Gifts from the Sea on the Sonoma Coast
The Intentional Table
A Green Sea Anenome looking for a snack! In the culinary arts and herbal medicine worlds, sea vegetables have carved out a niche as versatile, nutrient-dense ingredients. Among the most celebrated are kombu and bladderwrack, two brown seaweed types stapled in traditional diets and remedies for centuries. 0715 @ Bodega Bay. = Heaven #IAMSOSPOILED because I live only 45 minutes from several beaches with an incredible abundance of seaweeds. I went yesterday and hand harvested about 20 pounds! The ones I love the most are Kombu, Bladderwrack, Nori, Sister Sarah, and Feather Boa. Yesterday,...
info_outline
Arugula... it's a vegetable... right?
The Intentional Table
Arulgula…. it’s a vegetable! Click the Image above to hear it! Arugula Examining the Health Benefits and Nutrition of this Powerhouse Leafy Green Arugula was a valued green in ancient Rome, where it was celebrated in poetry and prose for its effects on mind and body. Unfortunately, it’s far less popular today than its cousins spinach and kale, even though arugula may be the healthiest green of all. In this article, we’ll look at the evidence for arugula’s health benefits and see if those ancient Romans were right to celebrate it. I know I shouldn’t do this because of...
info_outline
Auto Immune Release Series Part 2
The Intentional Table
Apple Blossoms @ Musea. Showy! Well, here it is, our second week of thoughts and inspirations about Auto-Immune conditions, how we all have a little of it going all the time, and what we can do about it. Spoiler alert: I am going to write about a plant-based diet this time. My hamburger loving self cringes. But remember that I said last time everything in moderation? Here is a good time to take a breath and remember that you do not have to go cold turkey on the turkey! Increase your intake of rainbow-colored fruits and vegetables. Consume more colorful fruits and vegetables to get as much...
info_outline
Auto Immune Release Series Part 1
The Intentional Table
Apricots Anyone? @ Musea What is an autoimmune disease? Why are we speaking about this, at length at the Intentional Table? Great questions! Let’s do this in reverse order. The why of this is life. We all know we are alive, as the machines that go ‘ping’ tell us when we are strapped in. But we also understand that there is way more to it than that. We are sometimes led to think that we are simply biological machines and that, like getting the oil in your car changed, you can go to the doctor if you live your life poorly, and they will ‘fix’ you. Then, out the door and on your...
info_outline
Intentional Wellness from Musette
The Intentional Table
Greetings all, How wonderful it is to speak to you through this simple platform. I wish we could all sit around the Intentional Table itself (mine or yours) and drink in the feeling of togetherness, which is the ‘why’ in the ‘what’ around here. I would like you to have a gift. It’s a preview of a book I am writing about Nutritional Wellness. It’s not a b…
info_outline
I Taste, Therefore I Am...
The Intentional Table
At the Intentional Table, we taste. Do we ever! Every person who learns to eat, cook, or serve should also learn how to taste. Sounds easy, right? Not so fast, my dearest. Taste is an objective and a subjective thing! It’s objective because every person that is a person (despite a few unfortunate outliers) has taste buds built into the design. However, just because you have the hardware doesn't mean you have the software. If you do have the software, then you have an appreciation of fundamentals when it comes to how your organ of perception, which is your mouth, your tongue, your nose,...
info_outline
Biodynamics Basics
The Intentional Table
Hello, my intrepid Intentional Table guests! Today, with our afternoon wine, will be the topic that is near and dear to our hearts here. Biodynamics. What is it, you may ask? Why is it important to this table, Musea, and our lives? All good questions. Read on, and if you want the DEEP DIVE EXTRA CREDIT, it’s at the bottom.⬇︎ There are two polar views of scientific reality when it comes to the consideration of the active practice of biodynamics. One is the left-brain approach, represented by the Newtonian Analytical view that has dominated science for the last two centuries. Newton...
info_outline
February 4 is World Cancer Awareness Day
The Intentional Table
Take a look at this team. They are really on it. Click the image for link. You may ask yourself, now, why would he say that? It certainly could apply to any human, anywhere. There are 340 activities around the world for Cancer Day. So, it must be happening, you know, out there somewhere. Hubris leads to nemesis. Cancer, hunger, war, disease, and crime all happen. It must happen because it’s all over the news. It’s hard to connect with anything like this while you read it on the device in your hand while it charges at Starbucks as you sip your mocha. Our children have never seen it. Our...
info_outline
The Agony and The Ecstasy of the Table
The Intentional Table
I thought I would take a few minutes to see if you would like to travel with me back in time to revisit exactly what the intentional table is and how it's considered here in our little conversation and in real life. If you asked me to cook for you, I would be delighted. That's all there is to it. I wouldn't question what our budget was, what the logistics were, or really what it was that you wanted to eat when you're with whom. All those things are in a particular way beside the point. What this means is that you're asking me to create with intention, something for you that actually serves...
info_outline
Only the wounded eye can see
The Intentional Table
I came up with this phrase while meditating yesterday. It was inspired by something my dear friend Andrew Johnstone told me recently. At the Intentional Table, we find ourselves circling back to an important theme with a recurring and increasing frequency: Gratitude. It's an incredibly overused, misused, and, I think, sometimes misleading term. Oxford says, “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” In the latter part of that sentence is the key, which is ‘returning.’ There is an idea that we commonly refer to in Intentional...
info_outline
Test Your Cooking IQ ~ Spot the myths!
Which of these common cooking ‘facts’ are actually true?
-
Covering a pot will make the water boil faster.
-
Slamming the oven door while a cake is baking will make it fall.
-
You can safely eat oysters only in months whose names contain the letter ‘R.’
-
You should never wash mushrooms.
-
The thin white lines on the skin of a chili indicate how spicy the pepper will be.
-
Adding oil to pasta water will keep the pasta from sticking.
-
Cocktails taste better the longer they are stirred.
-
Searing meat over high heat is the best way to seal in juices.
-
You can regrow scallions and celery by putting the roots into a glass of water, even if you use all the green parts.
-
When you cook with wine, liquor, or beer, all the alcohol evaporates and burns off.
-
T - It’s not as much about speed; it’s about loss of fluid. 1 quart of water will lose 2 Tbl of water in the time it takes. It could make your rice really gummy. Cover it from the start.
-
F - Nope
-
F - Maybe in the past. Modern farming, transport, and chilling make them fine if they are market.
-
F - A quick rinse under cold water is fine, but use them within a few minutes, or the texture will suffer.
-
F - ‘Corking’ is the term for this, and it has no bearing on the heat. The seeds and pith or white ribs inside the chili are where all the heat lives.
-
F - Save the oil for the table. You can oil a little after if you wish.
-
T - Chilling is Thrilling. Many volatile oils need a minute in the shaker.
-
F - But… it’s it’s a great technique. The juiciness of a protein is about time. When the meat comes off the heat, let it rest. The water (juices) in the meat are going fast because they are hot. When it cools down, it slows down and re-enters the cells, versus cutting too early, and it all ‘leaks’ out.
-
T. - I do it all the time.
-
F - Most, but not all.
Thanks for reading your Wednesday Quick Tips!