid palm sugar or agave
   

Add 2 Tablespoons of grape seed or olive oil to a pan and saute the lemon grass, onion, eggplant, and pepper for about 3 minutes.

Add curry paste to the skillet and stir fry together for 5 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk add fish sauce.  Let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove lemon grass and add lime juice and palm sugar.

Sweet Rice w/ Mango (or Sweet Summer Peaches)

• 1 cup of Thai sweet rice (short grain ‘sticky rice’)
• Soak rice in about 2 cups of water over night.

Place cheesecloth at the bottom of a steamer, drain the rice and steam for 1 hour, turning every 20 minutes.

• 4 oz of Coconut milk (canned or fresh frozen)
• 1 Tablespoons of liquid palm sugar (or agave)
• 1 Teaspoon salt

Heat in saucepan until the mixture comes to a boil.  Mix with cooked rice.

• 2 oz coconut milk
• 1 Teaspoon salt

Heat in saucepan until the mixture comes to a boil.
Peel and cut a fresh, ripe mango or 2 ripe, but still firm peaches.
Plate the rice + fruit.  Drizzle coconut milk/salt mixture over the rice.

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My parents still worked their day jobs, which were professional occupations and utilized the advanced degrees they earned when they immigrated to the States.  But this was the pursuit of the American dream—to own a home and for their children to ‘have everything they did not’.  So a former Century 21 real estate office was converted into a dining establishment with the hours of operation of 6pm – 10pm, Monday – Friday and Noon – 11pm on the weekends.  My parents were the managers, cooks, and dishwashers; I was the waitress, dishwasher and accountant and my younger brother and sister the busboy and entertainment.

It didn’t occur to me that cooking was a skill unto itself.  That there was a lot of experimentation and talent involved in creating foods that would be appealing in presentation as well as to the palate.  Growing up in the 70’s; there were few Asians in my neighborhood; I was one of 3 in my class for the first 4 years of elementary school.  My parents were oblivious to the task they had before them of introducing this new cuisine to Chicago.  Up to this point, Sushi in Chicago was still unheard of.  Oriental food choices consisted of Chinatown restaurants and the Cantonese noodle and egg roll take-out/delivery storefronts.  So my dad, being an unwittingly savvy marketer, learned how to cook Chinese cuisine.  But not the Chinese take-out most people were accustomed to (though egg rolls and fried rice were on the menu that boasted over 64 dishes), but Hunan and Szechuan Chinese; with spices that served as a bridge between the Cantonese and the Thai.  People were familiar with ‘Chinese’ food, but the Chinese at Thai Room would be the gateway to the spicy dishes of Thai cuisine.

I had taken for granted that my mom was a fantastic chef.  Her training was that of a dentist in Thailand and a nurse in America.  I doubt she ever cooked a meal growing up in a privileged upper class family with Khon Chai (people who work for us) to do everything from driving to cleaning and cooking.  I am not sure how she discovered that she had such a talent for re-creating the amazing dishes she enjoyed as a child in her country.

For months, the restaurant would have a manageable flow of customers; about 8-10 tables each evening.  I was able to get my homework done, sitting at a table in the corner with my Trigonometry book (so Asian) and fulfilling my duty as the editor of my high school newspaper; describing the details of football games I was unable to attend but which were based on conversations I had with friends at school.  My brother and sister would earn extra tip money by playing the guitar and singing John Denver tunes and songs from ‘Annie’. 

It all changed one Friday evening after Christmas, when at 6pm promptly, all at once, every one of the restaurant’s 16 tables were filled and a line had formed out the door on a frigid Chicago evening.  Nearly every table ordered a combination of same dishes: Satay (grilled skewers of pork, chicken or beef) with peanut sauce, my dad’s spareribs, fried Red Snapper w/ Chili Sauce, Tom Yum (hot and sour soup) and green curry.  Could this all be a coincidence, because if it wasn’t, we did not get the memo.

Some customers wound up waiting over an hour for their food and had to forego the Phil and Anna entertainment experience, but no one left disappointed.  Whether we realized it or not, that evening, was the tipping point of the realization of my family’s American dream.  The Chicago Tribune had named their Top 10 Restaurants of the Year.  Thai Room was #10, alongside gastronomic landmarks such as Charlie Trotter and Le Francais.  It was also the only restaurant listed where the average price of a dish was under $15.

After a few months of managing this new booming business, my dad (once again the savvy marketer) sold the restaurant at a premium to another Thai family hoping to live the dream.  Today, my parents still own the house that our family’s collective blood, sweat and tears of Thai Room paid for.  

By way of an incredibly circuitous route (which includes a Division 1 college athletic scholarship in tennis and a stint at the William Morris Agency), my sister is re-inventing the magic of Thai Room with her healthful cooking.  She sells ready made Asian-inspired cuisine at the Chicago Farmer’s Market.  One of the rules of selling at the market is that a majority percentage of ingredients must be locally sourced from the farmer’s market.   That seems almost as Herculean a feat as introducing Thai food to Chicago in the 80’s.  But Anna’s Rock n’ Roll Noodle Company is bringing Thai cuisine with a healthy attitude to a new generation of Chicagoans. 

