Adytum

Classic Belgian Gluten-Free Waffles~ Sunday Brunch At Adytum

2012-02-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

End of February Snow

We woke to snow this late February Sunday morning atAdytum. What a better way to celebrate the end of Winter and Spring just aroundthe corner with the warm scent of yeasty Classic Belgian Gluten Free Wafflesfilling the house? Amber was here last weekend with her partner, Trista. Shereturned to enjoy the Orion Suite with her mother Linda this weekend.

Arthur and Rachel...pre-brunch hot tub in the snow!

Arthurand Rachel came down from Seattle where he works at Google Maps to relax in TheStar of the North this snowy weekend. Despite the often stormy weather, theygot a great long hike in to the Fish Hatchery and also the look out at NobleSprings Tree Plantation with its magnificent territorial view.

New Seasons Market in Seattle Carries These and So Will Adytum Now Thanks to Amber!

Amber was sweet to bring a case of drinks that we willbegin carrying at Adytum for those that don’t want red or white wine orchampagne and are overwhelmed by the sweetness of Sparkling Cider. They arefantastic and carried by New Seasons Market in Seattle. I have yet to find themin Olympia, but will keep looking.

Amber enjoying a Carrot-Lemon-Ginger Shooter from a frozen shot glass

In the past I’ve blogged “Every guest that comes to Adytumleaves a bit of themselves here.” How true when Sparkling Cider, which has beenaround the block a few times, gives way to drinks with exotic names and evenbetter tastes- and pretty healthy as well- low/no glycemic.

Enjoy the following recipe that our guests are stilllingering over the Adytum table with for Sunday Brunch. I bought the wafflemaker- two now actually – from the Kitchen Collection Store at the CentraliaOutlet Mall for about $100. It’s made our guests very happy and these wafflesleave us feeling fantastic instead of sleepy and bloated from using regularflour. We paired them with oven-bakedSmoky Sweet Potato Fries dredged with sea salt and the Peach-Mango salsa. UsingThai Sweet Chili Sauce is great too.

Crispy on the outside, soft inside...Mmmm!!!

Classic Belgian Gluten-Free Waffles

Classic Belgian Waffles have a crispy outside and are softand moist on the inside. They are often served as part of a celebration – evento celebrate something as simple as a beautiful day of one of the last snows ofthe season. Try these waffles with pure maple syrup and organic butter or oneof the many toppings that we serve at Adytum; house-made blueberry compote fromthe fields of blueberries in the valley below…house-made lemon curd atop thecompote or a raw caramel sauce to die for- made with our own Adytum Vanillafrom beans we picked up in Hawaii.

This recipe that came with the Waring Pro ProfessionalWaffle Maker is modified to gluten free by experimentation and it’s open tomore improvements. So far, guests love them and they are thoroughly enjoyed! Iwill experiment further with creating a vegan, gluten free option and let youknow how that turns out.

Makes 10 Waffles

1 ½ cups water, divided

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)

3 cups sifted Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour

1 T cornstartch

1 T baking powder

¼ tsp sea salt

3 large organic eggs, separated + 1 egg white

1/3 cup sugar

1 ½ cups whole milk

8 T unsalted organic butter, melted and cooled

2 tsp olive or coconut oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat ¾ of the water to lukewarm 105-110 degrees. Dissolvethe yeast in the water with a pinch of the sugar froom the recipe; let stand5-10 minutes, until the mixture begins to foam.

Put the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt into alarge bowl; stir to blend and reserve. Add the egg yolks, one of the egg whites,and remaining sugar to the yeast mixture; stir to blend. Add the remainingwater, milk, melted butter, oil, and vanilla; stir until the mixture is smooth.Stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and beat until the mixture issmooth.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold the eggwhites gently into the batter. Let the batter stand for 1 hour, stirring every15 minutes.

Preheat your Waring Pro Professional Belgian Waffle Makeron setting #4 or preferred setting *green indicator light will be illuminatedwhen preheated.

For best results, do not open waffle maker during thecooking process. Doing so will offset the timing mechanism.

Use the measuring scoop to measure the batter and pourinto the preheated waffle iron. Use a heatproof spatula to spread the batterevenly over the grids. Close lid and rotate waffle maker 180 degrees to theright. Bake the waffles in the waffle iron until beeper indicates that thewaffle is done. Rotate waffle maker 180 degrees to the left. Remove waffle andrepeat until all batter is used. Waffles may be kept warm in a low (200 degree)oven. Place waffles arranged on a cookie sheet on a rack in a warm oven untilready to serve dredged with powdered sugar.

Cinnamon Kissed Greek Yogurt, Lemon Curd and Raw Caramel Sauce with our own Vanilla

Pure maple syrup pairs nicely with organic butter and theraw caramel sauce and perhaps a dollop of Greek Yogurt... Blueberry compotepairs nicely with lemon curd. You could toast some chopped pecans to scatterover the top and of course, fresh berries always work well.

Pre-brunch Shooters- Fresh Carrot, Ginger and Lemon with Kiwi, Strawberry and Blackberry Garnish

Touching the Palette of a Child By Katherine A. Carroll, NTP

2012-02-23T05:59:00.000-08:00

Touching the Palette of a Child By Katherine A. Carroll, NTP

From Bluebloods to Collodial Silver: The Philosophy of Collecting Antique Silver

2012-02-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

Collecting antique silver reflects a philosophy of life.Anything worth maintaining is going to require some diligent hard work at timesand at minimum, regular care and attention. If you’re simplifying your life,don’t collect silver or close friends. Both have similar needs. I’ve beenwilling to provide that loving care since inheriting an antique silver set fromthe 1800’s.

Sitting on the mantle in the Adytum kitchen, it reminds us of agentler time when there were formal teas and butlers and maids to serve them.It comes from a time when there was more time. From its quiet reminder to livemore slowly to the time it takes to slowly polish its tarnish away, it is alsoabout slowing down-puttering...letting your mind wander while your hands do thework, to contemplate life and the beauty shining out of the metal.

On my way to the outlet malls to get The Orion Suite moreeffective as a lock-off condo, where guests can provide most of their own mealswith a Panini Press, Crockpot and Egg Cooker, I pulled into the SilvercreekGrange to see what was inside. I’ve driven past for 5 years now and have onlynow slowed down long enough to check it out.

Outside there a signthat said, “Antiques” and when I entered, I was pleasantly surprised to see itwas very full of interesting old artifacts common to all good antique stores aswell as some newer things like a saddle. I bought a brass ewer…when was thelast time you saw that word? “An ewer is a vase shaped pitcher, often decorated,with a base and a flaring spout…” Ok, got it Wikipedia. It holds a bouquet of orangeOriental lilies I picked up later in town.

At the entry were freshly baked cinnamon rolls that Juanita,one of the vendors, said she lays down on a bed of sautéed cinnamon apples.That’s original! I had just finishedbreakfast with guests at Adytum, so I will try them next time, assuming shealways brings them for customers. Juanita’s son, John, helped me carry out boxafter box half hour later. I found abundant silver both antique and silver-plate…anda very unusual metal bench that looks handmade.

These prices are what every bargain hunter lives for. I’venoticed many of the shops on the way to Mt. Rainier are all priced well underretail in any city antique store. $20 for silver trays…$15 for the lovely setof mugs (I’ve yet to discover what metal lays under the tarnish but I love themwith their tarnish coat on anyway and my arm is falling off trying to find out…)

I paid $15 for the 6...bought at an auction and cooler than cool....

There are several vendors displaying in the Silvercreek Grange; the hours areSaturdays from 11-3:30p.m. TheSilvercreek Grange is on Highway 12 off exit 68, just before the Great WallChinese Restaurant which happens to be run by Portlanders. If you stop there onthe way to Adytum, split a plate because they serve monstrous proportions. Welike the Mao Po Bean Curd and Vegetable LoMein without MSG.

Morton has a charming antique store called Town and Country.It’s a flower shop full of armoires, dressers and interesting smaller pieces. Manyof the antiques in Star of the North came from this little hidden gem in theheart of downtown Morton. Again, the prices are 1/3 what you’d see in downtownSeattle or even on a side street in Portland. This is what makes small townantiquing fun!

I've already shared about the little antique store inPackwood where we got the antique trunk with the rolled top. Many of us seek topare down instead of adding ‘knick-knacks’. Buying for the Retreat gives me an excuseto indulge a little and spoil our guests too with fresh visual stimulation,which I love doing. Beauty is best expressed when the element of ‘soul’ isinherent. The little flaws, the hints of use and the patina of age. For thisreason, I much prefer these kinds of shops versus the catalog stores in thecity or online.

Cleaning this silver this late, rainy afternoon makes merealize that life and the accoutrements of life flow into the hands of the nextgeneration in a steady stream. I wonder as I work whose hands caressed theseplatters and lovingly encouraged the tarnish to give way to the shine beneath?Did the teapot serve the highborn or the field hands? Did they know how badsugar was for them back then, I think shining countless covered sugarcontainers. Did these tea sets sit in the parlor of a grand house? It made methink about the bluebloods. We’ve all heard that word but most don’t know itbears a literal relation to the use of silver.

Sensology.blog.com shares:

Whyis the term "blue blood" used for aristocrats?

“The term blue blood came to be associated with the aristocracysimply because it was not uncommon in earlier times for European nobility tohave skin that appeared to have a blue cast. The bluish (or sometimesgreenish) discoloration of their skin was often caused by a condition known asArgyria.

Argyria is the result of ingested silver particles that arenot able to pass through the body and instead are deposited under theskin. Historically this was caused by particles from silver eatingutensils being swallowed along with food or silver being taken for medicinalpurposes. Since aristocrats were the ones who could afford medicine andwho enjoyed the daily privilege of eating off of silver plates, drinking fromsilver vessels and as the saying goes being born with "a silver spoon intheir mouth" it was a condition that was more common among the upperclass.”

Bought at an auction, I still don't know what metal they are but I love all six

Now we use Colloidal Silver (www.silver100.com) to achieve what the bluebloods got by multipledaily exposures. In fact, I sprayed some in Gabriel’s eyes this morning afterour shepherd mix got an eye infection and it is clear this evening. It’s goodfor everything from sore throats to wounds and much more. Here’s theinformation on the website www.silver100.com :

“Silver 100™ Ionic Silver Complex with Opti-Silver™ is thestate-of-the-art technology for delivering silver ions to the body. It isdesigned to surpass all other forms of silver in performance and efficiency.The result of more than a million dollars in development, it has gained thereputation for being the leading-edge product in the field by healthcareprofessionals, retailers and users.

Jay Newman, the President of Invision International andco-creator of Opti-Silver™, has been interviewed on such shows as Good MorningAmerica and NBC TV news as the leading expert in the industry. The company'sBoard of Advisors includes such highly credentialed experts as the former headsof the departments of chemistry of major universities and the founder anddirector of the world's largest clinical research center for pediatric drugs.What all this means to you is that you get far superior chemistry,information, and performance.”

The Ewer is now pressed into service as a vase for my favorite flower: lilies.

On the way back over the Lake Mayfield Bridge, I saw baldeagles hunting although the lake was so rough and choppy from strong winds theymust have been worried about going back to the nest hungry. It’s hard fishingin chop. Heading down Birley Road, I drove through Robins scattering. Spring iscoming and these long, dark evenings spent tending to things inside the Retreatwill give way to time in the garden. But still we will find balance, as in anygood relationship. This time with a commitment to keeping alive something ofthe past, pressing it into service and appreciating the beauty it radiates.

Adytum was already lit up like a beacon on the hill, lightslovingly turned on to shine through nearly 100 windows welcoming my return homefrom town. After polishing all the great finds from the Silvercreek Grange, thesilver lends a soft light to lead us out of this winter and into the days whenthe sun sets at 10 p.m. Silver adds firelight of its own to the dark of latewinter and it’s worth the effort to keep it burning bright.

Pura Vida! The Lure of Black Sand...

2012-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

Pololu Trail to a Black Sand Beachin Hawaii

The black sand was the lure. The surprise was finding somuch spontaneous natural art! The determined and the strong who made their way from the slippery cliff descent to sea level expressed themselves with a creativity most likely unparalleledin their daily lives. The fine black sand interspersed with an artistic andamazing display of volcanic rock and driftwood proved irresistible to many. How I wish I could have carried just a little bit back to Adytum as it transcended any display the well paid merchandising departments of the catalog shops ever brought to market....this is my favorite table-scape right here on the beach....and I have carry on....Grrrr.....

This Beach Releases the Inner Artist In Us All

Altars, stacked stones imbued with tiny holes and dips, figures drawn from driftwood, more stacked stones and volcanic stones marching in file along bleached driftwood… a large stacked stone firepit, hammocks fashioned out of fishing nets and heavy rope washed ashore longago…this beach has a Robinson Crusoe feel to it. It invites languorous play to be sure....it most assuredly brings out the inner Child. Met that Child lately?

Why Does This Beach Inspires Creativity and Art?....

We tried finding it yesterday and ended up at a Catholic cemeteryinstead. Don't despair. It was fascinating! I am a self confessed cemetery junkie...One of the head stones from the 1800's was written by hand in wet concrete.Still, we were headingto the beach for that elusive black sand.... We hiked a mile or two on a deserted, overgrown roadreplete with orange butterflies, tiny blue butterflies that swarmed around myfeet like a silent entourage and thankfully guavas! They looked a bit likelemons and because it was 3 p.m. and my blood sugar was low, I bit in…4 total. Mmmm! Nice! Strength to go forward!

It Felt a Little Threatening Here...

We came to an old Hawaiian sacred space and a sign asking usnot to enter.Sorry, Hawaiian deceased. I never met a rule I could follow.. but still we respectfully skirted around the edges in case we inadvertently offended SomeOne coming to the cliff overlooking thesea...

'Overlooking' being the key word. Wrong turn way back there before the guavas. Should have gone right following some Hawaiian boys with boogie boards we saw earlier that flashed a knowing look at the honkies... No access here and no black sand. The dead evidently don't need beach access but revel in great views...

It was ruggedly beautiful in a frighteningsort of way- like you better trust the one you venture here with or you mightend up on CSI. The sense of dread and foreboding literally haunted this exquisite space. It was palapable....

Rule Breakers At the Off Limits Beach....

Whether it was the sacred burial area of ancient Hawaiians orthe sharp drop off the cliff, it was hauntingly beautiful but again, not peaceful. Theconstant wind fed a growing agitation and we left after a short whiledetermined to find the elusive black beach another day.

The Pololu Trail is on the northernmost tip of the mapbefore curving gently around this island in the sea. The cars along the road were the dead giveaway we'd found it.Few travelers were willing to venture down and were taking pictures from the safety ofthe look-out above.

Live your life while you can. There will come a day whenyou’ll slide down on your arse before you’ll make the trek with any sense ofdignity. This turned out to be challenging. Mentally I was cutting about 90% of the ‘team’ up top as we began thedescent.

What a Welcome....

It was slippery down and tedious and taxing coming back up Think 'work out DVD's... Itreminded me a lot of walking across stones in a river, but there was no water.Just constantly picking and gauging the next steps. Dexterity. Agility. Great ass in the making...

Get too close to the edgeand yes, you really could meet your Maker. All those signs were for a reason.My Keens worked out pretty well. I can't imagine making it in anything less.

Whatever washes up on the shore is fair game for play...again creativity abounds here. The black sand beach is a vortex for pulling creativity out of those that venture down...

You're Never Too Young!

There are no facilities so don’t overdo on the MaiTais oriced tea before heading down or you will be achingly miserable.

The ocean is rough and the undercurrent signagein full view. So what is the lure? It’s just a great, quintessential hike. It’schallenging, engaging, interesting and ends in yet another feeling….differentfrom the one evoked by the ancient Hawaiian burial ground. it is Pure Unadulterated Beauty. We had seen a fewsigns that said ‘Pure Life’ (Pura Vida) Yes, that capsulizes the feeling this beach offine black sand evokes. Nature in all her pure fineness. Rugged and pristine.Visually stimulating and even artsy. There is a heartbeat here…the poundingwaves in their rhythmic cycle pounding out life - our life - on the black shores of thisbeach for centuries with a metronomic sense of duty.

The Long Rocky Road Down...To Pure Life

Off on the horizon, we see a whale blow and breach. Donn isa child again asking questions of me I have no answers for…”Why do whalesbreach? Do you know?". “No, but I’m gladthey do…” It breaks the sparkling beautiful monotony of the ocean.

Plus itmakes me wonder what else is going on down there…it reminds me of a paralleluniverse, another dimension that is inhabited that remains largely outside ourconsciousness. It is indeed, suggestive of more, isn’t it?

On the way, we pass a man heading down with a lot ofbaggage. He will stay there alone tonight lulled to sleep by the incessant windthrough the pines and the roar of the incoming tide. He’s brave…he looks simpleenough but deep inside I know he quests, or he’s a rugged individualist that doesn't let society confine or define him. I admire him, but were he in thesupermarket I’d just pass him by unaware.

How can we see more deeply intopeople in the middle of our busy days? He is the one who should be writing thisblog and I’m sure he would have much, much more to say. His finger is on the pulse of the Universe and I am simply an observer...

