Fueling Up! ..and City Adventures
2014
I’m spending 2 days in the city of Toronto getting revitalized for the next 10 days at Lotus Heart. I still have some pics to share from the last week, but want to share a few recent ones now from my break.
It was so nice to get out of the kitchen and to go for a little road trip to Toronto. It’s about 150 kms/100 miles, roughly a one hour and 15 minute drive to Toronto and the view is mostly white, although often with a little more interesting terrain than below.
My first evening I went to a fav restaurant with friends. I picked up lots of fruit at a local store and every morning my beautiful friend whipped up intense green drinks for us.
On my first morning we went to a friends place for a special mud sauna. There was an awesome new protocol to follow. It changes frequently. This time the routine went something like this: First lots of candles, crystals, cedarwood and eucalyptus oils on the coals, sauna and shower.. then a big papaya that has been cut lengthwise into 3, seeds scooped out, and the crosshatched flesh that has been marinated in lemon juice gets rubbed all over the body. Then we steam covered in papaya, and then rinse. Next is the black mud. It was so black and feels so luxurious, smooth and ‘living’. Cover your whole body, face, hair everything (feels very tribal), sauna, steam. Foot massages are great now. Rinse. next comes the big aloe leaves, cut in half and you rub the big 3 inch square aloe all over, steam and rinse. Next is avocado and you follow the same procedure not rinsing quite as much. There is awesome spring water, which may be some of the most pure on the planet (amazing!) and all followed by the most delicious snacks after! (photo below)
I spent the evening with my kids, celebrated my gorgeous sons 25th birthday coming up. I will be in Brighton for his actual birthday, so had to celebrate now. The next day I went off visiting my friends and former neighbours from the neighbourhood I most miss and love, where I raised my kids. On the way I stoppped at Kensington market and Chinatown and picked up a few items to work with next week. Fresh galangal root and Kaffir lime leaves to make an awesome Thai green curry, Kecap Manis, the real stuff (we had a watery version last week) for Indonesian, one of my fav cuisines, tamarind paste, to make our lives easier.. we made it ourselves last week, which really is easy to do, just time consuming. Tamarind is one of my favorite flavor ingredients. It’s a little sour and complex and really enriches flavors a lot. I also picked up fresh turmeric and something new to me – Laser ginger!! How exciting!
I am researching my Laser Ginger and it turns out to be a misspelling of Lesser Ginger. Still it sounds interesting and I am looking forward to trying it. I have read it has a lighter ginger flavor with a touch of cinnamon flavor – sounds interesting! Can’t wait to try.
Back to the kitchen soon. ..and eventually I will be sharing new recipes with you. I know you’re waiting! 
