kitchen as life & other magical moments.

gorgeous women!!! look at this dance... this radiance...this blissed out beauty showing up at the farmers market... i am inspired each week as there is always something new to gaze at.. a color i want to wear, a shape i want to hold, smells i want to bathe in & tastes i want to share. it's a motley crew of abundance. it's my church of sorts.. if you ever feel like praying in this way... you know where to find me.


do you remember the conversation about the stories hanging in our kitchens? i picture them as a collage of chandeliers, streamers, a breeze, the way the sun hits the beets.... some are ornate and fancy bright, some are dirty, dusty, invisible & some are painfully quiet UNTIL you open something... in your kitchen, in your life, in your beauty... it could be your heart, your eyes, your oven, shredding some carrots, shredding some of you, spreading butter on warm toast, spreading yourself, the sounds & smells of that wooden spoon, the handle in your hand: everything has a story. 


i am finding that it takes courage, tenderness & a deep desire to do this OPENING UP thing.  the kitchen is life. everything seems to be happening in here: miracles, magic & mayhem. we can birth and burn something in the same moment. it's all a big stew of growth: stretching & sating me while i warm it up.


it IS emotional. it IS intimate. it IS a choice.... in how we want to eat, chew & digest these new and old stories of our beauty, our freedom, our life and how we want to nourish ourselves and our clan in our day to day.


upcoming miracles & a saturday workshop!


may 25 
june 8
june 22


fridays
10:30 - 1
75 dollars
rsvp asap


&... 


***MIRACLES, MAGIC & MAYHEM*** 
saturday workshop: june 16
an exploratory feast of discovering YOUR beauty in & out of the kitchen... we will meet freedom in food & other expressive mediums... more details soon... rsvp asap ... this will also be an intimate group. 


here is a sweet testimonial from the last miracle.....
"Totally inspired, loved every minute. Hungry for more, hope to cross paths with all of you again soon. Thanks a million to Jules and the lovely women I shared a miracle with. xoxo" Nicole 

see you in the kitchenxxxx

beauty mama day.

ode to the mamas

incredible

love

deep

challenge

sweat

tears

my face

intimacy gone

intimacy found

hide and seek

with, for, of ME

hide 

hide 

hide

coerced to seek again

a new, feel old

want so much

have so much

blessed beyond words

challenged to the last cell

inexplicable 

resilience

the mama cape

a ton of bricks

yearning for the feathers

and the milk

milk

milk

the gap tooth smile

singing to adele in the car

watching me, you, us 

GROW

the ultimate teachers

changing patterns

the deepest exhaustion

the deepest gratitude

the deepest of everything 

oceans of beauty 

beauties of ocean

thank you for choosing me

xxxx

weelicious & white shorts.

beauties! it's MAY!!!! how did that happen?!!? time is insane... it really feels like i am in my own room with time. it feels like a room with high windows, like at the gym and i have my own trainer who is holding a stop watch for every single thing i am trying to get done (we might want to call her a babysitter and she really does want the best for me) oh and i see... i am in a feirce game of squash. i am whooping my own toosh. how is that possible? one part of me is getting 'stuff' done and the other part of me has a long way to go... anyone? oh! and i think i am wearing those east coast, harvard vibe, white shorts... oy, that just made the image so much worst. HA!  


how are you? how is the beauty in your world? how is the food coming along? any action in the kitchen? it's getting warmer and the beauty of spring is slowly making her way to the market: stone fruits, cherries, berries, asparagus, spring peas and more.. there are so many gifts to eating seasonally and one of the best feelings is setting my eyes on the first of something in the season. it really feels like a friend i have not seen in a long time (about a year)....i am so happy to hug it with my eyes, kiss it with my lips and bring it home to share with ocean. he gets so excited to see the new, old friend back again. yesterday, he asked that i bring the wood board to the table so we could cut our first peach together. it was a simple moment that was so special. there was ritual around the first of something, the honoring of it being here & then right back to lego's. i loved it.