We are so hungry when we get back to the Jeep that westop and have a pizza in Kohala- surprisingly cheap and surprisingly good butyes, the dreaded gluten crust that will make us tired and bloated later…In aperfect World all pizzas are GF, we think….

We sit outside next to 4 Hawaiian girls about 12 or 13 years old… longblack hair cascading down each back like a shimmering black waterfall…We wait along time for this pizza and so we overhear their lives, their memories of being inclass together in second grade. We hear them talk about ‘white people’ andrealize suddenly there is color. We’ve been in Nature where all is One…We areback up on top now where there is separation… We watch them flirt with the cute Hawaiian boys eating an after schoolsnack here and who are old enough to drive off in a car. They dream of them at night... We wonder whatit is like to be Hawaiian and to live on this lovely island earth in the confines of a very small Universe here.

The Long and Winding Road Down...to Paradise

Nature is the One that unites us all. Down below, on theblack sand beach we are absorbed by the passion and energy of the Sea. Thewhales breaching and blowing engage every single One of Us. The lonely beachcalls out to the inner artist in each and many succumb to the pleasurabletemptation of playing like a child with the materials Nature has so freelyprovided in extravagant abundance as she is so prone to do.

A few brave souls venture into the wild waves, sure of their abilityto swim against the strong under tow and emerge braced against the eternal agitating wind and chill in the supposedly tropical air. Here, on this black sand beachthere are Two – but those two are One. There is Nature. There are Humans. Thereis no male. No female. No white. No Hawaiian. No separation. This is It. Get It.

Life is short. Get out there. Pura Vida!

Stairway to Heaven....

Successful Travel

2012-01-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

81 Degrees on the Big Island

In order for the great effort it takes to get away from theroutines of life, the travel has to reward us by meeting deep needs and desires.Thinking of elements of successful travel, I came up with my list. Yours willbe different, just like the Alaskan oil field man’s list was that I sat next toon the flight to Hawaii. He wants zip line adventures and exploring black sandbeaches while he’s here with his wife. Because I came rather worn thin andtired, I want reconnection and restoration from this island escape. I don’twant to ‘go’, I want to ‘be’. No matterour different reasons to get away, there are some foundational needs we allshare in common.

Going For a Swim

Up at 3 a.m., a two hour drive to PDX, we arrived 6 hourslater having endured coach and the humiliating “pat down” in (non) securitybecause we refuse to expose our educated selves to radiation in dangerous andbarbaric total body scanners. I had only an hour’s sleep before the ‘adventure’began. Starting a vacation when we’re already tired, not to mention the fatigueand demands that led up to the trip set us up for some strong foundationalneeds once we finally got off the plane, the shuttle to the rental car and toour destination.

The Little Castle Adytum Welcomes You

I see this in so many that have arrived on Adytum’s doorstepfresh off the freeway from Portland, Seattle or Olympia, travel weary on top ofhaving just ended a long, hard work-week. The transformation in your faces isremarkable when you hug good-bye on Sunday. Adytum is not only made forreconnecting with all that really matters in life. It is made to restore thedeep places in our heart, in our spirit and give rest to our mind. Thebirdsong, the water-music and the loving energy from nature and all the animalsof Adytum, the eclectic décor with a lot of visual stimulation and beauty allcombine to work their enchantment; the change in visible!

We are staying in a timeshare exchange- a Hilton GrandVacation Suite here on the big island that rents from $450-$600 a night. With theincredible luxury here and attention to detail, with their expensive marketinggeniuses at the helm and their way of answering the phone, “I can help you…”it’s simply beyond my ability to comprehend where the disconnect between thereality of today’s traveler’s needs and what Hilton will do to create a senseof immediate welcome and comfort occurred. This is perhaps the biggestdifference between a Retreat like Adytum and a sterile vacation home or hotelroom, no matter how luxurious.

Having a Ridiculously Expensive Egg at the Hilton; The View Was Nice...But Lake Mayfield is Too...

Finally upon arriving, rather dehydrated after over a day’sworth of travel, where is the water besides the polluted tap water? Is itreally going to hurt the bottom line to provide a bottle or two, gratis Hilton?But really, where is the wine, sparking cider or champagne to set the mood fora relaxing celebration that we’ve finally made it and we’re on ‘vacation’? Likemany of you, I want some instant gratification- I’m hungry…No fruit-bowl ordish of nuts…nothing. Certainly no flowers on the table that you enjoy atAdytum from our own gardens or walking in to music softly embracing you as you enter this sacred space… Instead we are greeted by an empty beautiful shellperfectly decorated by expensive design firms. We just got here and now wehave to turn around and go right back out to get our needs met…Hmmmm…..It’s notworking for me….not at all.

Adytum Has Wine & Tea Bars In Every Suite

The little gestures that show the needs of the travelerbegin the moment they cross the threshold become points of contention when notaccounted for in the least. It is the height of ‘unwelcome’ in my experience.It is not true hospitality but a marketing plan. If there was a complimentarybreakfast- and there isn’t- it wouldn’t make up for these gross oversights.

Kat Enjoys Black & White Beach

Later, starving, when I finally did get to breakfast the next morning the $31that I paid for a two egg vegetarian omelet, a tiny cup of fruit and a pot ofcoffee and minuscule glass of juice was washed down with a healthy dose ofresentment. I headed for the welcoming embrace of a salty swim in chillyHawaiian waters to recover from my sticker shock and stopped off for the restof the weeks’ groceries on the way back to the villa.

The little oversights continued to emerge for me and my 50+eyes when I was hoping for a magnifying mirror to apply my eye make-up. Even some brighter lighting would have been appreciated...

Luxury Robes, Luxury Linens a Matter of Course

Whereare the robes when I emerge from the shower and I’m cold? Later…no Kleenex bythe bed. Everything seems designed to be slightly irritating when we haveaccustomed ourselves to having all these concerns carefully managed in advance.I could go on….

Adytum's Suites All Have Magnifying Mirrors and Excellent Lighting

Successful travel must offer reconnection with yourself andif you’re traveling with a significant other- it must reconnect you with yourlover. That might mean experiencing the island, or whatever locality you’re in.It may be as simple as watching a movie or sunset together. We let the guestsshape Adytum so that it belongs to all of us for our pleasure. Many of you havecreated the very changes you enjoy when you return! Thank you so much!!

Ryan and Jessica....Connecting

Some of you read of the recent transformation in Star of theNorth into an even more romantic lover’s nest/writer’s retreat. Jennifer neededmore and we listened by adding a chandelier and antique trunk that serves as acoffee table. We created yet another writing nook to unleash her creativity in.Robert wanted to watch movies from the internet streaming TV in Star of theNorth so a Roku player (www.roku.com) that plays our collection of Mp4 videoswas added to that suite. Every single suggestion is taken to heart and everyguest coming in their wake benefits with a richer, more soulful experience.

We inquire what might have made the experience at Adytumbetter…was anything missing? I have learned to think from the perspective that everythingneeded should be at hand. Everything in the suite should be functional as wellas beautiful. What we hear most is, “I was needing/thinking of X, Yor Z, and ha! There it was like you already thought of it….” Yes, we have. Itis our gift to you because we care deeply for each of you that are drawn toAdytum. Not everyone likes puffy pillows. So there are neck pillows to choosefrom too. If we haven’t thought of it yet, we will! Or you tell us please!!

Pinot Noir Vineyard for Adytum's Private Label

We have big plans for the future. A few cottages. Two lodges. An infinity pool and another salt waterhot tub. Adding on to the back to create another private entrance, patio,shower and kitchen in Star of the North. A wine tasting room and wine cellar toprocess Adytum’s own pinot noir label. A miniature gothic wedding chapel on thepointe. Seats to enjoy the rushing stream by or overlook the Lake and valleybelow. A labyrinth modeled perfected after the one at Chartres…bikes lined upoutside the Suites for your use. We have the greatest desire to spoil yourotten…Adytum will continue to develop as a resort over the 16 acres of treeplantation. These dreams came from co-creating with God. They came from thinair with minimal funds. Ultimately they come from your desires. Nothing isimpossible if we all want it. Let’s all create this together….

Reconnect With All That Really Matters In Life....at Adytum

The success of Adytum springs from deep respect and a true caringlove of others. Every need of the traveler, the lover, the adventurer is takeninto consideration. If it’s within our power to provide all that createsimmediate comfort, beauty and true functionality we have done it or it’s addedto the growing list of improvements. Adytum is now the only 5-star luxuryretreat in our locality.

After experiencing this lovely 5 star Grand VacationHilton on the big island of Hawaii, I am really convinced Adytum is a 6 star onher way to a 10.

Mt. Rainier and White Pass' Winter Wonderlands

2012-01-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

Sledding
The Snowplay area at Paradise is expected to re-open next weekend, January 14th. No other areas in the park are open to sliding activities.

Skiing and Snowboarding
Two of Washington's best places to ski are in the Mt. Rainier region. Crystal Mountain Resort and White Pass Ski area are great options for skiers & riders of all abilities. Snowboarding is permitted in areas in the Mt. Rainier National Park outside of the snowplay area.
Snowshoe and Cross Country Skiing
TheWhite Pass Nordic Center offers 18K of groomed double-tracked trails. The terrain offers classic cross-country, skating and snowshoeing for individuals of all ability levels. The Nordic Center is open Thursday - Sunday and holidays from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

The Mount Tahoma Trails Association operates and manages the largest no fee Hut-to-Hut Trail System in North America for cross country skiing and snowshoeing. Approximately 50 miles of trails, 20 miles of which are groomed, provide safe and easy access to 3 ski huts and a yurt.

Paradise Ranger-Led Snowshoe walks - Learn the art of snowshoeing and discover the ecology of the area. Guided walks are offered daily until Jan 1st. From January 7th - March 25th the walks will be conducted on weekends and holidays. Get the details here.
Snowshoeing and cross country skiing are permitted in areas in Mt. Rainier National Park outside of the snowplay area at Paradise. Equipment rentals are available for rent at the Longmire General Store.

Snowmobiling
Find out where snowmobiling is allowed inside the park.
Areas outside of the National Park in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Naches Ranger District or Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest are also great places for snowmobiling. Information about SnoPark options can be found on VisitRainer.com.

Winter Camping
Camping on the snow is allowed almost everywhere in the park once the snow depth is over 5 feet at Paradise and 2 feet elsewhere in the park. Backcountry permits are required and parking is restricted to designated areas.

Resources:
With the arrival of snow, Mount Rainier's beauty changes and so do its challenges. Visitors planning to travel to the park in winter should familiarize themselves with winter travel tips, road status, and be prepared for potential winter hazards. For any questions on winter activities and snow conditions in the park, contact the Longmire Museum at 360-569-6575.

Important Winter Reminders

1) Carry Chains - Remember to check our Road Conditions page before you leave home. It is state law that you must carry chains when traveling on mountain roads. Mt. Rainier National Park personnel are enforcing this long-time law. You must carry chains or risk the chance of being turned away at the gate.
2) Twitter informs everyone when is the uphill gate to the Paradise opens. Check your Twitter updates. The park service will post daily updates on when they expect the gate to open and exactly when the gate is open. Please be advised that for our benefit, our National Park personnel do error on the side of caution and if there is any danger or anticipated road issues, they will monitor and announce the opening only when they are certain of safe driving conditions.
3) WebCams help everyone prepare for winter conditions. There are a variety of cams directed at your favorite destination. You can also get forecasts and weather planning information, all on our popularweather page.

Turkish Steam Sauna, Quite Possibly The Fav Seat in the House...

The perfect end to a perfect day is obviously back at Adytum Sanctuary, easing sore muscles and strains in the Salt Water Hot Tub with a glass of champagne...and making your way to the Turkish Steam Sauna when you're done...then back to the Salt Water Hot Tub for some time under the Milky Way...You get the idea!

Noelle and Bradford Taking A Break From Seattle....

Star of the North's Transformation into a Love Nest

2012-01-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

Star of the North Love Nest

Writer's Nook: View From the Bed

When a returning guest Jennifer S., working on a play at Adytum, suggested we add a coffee table and reading lamp near the couch in the Star Suite, it began a transformation of the Star of the North Suite into a Love Nest.

Antique Trunk Turned Coffee Table and Light Makes for Nice Reading & Writing

The bird theme increased, an antique trunk was brought into serve as coffee table and the City of Love and Light: Paris, France, became the love interest alongside love letters by Kahlil Gibran and others...

Since birds imply gardens, many things from the Adytum gardens were also brought in to create a romantic, garden love nest to set your dreams into flight.

The Measure of Love is Love Without Measure

I've always said that every guest leaves something of themselves behind at Adytum. This time, by honestly answering my query, "Did you have any suggestions to make the Star of the North Suite better for your next visit?"

Jennifer has helped to begin new uses for the suite. She plans to return, driving in from Seattle, quarterly and has decided to ask other writers and poets to join her here. "It really works for me..." and now, thanks to Jennifer, it will really work for others who want to shut themselves in and emerge with a new creation.

SNOW DAY WHITE PASS ON CROSS COUNTRY SKIS

2011-12-31T21:26:00.000-08:00

White Pass Nordic Track Area 12-31-2011

Cross Country Skiing

31 degrees and relatively sunny…Hmmm. Read curled up in thechair by the fire at Adytum or Get Out There…Fresh mountain air…Peace inNature??? Trying a new thing? Okay…Into the car and a trip 60 minutes east toWhite Pass for a venture into the World of the skier, snow-shoer, andcross-country skier called the day- this New Year’s Eve day….

4500 feet at the summit. Parking so bad- okay, it WAS NewYear’s Eve and good weather – we had to park a mile away. We started in LewisCounty and parked in Yakima County. Interesting…Thank God for the shuttle. Non-skierthat I am, I thought those were just in airport parking lots…Who would believeWhite Pass would be slammed? But it was New Year’s Eve…

Shuttle Master Gabe was great and got us to and from with alight heart – clearly One who likes his job and is grateful for work. I’venever met someone so genuine; he’d drive slow and yell “Hey, do you want aride???” to anyone walking along the slushy road. He advised us there was ablizzard last night (“My job is harder than it looks…”in code) and that a footof new snow fell.

The fresh mountain air and peace of the Nordic (crosscountry/snow shoe) side of the road contrasted dramatically with the stench offumes belching out of cars loading and unloading passengers into the Lodge sideand raucous, energized crowd on the ski lift side. There was seriously a veryclear division. Chicken for downhill that I am, I chose “Nordic”.

“What size shoe? Lift your arm (poles)” and $65 later fortwo, we were trying to figure out how to clamp in. Ah…that snow and iceblocking the entry is the problem…minutes later I was remembering myhumiliating experience going arse first down the slopes on my first ‘bunny hill’-and this was only cross country…how do skis equate with childbirth? Well, theydo…

Have you done it? It’s a little harder than it looks. Thosedarn skis are so long they want to cross and when they do, you just want to doa face plant so tremendously bad it’s hard to resist. I wanted that “NordicTrack/Elliptical Trainer” feel…I can DO that but it escaped me... My fingersfroze first and then I was telling myself, “It’s like riding a horse bareback…justrelax. The more you relax the easier it is…” Breathe! But horses don’t elicit the desire to toss you – yes – face firstlike these *#*# skis do….

It took me about 20-30 minutes (NO I didn’t time it. I wastoo busy trying to stay upright!) to ‘get it’. Then it was fun! I can skate. Ithought, “This should be easy…I’m athletic…But part of me thought, “Could I NOThave at least watched a YouTube tutorial???” Ok. There’s a learning curve andparticularly when faced with a hill. The hill – intimidating at first – DID actuallybecome welcomed when sweat was running freely under 4 (yes 4, I’m fromCalifornia…) layers. In fact, it was fun! (Until The Big One…)

The feeling of being in the groove finally emerged under allthe stress of TRYING (to slow down…) my forearms are sore for heaven’s sake…whoever heard of that?)

But there were moments when I could see the beauty in this.The peace of gliding (exaggerating…of course) through the stillness of the snow-ladentrees. It was spectacular. The essence of the Christmas that just passed. Whereare the deer? Still the reason there are more pictures of me than Donn isbecause of that little nagging issue…balance with gigantic pieces of woodstrapped to your feet. Penguin? Clown? A cross between the two?....you get thepoint.

Where are, by the way, the “Runaway Truck Ramp- 1 mile ahead”signs? We have experienced cross country skiers all around- although at pointswe were blissfully alone…Is there not a little bit of pressure when someoneappears behind (slow) us? I am silently thinking, “You have no idea what you’rein for…” as they try to pass me….I hope you’re good – I mean anything couldhappen! If you saw that sign, you’d know…

Okay….at minimum thisis a great workout. As I said, my forearms are sore (digging those poles intothe snow to slow myself down from my toboggan race to the bottom of the hill…) andI’m thinking- more times than one “this is going to get me into that bikini inthree weeks when we go to Hawaii.”

The more I stretched out into the longstride, stretching my hip flexors, the more my glutes said, “Oh Yeah Baby…” andthe more I thought, “This sure beats reading a book by the fire on a fairweather day!”.