I’ve tried to re-create some of her most popular dishes, but a note about the ‘Green Curry’:  There are substantially more ingredients and time involved in making the curry paste from scratch.  You can find curry paste in Asian markets, but by making it yourself, you can insure that there are no preservatives, and freeze the paste for later use. 

Learn more about Eda at http://edamame2003.blogspot.com/
 

The first food-oir I ever read was ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ by Frances Mayes.  I loved the book because I could live vicariously through the author.  I was transported to a land of olive scented breezes, the shade of Cypress trees and the warmth of the sun peeking over the hillside, while still in my tiny 700 sq ft apartment on the Upper West Side.  Today I am reminded of her adventures and especially the contentment she felt just living everyday full of appreciation as I prepare to leave sunny southern California for New York.  Though I lived in New York and grew up in Chicago; I have managed to avoid extended amounts of time in any wintry climate.  This has been a year of unprecedented snow storms on the east coast; the last one dumping 14” of snow on the city just a week ago.

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Basil Lemon Grilled Chicken

Ingredients 10  Fresh Basil Leaves 2    Tablespoons Olive Oil 3    Cloves of Garlic Juice of 2 lemons Salt and Pepper Method: I blended the ingredients in my Magic Bullet to make a marinade for the chicken. Pound 2 organic free range chicken breasts with a tenderizer until they are flat as pancakes (less than a 1/4” thick) and pour the marinade over the chicken.  The basil makes the marinade super fragrant--yum!

Orzo Salad

• 1 cup of uncooked orzo
• 7  cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
• 2   green onion (chopped)
• 1/4 cup arugula (chopped)

Method:

• Grill the chicken for 4 minutes on each side.
• Add the asparagus to the grill when flipping the chicken.
• Prepare the orzo as instructed (just boil for 4 minutes and then drain)
• Toss with the tomatoes, green onion and arugula and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top, if desired.

Grilled Asparagus was as simple as wrapping the asparagus (after breaking off the tough ends) placing them in a sheet of foil, drizzling lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Wrap them up, ready for the grill.

Slow Food in 15 minutes.

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But what a difference a week makes, as I am being twittered by friends of the sunny, 50 degree weather out east.  I guess Spring is blooming in New York.  Something to look forward to.  But on my last weekend in LA, I wanted to celebrate everything that makes my day to day life here special, so today Ethan and I went for a hike in the Santa Monica mountains.

The weather was sunny, but not hot--perfect for hiking.  We had quite a bit of rainfall this winter, so the rushing water of creeks and the waterfall added to the soundtrack of the hike.  Chirping birds, frogs, and cricket sounds blended together like background instruments to the running water, with an eagle soaring overhead conducting this symphony of nature.  We managed several highlights along the trails--ocean views, climbing rocks along the waterfall and hidden caves.  Because of the rains, there was a lot of new plant growth, so when we actually stopped to take time to smell the flowers, literally, it put so much in perspective.  Ethan ran through the woods with his ‘sword’ (a stick) ahead of me, making sure to protect me against dragons in the woods.  It was the Disney version of Lord of the Flies.  

When we got home, we saw that the lettuce we planted nearly 3 weeks ago from the nursery were ready to be picked and washed.  In honor of my last weekend in California for a while, we decided to make a meal, using as many ingredients from the garden as we could.  We tried to gather all the ingredients and wanted everything to be fresh--nothing processed; nothing from a box, following the principles of The Slow Food Movement, which began in Italy in 1986 in an effort to combat fast food; specifically  the first McDonald’s in Rome.  It advocates to preserve the local cultural cuisine, food, plants and seeds.  It educates consumers about the risks of fast food, lobbies against the government funding of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and also seeks to preserve culinary traditions of local regions.  What started in Italy is now a movement in over 132 countries, counting over 100,000 members.

I believe slow food is a way of life in many communities throughout the world; but it frightens me that it is threatened by agri-business and corporations.  It angers me that people now have to fight to preserve this way of life that is so natural and makes sense.  I like this idea of slow food because simply stated--it is the definition of conscious eating.  You know where everything comes from because it is local, without chemicals and it is what people are meant to eat.  I remembered a recipe Frances wrote about in ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ that involved basil, lemon, olive oil and a roasted chicken.  Simple.  While the principles of slow food are opposite to what we know as fast food; the ‘slow’ portion of the moniker doesn’t necessarily describe the amount of time to prepare.

Our Under the Santa Monica Sun meal consisted of grilled chicken, asparagus, and an Orzo salad.  Full disclosure:  the orzo did come from a box; but it was made of 100% organic durum wheat semolina from Italy.  Everything but the orzo, chicken, olive oil, parmesan cheese, cherry tomatoes, garlic and asparagus (all produce from the farmers market) were from the backyard.

