Overview

I was feeling a little home sick for the first time today. The longer i am here the harder things are (as normal) so i felt like a little passionate post would be good for today... enjoy.

No we are not fire fighters who save lives, no we are not athletes who have metals and no we are not famous and rich. We live our lives quietly backstage, all day learning something we love... Our hands are raw, are feet are numb, our legs give in to the burn. We are up too late and sleep too little, yet the work never seems to end, constantly distracted by the thought of what could be better. we live in a perpetual stink of produce and rarely have time to shower. Frustration fights its way to take over our confidence and at our weakest it may win. We forget there is an outside world and those who love us reach out to us to ground our busy lives. When we leave the kitchen we go to another, in hopes that if we tweak enough we can create perfection. we get tired we get cranky we get overwhelmed we get discouraged, we try to give up but in the end we never do, and never will because we are culinary students and we love what we do more then anything. Our hands ache to hold a knife and our bodies urn to be in the kitchen. We love what we do and we may never stop.

Step 1.

 

The first day of classes at the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute started on a Saturday, I wanted to give myself enough time to adjust to the small costal town surroundings before I jumped right into the learning part of my trip to Fort Bragg California. I was the first of my group to arrive at the Inn which was nice, I am very shy and it takes me a moment to warm up and open up to people. So I was very happy to have a moment alone to gather my thoughts before I began meeting a whole heap of new and different characters. To be completely honest, which is why I started this blog, in my head I was expecting everyone who walked through the Inn's door to have dread locks, be head to toe in hemp clothing and potentially smell of recreational drugs. Just goes to show how stupid and insulting my mind is, prematurely judging people who were coming to an unfamiliar place to do exactly what I had come there to do, and I was none of the things I assumed everyone else to be. The next person to arrive was my roommate, and the very first thing I noticed about her, other then her contagious positivity and pure joy of finally arriving, was that she had a luminous glow about her. I couldn't put my finger on it but something about her was just enlightening. She immediately broke the silence that I has been cowering in and invited me to meet the other girl she had arrived with, who was from Australia. Once again there was that glow, followed with a welcoming smile, and all my ignorant misconceptions of what my subconscious was expecting to come through the door vanished as one by one I met all the women who would be take the courses with me. Each of them drenched in the same luminous glow, and just oozing with excitement to begin the journey.


After a very successful trip to the school store to buy all our required reading, and materials we were all as ready as we could be for the unknown of what would be waiting for us on the first day of class. My fiancé had special ordered a hot pink chef coat for me that had "Chef Krysten" embroidered on the front, I was just itching to put it on and be in a kitchen. I was up at 6:45am, in the kitchen by 7:15, made a green smoothie and out the door by 7:30 to start the 0.6mile walk to school. It was a chilly morning and the bitter blasts of coastal wind did not help, but my anticipation was keeping me warm and motivated to continue walking. When we arrived we were given lockers, name tags, binders, asked to fill out paper work then led up to where class would be. For the first time in my entire life I made hast to sit at the very front of the class, and be one of the first students in their seat ready and eager to go. I gave my self a split second to breath as I patiently waited for the instructors and shivers of pleasure prickled my skin as I felt so positive that this is where I was meant to be. As soon as class started it was a whirlwind of learning, everything was meticulously mapped out, every demo and every lecture was timed perfectly to lead one right into the other. My brain was expanding at an exponential rate with all the new information being poured into it. So many door were being opened, so many myths being dispelled, all of my what ifs and hows were vanishing, all this in just the first day. I couldn't believe how much was crammed into 9 hours, and yet I couldn't get enough, I was at the edge of my seat waiting for the next day.
 

The Hippie House

I knew I was coming in to a culinary arts program, but what I didn’t know is that I would be walking in to a whole new world, community, family that would touch my heart and change my every thought completely.  The people I have met, from the moment I checked into the Inn have blown me away with the brilliant positive light they all glow with. People from all over the world, Australia, London, Rotterdam, Russia, Canada, and Korea.  Everyone with a different but intense and motivating story of why they are here, either their health depended on the life style change  or they are interested  in following their passion for good food with goodness in it. The place we are staying at is an old two story house till retaining its grandma charm from the gray colored carpets to the flower patterned wallpaper and has been transformed into an Inn