Do I admire the gutsy downhillers? You bet. And when Iqueried Donn which was the best exercise, he said they both have their merits. Butfor us, who are more “Muir” people than adventurers, cross country skiing just ‘works’and it’s a lot cheaper. $13 each for a day pass/$165 for the season. Gee…howmuch was that gym and was I breathing in pristine air, hearing the little birdsand watching the Ravens above and listening to my own heart/thoughts/soul whileI got a pretty darn good workout?

Actually, I admired even more the dad I saw hook a baby in ajogging cart to himself and head off, wife watchfully pulling up the rear. Iimagined this young lad saying to his buddies, “Hey, what’d you do today? Theplaypen? That’s it? I was out cross country skiing with my parents today.Playpen? Seriously? That’s just lame, dude…”

Back at the Yurt after the loop around the Lake, it was fullof happy people having lunch and chatting in the small space. We knew the staffand they were so friendly. Cathy Lillianthal is a Massage Therapist and willserve guests at Adytum when not filling in for the season at White Pass. We areso Taos-like here in the Pacific Northwest…everyone does a bit of something inorder to live in all this outrageous beauty

On the drive back, over 150 elk in four different herds…thosewhite fannies just begging to be a target. Yes, I’m a vegetarian but do you NOTsee a target? We explored the last town before White Pass: Packwood with lotsof flavor and some interesting shops. We picked up an antique trunk at anantique shop for $40 that clearly had a $100 price tag on it. I’d just boughtabout the same thing in Olympia for $100. Believe me, there are bargains to befound here…

We learned something I wonder if you know: The rounded toptrunks were obviously loaded last. They belonged to the ‘Blue Bloods”, theseprivileged passengers were the “First Class” in their day. ”Last on and firstoff”. So the flat topped trunked passengers loaded and waited and waited andwaited…yes, we’ve all been there. THEN the people that don’t waste their timewaiting get on with their rolled top trunks are loaded on top of the flattrunks below. The ‘designer’ roll top….

Cindy, who runs the last gift shop before the mountainhelped Donn load a rounded top one in the car…inside she shared that ONLY onthese rounded trunks is a curious orange/blue border and always the exact same.

The pictures in the middle might change but that border is consistent…Interestingbit of trivia coming from Cindy who has called Packwood her home for 36 years…Quitefar from the freeway in Packwood. We, at Adytum, are 20 minutes from I-5 andchoices to visit Seattle, Olympia and Portland. Packwood is about far as itgets to the Mountain. (i.e., the end of the earth) and I so admire the ruggedsouls that commit to living in the reach of the mountains as a Way of Life andthe wisdom they teach us.

Okay, enough sharing. I’m heading for Adytum’s Salt WaterHot Tub to ease those over extended hip flexors and enjoy a glass of red wineunder the Milky Way. Last year, we were listening to Beethoven’s 9^thin Seattle on New Year’s Eve and we actually left our guests behind so we couldindulge. This year was equally monumental here at Adytum and we enjoyed Jupiterlighting up the sky as the single star visible on our drive home.

The New Year bodeswell: loving life and exploring more in our own backyard, full of gratitude toour God that gave us so much pleasurablepossibilities on this Earth…enjoying each of YOU and reveling in seeing YOUR zest for life.It all spurs us on. Yes it does.

Adytum Gives Back ~ You Stay for 50% Off

2011-12-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

Adytum’s Charity of Choice: The National Health Federation (www.thenhf.com) The ONLY Health-Freedom Organization TO ACTUALLY BE “YOUR VOICE FOR HEALTH FREEDOM”

Join NHF for $36 and get 1 Night at Adytum Sanctuary@ 50% off, Any Suite!

With your $100+ NHF Donation, get 2 Nights at Adytum Sanctuary at 50% off, Any Suite!

With your $1000 gift: Your 2 -night stay is on Adytum! This is the best deal of the year…good until the end of May. LIMITED TO THE FIRST 50 TO BOOK SO HURRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We took 100 bookings in 48 hours last March. Do not wait ~ book today at www.adytumsanctuary.com.

Adytum has chosen the National Health Federation as our charitable giving FOCUS because of our mutual commitment to keeping our body/mind/spirit ‘temple’ with integrity through right choices and honoring the body/vessel and in so doing, maximizing our power and work on behalf of others in this World.

Abundant, vibrant health starts with choice but ultimately it ends in fighting to retain our freedom to choose….Kat Carroll, NTP

The Star of the North: 1250 Sq. Ft. of Pure Luxury

In this spirit, each one of you who becomes a member of the NHF (www.thenhf.com)– just $36, will enjoy one magical night at Adytum for 50% off in any suite of your choosing. Those that give $100 or more, indulge for two enchanted nights at 50% off each night in the Castello Adytum in complete, pampered luxury (think “Champagne on Ice…”.) That is just over $100 a night for a $220 a night luxury Suite with territorial water views by day and a front row seat to the Milky Way by night in the seductive warmth of the Salt Water Hot Tub. For the outrageously logical $1000 donation your romantic adventure at Adytum is on us! This offer will go throughout the end of May and excludes all major holidays. With your membership you will also receive a quarterly magazine, Health Freedom News, the same one that ignited my internal activist and the one I now write for…with a sophisticated readership of over 20,000 like-minded people it will expand you like no other. This is worth the membership price ALONE if you value current research, issues and perpetual growth in your life…
“I am always learning…” Michelangelo

50" Plasma, Gas Fireplace, Lake View from French Doors: The Orion Suite

Gifts to NHF are not tax deductible because you get the famous Health Freedom News; if you need a tax deduction, then donate to Foundation for Health Research, our sister organization.

As a volunteer, I want very much to speak out against the issue you will learn about below –Ractopamine- the VET Steroid on your dinner plate – at the Codex meeting in Rome this July. I will also be attending the Codex meeting in Ottawa, Canada in May where GMO labeling is being decided. Do you know that your United States Delegate (FDA employee...) said, “The American people are too stupid to make up their mind about this issue.” Incredible...Have we been underestimated?

Thank you for making it possible for me to go and represent YOU and YOUR family by your loving and generous gift! If you want to read about my ‘Inner Activist Awakening’ read on. If not, book NOW at www.adytumsanctuary.com and let’s get on with our mutual Adventures!

Pinot Noir Vineyard at Adytum

As some of you know, my “inner activist” was released this August when I read an article in Health Freedom News, the National Health Federation’s fine magazine. The article was by President & General Counsel, Scott C. Tips on something I couldn’t even pronounce and never heard of: Ractopamine. It turns out; no one I asked had heard of it either yet our U.S. Delegate to the Codex meetings, where global standards are set said that the U.S. was in FAVOR of it. So why is this kept under such wraps that even some of the smartest among us do not generally know about? Who stands to lose major world trade profits Ractopamine fails to pass again at Codex this July in Rome, Italy?

Ractopamine is a veterinary steroid drug, created by Eli Lilly’s vet arm: the Evil Elanco. Ractopamine makes turkey, pigs and cattle shift nutrients from fat production over to lean mass production. At first glance, it sounds okay and my uncle who was a pig farmer, would have loved the $2-3 per pig net gain in profit, but the reality is that it not only makes the animals ill to the point of death (farmers called reporting that animals were "down and shaking") but we end up eating this poison. Since they are bypassing the standard 14-28 day clearance time before slaughtering a medicated animal a shocking 20% of this veterinary steroid taints the meat and YOU and YOUR FAMILY will eat it! Shocked? Yes, me too. Do you realize the cumulative effect of multiple meat meals a day with vet meds in it??? Next time you pass the meat aisle, just think about what’s lurking in there….it can send you to the hospital thinking you’re having a heart attack or a panic attack at best. Are you ready for dinner?

The Healthy Kitchen at Adytum Sanctuary- No Ractopamine Served Here

You know, I’m a vegetarian but I have children and grandchildren and elderly parents who regularly eat all three - sometimes in a single day! It is just wrong to put profit over people…Remember that this is the same drug company that brought DES and Bovine Growth Hormone to market and both were passed- then banned AFTER the problems surfaced…

Side effects of humans consuming this vet drug (which is clearly labeled “Not for human use”) is increased heart rate and vessel constriction as well as being a carcinogen….Want to come to dinner? A little panic attack and/or heart attack for dessert and a whopping BIG medical bill even IF you have insurance…. We’re having some doped meat…Oh, and bring your health insurance card- if you have one. We may be going for a little ride- a fast one in the ambulance.

Can You Imagine Giving Her Veterinary Medicine A Few Meals A Day?

When I called Donn’s brother, Dr. Ron Carroll, and asked what would happen if I brought my 86 year old father or 2 year old granddaughter in for emergency treatment having a reaction to ‘dinner’, he said they would never even know what they were treating because “we don’t even have veterinary medicines in our drug toxicity screens.” He would administer Beta Blockers to slow the heart, run an EKG and blood tests to determine if a heart attack was happening, order the drug-screen and basically create “a very large ER bill trying to figure out what was wrong.” And send you home with more medicine in your system than you came in with. In the final analysis, it will become a socioeconomic issue. When word gets out, won’t YOU buy organic meat? Low-income people will consume this and the already over-burdened medical system of the United States will collapse under symptom managing because our US delegate thought we were willing sacrifices to Eli Lilly’s greed.

160 countries around the World, including China which spent a lot of money researching the problems associated with Ractopamine, banned import and export of the tainted meat. When President and General Counsel, Scott C. Tips spoke against Ractopamine passing as a global standard in Geneva last year, he was able to persuade a few other countries against adopting the US stance. So even though our FDA employed US delegate was willing and eager to get it passed - selling out our health for US profit, President Scott C. Tips, working through the National Health Federation funding that got him there to represent us, worked for me, for my father, for my granddaughter Kendyl and my whole family and YOU while many of us were quietly unaware there was even a problem being debated of this magnitude. I don’t even take aspirin…I’ll be damned if I let our government feed us VETERINARY STEROIDS on our dinner plates every day. If this doesn’t move you, I don’t know what will….

Complacency leads to annihilation – of your health and of your freedom. Kat Carroll, NTP

I will be forever grateful to the work that health freedom fighters have done for me and my family, and continue to do. Am I ashamed for being “asleep” for most of this vital work? Yes…But no more. Donn and I have a corporate membership for our two businesses, and then I came on board as a volunteer for NHF in October. It’s my passion.

Ractopamine is just one of many issues up for decisions at Codex this year for the whole World, and the general purposes of NHF dovetail so perfectly with our commitment at Adytum to healthy food and freedom of choice for health care and what we choose to put into our bodies.

Ractopamine reminds me of rape. It is, at best, a forced entry upon innocent victims, both animal and human....

Can you explain it any other way? Or do you want to line up for a spoonful of designer drugs made for turkeys, cows and pigs and agree that you need it for your own personal health and wellness plan? Thought you were smarter than that…

I became NHF Membership Director most recently and in that role, I’m asking you to help me to get to Rome, Italy this July 2012 where the Ractopamine issue comes up again for debate. Believe me; I will be speaking against it loud and clear along with President and General Counsel, Scott C. Tips and other delegates from the National Health Federation.

The reason I chose to work with NHF is that they are the ONLY health freedom federation that can speak at Codex, where these standards for the World are set. They can also submit papers and correct the ‘inadvertent omissions’ Codex is famous for committing.

NHF has a Voice, YOUR VOICE, therefore they have real power to speak for YOU!

They are also the most experienced health-freedom organization, having been around since before I was born- 1955- and I might add, before any of the other health-freedom organizations were born too…NHF has a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. as well and always has. NHF is working for us every day! I like the fact they run a very lean organizational structure. Most of us are volunteers and donations go right to the front-lines of the battle. You don’t see me out of my 1998 Toyota Pickup because of this new job…

I’ve met enough of the directors and key players and they aren’t in a hot new car either. In fact, what I see is a lot of dedicated, passionate, intelligent professionals who are mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it any more…and neither should YOU. It’s your family we’re talking about. It’s your children, your grandchildren and the legacy you will leave. This is serious, my friends…

Now Available on Amazon

These are important issues- and just a few among many others discussed there during the week of solid meetings. One of our guests actually thanked me for being willing to go attend these meetings on behalf of her and her family. That gave me reason to pause... Another guest took home the magazine and immediately joined at the corporate level of $200. She wrote a scathing editorial on the Ractopamine issue- it really speaks to mothers in particular. We are in charge of feeding our family good healthy food for heaven’s sake…The thought of cumulatively poisoning our families with a drug never intended to enter humans…all for the sake of American greed- well, it got me mad enough to finally wake up and it did the same for her!

I humbly ask you for your support of the NHF (www.thenhf.com) and you will, in exchange, enjoy Adytum at the lowest rate you ever will and you will incur our eternal gratitude for seeing the big picture and being willing to step into the fray. God bless you for it…

2011-12-19T17:55:00.000-08:00

Smart Water~

In my volunteer work with the National Health Federation, one of my greatest pleasures is helping with the magazine, Health Freedom News. Between spending an hour in the Far Infrared Sauna most days and half an hour on the exercise bike, I'm getting a huge amount of reading in. So in the spirit of sharing, I wanted to include my Adytum guests with my book review that will appear in the winter issue of Health Freedom News. I am a firm believer in using structured, alkaline water to optimize health. Along with asking you - as Membership Director - to consider joining our global efforts at www.thenhf.com, I wanted to make the best ionized water unit on the market available to you at a special discount. If you're interested, give me a call or email and I'll fill you in. Enjoy the brief synopsis on Healing Waters, and as I continue to read, between guests - I will most certainly share it with you. The next book is on Vitamin D to enhance athletic performance by one of the foremost Vitamin D researchers in the country, John Cannell. When Bill Sardi visited in August he left this book for Donn and me. I wish I'd have picked it up sooner! It is fantastic as was the ionized, alkaline water book.

BOOK REVIEW

By Katherine A.Carroll, NTP

Healing Waters: The Powerful Health Benefits of Ionized Water ByBen Johnson, M.D., D.O., N.M.D. (ISBN 978-0-7570-0328-8; Square One Publishers,2011; www.squareonepublishers.com;paperback, 124 pages; $15.95)

“All water is not created equal and it is thestructure of water within our bodies that ultimately determines health orsickness.” Dr. Mushik Jhon, Korean scientist and expert on ionized water.

Healing Waters isan inspiring book on strategies to achieve optimum health using alkaline, ionized water. Packed with scientific studiesfrom around the World, it claims that ionized, alkaline water will restore thebasic foundations of health. Many of ushave read Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj’s book on the healing power of water for commonailments, diseases, obesity – even cancer was influenced. Batmanghelidj researched while in an Iranian prison onpolitical prisoner charges, overstaying his sentence because his research was socompelling.

Dr. Johnson shows how simple chronic dehydrationcombined with acidosis, having a system that is acidic versus alkaline, is thesource of numerous health problems. Dr. Kancho Kinanaka, pioneer in ionizedwater treatment asserts, “People with high blood pressure also suffer fromacidosis “virtually without exception.”

We are approximately 65% water in composition. Many ofour bodily processes are pH dependent so it proves a wise strategy to meetthese basic needs for proper hydration and a proper acid-alkaline pH balance.

Structurally alkalinized, ionized water is the same asthe water from mineral-rich glaciers; the same water reputed to keep the Hunzasfree of disease and extending longevity. It is known as “living water” becauseit is compatible with our bodily fluids. Its smaller cluster size and hexagonalstructure enable it to travel quickly through our bodies to reach cells and tissuesfor rapid assimilation. It not only hydrates, but it alkalizes and oxygenatesthe body fostering optimum health.

In addition to water, oxygenation is a crucial foundationof health. Since cancer- and disease-causing microorganisms thrive in low-oxygen,acidic environments, focusing upon the body’s two most abundant substances- waterand oxygen, is indeed intelligent strategizing to create true health. Thebeauty of this living water is that it can be made at home with a specificionizing unit for which Dr. Johnson provides numerous resource references.

Combinedwith a healthy, alkaline-based diet, we have a strong framework to createvibrant health and increase energy. The author delves briefly into proper foodcombining, thus reducing the fermentation that adds to the body’s acidic load.

A fascinating aspect of this book reveals thationized, alkaline water has an oxidation reduction potential, also known asredox potential or ORP, which is better than many common antioxidants. First hecompares it with tap water that is oxidizing with an ORP reading of +400mV to+500mV and mineral water which is slightly better with a +200mV reading, yet isalso oxidizing. However, alkaline, ionized water reads -250mV to -350mV so it’splentiful in the extra electrons it needs to donate to stop free radicalactivity. Understanding living water’s ORP readings creates an exciting strategicapproach to elevate immune function. Alkaline, ionized water has betterantioxidant capacity than Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and beta-carotene, which arenearly nine times heavier than alkaline ionized water.

By keeping the body more alkaline, the blood pHsupports increased oxygenation and even prevents Alzheimer’s disease byinsuring that the brain’s required need for 20% of the body’s daily supply ofoxygen is met. The heart requires more than all other muscles, so heart diseaseis prevented too.

