free cooking demo, lecture and open house - oh my!

on the second wednesday of each month, the natural epicurean (located at 1701 toomey road, at casa de luz) hosts a free cooking demonstration from a senior student and a lecture entitled 'how food affects your health and emotions'. past cooking demonstrations have included saag paneer spanakopita, picture perfect pecan pie, the ultimate birthday cake and mochi-rella sticks. it's all vegan, it's all natural and it's usually mindblowingly delicious. recipes are given out during the demo... and did i mention that it's all FREE?

this month's is june 11th and marissa castello, a senior student at the school will be presenting her recipe conversion for 'edamame succotash'. if neither of those words mean anything to you, it's all the more reason to come down and try it out!

you can register/sign up on eventbrite:

http://www.eventbrite.com/org/58452322?s=1

also, rosa, our wonderful student coordinator is starting regular open houses for prospective students interested in checking out the school and getting more information. these open houses will also be on the second wednesday of each month and rosa will be available to answer any of your questions, give you a tour of the campus, introduce you to current students and help you with filling out your application! ;)

austin is wonderful

... and those of you who aren't blessed enough to live in this amazing city may not realize just how wonderful it is. i've heard time and time again from people who live here how austin is a very 'green' city and virtually 'recession-proof' and well, there's actual data backing up these claims.

in a recent survey/study conducted by popular science magazine, ranking cities on criteria including electricity, transportation, green living and recycling/green perspective, austin ranked in the top ten greenest cities in the united states and the greenest city in texas. austin ranks highest in the recycling/green perspective category with nearly a perfect score. surely, there's room for improvement in other areas, but these issues are actively being addressed by capital metro's efforts for increased ridership and austin energy's greenchoice program.

us news and world reports has also called austin one of the top ten green cities to retire in. these polls put austin in the company of such great cities as portland, chicago, and albuquerque.

austin is also considered by forbes magazine to be one of the top ten most 'recession-proof' cities in the country with its low unemployment rates, affordable housing prices and a growing tech sector.

with all these factors, i couldn't imagine that you'd want to live anywhere else. :)

Register Online for Classes!

Coming soon, you'll be able to register and pay for Natural Epicurean classes online! I'm working on getting the schedule for the rest of the year up on our Eventbrite site, which you can check out here.

There will be a small fee for signing up for classes through the website, but it's quicker and easier than calling in the office and you can do it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Enjoy!

Student Demo: Saag Paneer Phyllo Bites

This Wednesday at 6pm, I'll be doing a demonstration before the free lecture on my Saag Paneer Phyllo Bites. This recipe combines the flaky, light pastry of spanakopita with a classic hearty North India saag paneer. Everything will be vegan and everything will be delicious!

Join us and learn how to make this impressive and incredibly easy party appetizer. If the group is small enough, we may even do some hands on work! ;)

For more information on our monthly free cooking demonstration and lectures, visit our website and click on the 'Events' link.

Vacation!

Rosa (student coordinator) and Winnie (marketing coordinator) will be out of town this week. If you need anything, please contact Karen (outreach and operations coordinator) in the store - (512) 476-2276.

Karen's Promotion

As of today, Karen Gifford, our wonderful and always helpful store clerk, is now the Operations and Outreach Coordinator. She will be using her years of organizational and community building skills to manage the Natural Epicurean stores (both Casa de Luz and Seton Williamson Good Health Commons locations), develop new community-based volunteer opportunities and in general, do awesome things for the school. Thank you, Karen for all your hard work and we all hope you flourish in this position!

New Website is Up!

After a recent and unfortunately timed computer crash (are they ever fortunately timed?), I'm back up and running and have made some huge strides. The Natural Epicurean now has a brand spanking new website, complete with an events and class calendar, a cleaner navigation system and a lovely carrot flower banner. Check us out!

www.naturalepicurean.com

Also, please do let me know if there are any errors on the site or if you have a suggestion!

winnie at naturalepicurean dot com

the natural epicurean flickr group

for more pictures of the lovely foods we make and the lovely people we call students, check out our flickr pool...

http://www.flickr.com/groups/naturalepicurean/

contact me (user name: angelinger) if you'd like to join and contribute some pictures!

