Sunday, April 6, 2008

Easily Raw


Mushroom Crepe Filling

Last week was one of the most pleasant I've had with Raw food, and it didn't require a lot of store bought dishes. Credits and thanks go to Chef Jenny, of 118 Degrees. I attended her Raw Basics 101 class last Sunday. It was a 7-hour day of fun, food and inspiration.


Chef Jenny & Tino

Entering class, we were excited to see a young Thai coconut at each of our seats. Great way to start, no? The first thing Jenny and her assistant Tino did was to have each of us come up and open our coconuts, using the method she demonstrated. This was worth the price of admission for me. I used to buy my coconuts at $2.5o each, just because that particular store would open them for me. After class, I went to an Asian market and picked up a basketful of coconuts for 89 cents each! Huge difference!


Some people in class had been Raw for a long time--like April who has 3 years of Raw living behind her, and made us a fabulous chocolate pudding--and others were just sampling the lifestyle, but everyone had something interesting to share.


Jenny provided a booklet for each of us, with information about living foods, juicing, green smoothies and sprouting. The best part: she included lost of recipes, including some of my favorite dishes at her restaurant. How do these sound?


  • Pesto-Stuffed Mushrooms
  • Coconut Yogurt
  • Kale Tacos
  • Chocolate Ganache
  • Thai Spring Rolls
  • Mushroom Crepes

There were many more, several of which she or we prepared and devoured.


Jenny also invited Rebecca of Home Grown Love, who set up her altar, tuned her crystal singing bowl and proceed to lead us in a Raw Chocolate-making activity. This section of the day did get a bit giddy for some of us.



I didn't really need a Raw Food Basics class. I've got tons of recipes and Raw books, and after watching enough YouTube videos I'd have eventually figured out how to crack that coconut. Still it was worth every penny to spend the day eating great food and hanging out with cool people who are diving into Raw.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

it was dope meeting you as well. hah. :]

yardsnacker said...

Wow that's awesome, glad you had a great time! I finally got my local supermarket to order a case of YTC's for me whenever I need them, AND I got them to get them to be for a little over $1.18 each, which is way better than the $1.89 the local asian markets were charging. crazy world! :D

Candice Davis said...

YS - Wishing I had about 10 coconuts right now to serve to my writers' workshop. Since I only have 1, I'll drink it before they get here!

April - Maybe you could do Raw consulting/private cheffing until you figure out how to get you own restaurant.

Anonymous said...

haha, that'd be pretty legggit...
I'm trying to convince Jenny to let me work as a chef at 118...imagine?! man..i'd be so fat..lol

private chefing is DEF. something i'd be down to do...i'm actually going to school to get my license as a holistic nutritionist..you know..so I look MORE certified to people who are like, "who the hell is this girl?" haha

Candice Davis said...

April - If you get to chef at 118, I will be totally jealous, BUT totally happy for you! Let me know if it works out. You could be the dessert chef, for sure. "Chef at 118" on your resume would get you a lot of private work. Much luck!

HiHoRosie said...

How fun you got to do something like this! I'd love to do something like that - there's a lot for me to learn. :)

Anonymous said...

hahaha..i think that's all i'd want to do...desserts!
yeah yeah, I'm going to check back in at the end of April, I believe she said..so we'll see how all that pans out. :]

Anonymous said...
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Melissa Sokulski said...

What an excellent sounding day! Those dishes that she gave you the recipe for sound divine!
~Melissa