The acid water that is dispensed out of the water-ionizingunit mentioned in the book has had its use in homes as well as hospitals fordisinfecting and killing bacteria associated with ten of the most-common hospitalinfections – even MRSA. “Most of these infectious agents were completelydeactivated within 30 seconds of being inoculated with the (acid) water; theothers were killed in 5 minutes.” This was from a 2004 Russian study.

Acid watermaintains beautiful skin and hair, is anti-aging, and combats eczema,psoriasis, shingles and other skin problems. It improves the body’s ability togrow healthy skin in diabetics with ulcers, heals bedsores and aids in woundhealing. Additionally, it is antibacterial for teeth and gums.

Even houseplants love it andit’s great to clean fresh produce and rinse sprouts with.

By coalescingfoundational tactics using alkaline, ionized water combined with a balanceddiet and proper food combining, Dr. Johnson writes a compelling case forinvesting in health through the inclusion of living water in our daily life.

Christmas at Adytum

2011-12-01T07:42:00.001-08:00

Bringing in the Tree

It seems like we just reluctantly put Adytum’s signatureorange umbrellas and chair cushions away and here it is – Christmas already…Wehave guests all throughout the month of December and the transformation intothe magical fantasy of Christmas in the little castle Adytum has begun with thebringing in of the tree, tiny white lights going up everywhere and fresh cedardraped over every chandelier and level surface.

Fresh From the Field and Heavy!!

This year, we opted for a 6’ Noble instead of the behemothtrees of the last two years that we could barely drag in much less get in thespecial tree stand and upright. It truly takes a small team to accomplish that!So this year the fragrance is spilling down from the third floor library andthe lights from the tree are visible as you drive up to the front door.

My daughter, Alyssa, was here to help install the garlandaround the library rails and get Fragment 2 into a Christmas wrap of her ownset atop of web of golden ephemeral fabric. Alyssa was between a month long kiteboarding adventure in Brazil and heading to Germany and Denmark for anotherweek before settling into a new position at Children’s Hospital in Seattle. Wehave a tradition at Adytum of making sweet and savory nuts for the holidaysthat are always a huge hit. When Alyssa asked for recipes for her friends inGermany who loved them, I decided to share them with you too.

They come from a book called, Party Nuts: 50 recipes for spicy, sweet, savory, and simply sensationalnuts that will be the hit of any gathering. By Sally Sampson Listen to some of the recipe names:Cinnamon Sugar and Orange Macadamia Nuts, Honey-Cardamom Almonds, CurriedCoriander Spiced Pistachios…and one of my favorites: Slow-Roasted Southern ButteredPecans which is quite simply exactly as it sounds.

She named this book accurately and she’s right. Weappreciate being able to make healthy foods even during ‘party times’ and while thesemay deviate a slight bit from our usual ‘no sugar’ policy at Adytum, they don’tdeviate far. As one of my mentors, Dr. Richard Shulze says, “It’s party food.Just don’t make it everyday food.” These nuts make perfect hostess gifts andalso great gifts for those that have everything already. We like the idea ofdisposable gifts and these nuts will truly disappear fast. We pack them into cellophane bags withfestive ribbons to tie them closed or fill holiday tins.

Don’t forget your UPSman, the teller at the bank that knows your name and the neighbor at the farend of the block that you don’t see often enough! Christmas is a chance to letthose in your life know that you appreciate them and don’t take them forgranted. While nut prices have risen, these are still an economical approachand a very loving approach in a season of undue focus on commercialism. We wisheach of you a very Merry Christmas full of an abundance of love, joy, greathealth and peace! May you truly reconnect with all that really matters in life....

Jennifer Ligeti’s Classic Sugared Holiday Nuts

2 large egg whites (1/4 cup)

1 cup sugar

½ tsp sea salt

4 cups lightly toasted pecan halves (10-12 minutes on anungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees F)

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Line a bakingsheet with parchment paper.

2. Place the egg whites in a large stainless steelbowl and whisk until frothy. Slowly whisk in the sugar and salt until thick.Fold in the pecans and toss until well coated.

3. Transfer the pecans to the prepared sheet andarrange in a single layer. Place in the oven and bake, stirring gently every 15minutes, until the meringue covers the nuts with a chewy, pale golden browncoating, 35-40 minutes.

4. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes,then removed the nuts from the pan with a metal spatula and set aside to coolbefore serving.

5. If you’re sipping, pair with mulled wine foradults and hot cider for kids

Lauren’s Vanilla Walnuts

4 cups raw walnut halves

2 T unsalted butter, melted

6 T sugar

1 T vanilla extract

1 T vanilla powder

1 Tsp ground cinnamon

1 Tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degree F. Line a bakingsheet with parchment paper.

2. Place the walnuts and melted butter in a largebowl and toss until the nuts are well coated. Sprinkle the sugar and vanillaextract over the nuts and toss again until evenly coated.

3. Transfer the walnuts to the prepared sheet andarrange in a a single layer. Set aside for 10 minutes.

4. Place the vanilla powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, saltand pepper in a small bowl,, mix well, and set aside.

5. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bakeuntil the nuts are lightly browned, stirring a few times, about 30 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven and immediately loosen thenuts with a metal spatula. While hot, sprinkle the nuts with the spice mix andstir well but gently. Set aside to cool before serving.

7. If you're sipping, Lauren likes these best withginger ale, no ice.

Autumn at Adytum

2011-11-12T15:38:00.000-08:00

Autumn at Adytum

Warming Indian spices from dal and coconut rice traveling up the spiral staircase to the Star of the North Suite at Adytum, the first storm of the season and fresh snow on the road to Paradise, the Japanese maples in our gardens in brilliant fire and losing leaves fast now with each gust of wind that scatters the intricate tapestry of color on to the forest floor…this is my favorite time of year~ Autumn at Adytum.

We went to see more Japanese Maples at the Portland Japanese Garden last week, taking a lot of pictures to share.

This particular garden has been proclaimed as the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan.

Situated on 5 acres, they welcome 220,000 visitors a year. You can read more at www.japanesegarden.com.

We go every autumn and agree that it is a stunning representation of an authentic Japanese garden with bonsai, maples of every kind imaginable, lovely structural elements and statuary.

The peacefulness is enhanced by ancient fir trees and many waterfalls and streams.

All this beauty is only an hour and a half from Adytum, and is near some of our favorite restaurants to visit after an afternoon’s walk; PF Chang, Monsoon or was it Typhoon? Or both? Pizzacato,with gluten free crust and the City Grill with its territorial views from the 30^th floor and the most amazing Happy Hour in Portland. And of course, Plainfields which is one of the top 22 Indian restaurants in the US. Coupled with the fun catalog shops that are all along 23^rd Place, which is quite near the Japanese Gardens, there is plenty to do and see.

Pink Skyscraper in the Background is City Grill....Great Happy Hour & Views

On the drive back to Adytum you can pick up your own Japanese Maples from a vast selection at Tsugawa Nursery - www.tsugawanursery.com. Most of the 30 Japanese Maples at Adytum have come from this fun nursery and now each is attached to a memory of a date in Portland. Enjoying the museums or gardens, relishing a nice meal and some shopping and stopping back by the nursery on the way back to create a romantic evening at Adytum makes a perfect date.

Once the leaves shed at the Japanese Garden, explore the other museums in the same area as the Portland Zoo- we like the gift shop in the Forestry Museum especially for gifts for children to teach them conservation and to love animals and nature. In the summer, the Portland Rose Garden is spectacular and we actually saw a lot of climbing roses opposite the Japanese Garden, climbing up a chain link fence in full bloom…in November. Portland is a little warmer and the season is extended and spring begins sooner there too.

So many who visit Adytum head to Mt. Rainier, White Pass or Mt. St. Helens, but when the weather turns, or if you’re not a skier, it’s fun to discover a new city. Portland’s vibe is laid back and it has a distinctive Pacific Northwest flavor. We love the architecture of the old homes there and the abundance of tall trees lining the streets. We’ve enjoyed a lot of great cultural events like concerts and plays there as well. So if you’re up for a day trip while staying at Adytum, put Portland on your list of potential options and we know you won’t be disappointed.

Narada Falls Near Mt. Rainier

2011-10-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Late Sunday afternoon, around 3 o'clock at Adytum, which was enveloped in heavy cloud cover, we decided to leave for Mt. Rainier, hike Narada Falls and end up at at one of our favorite places, Alexander's Country Inn.

Normally we'd have left hours ago. There was little hope of actually hiking Paradise before nightfall but there are plenty of other hikes along the way and all involving waterfalls. Suddenly, ten miles east in Morton the sun broke through and afforded a whole other experience.

Right before the Park entrance, we stopped into a gift shop because there was chainsaw art out front. Adytum has its share of ancient maple stumps, many 150 years old, and Donn has decided to turn them into spirit wood art instead of cutting them out of the ground. Spirit Wood is something we are all familiar with...the face peering out of the wood. We like Mirth and Green Man in particular because they appear on so many of the European Cathedrals and even on our own Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. We collect these carvings from master stonecarver Walter Arnold who carved on the cathedral alongside Frederick Hart, famous for the Ex Nihilo sculpture at the entrance to the Cathedral and for the 3 Soldiers sculpture near the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

We bought three small Spirit Wood carvings for the Adytum Autumn table, to blend with some owls already on hand. Then we drove on past Comet Falls, which is a great short hike, to Narada Falls, the crowning jewel of the mountain highway. It was 46 degrees with wind chill...I'm not sure I'm ready for winter...We saw the friendly Clark's Nutcrackers that are more than happy to accept peanuts and crackers from your hand. Someone had dumped a bag of peanuts out for them and they were flying in over the waterfall to eat before sundown.

Walking down to the Narada Falls lookout point was slick and wet. The fine spray met us every step of the way and despite the dry summer, the torrent of water cascading over the lip of Narada Falls is an impressive force of nature...absolutely glorious. In the slideshow you can see that opposite this formidable release of crystal clear water are a series of natural stone steps that meet the falls at the bottom of the drop.

As in the case of almost all photography, you simply have to be there to capture the nuances, the essences of this exquisite display of power and might. Many had carved their names and initials on the wooden rail at the lowest lookout point where the might of the Falls diminishes somewhat into a more containable stream winding through the valley below. The carved words seemed a desire to remain, timeless and eternal, like these Falls; to merge with the mastery of life and be carried along in their glory...

We exchanged photo taking with one other couple on the trail and headed back up. There were only half a dozen cars in the parking lot and many children scrambling dangerously close to the retaining wall which looks like a castle from the viewpoint below. The walk is magical and transported me. Nature has always fed the deep, inner recesses of my spirit which becomes parched in a city environment quickly. Our Creator has made space for combining with the eternal and the art-walks we enjoy in the Pacific Northwest have no equal in any city museum...

Cold enough now to require some warming up, we head to Alexander's Country Inn; the charming blue Inn with a Victorian turret and large, wooden water wheel churning. Deer are almost always in the yard eating windfall apples, but we didn't see them today. Alexander's keeps trout in a large pond behind the Inn, but this evening I ordered a salmon burger sans the bread for $10 and Donn ordered an excellent 4-cheese ravioli in a butter sauce with a variety of mushrooms and red bell pepper. At $16 he was quite happy all the way around. His salad had a unique maple vinaigrette that was wonderful. We had a warming meal despite a bit of a chilly reception from the wait staff which is unusual for that establishment...

We bought a season's pass for $30 and will return to enjoy the last of the huckleberries and the blaze of their foliage before winter sets in. The hills pour with liquid amber and the passion colors of Fall as Vine Maples celebrate in unison their finest hour. I love this time of year. It's my favorite and the briskness is so welcome after the heat of summer.

This day has taught me not to accept the limits and boundaries we impose on our expectations and ideas of things. We've never started a hike, with an hour's drive to our destination, so late. And we certainly will again in the future. It capped the busy guest-filled weekend at Adytum with restorative joy and peace. It grounded me once again in the deep Reality of nature and our oneness with all living things. My well is replenished and my week will reflect this short but intense investment in my spirit/body/mind complex.

The Grove of the Patriarchs

2011-10-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon is the perfect time to make a short 55 minute drive east from Adytum to enjoy a relaxed walk through a literal art museum of Nature and 1000 year old Fir and Cedar. Don’t let that number slip by you… Reflect on all the history these trees have absorbed. I have 51 years. They have 949 more warm summers and winters of frigid snow, ice and winds endured…pause and take note.

Boardwalk and nicely groomed trails mark the way through a forest that has withstood the test of time. The first impression, at least on a day without the usual Pacific Northwest cloud cover, is the enchanting glint of splendid sunlight piercing the canopy 200 feet above accenting the old growth trees. The first shaft of sunlight I witnessed fell on shards of Western Red Cedar snags in the early afternoon light. The quality of light is the envy of any painter of note. It stops you in your tracks. At once it suggests enchantment and mystery. I knew I was in a different kind of wood. It was a hallowed Hall of the Ancients and they exert their presence from the beginning of the trail beckoning me onward.

We walk on sand before the boardwalk begins. Because the Ohanapecosh River floods it deposits rich soil onto the forest floor nourishing some of the largest trillium I’ve ever seen, piggyback plants, elderberry and salmonberry and many varieties of ferns including my favorite: the Maidenhair Fern with its arching black fronds. The forest floor is littered at this time of year- October – with dry fir needles and freshly fallen leaves. The earthy, spicy smell is enveloped in a chill and rises up with each step further toward the Throne Room where the majority of the Ancients hold Court.

The second impression that literally takes my breath away is the purity of the water quality of the river along the trail. Crystal clear somehow isn’t an adequate description. The water flows from a non-active glacier and is pristine in the extreme. Each rock is clearly visible; its colors undulating under the movement of the current. I imagine that summers could be spent here on the banks of this river. Waterproof shoes would allow crossing of the shallow waters and even children could play off its banks with abandon. As I watch a Water Ouzel dive in to find a little insect and bob downstream with the flow.

As we crossed the Suspension Bridge with little Dash terrified of being tossed overboard with the rocking, I thought that this was the stuff calendars are made of; the quintessential calendar shot. Since I had polarized Maui Jim sunglasses on, I could look right through the top glare to the bottom where the rocks rested on the same sand I walked on earlier.

The trail is pure pleasure. The incline is achieved in a gentle fashion and there is so much visual stimulation we are oblivious to any exertion. Once the Great Hall is reached where the concentration of Ancients is evident, the real art show begins. Quite simply, it is an eye to eye study of wood grain in the fallen Elders.

Whorls, knots and water-like swirling patterns adorn the lovely old wood. How I would love to have a table made of these patterns…their lives are lived out as concentric circles, as rises and falls, as knots and depressions.

No artist could achieve a more compelling work. The patterns of the old bark on the soaring Fir are equally riveting; to say they wore their age well would be an understatement. It is a cloak of pure glory they wrap themselves in before strutting to the clouds in their antiquity. If we leave behind such grace, originality and sheer magnificence we will count it our great legacy. Remember, they are but Trees planted some 1000 years past. We hold choice in our hearts.

The interesting portion that transfixes my eyes are the old limbs that hang like hoary appendages from antediluvian times from the trunks. Covered in moss and lichen, they seem to be living driftwood – dead but not dead. Sometimes they intertwine with vine maple in an age old dance of stability and lightness. Mostly they stand as a testament to age and an endurance most of us are unlikely to ever match. Each Ancient Tree soars like a cathedral spire into heaven itself. The sun that chances to fall onto the forest floor through the denseness of this age-old canopy is fortunate indeed. When it achieves that end, the shafts are guaranteed to cause us to stand and admire the highlight. This minute, the shard of Cedar was in the limelight. In the next quarter hour, a pair of towering Fir allowed the sun entrance in the space between them like pillars containing pure energy.

We will be directing guests of Adytum to this amazing experience. To enter the company of the Ancients, to gain strength from their endurance and joy from the beauty of their artful expression is something few will ever forget. Their impression remains imprinted on the wild places of the heart that has the eyes to see.

Heading East on Highway 12 through Packwood, we turned left at the Stevens Pass turn off (which is also the Sunrise Entrance to Mt. Rainier- the right hand route would take you to White Pass) and then another left at Stevens Canyon.

Goat Creek Falls ~ the Voice of Water

2011-10-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

The many water features surrounding the “little Castle” as Italian artist, Arri, described Adytum owes its inspiration to the Pacific Northwest Rainforest. If you like the complement of water music ~ the language of the misty northwest forests as you climb through luxuriant foliage, Goat Creek Falls is your dream hike.

Nearly every step is accompanied by the happy gurgle of brooks; the rush of falling water and the tumult of cascading falls at the climax of the trail particularly after snow melt in early spring. Birdsong echoes from the limbs of a thousand trees in this old wood. Like Muir says, “the songs of the water, wind and birds” – all meld into an incitement to gain strength and peace as you’re drawn deeper into the emerald enchantment and mystery of this moist woodland.

At summer’s end the flow of the falls is reduced to a gentle curtain of iridescent raindrops with the finest spray as a reward for reaching the top. After a dry summer, it is a miracle there is a mist at all. Standing under the fall on the narrow trail, the mist caressing my face I watch the curtain of water falling onto an ancient flood boulder before cascading down into the creek below.

It reminds us “everything is flowing…going somewhere”. Life in the profound serenity and holiness of the forest is vibrating with passionate energy and distinct intention despite the relative stillness.