 

Learn more about Eda at http://edamame2003.blogspot.com/

A truly unique concept of communication; convey a message inside a recycled card that will grow wildflowers.  Now that's what I call recycling!  The Green Field Paper Company is an organization after my own heart.

Grow-A-Note

These greeting cards are actually embedded with wildflower seeds.  Easy planting instructions are included on the back of each card, as well as the seed content.  Each 100% recycled, soy ink, handmade card will recylce naturally into the soil as the seedlings grow.

Simply plant the card in an area that receives partial sunlight.  Thoroughly moisten and plant in fine soil 1/4 inch deep.  Keep moist until seeds germinate, tend to them with love and watch them grow!

Business Cards

Considering the modern communication options, I have moved away from business cards over the last few years.  Even business cards made from recycled paper seem wasteful.  I started synching my phone with others on the spot, but then I would get home and completely forget about it.  I have to admit I mourned the loss of the physical takeaway networking advantage.

I was delighted to discover that the Green Field Paper Company also makes seed embedded plantable business cards.  I am anxiously awaiting my order and can't wait to share the gift of wildflowers with everyone I meet.

Cheers!

P.S.  Be sure to check out the fab invitations and 100% recycled gift wrap, too!

Learn more about Stacy Walters, RKT at www.fittogarden.com

We are living at the dawn of a New Era, a time in history where we have never had this much access to information and technology as well as native cultures from all regions of the world.  
 

photo via thegardenroomguide

With the evolution of design, building and architecture, we have an unprecedented amount of responsibility considering the state of our natural world.  Globally, the earth is changing at a dramatic rate, human population continues to grow exponentially and we continue to tap our natural resources.      With the evolution of modern technology and intuitive living, we can shift from a society that extracts to one that is regenerative and in turn is balanced.    By incorporating, site location, human scale, and natural elements such as, weather patterns and local materials into the design of buildings, we can begin to return to a localized way of designing our communities.      For the past several decades, we have been using templates of cookie cutter homes, buildings and commercial structures to design our urban cities.  What we have discovered is that every region is specific with its own climate, topography and natural resources.  Beginning to integrate all these elements, in addition to, the orientation, the design, materials, and culture of a place we can we begin Designing for a New Era.  Design can be defined as the creation and execution of an object, space or system. In its broader terms, it has the capacity to represent many things, in this context design is not only referencing our homes and workplace, but also to our landscapes our neighborhoods and in turn our cities.

In taking a journey through design, we begin with the interior and work our way out, painting a picture on how everything is interrelated. 
 

Often times, sustainable design is not seen, but rather it is felt. Now is a time to see interior design as a hybrid of combining such key components as green building and design as well as ecological interior and exterior spaces. 
 

One of the biggest problems we face are environmental toxins, chemicals and other materials, created largely from industry, masked as dryer sheets, smoke, scented candles, antibacterial products, air fresheners, cleaners, furniture, deodorizers, cat litter, sprays, perfume/cologne and synthetic fibers. 
 

These chemicals have saturated our water, food and the very air we breathe, but most important, they have entered our bodies and now we are passing this on to our children.   
 

So, what is in our interiors? 
 
 

•   Phthalates – Found in plastics, plastic wrap, plastic bottles, plastic food containers and fragrances
•    Phenols – Found in household cleaners, perfumes, polishes, waxes and hard plastics.
•   Urea Formaldehyde – Found in furniture, carpets, upholstery, plastics, building materials and foam insulation.
•   Biological Pollutants – Found in dust, mold and mildew.
•   Organochlorine Compounds – Found in pesticides, chlorine, paints, waxes, plastics, PVC and vinyl.
•   VOC   : volatile organic compounds – Found in paint, furniture and carpeting.
•   PBDE : polybrominated diphenyl ethers - Found in flame retardants found in furniture, soft furnishings and electronics.

Many of these chemicals are not only found in our living environment, but have made their way into our food supply through the various natural cycles found in life. 
 

Common practice uses a variety of chemicals in our soft furnishings, carpeting, electronics and fabrics; information that should encourage us to be as discerning as possible.  It is key to eliminate these chemicals, in addition to, a host of many others that have never been tested for their toxicity levels to human life.   
 

These days there are material and product selection for all things green. Consult your experts and always source products that are built to last, made properly, non-toxic and healthy. 
 

There is a new approach to the conventional way of designing and building that incorporates new ways of thinking, in a more fundamental manner, such as incorporating lifecycle analysis as well as form and function, amongst so much more. 
 

Let us start designing and creating a future that does not require purchasing food, clothing and furniture that does not have chemicals in them, but rather making sustainability standard practice and green building and designing becoming a way of life.

For more on Nancy, visit Astrid Design Studio