with ten rooms and one kitchen. There are 12 of us living at the Inn and there is never a dull moment. We start our day at 7am with multiple blenders and dehydrators going at once, everyone in the kitchen making green smoothies or creating snacks.  Along with the deafening sound of the machinery are the debates over the nutritional benefit of soaking or not soaking almonds; or if garlic is toxin or a tonic. The kitchen is small but with patience and a little understanding of the raw food inner workings we all manage to get something to eat, along with helping each other out by swapping produce or bartering for dates. When we gather in the kitchen all the different pieces of a full community shine through. We feed and support each other with zero judgment. Everyone is left to eat and “cook” how he/she would like but we are all there for each other to answer questions and find a solution even If we use a little help from Google to do it. Usually when you go to a group of people, school, party, sleep away camp, whatever gathering you may be at you will have an internal pull towards a particular group of people, or a person which is how we get our typical stereotypes of the popular group, nerds, jocks ect. I came into the house expecting cliques to form, and worried about which group would accept me, but that is not what happened at all. I did have that internal pull but not to a group or even to a person, but to everyone in the house. I could not tell you who my favorite person is, I could not tell you who I get along with most, and I won’t even call this a family because even in families there is a black sheep. That just is not the case in this fantastic group of brilliant individuals who, every day remind me that being her is right.

Once upon a Dream

So I figure I should actually have a post with a Disney Princess reference...

I am beginning to understand why Snow White ate a random apple from a scary lady in the middle of a sketchy forest, because she figured it would taste good. Doesn't mean it was going to be good for her (sleeping curse) but she said "it LOOKS delicious". I totally get that now, I could be reaching just a bit, but maybe it was a metaphor for how we ALL eat. It looks good, sounds good, seems harmless, but then later we pay the price. Snow White had a Prince who came to her rescue with a sweet kiss (awe) my "Prince" how ever is not so much a who but a how, if that makes sense?

What has saved me from my "curse" of lack of motivation, weight gain, chronic joint pain, migraines, mood swings, debilitating period cramps and even the occasional depression, was as simple as removing Gluten. Which is a huge thanks to my mom and dad who kept pushing me untill I finally saw the light (thank you guys!)  In two weeks I could sleep better with out agonizing knee pain. I was able to get out of bed on the first try and not feel so sleepy all day. It is such a miracle in my eyes how much my life has changed because my whole body feels better that at times I don't even believe it, and I am the one going through it all. But I promise you, at least for ME it has worked and I will never let myself get back to that point. I will never again say yes to my poison apple which is Gluten. So be gone sketchy Creepy old Lady, you will tempt me no more!

Its going to be a butt whoopin.

As I mentioned in my last blog post I have registered to go to school in California at the Living Light institute. I will be getting certified in Raw Food "cooking", but it wont just be schooling it will also be a life changing experience. I will be living a completely raw and vegan life for three months. So the moment I get on the plane and head to school, everything will be different and I plan on doing it justice by hopefully make it last for the rest of my life.

 

My New Years resolution for this year was not too complicated, I have tried the "I promise to work out more" or "I will focus on myself more", but I tend to forget what my resolution was and just go back to my slacker and distracted ways. So this year I thought I would try something different and just resolve to just finish what I have already started, becoming completely Gluten Free. So far (a whole 6 days) I am proud to say I have been doing a pretty good job at it. Being gluten free is just the beginning of  my preparation process for getting my mind, body, and soul ready for school, I have also cut back on how much meat I intake. I have been limiting myself to one animal product a day. I am hoping to cut out all meats from my diet at least a full month before I leave for school, my thought process for this is that I do not want to shock my body when I get there by all of the sudden not consuming any cooked foods or meat products. I want to be ready by also removing things like sugar, coffee, soda, cheese, and cooking with all fresh organic products. It hasn't been too hard like I said it has only been a week, but this is something I am so excited for and want to be at my best when I get to there so I can produce the best food possible. I am fairly confident i can do this, because I WANT to do this.

Gluten Free mix berry pie (thanks giving)

Tofu veggie stir fry

Gluten free southwestern turkey egg and cheese sandwich

 

saute veggies, with a quinoa patty topped with ham and fried egg

Not very good at this...

So, the worst blogger ever award goes to... Me! i don't know why i cant just stick to something. i get so sidetracked and ramble, then i give up which is a Horrible thing to do. i don't really have anything specific to blog about today other then say sorry to my ONE follower, and the 1,230 people who have actually read this jumbled. Sorry for not following through with the promise i made when i signed up for this blogging thing and update as much as i can. its not like my life is super busy, yet...