The fall’s rock face truly is magnificent and standing behind the effervescent veil of water is exhilarating in early spring and restful in summer. It extends the summons to achieve oneness with the flow of all nature…We have a goal to hike all the waterfall trails as soon as snow melts next year to experience the force of nature’s pure wildness celebrating in her most rambunctious style.

The beauty of this trek is that it is only about 30 minutes from Adytum near Riffe Lake. Goat Falls captures the feeling Rumi reflected when he said “we have fallen into the place where everything is music”. The combination of intense, lush beauty and soothing water-music is unbeatable.

The proximity is prized by guests that want to enjoy the magic of Adytum without long jaunts to far off excursions. You can stop back into the Bean Tree or Plaza Jalisco in Morton to refuel. Also, the locals tell me that Morton Meat Market has the best beef jerky anywhere. I wouldn’t know, but I do go in to buy raw dog bones for the pack and there is always a line in front of the meat counter.

If you have four-wheel drive great. If not, there was only other car parked at the trailhead when we drove out on a Saturday afternoon - a Hyundai with two-wheel drive - so despite the potholes and oftentimes deep ruts, you can probably negotiate the 4.5 miles of gravel road off the main road to start your exploration. There are no services, so handle that beforehand or brave the steep cliff and some fancy balancing footwork to find the notoriously large girthed tree.

Before you cross the fishing bridge over Riffe Lake, you will see hang gliding enthusiasts who flock to Dog Mountain for great hang gliding at the head of the lake. The breezes blow off the lake pushing up the steep cliffs creating thermals that allow gliders to stay aloft. There are always a lot of fishermen fishing off the bridge which speaks of the bounty of these Pacific Northwest Waters.

The hike starts at a narrow trailhead and teems with spectacular vegetation instantly like a staged Home and Garden Show. Muir described such a wood, “a fairyland created out of the commonest fern-stuff”.

Profuse stands of maidenhair ferns with its arching fronds, Hart’s Tongue Fern, light green deer fern and lady fern – the quintessential feathery fern with the black frond emerges in every crevasse of the rock walls that interrupt the vegetation flow. Knickinick, coral bells and tiny fir, hemlock and cedar trees line the trail.

Moss lines every open space and we stepped over an abundance of leopard and banana slugs. It is another world…restfully cool and tranquil…and yes, magical. With the prehistoric heritage of ferns, it could be a time warp from thousands of years ago. Enter in...

After a steep incline we look into upper boughs of ancient Fir and Big Leaf Maple with Polypody Fern – epiphyte -ensconced in the curve of massive limbs.

“Epiphyte give the architecture of a tree or a shrub a complex fenestration that confers age and complexity.” (Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses, William Cullins)

Then, the forest descends sharply. Earlier we passed four men amusing themselves rolling rocks down the cliff. The extreme brink of the edge of the path traveled one at a time asserts a silent warning all along the way. No daydreamers here.... Lightening fires leave their mark on many old trees hollowing out some for owls, woodpeckers and the brave creatures of the wood. We don’t see them but we know they are watching…

“I am never alone in the wild forest, this forest of elders - this forest of eyes.” Richard Nelson.

With the profusion of ravaged bark, the evidence was clear; a large bear had been scraping Western Red Cedar, dislodging rotting bark in search of ants achieving an 8’ reach. We saw a porcupine and a bird carrying what appeared to be another bird in its talons. We lost count of the waterfalls we waded through on the trail; wear waterproof shoes or do the big leap.

This is a treacherous trail, not for children, elderly or those unsteady on their feet; that warning includes many dogs. Our Borzoi would careen herself right over the sheer cliff in the course of racing along in her joy on the narrow single track. Sadly a horse plunged to its death in an area under the waterfall where slippery shale lines the trail.

We later learned, after posting this horrific picture on Face Book, that someone had let two horses go in the forest to fend for themselves over the hard winter projected for this year. After many comments in response to the picture of this horse, some other options emerged for caring for horses owners can no longer afford to feed. It was shocking, unforgettable and I hope to never see anything like this again.

Albert Einstein reminds us that “our task is to widen our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature.” There is always a gentle option.

If you’d like to experience this hike, take Hwy 12 to Glenoma Road/Riffe Lake, turn right, go a few miles on the paved road; cross the fishing bridge and turn right. You will see the sign “4 ½ miles to Goat Creek”.

This is a slow trek in on a four wheel drive road with deep rutting and potholes and clearly worth the painstaking care it takes to traverse it

Once you enter this rich, complex visual tapestry of form and texture you will not return to the world outside this hallowed space unchanged.

"The world is a sacred vessel” The Tao Te Ching

Books you might enjoy: Meditations of John Muir; Nature’s Temple and Native Ferns, Moss and Grasses by William Cullina

Biking the Village Mossyrock

2011-08-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

My Well Used Santa Cruz Mountain Bike- My Most Cherished Gift from Donn

Past an inquisitive two point buck I shooed off the road, “flying” alongside a robin for a good many yards neck to neck, nickering to the herd of horses and pack mules feeding with their head stretched over the barbed wire fence…

That's Lilly (in black), Sold By Our Medical Vision Center Manager to These Folks

this is the sweet simplicity of biking from Adytum to the village of Mossyrock.

It’s about an hour's bike ride if I explore the back roads and side streets. We have no bank here, no supermarket except a wooden floor general store. But we have the basics and the rest can be found ten miles east in Morton.

Have You Shopped In A Grocery Store With Wooden Floors?

The cats are hunting this early morning. I’ve never seen so many. They multiply like the ancient cars piled around many properties that seem a prerequisite for country life here.

Cattle stream to the fence line thinking I am there to feed.

No one is up yet as I pedal along. I capture the innocent essence of country life on an Indian summer morning when the fogs and mists rise up out of the valley to envelop the spires of Adytum in their mystery.

The spiderwebs I break as I pass are a portent of chill mornings to follow...

So many regain their youth listening to songs from high school. I regain mine staying connected to joy through my old Santa Cruz mountain bike. “It is”, I say without jest, “my $2000 cellulite treatment formula and my endorphin fix…” And laughingly I add...I traded in a car worth less than this bike!

My '98 Toyota Tacoma...If I Get "Newer/Bigger" I Can't Throw My Bike Into The Back of the Bed...

Alongside my natural progesterone and dietary changes implemented in my mid 30’s, biking is my core program for staying balanced and looking “lean and mean”….Combined with a largely vegan/raw diet (but not exclusively by any stretch…) it will get me in shape within two weeks for what I laughingly call “Donn’s bikini trips” – Optometry continuing education in the Caribbean, South America and Belize. And I’m sure it will do the same for you too.

Getting Ready for some Joy Time

What I haven’t written much about is the intense spiritual feeding that occurs as my legs do their rhythmic strokes without ever stopping and my breath comes in even draughts. My mind is free to soar

, to commune not only with the intensity of the natural world around me but with God…All the visual stimulus and fresh mountain air, the hayfields ready for cutting feed my spirit and refills my inner well.

The Buses Carry the Workers In

Hola and Gracias...I eat them every morning!

Now past bright yellow school busses on the right that bring the Latino laborers into the Pan American blueberry fields. I have purchased 150 pounds so far and harvested our own blueberries from 30 bushes at Adytum, some beginning to produce now. It’s not an easy life for them but perhaps they find their own rhythmic dance and meditate on all that is good while they work under blazing sun and oftentimes soft rains. I nod my thanks and pray over them as I stroke past. I get the blessing of a nod in return, acknowledgment we are all one.

Buenos Dias!

And on the left I zip past the DeGoede’s workers harvesting bulbs and hoeing between the rows of bright red alstilbe plumes that wave with the summer breeze. We wave to each other and I yell, “Hola!” I can always tell the few white workers with naked arms at work that haven’t the innate wisdom apparently to cover up against the ravages of a day in the fields. What a life…to be under the great blue sky that puts Montana’s Big Sky logo to shame…to hear the whinny of the horses and watch the hawks collecting mice that shelter under the Dahlias. To breathe clean air and work honestly with one’s hands…to stand firmly grounded on the famous Cinebar Loam, some of the finest soil in the world.

Safe Passage Under Highway 12 for the Workers and I

I come off Birley and take my Santa Cruz along the frontage road, now more colorful reds, oranges and yellows splashing in a rising wind on my left. Past the trailers that house permanent workmen and their families, I take the viaduct under Highway 12, built to safeguard the field hands as they pass over to the fields and greenhouses on the other side.

So Many Old Barns and Many Still In Active Use

DeGoedes owns 500 acres in all and their cousins run the Mt. Vernon Bulb fields further north. Pumping hard up the rockstrewn dusty road, I pop up to street level with a blaze of orange-red Diablo Croquisma rewarding my effort. Left now on the road I see Mossyrock in the distance, but I always lengthen my ride and divert past another privately owned blueberry field or head up to check on the Osprey nest on top of a phone pole overlooking the rest of the Degoede lands.

Osprey Nest

Past lazy dogs, dozing in the early morning sunshine, past crumbling old farmhouses, past barns and silos and all things country I suck this village life deep into my lungs.

We all need to add a little country to our “city” and we in the country need to add a little city to our “country”. Like the progesterone, the bike and the diet, it keeps us balanced.

My morning bike rides set the tone for my day. I stand on the pedals up the hill toward my truck, mercifully parked at the bottom of the hill that leads to Adytum. I’m not there yet- and may never be- where I bike the last half mile straight up. But I’m breathing hard. I’m well prayed. I’m well exercised. I’m well in my heart, mind, body and soul. I’m in Joy

Adytum and the new Pinot Noir Vineyard Growing in the Sun

Upper Caribbean Creamy Grits With Roasted Plantains- With Adytum Signatures

2011-08-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

Leave me alone long enough with a recipe and the inner chef keeps whispering in my ear, "Add some marsala to get more complexity into those plantains and caramelize them- too dry if you roast them...Crush and toast hazelnuts to add some crunch to the topping....toast some unsweetened coconut to wrap around the plantains...."

Your inner chef will whisper in your ear too as you play around in the kitchen with these new dishes more too. Every guest who makes a special request urges me out of my box and helps me to expand in my cooking skills. Ultimately they help me to see that there is so much more out there- Like the chef who taught me to "try one new thing a week, from the produce section and from the jar/can isle" Get familiar with capers, arugula, new spices, and on and on.

Here are some pictures of this morning's breakfast in the making:

This really "makes it" The coconut creams it up, the ginger and cinnamon make it decadent...luscious....

Now it's time to top after a long, much stirred simmer~and taste (:

We served this with Apple Quinoa Banana Muffins, Maple Smoked Sweet Potato Oven Roasted Fries, and Eggs- and non-eggs - on the Half Shell. If a vegan has to watch others eating a dish - like my guest says, "Oh, I'm used to passing things along" - well there's something inherently wrong about that. So I came up with an alternative that I'm anxious to try with grilled polenta under the sauteed mushrooms, garlic, sweet onion and red bell pepper~

"Is Everybody HAPPY?"

Upper Caribbean Creamy Grits With Roasted Plantains

2011-08-19T21:05:00.001-07:00

As promised, here is a new vegan recipe that dedicated meat eaters will enjoy too. Since I have a very well established southern heritage, this caught my eye. Only I’m using Polenta…the “new” grits.

Adytum is full of great, like minded guests this weekend as always and one which happens to adhere to a pretty tight dietary plan: no sugar, no gluten, no animals- even casein in some vegan cheeses… (welcome Daiya; lactose and casein free) So in anticipation of feeding Kat…yes- another Kat who is dating a Bastyr student who may very well be YOUR naturopath one day I decided to check with the experts – Oly Vegan, a Facebook page recently shared with me by my hair stylist who does a vegan/GF diet plan herself. Like the lady who shared this recipe, her dad too was lost to cancer and the vegan diet has some pretty amazing stats if you’re looking to avoid that potential…

I did a test run with this recipe for our breakfast this morning and will make some modifications. I like a little more natural sweetness and will caramelize the plantains in a skillet with some coconut oil and pure maple syrup instead of roasting them. Additionally I toasted some unsweetened Bob’s Red Mill Coconut and topped the dish with the plantains and toasted coconut. Oh yes…now we’re talking…

I just bought 25 pounds of polenta from Bob’s Red Mill in Oregon and that is what I used in the recipe. It came off really creamy - reminiscent of Cream of Wheat. It is, in short, comfort food. You could add chopped dates, some nutmeg, maybe even some pineapple. Play with it and you’ll find, like I did, your own unique combination that works to start your day. Amazing, too how far ¾ cup of polenta goes. It really does serve 4-6…

We appreciate the collaborative effort that happens on Face Book when we ask for a fresh idea…a favorite recipe…and someone comes forward with theirs. Lesli really came through for Adytum’s guest, Kat, and may it all come back to you, Lesli! By the way, Lesli is issuing an open invitation to join their FB page: Oly Vegan for even more great recipes, even if you aren’t a dedicated Vegan. For those of you that haven’t been to the capitol city of Washington, Olympia is an eclectic blend of progressive people. Free thinkers, original…which is why we keep a second home there. Never know, we might become Vegan and move back (:

This recipe is from the book “Vegan Soul Food” by Bryant Terry

Upper Caribbean Creamy Grits with Roasted Plantain Pieces

Yield- 4 to 6 servings

1 large ripe yellow plantain, ends cut off, peeled
and cut in half lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch pieces width-wise

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Coarse sea salt

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 cinnamon stick

4 cups water

3/4 cup stone-ground grits

5 tablespoons maple crystals or organic raw cane sugar

-preheat oven to 450

-in a small bowl, toss the plantains, olive oil, cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon salt.
Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and cook, stirring a few times to ensure even browning, until crisp on the outside
and starting to turn golden brown, about 45 mins. Set aside.

- In a small sauce-pan over medium-low heat, combine the the coconut milk, the ginger, and the cinnamon stick. Simmer for 5 mins., stirring often
and ensuring that the coconut milk does not boil. Remove from heat and strain the coconut milk into a small bowl. Set aside.

- In a medium sauce pan, combine 3 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Whisk the grits into the liquid until no lumps remain,
return to a boil, then quickly reduce the heat to medium low- and simmer, stirring often to prevent the grits from sticking to the bottom of the pan,
until the grits have absorbed most of the liquid, and are thickening- 10 to 12 mins. Stir in the remaining cup of water, and cook for another 10 mins, stirring occasionally, until
most of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the reserved coconut milk and simmer, stirring frequently , until the grits are soft but not runny, 30 to 35 mins.
Stir in the maple sugar.

- Right before serving top each serving with some of the roasted plantains.

I hope your guests enjoy this as much as i do!

All the best,

Lesli Baker
Oly Vegan

Adytum’s Niche is The Healthy Choice ~ The Breakfast Fondue

2011-07-02T11:44:00.000-07:00

Our guests from Seattle said, “All of our friends eat this way.” They were talking about the absence of meat, dairy, egg- and a breakfast about half raw food. “That’s why we chose Adytum. Because we knew we could eat our regular healthy diet here.” But they admitted that the food and presentation was anything but regular….and I admitted that I love spoiling people!

When Johanna came to the kitchen at 9a.m., I shared my excitement. “You were a challenge to me! I haven’t done a raw, vegan breakfast for anyone yet. Vegan, yes. Raw vegan…no. AND gluten free on top of it all!” Since her partner wasn’t 100% raw, thankfully I could revert to my vegan breakfasts which gives me some time to revisit all the “un-cookbooks” on my shelves before my 100% raw guests come. Since it was Johanna’s birthday, I wanted to amaze her, delight her…completely “wow” her at her first breakfast at Adytum and we did!

For inspiration, I turned to Renee Loux Underdoffler’s book, “Living Cuisine: The Art and Spirit of Raw Foods” and found exactly what ended up doing the trick. Donn chopped chunks of three different melons and sliced strawberries and kiwi, leaving raspberries whole for a beautiful tray of summer fruits while I made Renee’s “Caramel Sauce”. It is vegan and it is raw and it is AMAZING! The recipe follows to serve a breakfast fondue. The rest of the vegan/raw breakfast?

For a larger protein fraction, I served a shake that Donn and I have been drinking most every morning for 16 years. The only difference is that ours isn’t tasty like theirs was. For theirs, I used Metagenics Ultra Meal Rice (brown rice) and added frozen blueberries and a banana and ground flax seed. They loved it. It has the protein equivalent of two eggs- 14 grams- and half the vitamins and minerals for the day.

For our shake, I used Metagenics Ultra Clear Renew (liver support/cleansing) and Ultra InflamX 360 (anti cancer/inflammation) and added brewer’s yeast, green powder equal to ten servings organic greens, and several other powders that make it outrageously healthy and not so tasty but after all these years, we don’t even notice it.

Their raw, vegan breakfast included some cooked items. Homemade gluten free granola with Montmorency Cherries and made with pure maple syrup. (Recipe to follow) Laced with coconut yogurt and a lovely blueberry/strawberry compote with the East Indian Spices I love, it disappeared immediately along with the oven baked Sweet Potato Fries seasoned with smoky maple.