speaking of friends...i want to send an incredibly grateful shout out to a true renaissance mama in & out of the kitchen, catherine mccord, who created & owns with love: weelicious. she is doing such beautiful work bringing families together in the kitchen to make food that is healthy, easy & good for everyone to enjoy. she is one of my sunday favorites at the hollywood market. i am not quite sure how she does it all with running a successful business, writing books, interviews all over the country, raising her family & the one that stumps me the most: shopping at the market with her entire family following her to every stand. check out weelicious for videos, recipes & various ways to get fun, healthy & love filled food on the table. how do you do it? you are amazing catherine. thank you for sharing my movement with your weelicious family. 


the last post by artist, poet & renaissance mama: jill lurie brought so many sweet words and love from our community. thank you jill! if you didn't get a chance to read it, click here. the next MAY MIRACLE is friday, may 25! please reserve your wood bowl as we have a few more spots left. these miracles are magic in the kitchen. we will explore and discover ourselves, our beauty & reconnect with our needs through a variety of mediums... held by the incredible sustenance of this gorgeous food. things are opening up in here in new ways and the miracles are ripe for the pickens....see you in the kitchenxxxx


***welcome to all the new beauties in the RM community, so happy to have you with us on this journey, discovering all the miracles in and out of the kitchen. i am honored & inspired to feed you in this wayxxx***

your body welcoming a miracle.

happy weekend beauties! i am so deeply blessed by the amazing women in my life who share their gorgeous spirit with me. jill lurie is one of these women. jill is a renaissance mama; an artist, writer, poet, cook, gardener, seeker, totem creator and so much more... her first collection of poems is called ginger roots: plantings of a future dreamer & her blog is a beauty fest of words, ideas, adventures & soul talk. jill has trekked east side to the miracle a few times & writes about her experience below. i am taking a warm gratitude bath with each image. if your hunger is stirring for this kind of love or if something here speaks to you: don't wait to feed yourself in this way. there is a sort of magic stirring in this gathering... i can't seem to explain it just right but jill definitely has her hand on the pulse. 

"She lived at the end of a cobblestone road. In Provence or Tuscany or tucked away in the Americas.  It’s hard to say…it could have been anywhere, anytime, she was a purist: raw materials + love =  food.  But it was so much more. This was her medicine.  She healed herself with the creation of it and healed others with the dispensing of it. The wooden bowls, soft woven napkins, copper kettles – artisans and their wares were her tools.  And the edibles – plucked from the earth, the Great Mother herself. She was an artist, a chemist, a builder…the food her medium.

But it was not really food per se. Yes, it was something to eat on a plate, she knew enough to make it look as though it was from this world…but there were magical properties in there. Things not listed in the recipe.  She’d peer into your soul and see what you needed: nettle tea, kohlrabi, black kale, walnut oil, a blessing said in silence that she’d quietly spread on your thick, crusty bread.

She’d distract you with her beauty – blond tendrils and bright red lips. Always those lips. Less seduction, more a metaphor…a bull’s eye. She saw through her mouth. Some say the third eye is on the forehead, her’s lay just below her nose.  And she really would see you, and know what you needed and add her own particles of love and light.  Then she’d transfer all of that that into your mouth under the guise of, “here honey, you look hungry.” 

She was right, those who came to her, who were brave enough to make the long trek, often without knowing why, were starving. But their bellies ached for more than basic sustenance. She practiced an ancient primal tradition…cookery, alchemy, or perhaps something more primitive and maternal: a mother bird feeding her own young – mouth to mouth. A kiss.

And the experience would kiss you, make love to you, your entire body from head to your barefoot toes.  The aromas, the colors, the light, the beauty.  Your body welcoming – opening to – everything she had to offer.  Because when you arrive, you have no idea what the potion of the day will be.  She doesn’t either.  But you make the trek, you climb the hill, get your heel stuck in the stones, pull it back out again, feel the warm wind pulling you higher, and higher, until you reach the belly of her soul, realizing you’re actually on the path to find union with your own."