Natural Epicurean Tee Shirts!

They're finally in!

100% Organic Cotton American Apparel tees in both men's and women's sizes! The front sports our lovely "The Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts" flower logo and the back has our motto - "Better Food for a Better Life".

All current students of the Natural Epicurean receive one for free and can get additional ones for the low low price of $10. They are available to the general public for only $16.

Stop by the store and pick up yours today!

New Cooking with the Five Elements Class

Dawn and Tina Brackins have developed a new series for the Cooking with the Five Elements Series. Any student who has taken the 5 Elements class, as well as teachers are invited. This class starts this Thursday, February 28th, so if you would like to add your name to the roster call the office or e-mail me at culinary@naturalepicurean.com.

Check out the class descriptions below:

Five Transformation Theory Applied to Your Cooking
This series provides an in-depth review of the 5 Transformations and their movements. We will learn how to harness that energy for your everyday life. Through discussion and group activities, we will cover cooking for each season, cooking for condition, pulling out past accumulations, menu planning, and how to make a smooth transition from season to season. We will incorporate a bit of feng shui and ki gong, too.

French Meadows Summer Camp Work Exchange Program

Receive internship credit! There are many positions available, please contact Rosa for the application.
For more information about the event, http://www.gomf.macrobiotic.net/gomfcamp/fmsc/index_ns6.html.

The George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation cordially invites you to the 39th Annual French Meadows Summer Camp to be held in the majestic Tahoe National Forest, July 11 - 20, 2008.

The major emphasis of French Meadows Summer Camp is education.
Each day, three sessions--one in the morning and two in the afternoon--are set aside for a lecture, cooking class, or workshop. All sessions encourage participation, dialogue, and questions. At least one session each day is designed specifically for beginners. Join teachers and students from around the world for an exhilarating, outdoor experience like no other:
So far, teachers who have committed to the 2007 camp include Bob Carr, Patrick McCarty (in the photo), Hugh Tinling, Dawn Pallavi, Carl and Julia Ferré, Mike and Maria Chen, Laura Stec, Barb Jurecki-Humphrey, Bhumi Russell, Mary Lore Simmons, Kerry Loeb, Shirley Tung, Bob Ruggles, Patricia Murray, Kaare Bursell, and Lenny Rubin.

Health Spa to Go

Help Vanessa Vaughan facilitate a “health spa to go” class for a Girl Scouts Program book called "Possibilities" which is given out to over 1,500 girls in the Austin area. This opportunity would involve planning before events and working the day of the event. It would be best if you were available for both dates.

Event Dates Session 1: Sunday, 3/1/08 9am-1pm
Session 2: Sunday, 4/13/08 9am-1pm

Cadette & Senior Girl Scouts
Casa De Luz invites you to discover ways to care for your body and mind with help from students from the Natural Epicurean Academy. Take an introductory yoga class and try out basic stretches and positions. Experiment with unique home remedies and make a facial mask from natural ingredients found in your own home and backyard. Learn to make healthy vegetarian snacks and then chow down on your yummy creations!

Please contact Rosa or Vanessa to get involved.
Vanessa can be reached at travelingnecha@yahoo.com.

Celebrate Green Living at Hostelling International-Austin!

Vanessa Vaughan is not only a student at the Natural Epicurean but she is also the director of the Hostelling International-Austin. Vanessa has a lot of great projects going on and she has invited the Natural Epicurean to be a part of the Hostel's celebration of green living on Saturday, February 23rd. (See invite below)

We need a couple of students to help represent The Natural Epicurean and promote green living at this local event. Winnie Hsia is organizing this project as part of her internship and she needs help from a couple of students. Travel Foods is on the menu and students who assist will receive Techniques Credit. These are the shifts we need filled:

• prep on Friday night, February 22nd, 6-9pm
• Demo and represent school at the event on February 23rd from 12:30-3:30

Please contact Winnie at winnie@naturalepicurean.com or Rosa at rosa@naturalepicurean.com for more information.