Sweet Potatoes are only a distant relative of potatoes. They regulate insulin production, stabilize blood sugar and lower insulin resistance and are full of beta carotene, precursor to vitamin A and B6. Baked in the oven, they are a healthy treat before the hike they will take today. I’ve already posted the recipe for the Quinoa Banana muffins, which also appeared on the table and will be carried on the hike later. They are such a great low sugar, high protein treat and are really a meal in themselves, like a protein bar.

As I walk back from putting Zephyr in the dog park, our Borzoi who recently met her first skunk…I stop to pick handfuls of fresh fennel fronds, lavender buds, pansies and Johnny Jump Ups with their smiling “good morning” faces, lemon verbena and several varieties of mints that will become edible garnish for the birthday breakfast feast.

Eating healthy is visually stimulating and we feel fantastic- ready to tackle a big day- after eating this way. Taking digestive enzymes is always wise, but especially when starting a raw food program; so many of us lack “digestive fire”. It takes zinc to make hydrochloric acid, for instance. Upon testing for zinc sufficiency, I had only one client in 4 years who was sufficient in zinc. The aqueous solution that tastes so bad, most would spit it out instantly was reported as tasting like water by 99% of my clients. So replenishing digestive enzymes while the body rebuilds itself is a good plan as well as supplementing zinc.

The benefits of a completely raw food diet are undeniable. With all of the living enzymes intact and cellular mutations from browned or burned proteins/foods no longer a factor to contend with is healing. If you want to get well or stay well, eat raw food and organic as much as possible. However, most of the benefits from a raw food diet can be obtained at about the 80% level- eat breakfast and lunch raw and add something warm at dinner perhaps.

Our guests and I discussed the necessity of getting the right kind of fat in a vegan or raw food diet. Since only a very small amount of the ALA in flax seed, for instance, converts to EPA and DHA, 15% and 5% respectively, it is best to supplement with pure, micro-distilled fish oil. It’s also advisable to supplement Omega 6 in the form of GLA from borage or evening primrose oil as vegetarians, vegans and raw food diets are not getting exposure to the Omega 6 in animal foods or certain oils. A 1:1 ratio is recommended, Omega 3 to Omega 6.

These guests loved all the raw “un-cookbooks” on my shelves and will leave with recipes. In turn, we are reinvigorated in our efforts to create great health for ourselves by eating a plant based, largely raw diet….but “gourmet” and of course, beautiful as are all things we aim for at Adytum, the Sanctuary.

The sanctuary/temple of our soul is honored by the commitment to extreme self-care, and we’re grateful to these guests’ commitment to this walk in their own lives. Iron sharpens iron and we all inspire and encourage each other in a world that does not honor this way of being, for the most part. That is, after all, what brought these great guests to Adytum in the first place. They knew their choices would be honored and they would be well fed. It was indeed an honor and a privilege to spoil them rotten!

Caramel Sauce

Makes About 1 Cup

Serve this luscious caramel confection on absolutely everything for a sweet treat.

5 Tablespoons raw almod butter or raw cashew butter

¼ cup pure maple syrup

2 Tablespoons cold-pressed coconut butter

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 pitted soft dates

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch sun-dried sea salt

In a blender or food processor, blend all ingredients until creamy. Add a touch of pure

water in blending if necessary.

Cinnamon Spiced Granola

This easy to make granola is perfect to have on hand for busy mornings. It can top fresh fruit, be served with a dollop of organic yogurt or served as a breakfast cereal with hemp milk or another non-dairy milk. You can add any dried fruit after it has been cooked. If you have a nut allergy, then substitute sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds for the nuts.

Makes about 5 cups

3 cups rolled oats (We use only gluten free oats from Bob’s Red Mill at Adytum)

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 cup coarsely chopped almonds

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cloves

¼ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon sea salt

½ cup pure maple syrup

½ cup melted coconut oil or ¼ cup apple juice and ¼ cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional Additions:

Chopped dried apple

Raisins

Dried cranberries

Shredded coconut

Sunflower seeds

Pumpkin seeds

(We use Montmorency Cherries at Adytum and Dried Apricots)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place rolled oats, chopped nuts, and spices into a medium sized bowl and mix well. Add the maple syrup, melted coconut oil and vanilla to the oat mixture. Toss together using two spoons. Add shredded coconut and any seeds if desired, toss and bake on a large cookie sheet for 35-40 minutes turning occasionally with a spatula. Remove from oven and stir in dried fruit. Let cool completely and transfer to a large glass jar.

From the Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook: Whole Foods Recipes for Personal and Planetary Health by Alissa Segersten and Tom Malterre, MS, CN

Adytum Has a Ghost

2011-06-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

“Adytum has a ghost,” I told Michael, who was asking lots of questions about how Adytum began almost 5 years ago now. We usually think of ghosts inhabiting old creepy castles and mansions…pacing the floors, rattling chains, and generally scaring anyone in their space. We think of ghosts as imaginary, as fairy tales. Or we think of ghosts as somehow “real”. I really don’t think of them much at all, and really can’t say I believed in them either until one day last year….I continued sharing with Michael, who now had a mixture of “curious/dubious” written all over his face.

About two years ago I walked slowly up the slope, just off the Orion Suite, that would eventually become the Pinot Noir vineyard. Ever since I was a child, I’ve always looked closely at the earth to see what it would yield. Seashells at the beach, a penny on the sidewalk downtown, a tiny wildflower in the fields of grass straining to be known and seen…Today, quite unexpectedly I caught a glimmer of shiny black and reached down to pick it up. It was a beautifully shaped obsidian arrowhead, tiny chips out of one side as it hit its mark all those years ago. It was our first Indian artifact found on Adytum lands. A few steps later, another…not so pretty. It was broken, well used in the hunt. It seemed strange. Like the tiny wildflower in the field of grass straining to be recognized, the arrowheads just presented themselves on my path. I’ve walked that slope planting grapevines with Donn and in all our digging we’ve never found another one, much less two…or anywhere else on our land either.

Adytum has an air of mystery around her with the mists that swirl around the turrets or the dense fog rising up off the Lake at daybreak to fill the whole valley with “the breath of the dragon…” With all the holes in these ancient trees, I have to confess the writer in me -living in my head so much of the time - would love to find a secret treasure stashed away in the crook of an old maple or pushed up into the center of one of the many hollow red cedars here…maybe a gift left for a lover who never made it one stormy night, or a worn copy of handwritten verse, a journal, or a blade hastily stashed from the scene of a crime. This land evokes fantasy and imagination…

That night, I held the sharp dark arrowheads in my hand and felt the age old energy of the hunt, of the warrior, of the Cowlitz Indians that depended on these small stones to bring down prey. Obsidian isn’t native to our hill. Nor was the large yellowish white quartz that I discovered on a chilly walk in February a few months prior. Donn and I had taken an out of the way trail on the back of the land high on a ridge overlooking the road below. Ferns tumbled down a rocky sheltering cliff. The brush was so dense if you didn’t know it was a cliff, you’d fall right off. There was – and is – a different feel to this area. We naturally fell into calling it our “sacred spot” and set up a bench there, intending it to be our worship and reflection place. As we came up the thin trail, ducking overhanging maple limbs, we came round a little bend and face to face with a very unusual object shining white in the dense forest growth.

Under a large overhanging boulder it sat, large and white and certainly not native to this Birley Mountain we live on. It had been scooped out in multiple locations with a little spoon type object. It sat alone under the rock and instantly we knew it was someone’s worship place, a natural altar and someone’s worshipful object, though we didn’t know what it might be for. Maybe it was Indian, maybe it wasn’t. We’d heard tales of the prior owner near Adytum’s back acreage making underground bunkers for the end of the world, and an unsuspecting tractor falling in three stories deep….Maybe it was theirs…What it is, we don’t know. But I knew enough to put something back once I took this strange rock back with me. I returned with a handful of white daffodil bulbs and they bloom there to this day.

The energy of those that have been on this stretch of earth under the wide expanse of Pacific Northwest skies lives on. Sometimes it wills itself to be known, and sometimes it remains a secret until the right one comes to discover it. The night that I held the arrowheads in my hands, feeling the hunt, I left them on the ledge on the spiral staircase windowsill and went up to bed. One might have thought I’d dream of Indians on horseback with bows and handmade arrows but instead I was awoken out of a deep sleep and saw a woman outside my bedroom door. I felt no sense of fear. She didn’t seem to know anyone was there…She walked, hunched over as if she couldn’t go another step. She seemed exhausted. She had long black hair that clearly hadn’t seen a brush in a long time and she wore it loose. She wore the clothes of a white woman in the 1800’s- maybe earlier. A wide skirt and blouse tucked in, black shawl wrapped around her shoulders that she clutched with one hand as she paced back and forth between the rooms outside my bedroom door.

Just like the arrowheads, I could “feel” her energy and she was worn out, worn thin from the hardships of the journey. She had seen inclement weather, she needed rest and the comforts that a woman craves; a warm bath, tea by the fire, the companionship of her lover. But she was denied all these and she restlessly looked, like a bird trying to find a place to land, for a place to settle.

When she disappeared, I got up and wrote the vision I had seen and told Donn when he woke in the morning. I’m no stranger to the spiritual world, but I really hadn’t ever seen such a figure- so defined, so describable. When I think of why I did see her, I imagine it was because I wanted to know. I wondered about the Indian whose careful work I held in my hands all these years later. I think I simply tapped into a space in time and perhaps she inhabited that same space. I really have no idea…it’s all conjecture. All I know is that my experience that night was real.

That’s why it was so incredibly confirming when that summer, our guest – then the wife of famous writer Richard Bach of Jonathan Livingston Seagull fame, Sabryna Bach came to the kitchen early in the morning, and advised me with absolutely no emotion like it happened everyday: “I’ve seen your ghost”. I almost dropped the dish from my hand….”Oh?” I never let on that she wasn't the first to see her until I heard her story.

She knew nothing - no one did except Donn – of the sighting earlier that winter. Sabryna went on to describe the woman I had seen down the last detail, only she added that she had been attacked by a man or men. I didn’t get that feeling, only the desperate need to stop and get off the trail. The impression I got was that she was part of an early party coming to the Pacific Northwest. Lewis and Clark certainly had their fair share of hardship and torrential downpours, chilling days and frigid nights in opening the Northwest Territory. I am convinced our ghost came soon after they forged the way.

To say I was shocked beyond belief that our guest, Sabryna, had witnessed our ghost- and in another part of the house- was strange. I had seen “her’ on the third floor, Sabryna saw “her” on the first. Neither of us had any sense of fear at all, only a lingering pity that she couldn’t get what she was after…no one has seen “her” again…We may have to find a name- or maybe one will come- to call this Ghost of Adytum.

On my knees today in the garden off First Light, I am suddenly aware of the land beneath me and the rich soil. I think, “one day I will be this soil and I will be part of the Adytum lands…” Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We have our brief shining moment on this earth and then we are gone. I can’t explain the Ghost of Adytum. She doesn’t fit with my spiritual beliefs at all. All I know for sure is that the energy that made the arrowheads on our staircase window sill lives on here as does her restless wandering and the vibrations of others we’ve yet to learn about, should they choose to be revealed.

Both “she” and the arrowheads and the quartz in the altar clearly wanted to be known. I don’t argue that it sounds ridiculous, and again it doesn’t mesh with my logic at all. Do we always have to know in our “knower”? Knowing with our heart seems to work better when dealing with these kinds of things. What questions arise when confronted with the history of our spaces and those that came before us are perhaps the more important thing. Everything holds vibration and we ourselves are resonating with frequencies some are only beginning to understand. We are using these frequencies to heal our bodies and our minds…I think of the engaging seminar I attended with my daughter last year to obtain certification in using Frequency Specific Microcurrent (www.frequencyspecific.com) that will become the cutting edge in healthcare.

Having the right questions is perhaps more important than having all the knowledge just yet. As Einstein found, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” As we open ourselves up with childlike wonder at all that is around us I think the answers will find us.

We see from Adytum’s many windows the frigid waters of the Cowlitz River in clear view. These waters flow from the icy glaciers laden with rich minerals that give the Cowlitz the enigmatic green glow. In the Cowlitz Indian language, the river means “Spiritual Seeker”. Beautiful… I look daily at a river that is a living symbol of the trajectory of my life. May all who come to Adytum find the answers to the questions they are seeking, and may the grace of the gentle spirits who came before us fill Adytum lands with reminders of how fragile, how frail and how short our days on this earth are, creating in our hearts an intensity of living and the desire to “suck the marrow out of life” while we can.

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived.” Henry David Thoreau

I have to admit, I want to see “her” again. I want to understand…she seems such an enigma to appear so lost and restless in this sacred space that we have created to share, opening the way for deep rest, reconnection and rejuvenation with other wanderers on the path of life...

Maybe “she” is just affirming our decision to open the beautiful castle of Adytum to those who also need to find a place to light, who seek relaxation and nurture. And if it is possible, I hope that “she” finds it too here among us.

Pumpkin Nut Belgian Waffles ~ Gluten & Dairy Free, Cane Sugar Free

2011-06-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

Summer's just around the corner and soon we will embrace the fresh blueberries we buy from the valley below Adytum. The apple compote served on the Pumpkin Nut Belgian Waffles will be relegated to just another summer memory, until autumn comes again. Lately there have been many requests for recipes from the Adytum table and even requests for entire cookbooks as guests try modified favorites and feel great after eating them.

One guest from North Carolina, the wife of a nuclear engineer here on a business trip, said, "When I came to the table for breakfast and saw waffles I thought 'well, I'll just eat it but I know how it's going to make me feel afterwards'. We love the old favorites, but with the new gluten free, dairy free modifications and using honey or maple syrup in place of the white sugar we can feel energized and ready for the day after enjoying a great, gourmet breakfast!

Our Guests From North Carolina, Ernie and Nancy

The main thing I hear from those who have given up gluten (most common in wheat, rye, barley and non-gluten free oats, soy sauce and fillers) is, "I can't believe how much my energy came up!" Second: "My stomach doesn't bloat out like I'm three months pregnant and I don't have that 'brick in my stomach' feeling". We've been choosing gluten free more and more and it's a choice that is totally working for us- not against us - so we continue to experiment with modifying recipes. The following is a modified recipe that came with my new Belgian Waffle maker, which guests are really appreciating.

Like one visitor to Adytum said, "If you hadn't told me it was gluten free, I'd never have known by the taste. But I can tell you that I can sure tell the difference after I've eaten it - I feel great!" Welcome to healthy cuisine...old favorites become new.

Pumpkin Nut Belgian Waffles ~ Gluten & Dairy Free, Cane Sugar Free

Makes 6 waffles

1 ½ cups Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour

1 ounce finely chopped walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts toasted

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cardamom

¾ cup pumpkin puree, canned solid pack pumpkin (not pie spiced)

2 large, organic eggs, separated

1 cup soy milk or other nondairy milk

¼ cup real maple syrup (not pancake syrup

3 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large egg whites

In a large bowl, combine the flour, chopped nuts, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, sea salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Stir to blend and reserve.

In a second bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, egg yolks, milk, maple syrup, melted butter/oil and vanilla extract and whisk smooth. Meantime, whip the three egg whites until stiff.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to blend until smooth with a whisk. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites into the batter and let sit for 5-7 minutes before putting on oiled waffle griddle.

Topping options: apple, golden raisin compote with Marsala; Honeyed Greek yogurt topping, chopped nut topping, homemade caramel topping if you’re feeling celebratory/naughty (: and of course, maple syrup.

Private Lessons from One of the Top Master Pizziolas in the United States

2011-05-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

I’ve always said, “You never know what’s going to happen when you get up in the morning”. Phil Gritton was driving in from Olympia with a big bin we commissioned that would get my garbage cans full of birdseed off the porch and out of sight. Turns out, the bin was so heavy that he recruited longtime friend and business colleague Mike Rutledge to help him deliver it. Mike is Director of Kitchen Operations at Farrelli’s Wood Fired Pizza with their multiple locations. Two hungry men pulling into Adytum at nearly 1pm….”Pizza sounds good…”so I started the gluten free dough from scratch. I texted Phil to see if Mike could handle more pizza and got the go ahead. By the time they arrived with the bin, the pizzas had risen, were shaped and had pre-baked and were ready to top. That’s actually when it all fell into place; the unexpected miracles that days can bring….

Mike agreed when I asked if he’d finish them off. As he worked with seasoned grace in a new kitchen, he let us know he was 1 of 100 Certified Pizziolas in the United States. He has won pizza making contests against professionals from Italy and recently had taken First Place at a competition! He and Phil have worked together in the past before Phil went on to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. More recently Phil turned to Finish Carpentry for Elite Builders NW in Olympia but the blood of the chef runs deep and forever. In fact, Phil’s created the recipe for a salad at Farrelli’s when he was 17 that is still a top seller. So to have two professional chefs in the Adytum kitchen seemed providential as we’re expanding our breakfast menu and are looking for some fresh ideas.

It’s taken many failed attempts on my part to finally make a decent gluten free crust. Mike began teaching from the prep bar while topping the pizza shells I had pre-baked. I noticed he wasn’t piling things on like we do.