Which leads me to this bit of information. i do have a big announcement, i have officially registered as a student at Living Light culinary institute in Ft Bragg California. That is about all the information i have at the moment, and want to give right now, i tend to be a little superstitious, but i do promise that i will be blogging the whole adventure while i am away at school.

A possible title for the time i am in California... "Surviving Hippie School".

Last but not least i wanted to make sure i say Merry Christmas Eve to every one who does read this. i never though i would have a "following" but i feel so blessed every time i see that little number of blog views go up. So thank you everyone, and from my family to yours... Happy Holidays!

Jet lag

I woke up the morning after I had arrived in Dubling feeling pretty decent, I think it was more my excitement pushing me forward. We got up and decided to go grocery shopping to have food on the 8ish hr road trip we would take stopping in Blarney and end up in Dingle. One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to check out the grocery stores. Something so simple that every country has tons of but they are all so different and unique. It gives you a small look into their daily lives and I love trying all the weird foods I can't pronounce. The typical Irish grocery store as I had assumed was loaded with potatoes and tons of different varieties of bread. We bought our supplies and were on our way.


 As soon as we hit the road I was out cold, missing the beautiful view of the cities on the way to our first stop, Blarney Ireland. Blarney is a place i am sure we all hear about, its bout as famous as clovers and leprechauns, but i didn't know much about it other then there was a big stone somewhere that stupid tourist like myself come from around the world to kiss. Locals probably wouldn't do it, and i have heard stories that the people who look after the stone piss on it every morning, but i had made it all the way here, i wasn't going to turn back now. Rain started to fall as we got out of the car. The chilly light Irish rain only added to the beauty of the surrounding area, giving the landscape a hush feeling and magical sense of beauty. We walked up the the entrance payed our fee and entered one of the most beautiful park i had ever seen. Lush bright green grass as far as i could see, giant old tree scattered all over the fields, even a small river ran through the park. Everything was so beautiful and so green. Had it not been raining i would have laid down and napped right in the middle of it all.

 

Don't worry, i didn't. I couldn't take a nap because as i kept walking i saw the Blarney castle poke through the trees and tower over the park.

 

when we arrived we looked for the way to the stone, and for some reason (excuse my ignorance) i had pictured the stone to be some were on the ground near the castle or inside of it, boy was i wrong. we started to climb up this very narrow and steep stair case, we just kept going higher and higher with tiny square windows giving us a glance at the every growing distance between us and the ground. it wasn't till way after that i learned that "Blarney's tremendous rectangular great tower,one of the very biggest in Ireland". Half way up my youngest sister realised this was going to be a rather intense height and the top and she headed back down, but i was determined to make it up there and kiss that rock no matter what.

Sure enough as we broke through to the top you could see right over the ledge of the tower straight down to the terrifying depths below. Not going to lie to you i was very scared, cried for my mommy to hold my hand for a while and contemplating going back down (I'm very scared of heights) but i didn't i pushed forward. we are at the very top of the tower the center of the tower is hollow and once again shows you the chilling view of how far you have come. we have to walk to the other side of the tower on a narrow path to get to where the stone resides. we are finally in line to kiss the stone and i eagerly watch the couple ahead of us move in for the smooch and almost cry out in terror at what i see happen. You have to lay down on your back, and are literally bending over backwards as you dangle over the ledge that looks straight down to the base of the castle and if they hasn't build a small grate there to "catch" you if you feel then you would fall straight down! i freaked and said i was not going to do it.

My dad who was very much tired of all my bitching said he was going to do it this was after he has gone on and on about how only stupid tourist do it and there is pee on the stone... he got on his back leaned all the way over and kissed it. i couldn't let him have the bragging rights for the rest of the trip so i swallowed my fear held my breath and got on the floor. then i realised that i am way shorted then everyone else i had seen go before me which would require me to dangle the entire upper half of my body off the side of the tower. the was a man there who helped everyone and he had a tight grip on me but i could help being scared as i looked down at the distance between when i was now and where i had come from. the man continued to lower me more and more as i still could not reach, i had even contemplated just sticking my tongue out and maybe just giving the thing a lick if my lips couldn't touch. slowly but surly i made it, and with an incredibly quick peck i was back on my feet again ready for the next adventure.