We hope to see you there!

Several Local Organizations to Join Hostel in Celebration of Environmentally Conscious Lifestyles
Austin, Texas, February 15: For more than 20 years, the Southwest Texas Council of Hostelling International-USA (HI-USA) has provided an economically and environmentally conscious home for tens of thousands of travelers from around the world.

On Saturday, February 23rd from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., the Southwest Texas Council's HI-Austin hostel will team up with several environmentally-friendly organizations from around the city to celebrate another successful year of green living.

The celebration will be an afternoon filled with delicious organic foods, homegrown music and exhibits extolling sustainable living from organizations like Ecology-Action, TreeFolks, Ten Thousand Villages, Austin CarShare, Austin EcoNetwork and The Natural Epicurean Academy.

Food donated by White Mountain Foods
Music performed by local favorite band "The Lennings".

WHO: Hostelling International-USA, Southwest Texas Council and

local environmental organizations

WHAT: A Celebration of Green Living

WHEN: February 23rd, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

WHERE: Hostelling International-Austin, 2200 S. Lakeshore Blvd., Austin

For more information, contact Vanessa Vaughan, Director of HI-Austin, director@hiaustin.org, (512) 444-2294.

ATX Vegan Knitters

ATX Vegan Knitters

The wonderful employees of Dhaba Joy/Toy Joy have put together a vegan knitting circle right here in Austin! Join the MySpace group and come to the first February meet-up this weekend.

Sunday February 17, 2008
7-9 pm ish
Dhaba Joy
2900 Guadalupe

Bring a friend! We'll have extra needles and yarn if you are a beginner!

What-a-Bake Sale!

Okay, I have to brag, this Bake Sale was fantastic and excellent. It was truly decadent and rich with Strawberry and Blueberry Tofu Cheesecake and Fluffy Chocolate Cake with Creamy Orange Icing or Chocolate Coconut Mint Icing! Gooey Hello Dolly bars and if you don't know what a hello dolly bar is - you missed out. We had beautiful strawberry tarts, brownies, and cookies too.

I have to give many praises to the students who participated and thank you to Christina Terriquez for her delicious recipes and to be honest, big thanks to myself for organizing it.

Julie Danehy, Maria Rios, Winnie Hsia, Christopher Jolley, Andrea Alchin, Tina Brackins, and Naomi Perryman whipped it up on Friday night at the Kitchen Space. Tina Brackins decorated and garnished on Saturday giving our baked yummies an elegant, beautiful, and enticing presentation to lure in our unsuspecting clients. Winnie and Christopher helped out and boxed it up and sold it to happy customers.

And it worked! This bake sale was very successful and we will be donating a percentage to The Sustainable Food Center and the rest goes towards a movie night for all students of The Natural Epicurean. I will post more info on the date, time, and location of this event.

If you haven't had enough sweets don't forget about the demo on Wednesday, February 13th. Brooke Northcutt will be demonstrating The Ultimate Birthday Cake. Give your fellow student some support and get a free taste and recipe.

So that's the update, we will definitely do it again.

Let there be rice!

After a whirlwind weekend with Warren Kramer, our little store was depleted of many of our key selling items including, of all things, brown rice! I'm happy to report that we are now fully stocked with your favorites: Field Ripened, Pearl Short Grain, Akitakomachi Short Grain, Rose Medium Grain and Jasmine Long Grain. Stop on by and buy some rice!

Also, our supplier has finally come through with the much requested Dried Lotus Root! I know some of you still have lingering colds, so come on in. We're also fully stocked again in Hokkaido black soybeans and azuki beans, zeni-fu, hato mugi, mochi and your other favorite macrobiotic staples.