“Use toppings sparingly: distribution of ingredients is key and having the pizza well-seasoned. Don’t overdo the salt but getting enough on is an art – too much and you’ve ruined it.” He explained as he put goat cheese around the circle, “You want a bit of goat cheese in every bite, but not too much in every bite. Top to the crust…you don’t want to see a huge edge left on your guest’s plates when they finish”

One thing I was completely unaware of is the real chemistry about dough. Mike explained,

“The art of baking is moving moisture – you are cooking the water out of things. You want steam release, Kat, so next time leave a quarter sized hole in the middle of each pizza so that a steam release passage is created. If this wasn’t on the vented pan you have it on, but was directly on a pizza stone (I had the vented pan ON the pizza stone- per prior instructions by pizza chef at Pizzacata in Portland) then you would need to put in on a rack to cool or the bottom will be soggy.”

Well, we know about soggy bottoms….embarrassing as a toddler and humiliating as an adult with guests expecting something great.

At the table Mike pronounced my crust “really good” and said if he wasn’t aware it was gluten free, he wouldn’t have known. Another chef at Pizzicato in Portland- now serving gluten free - advised me to use a lot of olive oil to shape the dough into the round, and liberally oil the vented pan to give it some crisp and to bake on a stone. He also suggested that I coat the top with olive oil before baking at close to 500 degrees for about 10 minutes on the pre-bake. (The directions said 425…)The second bake was 10-15 minutes with the toppings on.

I lost track of the time it was in as the men all went out to move the big bird seed bin off First Light Suite.

Meantime, during the first pre-bake, I’d slipped off to the woods to wildcraft some wood sorrel. As a child, sitting cross legged in the grass near the edge of my parent’s garden, I used to strip the unusual tartness from the stems and move on to the next one.

I left the clover tops attached without eating them; didn’t know I could nor did I know it was called Wood Sorrel… Tom Douglas, owner of Dahlia Lounge, Serious Pie, Etta’s, The Palace Kitchen and many more top notch Seattle restaurants featured this salad on his menu at Serious Pie, where I went on Mother’s Day with Donn and my daughter, Alyssa.

It was her idea to try it…sounded kind of weird “Wood Sorrel, maple, orange and fennel” – all in lemon vinaigrette and laced with local honey around the perimeter of the small, composed and pricey salad. I didn’t realize wood sorrel was the exact same Oxylis we had growing wild at Adytum; the same I ate as a child… and that the maple- which they assured me tasted like maple- was dropping all over our walkways when the birds weren’t eating it. The fennel and orange came from the market and coalesced into in a beautiful, fresh dish to compliment the scrumptious pizzas; the best we’ve ever had and by a famous Pizziola no less!

We have plans for breakfast pizzas for Adytum guests. When I asked Mike and Phil if anything came to mind, Mike offered the idea for a quiche brushed thinly on top of the pizza crust base, topped with potatoes which were mandolined into the thinnest possible rounds. (Potatoes always get a rinse and a good drying to remove the starch before baking) Then he suggested toppings like mushrooms, garlic and whatever sounds great in a quiche basically.

Phil suggested country gravy. Since Adytum is a vegetarian kitchen I said, “Like a hearty mushroom” thinking of the beefy Portabella ~ sounds great! Topped with mushrooms, spinach, garlic, roasted red peppers it really would be like many of the hearty breakfasts we are already making but in a pizza.

“Ok, so what about a dessert breakfast pizza?” I asked, realizing how fortunate I was for this private session with two top chefs. Mike had been talking about discovering the recipe for the base for award winning Pizza Sole, one of Donn and I my favorites from Casa Mia in Olympia. We had that pizza on our first date after seeing “Bridge Across Forever” so there’s a fantastic association for us. Mike learned it was a base of gorgonzola, parmesan and olive oil and sea salt all blended together. Phil began talking about gorgonzola, candied walnuts and pears sliced thinly on a mandolin….and on that base…pure heaven at the breakfast table. So that will be our next adventure….

The guys were now clearing their plates and getting ready to leave. An unexpected private mentoring from one of the top 100 Pizziolas in the United States and brainstorming menus for the Adytum Retreat kitchen…and one amazing bird seed bin….you really never know what’s going to happen when you wake up in the morning!

Sharing Some Cookbook Titles, by Request

2011-04-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my favorite things…..

When guests starting wandering in to look through our cookbooks after breakfast, then went back to get their camera to take pictures of the titles used to prepare their food- I finally got the message. So here are a few of my favorite cookbooks:

Vegan World Fusion Cuisine

Healing Recipes & Timeless Wisdom From Our Hearts to Yours

Mark Reinfeld and Bo Rinaldi

This is the one I'm turning to lately for the vegan version of scrambled eggs...but it's really so much better; kind of an Indian twist and beautiful! Be sure to take time to press out the tofu by wrapping it in paper towels and setting it under a heavy skillet, cutting board, etc. Well loved so far~

Guilt Free Indulgences

For special treats, non dairy and gluten free, The Ice Dream Cookbook is perfect. Coconut milk has the "right" kind of saturated fat. Made with stevia and a bit of honey, it is really quite wonderful....a few fresh strawberries or raspberries...maybe a handful of dark chocolate chips in the mix - Mmmmm. There are gluten free cooky recipes to go along with it. Being mindful of taking care of ourselves doesn't have to mean excluding- but including better options!

Awesome for Dinners....Madhur Jaffrey's, World Vegetarian

I love this cookbook. Excellent curries, soups...all the things that make Adytum smell sinfully sensuous and enticing. Your spice drawer will grow as well as the pleasure quotient at your table.

It is always a pleasure to inspire others to greater health as well as having truly exceptional meals. When our recent guest, News Director for Channel 11 in Alaska went back home and bought all these titles, I knew that Adytum had worked her “magic” once again. Donn loved talking "news" with her and discovering how she selected which stories would run. She loved getting some new ideas for her kitchen, her life... We all stimulate each other here to rise to higher levels and we’re grateful to have these books to share with you as we're grateful to receive all our guests bring to us!

If the Buddha Came to Dinner; The Ice Dream Cookbook; Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook
All Excellent in Adding Pleasure to Life and Increasing Health!

A New Recipe For You...And Guns, Raccoons and Tender Hearted Men

2011-04-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

Adytum is becoming known as having the corner - the “niche” - on accommodating any healthy dietary desire our guests present us with- We cater to foodies, food snobs, fastidious eaters and those that would otherwise send a great cook into a private little panic. Once you’ve tried all the ways of eating for yourself, it’s not that big a deal to recreate it for guests. If you haven’t…well, it can be just plain terrifyingly daunting. At the latest PAII (Professional Innkeepers of America) seminar I noticed that entire blocks of time were dedicated to teaching gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, etc. breakfasts.

When I made my diet changes in my early 30’s, I went from the typical SAD (Standard American Diet- or Shortcut Along-the-way-to Death) to a vegan lifestyle overnight. No one thought the changes would last because I went “cold turkey”. I have little willpower and agreed, however I made one crucial decision: to ask for supernatural help and I lived as a vegan for three years, until I married Donn and we added eggs and cheese (and instant cellulite… Hmmm….) into our lives.

Being vegan made all the difference and I watched my body change in ways that seemed impossible for my age and having three kids. Coupled with Donn surprising me with my first mountain bike, a bright yellow Santa Cruz, it was the total ticket to becoming bikini ready/cellulite free in 6 weeks- not only in body composition, but in the creation of lean, defined muscles.

Christmas 2010

What a fallacy the Cross Fit teams are propagating- that you have to eat mostly animal protein to create muscle. Muscle is 70% water. It takes massive amounts of energy to extract protein from animal sources; vegetable sources are much more easily absorbed and kinder on the kidneys. My trainer at the athletic club where I worked at the time was a vegan and had bigger biceps and chest measurement than any meat eater I ever trained. Hands down. I saw it work.

Over the years we have lost the vegan emphasis, adding some dairy from sheep and goats primarily, and clean eggs- we will always be vegetarian although we take fish oil daily. But when it’s time to get the bikini out of the drawer however, those “animal extras” fall to the wayside in favor of embracing the vegan approach once again- but this time with the addition of gluten free.

Could you make a meal for us that was vegan, gluten free; fresh, beautiful and tasted fantastic? Some of you guests have taught me and can cook me under the proverbial table, but some of you can imagine the fears some innkeepers face. But not only the hospitality or food service industry; my daughter in law, Lindsey Gritton, will make her first Easter dinner and manage to please vegans, vegetarians, carnivores, SAD diet family members and gluten and sugar free guests all at one table. I admire her for tackling such a feat! So believe me, it can happen to you. While I enjoy cooking from all venues and ranging through most all ethnic menus, it gives me great satisfaction knowing that those at the Adytum table will leave with an increase in health and oftentimes without realizing it was sugar free, gluten free or otherwise “different”.

Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free AWESOME Muffins; Well Loved By ALL

When I saw the rising numbers of gluten free, vegan, sugar free guests on our reservation list I got on Amazon and started downloading cookbooks to my Kindle for PC. (a free download if you haven’t tried it). The following recipe comes from Gluten Free Vegan Waffles and Toppings: 43 Recipes From The Global Gluten Free Waffle Cookbook. Being the “can’t color between the lines/can’t follow rules” cook that I am, I adapted it to suit my palate and conscience but the bones (pardon the pun) of this vegan recipe are excellent and it made a hearty, healthy waffle that we topped with a strawberry compote, fresh strawberries and a dollop of coconut vanilla yogurt. They were so good, they didn’t need the addition of pure maple syrup, but when I added a bit around the edges, it was even better. Sorry I didn’t think to photograph them before we devoured them….maybe next time I’ll show more self-control~

By the way a quick story to bring home the vegan point. Donn was raised vegetarian and therefore wasn’t a hunter like some of his friends back in Idaho. He did have a singular attempt at hunting as a young boy. To start, he shot a bird- just for practice. That early boyhood episode ended in humiliating tears. It broke his heart to take the life of a thing of beauty whether it would be eaten or not. Needless to say, he doesn't hunt now apart from photo safaris... (For some reason this thought process excludes moles who must be some other entity altogether…)

My Tender Hearted Lover....

So yesterday, Dash, our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pointed to a downed raccoon just outside the First Light Suite – no doubt shaken about an inch from death by Gabriel. Gabriel showed up at Adytum just a day before we had to put our beloved Borzoi Sasha to sleep, thus “the Angel Dog” sent to mend my broken heart. He’s turned out to be a fearsome watchdog keeping predators, like the unfortunate raccoon away and dedicated friend to the rest of us.

Gabe taking a break from guard duty...

However it was sad as we watched the raccoon laboring to breathe for several hours; clearly he wasn’t going to recover. I prayed God would just take him and spare us the painful decision-making…but no miracles today; he breathed on and raked the gravel with a paw, trying to move out of the path. So I finally asked Donn to do the unthinkable: get the shotgun and put him out of his misery. I’ve never killed anything apart from insects... It takes the heart and stomach of a man sometimes… We had to leave for work at Medical Vision Center and I couldn’t see letting the pitiful animal fear that a dog would finish him off, or die of thirst, etc. I witnessed the struggle in the still tender, boyish heart of my husband and finally, he got the gun and with a single blast he released the poor little spirit from its own struggle.

It takes a brave, loving man to kill with dignity, empathy and compassion. So while I champion the vegan cause, there is room in the world for everyone who comes from a heart of respect and understanding. But for me, who dream of the little happy faces of our enormous Koi in the pond, I will trend toward avoiding eating anything with a face. There always seemed to be a “disconnect” to me with veterinarians who went home to a slab of meat at their table. Go figure. Everyone lives in the way they see fit. However, the rule of the Adytum kitchen is familiar to you: First, “Do no harm - to anyone on either side of the table”.

Gabe and Dash Man...

The original recipe for Buckwheat-Molasses Waffles calls for canola oil, which I replaced with coconut oil. Speaking of oil, use generous amounts of oil on the waffle iron- they stick. I also replaced the sugar with honey, used sea salt vs. regular, Blackstrap vs. regular molasses and added more liquid- in this case Hemp Milk. The White Rice Flour can be substituted with Brown Rice Flour. Also, the addition of cinnamon and my favorite exotic spice Cardamom made the house smell seductively warm and sweet. Play around with the basics and make them your own. Don’t forget the power of the “scent of the hands” - the ancient East Indian concept of pouring your heart and your love into the food you lovingly prepare for others. I pray for my guests as I cook for them. You cannot “measure” that and it’s really my secret ingredient that sends everyone into “mouthgasms”… If your attempts to learn new ways of cooking and eating fail just try again; besides, the dogs love and appreciate every mistake…

Buckwheat-Molasses Waffles

Makes 4 7” round Belgian Waffles

1 Cup Buckwheat Flour

1 Cup White Rice Flour

½ Cup Tapioca Flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Salt

2 Tsp Xanthan Gum Powder

2 ½ Cups Soy or other non dairy milk

¼ Canola Oil

2 T sugar

2 T Molasses

Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients separately stirring with a whisk. Combine wet and dry mixing with a whisk and let stand 5 minutes while Belgian Waffle Iron is heating. Ladle batter onto well oiled iron covering no more than 2/3 with batter. Adjust batter with subsequent waffles, adding more or less batter.

Kindle for PC Edition of a Great Vegan Waffle Cookbook

2011-04-02T19:22:00.000-07:00

January 2009 found Donn and me in Kauai at “Island Eyes” Optometry Conference, and me in the bookstores during down time. The water was inviting, but chilly and I left my dry suit at home. So for once the mermaid in me had to sit on the shore. Even Donn was shivering while swimming with the many turtles right off the beach of our hotel, so I didn’t feel bad about turning bookish on our “learning” vacation and spending hours among the “written word” friends…

Donn has learned to anticipate these intellectual forays and left extra room in the luggage to bring home the often very weighty books. When I picked up the colorfully engaging cover of “Blossoming Lotus: Vegan World Fusion Cuisine”: Healing Recipes and Timeless Wisdom From Our Hearts to Yours, he gave me a look I know all too well, and said, “I’ll buy it if you make it all for me”…That was two years ago.

In our 16 years together, we’ve practiced every diet from raw to vegan to vegetarian – and I was not vegetarian for the first 32 years of my life as he was, growing up. The many cookbooks/non cook books on my shelves reflect varied interests and paths we’ve traversed. The Vegan walk is a particularly hard one, as is eating only raw. There are few restaurants that cater to vegetarians much less vegan and raw foodies. More now as awareness is rising, but back then – no.

Adytum is carving out a niche to not only feed, but to spoil these people rotten who choose to care for themselves with so much compassion and love that they step out of the mainstream SAD (Standard American Diet) to creatively care for their “self” in ways that will produce positive real and meaningful results.

I’ll never forget my days as a personal trainer, up at 4 a.m. and to on the road at 4:45 to work out my first client at 5 a.m. Getting a late start one morning, I grabbed the last night’s zucchini patty and was speeding along, literally 66 mph in a 45, and getting my breakfast down- both as fast as I could. When I was pulled over, asked for my license, and the question came, “What is THAT?” the officer let me off laughing saying, “Anyone who has the guts to eat THAT at 5 o’clock in the morning doesn’t deserve anything worse, like a ticket!” And we all thought THEY were tough…

I’ve been taking good care of myself for a long time now, and I’m so happy to brush the dust off some of the lesser used cookbooks/non cookbooks to spoil my guests…rotten. When the following attempt at “scrambled eggs, tofu style” was pronounced, “The best we’ve ever had” by a true vegan I knew that I was being seduced back into a world I inhabited for three years. Three years without knowing what cellulite looked like. Three years of incredible muscle mass and stamina. Sorry folks, but dairy leads to cellulite. Maybe not European sheep and goat dairy, but American practices are not what they are in Europe. Our cheese is not clean.

Some of my Favorite Cookbooks, Photographed by our Guests When Leaving

My mentor and boss at the Tumwater Valley Health Club – the largest in the Pacific Northwest – was and is a vegan and his chest and bicep measurements are “off the charts” amazing. I never saw this size on meat eaters I worked out. He was responsible for inspiring many of my health changes, taking a 30’s something housewife and mother of three, and in six weeks having people ask me if I was going to enter the Olympia Naturals Bodybuilding Competition. He taught me diet and exercise and was my personal trainer. I went on to teach diet and exercise too at that club and later in my own business. Miracles never cease; a new body and regained health when most women that age are cresting the top of the hill and heading down settling for love handles, depression, female problems and cellulite. I might add, that year of my changes, the doctors wanted to take all my female parts out- total hysterectomy at 32 and they put me on anti depressants that made me weave like a drunk woman and have cotton mouth. That lasted all of a week before my mentor said, “Are you ready to change your life?”

