My introduction to Sarasota RAWked! Exploring my idea that creating something together with other people in our raw community, rather than going it alone, is more fun, plus makes a bigger splash. We produced and threw down a pumping RAWktail Party, it was the biggest and most successful raw event in Florida to date! Dress code was RAWkstar, of course. A wonderful event and a very warm welcome to Florida and Sarasota.

A RAWstar RAWktail Party isn’t complete without headshots. Is that too cheezy?….

We brought together a fun crowd of local hipsters, movers, and shakers. Raw foods help us feel great, look our best, and fuel up for a long night of celebration. Raw food is also great for recovery, detox, and combating damage after a night of partying too hard and not sleeping enough.

The event was held at the Weller Historic Estate, and it was filled with rich period furniture and wonderful styling details. The host Jeff Weller is below in the white button down and jeans. I was to discover later that Jeff gives great massages!

The Weller Historic Estate was at full capacity with well over 120 attendees, and the energy was contagious.

I demoed 4 recipes, which follow below, while people stood around a 20 foot long table to watch and learn how to make fast, easy, delicious raw food treats. Below is Bryant Meyers, to the right, an ingredient sponsor who’s home is packed full of cutting edge healing therapy machines like an infrared sauna and scalar wave technology. I was skeptical at first, but the scalar waves made me pass out and sleep restfully the following day. Now I’m a believer.

Above is the spread for our Taco Wraps, served in a cabbage leaf. With raw food, it’s easy to have our ‘kitchen’ anywhere, even in the living room.

Lisa Tomasi, in pink, runs the Naples raw food meet up group. She saved the day and was the best assistant I’ve ever had! A testament for raw foods, Lisa drove over 2 hours to come to the event, worked all night, drove home, then came back the next day again. An enegizer bunny and beautiful woman.

The man in black above is Vincent Dessberg, who has a roof top garden on a warehouse in the industrial area of town, called “I Grow My Own Veggies”. He sponsored cabbage, edible flowers, herbs, and strawberries. I harvested from Vincent’s garden just a few hours before the party. It was amazing to see so much food growing on top of an industrial warehouse!

Now, for my recipes. Enjoy!

To make Cashew Kream, place cashews, honey, vanilla, and water into blender. blend smooth. Add as little water as possible for thicker consistency.

To make Chocolate Sauce, place honey or agave and cacao in blender. Blend smooth.

Day 4 of my SF tour was a dream come true. I visited the YouTube Google campus in San Bruno, where Chef Fletcher Starkey and Pastry Chef Jenna served up 6 raw vegan recipes in their campus cafeteria (recipes follow below).

They labeled each of my raw food dishes with my headshot photo, and they tasted delicious! I enjoyed lunch with my beautiful hosts before my talk, from left to right: Cat, Jill, and Cheryl Pon.

My chili recipe with Taco Nut Meat….how cool is this!

2 raw food salads. Folks said they didn’t even realize these recipes were raw! They liked the texture of the wild rice and loved all the flavors and colors.Raw food desserts included my Pineapple Ice Box desserts from Ani’s Raw Food Desserts, chocolate truffles, and a blended cantaloupe with blueberries. Yum, and just what I needed before my talk…cacao!

After a delicious lunch, we made our way over to the “UN Auditorium”. It was indeed tiered, just like at the United Nations, and was wired with video, projection screens, and monitors. All set up and ready to go for netcasting between all the Google campuses!

What an experience to speak in a fully wired room to YouTube and Google employees across all campuses! YouTube is amazing, enabling us to reach a global audience.

In the mid 90s, I was Internet Media Director for Simon and Schuster. I produced a project where video jockeys went around the Mediterranean. They shot video and then overnighted video tapes to me in California. I would sit with my Avid editors and edit together educational clips, then upload onto our websites. Today, this is all instantaneous and accessible to everyone, thanks to YouTube!All campuses were connected for my presentation and food demo. Next we’ll need to find a way to send raw food through the internet, George Jetson’s style!

The recipes I made included:

Sprouted Wild Rice with Corn and Tomato

Simple Rosemary Oregano Noodle Salad

Fresh Tomato Chili with Taco Nut Meat

Pineapple Ice Box Dessert

Visit GoSuperLife.com for specials on Kelp Noodles and Raw Cashews, organic ingredients, and my favorite kitchen tools.

On Day 3 of my SF book tour, I visited the vibrant Spencer Christian and beautiful Janelle Wang for a return appearance on their afternoon talk show The View from the Bay. Spencer already loves raw vegan foods, and this visit, we may have won Janelle over to our side with my Jap Chae Korean No-Cook Stir Fry Noodles and Berry Kream Tartlets. (The recipes follow below).

Watch video of my TV appearance here.

It’s always fun to be made up by a professional make up artist. Skye said she’s been working weeks without one day off. A perfect candidate for the raw vegan diet. 