-Jill Lurie for Jules Blaine Davis


NEXT MIRACLES DATES:

FRIDAY APRIL 27 (need to know asap..email me: juleslove@mac.com)

FRIDAY MAY 11 (need to know by monday may 7)

10:30 - 1PM

RM KITCHEN/MT WASHINGTON

$75/DONATION OF LOVE, FOOD, MAGIC

madness & miracles.

praying

it doesn't have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones; just

pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try

to make them elaborate, this isn't a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.

Mary Oliver

this is where i am today. trying for the silence, allowing for the weeds or maybe it's more like surrendering to the weeds and being ok with this long pause since last we did this: shared a moment like this, fed myself in this way, a little feast of something special, quiet... words, pictures, thoughts, me time i think they call it. putting everything else (that gynormous list) on hold, to do this and only this, while beauty sleeps. her naps are super short so it really is a moment. can you feel it?

so many whirlwinds since those vegan chocolate chip cookies... they were so good! i loved hearing from those of you that got in there and whipped em' up: yummy pants. since then it's been busy over here: we experienced an exodus out of slavery, a journey into freedom (in process), the sea continues to part with cleaning the house like i am moving (my journey into lightness), finding a place for me in my own house, swimming through some depression, questioning this incredible life & happiness, what i am doing here for the millionth time and spring break with my babes. just to name a few things...

you know what i need? A MIRACLE!!! the next two dates are friday april 27 & may 11. spring miracles are full of beauty & magic. with all this inner work of lightness, happiness & freedom who knows what will happen. lets do it beauties... see you in the kitchenxxxx

best (vegan) chocolate chip cookies: ever.

anyone out there experiencing the non-stop/spring fever/sweet tooth party happening over here lately? i usually take the edge off with a cara cara orange and some really hot tea... and yes, for those of you who are in the know: there are definitely some deficiencies, stresses, life actions that continue to keep this party going but we are going to keep this post light and yummy. this particular day ocean was home from school and wanted to bake with me. so i found this awesome, easy recipe for us to make... some wet, some dry, combine, mix, make balls, flatten, heat, rise, cool and eat! i love that to-do list... oh and it's vegan pants which i tend to not be totally gung ho about (is that how you spell it? where did that phrase come from anyway? write in and tell us) i have been a vegan a lot lately so i thought i would give this recipe a whirl. and..O. M. G (which is ocean's knew phrase now) they were so good!

this is such a transitionary time with the season changing, holidays, spring break, march madness... and this is just one of those simple whip it together with a bowl and spoon type recipes.... no kitchenaid needed or eggs for that matter and did i mention how good they were?

and what is more grounding then a simple chocolate chip cookie dipped in some milk? then a nap. and a movie. oh.. don't get me started! OMG! see you in the kitchenxxxx

put on the oven to 350 bake & here are the ingredients.. i used almond milk & you could switch out the flours or use a whole grain with white too.. add some flax powder or other superfood powders, chia seeds, nuts, etc.. i will experiment next time now that i know the base.

one bowl wet, one bowl dry... mix together, bake on 350 for 7 - 10 minutes (depending) or so and voila! let me know how it goesxxxx

terrain.

beauties...

what a deep time for me.

you?

us perhaps.

there is so much to be with once i quiet down,

kick & scream,

stir the pot,

steam myself silly

& allow a warm bath to take me in.

rub my ankles & tell them "it's ok, i'll carry that."

i dig and i stretch, i tear open one more time and i have to admit: i am trusting for the gold again, the growth that only gold can bring.

the only way for me to keep going is the hope that as i fall deeper into her, she will hold the space for me to weep and in turn, i will water her body.

no matter how heavy i become, she is willing to hold me. in the stillness, in the messiness, in the ugliness as we both know how beautiful it really is.

i will nourish her as she has always nurtured me.

this is the only way i can understand this dance, to hear this movement, to follow this dream and eventually, to become her, in this terrain: warm, cozy, deep, mother.

we both know how beauty is saving our life right now

and she wants to hear my voice.

she wants to listen to my words.

she believes in me.

and i am here for so much.