1701 Toomey Road
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 476-2276

Casa seeks Volunteers!

Volunteer Opportunity at Casa on Fridays, 3-9 pm

Friday is India night and the volunteer would be working with Rachel Hedrick. Rachel is a wonderfully creative cook who is more than happy to answer questions and share her knowledge.

We are in need of someone who is friendly, outgoing and able to think on their feet. This volunteer will also have a lot of customer interaction as a Runner (person who delivers plates), Kitchen Prep, and dishwashing, so patience, kindness and ability to take direction (from customers and kitchen staff) is very important. This opportunity to develop into more responsiblilty and a paid position as you gain experience.

If anyone should need further information, please call Natalia at 476-2535 x4.

This could count towards internship hours for Natural Epicurean students and you get free meals at Casa!

Saturday's Potluck

Thanks to everyone who came to Dawn's place on Saturday! All the food was awesome and the company wasn't so bad either. ;) A couple of people asked me for the recipe for my Butternut Squash phyllo triangles. I'll have to take pictures of the rolling process, but the filling was a simple mix of:

1 medium butternut squash
1/4 cup of thompson raisins
1/4 cup of rice syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pinch of dried orange peel
1 pinch of salt

I roasted the butternut squash - cut into large pieces, skin on and after about an hour at 375, they were soft enough to just pull the skin off and mash. Mashed in with all the other ingredients and let cooled before assembling the phyllo triangles. Let me know if you have any questions or want to see how to make phyllo triangles!

Environmental Film Series

As a new community outreach activity, CLEAN is hosting an environmental film series to educate the public on an array of environmental issues. In 2008 we are partnering with Rice University's Center for the Study of Environment and Society. Through our partnership at Rice, the series stands to bring out students, faculty, and the general public to raise awareness and facilitate discussion about environmental issues.

The purpose of the Environmental Film Festival is to educate Houstonians on environmental issues and what they can do in their day-to-day life to make a difference. Following each screening, a special guest speaker will join us for a for a discussion on topics related to each film.

The environmental problems we face are global, but it only takes a little effort, some thoughtful action and a lot of care to make our community a healthier place for us, our children and future generations.

Click here for our film series brochure.

Slow and Steady Web Improvements

I don't know how I did it - but I managed to find some free time to work on the Natural Epicurean website. Work is coming along, as the title of this post indicates, slow and steady. I'm changing key pages one at a time to a better navigation, updating calenders, moving around content and cleaning up some formatting issues. If there are any major site glitches, please do let me know so I can resolve them. In the meanwhile, you'll probably see the site change little by little each day over the next couple of weeks. I'm planning to do a major overhaul of the site at the end of this trimester (April) so stay tuned!

NPR and Food Trends for 2008

Since moving to Austin, I find myself listening to NPR on a daily basis - feeling a bit 'off' if I don't hear Terry Gross promptly at 3pm CST each day. If you live in the area and don't already listen to NPR, tune into 90.5FM from time to time. You won't be disappointed.

Over the past week, there seems to have been a huge surge in news stories and interviews about natural foods, veganism and the cultural movement behind 'real foods'. I was happy to hear a mention of this year being the year that 'vegetarian and locally produced foods will grace more tables' and people would embrace 'exotic grains such as amaranth and quinoa' in Food Trends for 2008.

There was also a fantastic interview with vegan chef power team Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, hosts of the TV cooking show, The Post Punk Kitchen. They've just come out with a new book, Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook and interviewed with NPR's Liane Hanson over the weekend.

Also, Michael Pollan, one of my favorite writers was on talking about his new book, In Defense of Food. When asked for advise on how to improve health, he offered the sage advice:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Vegetable Orchestra

... and you thought vegetables were only for eating.

... and we're back!

The Natural Epicurean store is open again! And the first class of the trimester is tonight at The Kitchen Space! Yay!