Hi everyone!
 
The folks at the Los Angeles Green Festival are giving away three pairs of tickets to three kind lifers who’d like to attend this weekend’s festivities!
 
The Green Festival is a two-day celebration of eco-friendly solutions that are working in our communities. It's happening this Saturday and Sunday, October 29-30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Festivities include presentations by more than 125 green experts, DIY workshops, films, kids activities, organic beer and wine, organic veg cuisine, music, and a marketplace of local and national green businesses and organizations. The festival is now in its tenth year and 25,000 people are expected to attend the Los Angeles event. One of my favorite eco experts, Mary Cordaro is speaking on Sunday about pregnancy, babies, and healthy home interiors. Even if you don’t have kids, Mary has a ton of great tips for making any household healthier.
 
Anywho, if you and a friend would like to attend the Los Angeles Green Festival, leave a comment below telling me what you’re most excited to see or do there! Each winner will get two tickets they can pick up at will call tomorrow.
 
I’ll pick the three winners at 5PM PST today, so start commenting!

Farm Sanctuary has been around since 1986, rescuing animals, lobbying for animal friendly policies, and promoting an animal-friendly lifestyle. This year, Farm Sanctuary is hosting its first ever conference to end factory farming. With factory farming in the news more than ever, it’s a perfect time for Farm Sanctuary to shine a spotlight on this issue on a national stage.

The National Conference to End Factory Farming: For Health, Environment, and Farm Animals is taking place October 27-29 in the Washington, D.C. area. The event will feature speakers such as Congressman James P. Moran, Whole Foods Market Co-CEO John Mackey, Food and Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter, China Study Author Dr. T. Colin Campbell and many more.

This conference is open to anyone, from professionals to concerned individuals. If you’d like to attend, registration is $150, and you must register by October 21. You can get details and register here.

If you can’t attend, you can still do your part at home, by maintaining your kind lifestyle and sharing it with your friends and loved ones. How do you combat factory farming in your daily life?

Share your daily acts of kindness in the comments below.

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Warren Kramer is a wonderful teacher and macro chef. You know him from my previous blogs about his classes, as well as my series about his lovely wife Fatim and her superhero pregnancy.
 
Anywho, Warren is back in LA this fall, and if you would like to learn more about superhero cooking, or just need a refresher, I recommend checking out his classes! He also does one-on-one consultations, so if you’ve been wanting to see a macrobiotic counselor, Warren is great. If you don't live in LA, you can still see Warren. He teaches all over the place and you can view his schedule here.

Here's a schedule of the classes Warren will be teaching in LA:

Vegan / Macrobiotic Classes in Los Angeles
Sep 21-25, 2011

Wednesday, Sept 21, 7-8:30 pm
Lecture with Dessert & Tea:
The Power & Essence of The Great Life Diet

Warren explains the key points of Denny Waxman’s book. This is an inspiring class to jumpstart your practice or refine your understanding of macrobiotics.

$25.00 paid by 9/14, $35 thereafter

Thursday, Sept 22, 6-9 pm
Cooking Class:
Delicious Gluten-free Macrobiotic cooking!

In this class, Warren will demonstrate dishes that are delicious and gluten-free. A full meal will be served and recipes provided.

$60.00 paid by 9/14; $75 thereafter

Friday, Sept 23, 6.30-9:00 pm
Dinner/Lecture:
Cancer, a Disease of Modern Times

Our modern diet, lifestyle and eating habits are contributing to much of the cancer trouble we see today. Warren will give a clear picture of cancer development and how to change this direction.

$50.00 paid by 9/14; $65 thereafter

Saturday, Sept 24, 10am-3pm
Cooking Class with Lunch:
Fabulous Nori Rolls & Unique Condiments

Nori rolls are delicious, easy to make, travel well and can be made so many different ways. Warren will show you how to make awesome nori rolls and prepare a few special condiments.

Lecture: The Art of Visual Diagnosis (participatory class)

The face, hands, feet, posture, voice, pulse… are all means to see our health. Most importantly, visual diagnosis enables the individual to see the direction one’s health is going in before a major health problem develops.

$100.00 paid by 9/14; $125 thereafter

To register for any of Warren’s classes, contact Karen:
Email: yogarv@aol.com
Tel: 310-204-4867

Saturday’s classes & consultations are held in West LA. All other classes are held in Culver City. If you’d like to sign up for all of the above classes, you can for a special discount of $210.00 prepaid by September 14.

Have you ever taken a cooking class? How did it impact your habits & skills in the kitchen?

If raw is your thing, here's a fun culinary treat to check out...raw vegan chefs Sophie and Dani are teaching a series of cooking classes in LA, starting tomorrow, June 24 at 6:30pm. From there, they’ll be teaching classes once a month through September (details on the flyer above). To sign up, call 310.291.5266 or email Sophie and Dani at zuddhagirls@gmail.com.

Are you planning to enroll in any cooking classes this summer? What kind?

To kick off the summer, TreePeople, a groovy non-profit in LA, is hosting their first ever Green City Fair! TreePeople’s mission is to create sustainable landscapes within the urban environment and to educate the public about environmental issues. They also help communities to plant and care for trees. Their Green City Fair is a free day of eco fun, food and activities hosted by Ed Begley, Jr.! Here’s the info:
 
Green City Fair
12601 Mulholland Drive
Saturday, June 4
10am – 4pm
Details here!
 