*this picture is of an artichoke heart, open and broken: lush, green, full of life, nutrients. so many wings protect the heart and once you trespass and pluck each wing, you come to thistley like cilia that is the door to the actual heart. there is such a fragility to this STRONG, amazing vegetable. there is so much work to get to the heart. and hope, there is a lot of hope too. steam this beauty and enjoy. see you in the kitchenxxxx

if the world was crazy.

If the world was crazy, you know what I'd eat?

A big slice of soup and a whole quart of meat,

A lemonade sandwich, and then I might try

Some roasted ice cream or a bicycle pie,

A nice notebook salad, an underwear roast,

An omelet of hats and some crisp cardboard toast,

A thick malted milk made from pencils and daisies,

And that's what I'd eat if the world was crazy.

If the world was crazy, you know what I'd wear?

A chocolate suit and a tie of eclair,

Some marshmallow earmuffs, some licorice shoes,

And I'd read a paper of peppermint news.

I'd call the boys "Suzy" and I'd call the girls "Harry,"

I'd talk through my ears, and I always would carry

A paper umbrella for when it grew hazy

To keep in the rain, if the world was crazy.

If the world was crazy, you know what I'd do?

I'd walk on the ocean and swim in my shoe,

I'd fly through the ground and I'd skip through the air,

I'd run down the bathtub and bathe on the stair.

When I met somebody I'd say, "G'bye, Joe,"

And when I was leaving--then I'd say "Hello."

And the greatest of men would be silly and lazy

So I would be king (queen)...if the world was crazy.

by the amazing shel silverstein

here are some wonderful words to bring us into the weekend...this is how my world feels right now and yes, i want to try roasting ice cream. that sounds divine. see you in the kitchen amazing onesxxxx

ouch & yum.

beauties! i tried something new and i want to share it with you: stinging nettles! woot woot. the truth is.. i have been (passively) avoiding them for a few years now... only to see them in a soup somewhere hip & fancy ;) i always wonder what they would be like, taste like, feel like etc... and now i know! it's amazing what happens when you open up to trying something new, unzip yourself to the idea and allow the belly of your fears to the unknown just hang out of your pants!! 'let loose!' as my incredible yogi friend says when stretching so wide and open. i love it.

they were amazing. it took some time to get used to the idea of eating something that could sting me in it's rawest form... once they go into boiling water for one second all the stingers fall off! they have the texture of mint and the taste of something deep and green. it's always hard to express taste.. i feel like there are so many attributes to that first bite... including that belly feeling, open & inviting something in that has always been open to me, then actually trying it... taking the time to introduce myself to another incredible piece of the earth has such a profound place in my heart. i guess that is why it's such an honor to feed YOU!! so you can feel this too.

on this particular day, beauty and ocean were home with runny noses and coughs. party. so i threw all the nettles in the sink and washed them off with the sprayer... (oh and i did not have gloves....super careful with the bag) i used those family heirloom tongs and my scissors to handle them. i cut off all the leaves and put them aside. i put a few in a little pot with water and boiled them to make tea. i added some dark honey and the kids drank it up!! here is a video of beauty loving on it...

i also wanted to try the 'fancy' soup which really means i got over myself and bought nettles for 2 - 3 dollah at the market.. the fancy part is nourishing the self which is fancy, feels so good everytime and needs to be a part of our daily routine stat. hello renaissance mamas. so, for the soup i started with a medium sized pot on medium, poured some olive oil, chopped a yellow onion, garlic and some fingerling potatoes (it's all i had, peeled em' too), some celery and i think that was it.. oh maybe some leeks too! loving the leeks right now... and yes, the nettles.. i boiled it up for one minute and then simmer for 30+ minutes. i like everything to linger together for awhile in a soup, really get to know each other. once i turn off the fire, it continues it's dance till we eat. it was exactly what we all needed that night.. healing, medicinal, earthy and loose. see you in the kitchenxxxx

ps: i pureed it the next day & it was thick and so good...so many ways to skin a cat as my

grandmother used to sayxxxx