Abbeba kicked off this show with her dehydrated crackers and salsa. I like to remind folks raw dishes like guacamole, salsa, gazpacho, and salads are already popular, so raw foods really aren’t that much of a stretch from what we’re already eating.

I met this pretty teen last year on my Ani’s Raw Food Desserts tour. She seems to have grown a foot or more, and has the coolest parents. Her pops brought her to the Ferry Building for my talk on Saturday, and her mom brought her to the TV station. She’s thriving on raw, and is continuing to convert and inspire her friends. What an inspiration.

The 2 recipes I made on air were for my Jap Chae, page 224, and Custard Tartletts, page 267. Jap chae is one of my favorite Korean noodle dishes, and it’s traditionally made with rice noodles.  This recipe was inspired by my mother, who pointed out how similar kelp noodles are to rice noodles.  Mom helped me figure out how to season my noodles with pretty much the same ingredients as the cooked version.

Watch video of my TV appearance here.

JAP CHAE – Korean No-Cook Kelp Noodles with Vegetables
(page 224, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials)

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
• 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1/2 cup julienned carrot
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 (12-ounce) package kelp noodles
• Soy sauce (Nama Shoyu is unpasturized)

Place the onion and mushrooms in a large mixing bowl and toss with salt or soy sauce until mixed well.  Nama Shoyu is a raw unpasturized soy sauce, and Bragg’s Liquid Aminos is a live food. Another wheat free soy is tamari, if you prefer that. Set aside for at least 15-20 minutes to marinade and soften.  Add the carrot and sesame oil.  Mix well.  Add the noodles and toss to mix well.

Custard Tartlets
(page 267, Ani’s Raw Food Essentials)

CRUST (food processor):

• 2 cups nuts
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups pitted dates

CASHEW KREAM (blended)

• 1 cup cashews
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup water

TOPPING

• whole fresh berries

To make crust, add nuts and salt into your food processor, and process into small pieces. Add dates to bind together your batter.

Line tartlet pan with plastic wrap. Press 2 tablespoons of the batter into pan. Remove tartlet crust, and place on plate.

Make kream by blending cashews with vanilla and water until smooth.

Scoop into tartlet crust. Top with fresh berry, and serve.

We’re offering a special on raw cashews and kelp noodles this month in celebration of my newest book. For organic ingredients and my favorite kitchen tools, visit my estore at: www.GoSuperLife.com

On day 2 of my SF book tour I joined Dixie Mahy and Sharon at their combined SF Life and SF Vegetarian Society potluck in the Mission District for a book signing. I demonstrated my recipe for Pad Thai with Kelp Noodles, from page 227 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials (recipe is below). Dixie, the host, is well into her 70s, and full of fire and good energy. She’s a testament to the vegan lifestyle.

The Mission was my old stomping ground in the early 90s, I lived at Treat Street and 24^th Street. I was happy to see that much of the neighborhood seems to have kept its charm over the years.

Three beautiful ladies were excited to recently discover raw foods. Common questions were about weight loss and ingredients like agave. What I answer is to be happy, live in moderation, and have an attitude of gratitude. Stressing out about whether a goji berry has been dried 10 degrees too hot adds stress. We are blessed to have the knowledge we do to make informed decisions when it comes to what we choose to eat. We’re privileged be able to decline food when people are starving in other countries. Keep perspective, and be happy. Happiness is a reflection of our inner health.

This lovely lady told me how her mom had been sent home to die over 40 years prior. Her mom instantly changed her diet to raw vegan, and has been thriving ever since! I believe illnesses comes from the accumulation of garbage in our body. Enjoying more raw vegan food, which are naturally cleansing and detoxifying, helps to decrease our toxic load along with our overall stress, boosts are immune system, and fuels longevity.

Here she is, thriving after 40+ years on raw vegan foods! She made by day by telling me I was going to save the world. That’s a tall order.

A great group of people in SF, where I lived 8 years through the 90s. I miss all my friends and the culture of SF including electronic music, design, fashion, art, and the vibrant community culture. I didn’t get to go dancing this trip, so I’ll need to visit again soon, socially next time, just to hang out and absorb the beauty of SF.

Pad Thai with Kelp Noodles
(page 227 of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials)

sauce:

• 1/2 c almond butter
• 1 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup braggs
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (please prepare juice for me from fresh lemons)
• 2 Tablespoons jalapeno pepper, fresh
• 2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 1/2 cup filtered water

noodles:

• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 2 cup shredded cabbage (pre shredding will be helpful)
• 4 x 12 oz packages kelp noodles

Blend all sauce ingredients and toss with noodle ingredients. Enjoy!

For organic ingredients, visit my estore GoSuperLife.com, where we are running specials on Cashews and Kelp Noodles to celebrate my new book!