It looks like a great, family-oriented event where you can learn a lot and have fun with your kids. There will be food, live music, face painting, eco vendors, and lessons about how to green your lifestyle – all in gorgeous Coldwater Canyon Park. It sounds like so much fun, and not to be missed! Plus Ed Begley is sooo cool and cute!

If you live in LA, try to make it and tell me how you like it!

Macrobiotic chefs Karen and Laura are kicking off the summer with more cooking classes! This time, they’ll be featuring summer grain dishes, warm weather soups, cooling salads, fresh and light desserts, and protein-rich energy foods. If you’re in LA and you want to be more superhero, or if you’re already superhero and just want to expand your repertoire, this is a great place to start.
 
Classes start May 17 in Studio City. Call Karen at 818.766.8804 for directions and reservations.

Macrobiotic educator and counselor Warren Kramer will be back in LA May 18-23 to teach several classes in Venice and on the Westside (you know him from my previous blogs, or maybe you’ve already attended one of his classes!). This time, he’s giving a lecture about health and technology, particularly about everyday exposure to radiation (I’ll be blogging about this soon). Sounds like a great class!
 
He’s also teaching a yummy looking cooking class about macrobiotic dishes from around the world. Additional topics he’ll cover in his series of classes are summer cooking, the seven levels of eating according to traditional Chinese medicine, and balancing acid and alkaline foods for stress reduction. If you want to dive in and take all of his classes this spring, sign up before May 9 for a big discount.
 
Also, if any of you have been thinking of seeing a macrobiotic counselor, Warren is great! His wife recently had a baby (I’ll be blogging about her pregnancy and natural birth soon), so Warren is a wonderful resource for anyone who is pregnant, or for anyone looking to be more superhero. He’ll be available for private counseling during his trip to LA, so if any of you LA Kind Lifers want to see a macrobiotic counselor, consider booking a session with him while he’s in town.
 
Is anyone looking for one-on-one guidance for being more superhero? What would your biggest questions for a macrobiotic counselor be?

My mother-in-law Candy Cope told me about a wonderful woman in Sacramento that teaches cooking and shopping for the vegan lifestyle, and I just wanted to share her info with you. Her name is Emily Webber, and Candy loved her cooking classes that she and a friend shared together.

I found Emily’s recipe for a tofu sour cream dip, and it looks great. Here is what she says about it:
 
"This dip reminds me a little bit of a thick, creamy Ranch-style dip served at a party with potato chips or vegetables. In this version, however, the herbs are fresh and bursting with flavor and rather than sour cream, the base is silken tofu. This dip is even better the next day after the flavors have had a chance to mingle."
 
Fresh Herbed Tofu Sour Cream Dip
 
Serves 4-6
 
Special equipment: you will need a mesh strainer and cheesecloth for this recipe.
 
Ingredients

• 1 pound organic fresh silken tofu
• 1/2 teaspoon ground celery seed
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (adjust to taste)
• About 10-20 turns freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup minced fresh chives
• 2 tablespoons each minced fresh basil, parsley, and dill
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon
• 2 teaspoons minced shallot

Steps

1. Line a mesh strainer with a quadruple layer of cheesecloth, allowing a couple of inches to hang over the edges.
2. Place the strainer inside a bowl, cut open the package of tofu and dump it in.
3. Allow the tofu to drain for 15 minutes to 2 hours (place in the refrigerator if it will sit out for longer than 20 minutes) *The longer it sits, the thicker your dip will be
4. Squeeze out any remaining water and dump into the food processor.
5. Puree until smooth.
6. Add the celery seed, salt, pepper, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and puree.
7. Add the herbs and shallots, and pulse just until combined.
8. Do not over-mix, or the dip will be green.
9. Bit of herbs should still be visible.

Variation:   Drain the tofu overnight to make it really thick.  In this way, the dip turns into a sandwich or bagel spread.  Try it for simple cucumber sandwiches.  It would be super-yummy for an afternoon tea or wedding/baby shower.  I love it in the morning, spread on half a whole wheat bagel with a bowl of berries.
 
Serve with your favorite veggies!
 
If you live near the Sacramento area and would like to take one of Emily’s classes, here is an example of a class syllabus:

Day 1: Thursday

• Southwestern Scramble; Burrito Style
• Dinosaur Smoothie
• Portabella Mushroom Stroganoff; Steamed Broccoli

Topics of Discussion: Healthy Menu Planning; Why not dairy, Why not meat; Diabetes and fat in the diet
 
Day 2: Friday

• Tempeh Reuben
• Mixed Greens with Simple Vinaigrette
• Simple Tofu with Tamari and Basil
• Delicata Squash Stuffed with Holiday Rice
• Winter Greens with Lemon, Thyme and Garlic

Topics of Discussion: Grocery shopping; Going out to eat
 
Day 3: Saturday

• Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Served over Baby Spinach
• Seitan & Red Bean Pot Pie (pot pie for company; no crust-serve over brown rice for everyday dinner)
• Baked Sweet Potatoes with Pecans, Cinnamon & Maple Syrup
• Kale & Caramelized Onion Gratin
• Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee with Raspberries (if you want to, we can experiment and make ½ the batch chocolate!)

In addition to her classes, Emily accepts private clients and can be reached at webber1973@sbcglobal.net. Have you taken any great cooking classes recently?

Macrobiotic chefs Karen and Laura are the best! This Spring, they’ll be hosting a series of cooking classes about everything from healthy soups to superhero desserts. I’m so excited, as they don’t do them very often. If you are in LA, and you want to be a superhero, this is the place to be!
 
Classes start March 9 in Studio City. Call Karen at 818.766.8804 for directions and reservations.