Pumpkin Season has come.

I see many different kinds of pumpkins and winter squashes in markets now. It's such a treat to make dishes from season's harvests. Today I made this pie with gluten free crust. We don't have to sweeten the pie much to enjoy pumpkin's natural sweetness.


Pumpkin Pie: 21inch pie dish


Crust: (Gluten Free Crust)

Brown rice flour                    1 cup

Walnuts                               1/2 cup

Rolled oats                           1 cup

Sea salt                               1/4 tsp

Safflower oil                         1/4 cup

Apple juice                           1/2 cup

Filling:

Mashed pumpkin                   3 cups

Silken tofu                            12 oz

Maple syrup                           3 tbs

Pumpkin pie spice                 1 tsp

Kuzu                                     2 tbs

Vanilla                                   1/2tsp

Sea salt                                 2 pinch

Crust:

Crush dry ingredients with food processor and mix with wet ingredients.

Spread on oiled pie dish and Bake for 15 minutes at 350F.

Filling:

Mix all ingredients in food processor well.

Place filling in crust and bake for 20 minutes at 350 F.

Frogtown artwalk

Last saturday night, I was at the Frogtown artwalk. It was such a interesting event. I never knew about Frogtown. It's near Silverlake and is a very artchy district. 4 photos of mine are in a gallery called, Starchriot. I have been to many artwalk in LA but this one really I felt I can belong there. Interesting and sophisticated works are there. music, Dj, food, people watching, dancing...great time.

Warren Kramer's cookig class

I assisted Warren's cooking class last weekend. He is a long time macrobiotic teacher and counselor. I always learn so much with him. Macobiotics is a life study, never stop learning!
This photo is from his Sushi making class. We prepped so many things can go inside sushi. After he showed how to make it, everybody tried making sushi. He sometimes uese tahini, almond butter inside sushi. As a Japanese, I would never think of it. Very cool. new idea! After the delicious lunch, we had a lecture about visual diagnosis.

Autumn has come!

We have lots of sun in LA. Still in the air, I feel the presence of Autumn now. It is the time to adjust our body and prepare for the winter season. My best friend has been under the weather, coughing a lot. It is true this is the time our body discharge. I made this soup for her. It's lotus root soup. It is medicinal and it's good! It helps Lungs to clear toxins. I hope she gets better!

Lotus root soup:

4 cups of water

1 cup of grated lotus root

1/2 medium yellow onion diced

1 tsp of sesami oil

salt and soy source to season

In a souo pot, heat oil and sauté onions until it becomes translucent. Add broth or water then let it boil. Add grated lotus root, let it simmer for 5 minutes. Add the seasoning. Serve with chopped green onions.

Pecan pie for this fall

Autumn has come! Well, in LA, we have been having a cool summer. I am ready to have autumn now. I made this Pecan pie to celebrate this season. Nutty and sweet! Usually pecan pie is very sweet with lots of sugar. I made this sweeten with Amazake and maple syrup. It was just satisfying natural sweetness.

I am actually going to Japan to attend Kushi Institute Level 3 this fall. I am going to take lecture from Mr. Michio Kushi, a great teacher and master of Macrobiotics. I am very excited! I like to continue blogging over there. KIJ (Kushi Institute Japan) is located in Kobuchizawa, a mountain region Japan. It is a beautiful small town surrounded by forests and hot springs.

Azuki Kabocha

This is Azuki Kabocha dish, one of the typical macrobiotic dishes. I made this dish for a client who has weak kidneys. It is very nourishing as well as tasty! Azuki (sometimes spelled Aduki) is a Japanese red beans and Kabocha is Japanese pumpkin. You can find them in Japanese stores or any health food stores.  
Azuki beans are very good for our kidneys and strengthen your blood and Kabocha is very good for nourishing our spleen and pancreas. Many people including me love sweets. I ate so much chocolate and sweet baked foods in the past. Those foods in highly sugar contents and baked goods wear out our spleen and pancreas in time. So, it is very good to have this dish for our organs and enjoy the natural sweetness!

Azuki Kabocha:

1 cup Azuki beans soaked over night or 6 hours (Also use the soaking water)
Kabocha pumpkin (about 2 cups cut into cubes)
1" square piece of Kombu
water

In a stainless pot or a cast iron pot, put the kombu then put beans and cover with the beans' soaking water. Bring it a boil. Skim the white foams with a strainer. This will help digest beans better. If the water level reduces, add a little more water to cover the beans. Put the lid on and simmer until the beans are 90% done. Put the Kabocha on top of the beans. Simmer 10 minutes until the kabocha becomes soft.
sprinkle 2 pinch of salt and gently shake the pot to mix the ingredients.

Now I am getting back to blogging...

Hi! Sorry about the long pause. I know....it has been a long time. I didn't realize...Well, I have been traveling in studying. After my KI Europe training, I ended up taking more extended classes in Japan. At Kushi Institute Japan, I was able to learn many things about cooking since Japanese people are very keen when it comes to cooking. The taste and the presentation is fabulous, it is part of our culture. Learning there really brought me in depth understanding of Macrobiotics.

I am back in LA, doing private chef, personal coaching of macrobiotic cooking. It is challenging to cook healing foods sometimes, but it is always a good education for me. It has been a joy to promote this healthy living movement. In a month, I will return to Japan to complete my level at KIJ, the level 3. I am looking forward to it.

the photo is plumeria flowers in Waikiki, Hawaii. I was there for a photo shoot assignment last month. Such a vibrant energy!