The vegan diet is a powerful diet, and especially when combined with eating the largest meal in the morning, smaller at lunch, smaller yet at dinner and lifting weights…One set to failure which takes about 15 minutes three times a week, and then riding the bike or doing aerobic on another machine or outside for 50 minutes 5 times a week. Now I would add, “Be gluten free”. The molecule has been skewed to raise browning levels in bread, to create more disease resistance, etc. and the body doesn’t recognize it. We have a great restaurant in Olympia where we enjoy gluten free pasta, Basilicos. The Italian owner said all kids are routinely tested for gluten sensitivity and intolerance AT BIRTH in Italy, and most ARE gluten intolerant. We in America seem to wish to remain blissfully (and sickly) unaware.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that every guest who visits Adytum leaves something of themselves here. They make a lasting impression, permanent changes and even more - leaving their mark on us, future guests and the sacred space we call Adytum, the Sanctuary. Remember, “First we shape our houses, and then our houses shape us.” Winston Churchill said that. This weekend’s guests, here to celebrate spring break, have caused me to dust off the vegan cookbooks at a time in my life where I long to get that 30’s something body back, with all the lean definition and muscle mass and feel the relief from the estrogens and contaminants in cheese. The lungs are often the first to react or the sinuses.

I helped our vegan guests by refining their nutritional therapy protocols and they will help me to lean down by considering the vegan approach once again. There was mention that we can get limited on our diets, “I can’t do this food. I can’t eat that…” with certain programs. But in the mindset of creating ultimate health, there are endless choices that actually open up a great deal of variety to us. Not falling back on the parmesan topping and using rice based cheese under the last minute of broiling of the oven baked red potatoes is just as fine! And healthier.

Ruts are dangerous places to rest in and the best cooks among us need to venture out. Blessings to my guests who remind me of my roots and left something very precious here in the resurgence of interest in the vegan lifestyle, which is also correlated with incredible health benefits like a regression of symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. Vegan diets lower cholesterol and blood pressure and prevent heart disease. And yes, they give you one hot body!

The one flaw I’ve found in a completely vegan diet is the need for the essential fatty acids EPA-DHA, and they may be low in Omega 6 which is usually obtained by animal sources. Both can be obtained by supplementing with fish oil and GLA from evening primrose or borage oil. Flax seed oil converts rather poorly into EPA-DHA depending on several lifestyle factors. But it needs to form a “background” in which the extracted EPA-DHA is consumed.

I noticed when involved with the raw food folks that while the women were incredibly limber, their hair looked dry and their skin was wrinkled. I say this with all due respect. Eating raw is, for many, a very hard walk that takes an incredible amount of commitment. I am just reporting my observations. When something is essential, we need to make sure we get it and not simply be committed to a label like “raw or vegan”.

Plant based diets are in the nutrigenomic spotlight now. I have long reported the Hale Project’s findings on a 50% reduction in ALL causes of death and disease, Alzheimer’s included by following a plant based diet based on the Mediterranean model. Soy has been controversial but the research using organic, non GMO soy is irrefutable in its support of health. Metagenics in particular, which had 66 research scientists on staff when I last checked, has many excellent articles on their website by that name. So if you’re so inclined to branch out, as I did to give my guests - in their words, “A crème de la crème” breakfast this morning, you may want to experiment with this recipe, courtesy of a great trip a few years back to Kauai.

Wakantanka Tofu Scramble

15 Minutes Pre/15 Minutes Cooking/2 Servings

2 Tbl Olive Oil 1 Tsp Sea Salt

1 C Onion, diced 1 Tsp Paprika

2 Tsp Garlic, minced ¾ Tsp Ground Black Pepper

1 lb Organic Tofu, extra firm, crumbled small ½ Tsp Nutritional Yeast

½ C Tomato, diced Pinch Cayenne Pepper

1 Tsp Tumeric 1 Tbl Shoyu, or to Taste

Loving Preparation:

1. Place oil in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onions are soft, approximately 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add tofu. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

3. Variations are limitless. Italian influence, Indian, Mexican, etc…

From: Blossoming Lotus Vegan World Fusion Cuisine by Mark Reinfeld and Bo Rinaldi

The Adytum Sanctuary Label

2011-03-27T17:36:00.000-07:00

The vineyard grew today by several more rows of wine grapes. We are nearing 100 vines now, having started on this vineyard a year ago. While disasters currently ring the globe – wars, radiation, earthquakes, tsunamis… putting each grape scion into the hole, pouring in mycorrhizal fungi, which encourages good root development, is an act of faith in the future – a belief that we will celebrate each day, our life and our loves… Someone once said, "Life enriches the luxury of a

Good Wine" and vice versa I would add.

Dry wood pushes down the western slope in regular sequence, measured off carefully before tamping it down hard and moving to the next spot to slip another scion in. Soon we will put the structure in – end posts and connecting wire giving the foliage support to snake along. We will fertilize with fish emulsion later this spring. That sounds like fun….One day as we toast the fruit of our labor from a bottle with an Adytum Sanctuary label; we will realize it was worth every bit of backbreaking (and nose-holding) effort.

We have ten Venus, and a new grape for us called Schuyler-five -, and a block of Pinot Noir, my all time favorite. We have about forty Marchel Foch, five Glenora, Flame with its awesome fall foliage, Vanessa, Merlot and about ten miscellaneous ones. We thought we’d lost most of the vines in the harsh winter, but each firm tug found strong roots sunk deep into the heart of the land. The first year is for the roots, thus the administration of mycorrhizal fungi into the planting hole, the second for the vine, and the rest for training and fruiting. Grapevines are one of the most labor intensive, hands on crops there is, maybe “the” most. We will come to know each vine intimately, as a child and a life giving friend. We will train it with wisdom and skill and nurture it into great production that gives satisfaction to many.

It’s fitting that many of the biblical analogies are of Jesus as the vine and God as vinedresser of the vineyard- us. We too require a lot of hands on care and training to bring us to potential. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser…Abide (live) in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” John 15.

Our potential as humans lies in the ability to be connected to Life, trusting God to flow through us to complete all the great plans that were set aside with our name on them when we were born.

The training and pruning of the young vines will reflect a great deal of skill and education on the part of the vinedresser, and much patience as well waiting years for the fruit to come. Grapes perform best on poor soil and under stressful situations. Give them too much water or fertilizer (comforts and ease) and all you get is leaf. Take them to their limit with what I’ll call “productive stress” and they will produce the best grapes possible.

When conditions are moist and fungus begins to attack the vine, powerful resveratrol rises in the rootstock to defend against the attack. The same increase occurs when the plants are close to dehydration as in Australian wine production or raised in cold, high altitudes like Argentina and Chile. When we drink wine that has been stressed with hard conditions we receive the life extending, healing benefit of the increased resveratrol. Did you know that the first thing Noah did when his ark settled on dry land was to plant a vineyard. Remember how long he lived? And we’ve been planting them ever since.

We worked today bent over on the slope of the hill, cold early spring rain pouring down our back and soaking us to the core, gloved hands heavy with mud and earthworms coming up in bundles with each shovelful. Our soil is living. We haven’t killed it with Round Up and other chemicals.

Occasionally we run into a mole tunnel. Moles eat the earthworms – and the roots of tender young grapevines. Later when we relocated some Crooked Willow trees to pots on the patio so the hummingbirds have a place nearby to perch between nectar sips at the feeder, we use the dirt mounds the moles have dug up. This soil, according to the Biodynamic Farming book I read, is of a higher quality having been exposed to the rain, the wind, the sun and the cosmic forces of stars, the moon and the radiation that emits from the heavenly bodies. Old time housewives would use this
as “nature’s potting soil”.

Little chores fill the rest of the day, fixing the waterfall pump at the pond. The frogs have laid eggs in jellyfish-like balloons all along the cord and around the edges of the water. When hatched, they will help themselves to our slug community and finish up with mosquitos for dessert. There is so much life here – in the soil with thousands of microorganisms and above ground with the community of birds, insects, wildlife, and the dog pack, the old black cat called Kittyboy, and of course, Adytum retreat guests. The land is living and all is as it should be. We respect the land and the large community that lives above and below it in turn helps us in a mutually respectful existence.

One of my favorite quotes explains it well:

"If there can be such a thing as instinctual memory, the consciousness of land and water must lie deeper in the core of us than any knowledge of our fellow beings. We were bred of the earth before we were born of our mothers. Once born, we can live without our mothers or our fathers or any other kin or friend, or even human love. We cannot live without the earth or apart from it, and something is shriveled in man’s heart when he turns away from it and concerns himself only with the affairs of men."

Marjorie Rawlings

I have taken a vow, like the Benedictine monks and nuns, of stability – an agreement that I will live here forever and care for this place with reverence. I know Donn feels the same way. We are committed to these nearly sixteen acres of land we’ve been allowed to oversee, nurture and love and bond deeply with. We will be here until we die and our ashes spread where we walked out our lives, overlooking the indescribable lush beauty of the natural world around us where earth, water and sky meld into one.

Andy’s Angling Adventures Guided Fishing Expeditions at Adytum

2011-03-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Cowlitz River winds below Adytum like a milky emerald snake, rich with minerals, making its way to Mayfield Lake. The Tilton, a softer blue is right behind it visible from the library on the third floor. Ike Kinswa State Park divides the two rivers before they merge into Lake Mayfield. We kayak the Tilton and have caught 2’ long rainbow trout right off the kayak as they swarm in large schools. The local word is that the Tilton is overstocked, and we can vouch for that. The eagles hunt freely overhead and the water ouzels bob for their daily fare. It’s the ultimate Pacific Northwest experience.

Until now we’ve never ventured into the cold waters of the Cowlitz. That is about to change as we got a personal invitation to experience our first guided fishing trip with professional guide, Andy Coleman of Andy’s Angling Adventures (www.andysanglingadventures.com) who was at Adytum today checking out the suites for his fishing clients and corporate groups. He has clients flying in from all over the US to experience the pristine waters of the great Pacific Northwest, and they never leave disappointed.

Andy, on the right, fishes many different Northwest rivers including the Cowlitz, Lewis, Wynoochee, Columbia and the Chehalis. About 70% of his guiding trips are on the Cowlitz which is a few minutes from our door. He never drives more than half an hour to get into the water. We are in the heart of recreation country here. He tells me that we’re just getting into Spring Chinook season, and he’s invited Donn and I to experience a guided fishing trip- our first. When I got the courage to tell him we were vegetarian, Donn completely and myself eating fish a few times a month, he assured me that a lot of people enjoy the relaxation of catch and release. They come for the experience and the memory, to be in nature and to learn something new.

I shared my “first fish” story with Andy: age 10, cold mountain creek, cricket on the end of my pole impaled by my dad…me feeling concerned about the cricket having to hold his breath underwater so long… making sure I let him up to take a breath every now and then…and ending up with a 10” rainbow trout – the sacrificed cricket quite forgotten in the joy of the moment. I was hooked! Back then, I learned to clean what I caught. But now that I’ve gone all soft and don’t eat things with a face much, Andy said he’d handle it for me…and anyone else that doesn’t relish the idea. He will send us home with our filets ready to put on the grill but we will know our incredible skill and talent lured them out of their hidey holes at the irresistible enticement of our technique (:

We have a gas BBQ for guests at Adytum and the Orion Suite has a well-stocked kitchenette where a great Northwest meal can be created and enjoyed from the catch of the day. I wish I had known about Andy last summer when we hosted an environmental lawyer – a vegetarian, and his meat eating Veterinarian wife. They cancelled plans to see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier in favor of relaxing at Adytum. It seemed so right at the time. But the beauty of Andy’s Adventures is the lack of driving! Get up, get out, get poles in the water, get home and enjoy!

There is a whole list of fish for me to get to know that he’s quite familiar with: Winter Steelhead, Spring Chinook, Summer Steelhead, Fall Chinook and Coho “Silvers”. Since we are adamant about taking our fish oil for the Omega 3 fatty acids, I’m all for fresh caught fish in our clean rivers instead of the farmed fish at the box stores and especially fish with high Omega 3 profiles. Even the ocean going trout will have a good fatty acid balance that fits in well with our Mediterranean Diet at Adytum.

I asked him why an experienced fisherman would need him. He said that the difference in having a guide is not only knowing to the best spots to fish, but all the nuances of the river, timing the drift of the boat against the sure knowledge that fish are biting at a certain time of day. Having the wisdom to encourage guests to get their poles in the water all at once because that’s what fish love, and to hold on a little longer when he’s sure they will be biting if they just have the patience to wait. He’s been on every river since he was a small boy. He knows them like the back of his hand. He also mentioned he teaches the application of skill and technique and knows the best bait and equipment to use. Especially if you’re not from this area or not used to fishing, I can see how indispensible a guide is.

Andy has been guiding fishing parties since he was 21, ten years past now and is 4^th generation in the area. He laughed when he told me about a recent bachelorette party with the bride to be in her wedding veil with her closest friends around her, all fishing and celebrating most likely with some champagne. What a memorable “out of the box” party! We have a bachelorette party scheduled this summer at Adytum and I will recommend that they consider adding a fishing expedition to their spa time/girls’ night out here. By the way the wedding party did well and caught a lot of big fish! Something to brag about to the guys back home…

He loves to teach novices as well as guide for established anglers and does annual guiding trips with larger corporations which require hiring another boat or two. His riverboat allows 5, plus himself. He shared a story about guiding annually for a group of Texas oilmen who fish for Chinook and Coho and ship the filets back home to their wives on dry ice. It’s really expensive to ship it. We were laughing about the scene in Brokeback Mountain where the wife tied a note on the end of the fishing pole that never ended up seeing water…Busted! So even though the “evidence” cost more to ship home than the fish would have cost, they ponied up! No associations to the movie intended (:

All the gear is provided, the best bait and poles. So all that is needed is the right clothing, a lunch, drinks of choice, and a license which can be bought for the day at Smith and Sons Grocery in Mossyrock or the tackle shop. He guides for a full day starting before first light. He assured me that there are bathroom facilities at each boat ramp if the women don’t want to rough it and he has all the proper certifications and training should someone need help. I’d feel safe with him in any circumstance the unpredictable Pacific Northwest could throw at us! Andy’s easy going nature and professional, confident demeanor will blend well with any guest we’ve ever had at Adytum that wanted to combine a day in nature with the luxury of returning back in the evening to soak in the salt water hot tub and enjoy a glass of wine while the fresh caught fish cooks on the BBQ. Quintessential Northwest….Lewis and Clark. Sacajawea… I’ve clearly entered the fantasy zone…

Gardens!

2011-02-26T07:35:00.000-08:00

The Pacific Northwest Garden Show and the one in Portland is this weekend. We will step into the fantasy world of gardens in full bloom in hopes of getting some food for the soul and inspiration for creating as well as practical education. After my friend gave me the book “One Magic Square” we’ve been more adamant than ever to provide more of our own food and to make compost bins that actually turn garbage into soil and not just food for nocturnal scavengers to go through.

We’ve built the castello Adytum, now it’s time to focus more on food production for us and our guests while also providing a little dirt therapy for guests that love to play in the garden. Each suite will have an herb and vegetable garden right outside the door to create an impromptu salad if they don’t want to go into town for lunch.

In “One Magic Square”, One Magic Square: The Easy, Organic Way to Grow Your Own Food on a 3-Foot Square, Lolo Houbein tells dramatic stories about her own near starvation experience in the last world war, ending up at 75 pounds. Supply lines were cut off and those that had land for gardening survived, those that didn’t have them didn’t fare so well. The wise had saved seeds from prior harvests, committed to growing their own food and had a few chickens for eggs and fertilizer. We too are thinking along those lines.

Monsanto is now responsible for 94 percent of all GM (genetically modified) seeds planted around the world. Houbein writes, “To have the world’s staple food crops narrowed to so few varieties, and to have ownership of practically all commercial seed for these major crops in the hands of one corporation is an unprecedented and frightening situation – especially when you know that this company is also developing the technology for terminator seeds.” Terminator seeds are genetically programmed against reproduction. Once their pollen mixes with crops they will endanger their seed producing capability. This is a disaster of major proportions.

I have enjoyed reading a book many times now called “Monastic Gardens” Monastic Gardensby Mick Hales. While not from the Catholic tradition ourselves, there are many things that we’re striving to recreate from the monastic lifestyle at Adytum. Hales describes the monks and nuns as “radiating an intrinsic happiness that most of us would envy” despite their monasteries being literally overwhelmed by visitors. Their happiness and ability to handle stress stem from their connection with the land and God. “We are striving for humility in our lives, to draw closer to our God. It is not an accident that the humus or the soil comes from the same word. It is the base from which everything grows. Gardening and my spiritual life go together.” They pray while they work and often on their knees for both activities so central to their lives at the monastery. There is no division at Adytum of work and spiritual life. Spirituality is not for the weekends alone.

We receive our life from the land, the soil, and the plants we nurture there by our careful attention. We receive our sustenance from God in the same way: by careful attention “attending to realities” breathing out our requests and thanks to God and receiving life for our spirit and soul in return from both in their own ways.

Adytum’s purpose is to create the surroundings to encourage living a life dedicated to spiritual development, deepening our connection with God, the land, ourselves and each other. It was interesting for me to discover in the Monastic Gardens book that a retreat house for guests was always built directly after the main chapel building. Early monasteries were expected to provide hospitality for those passing through, pilgrims on the way. They also provided havens where guests could come away from the world as well, to be silent, to think and meditate, to reconnect with nature, with God, with their own selves and the loved ones in life. That is the heart and soul of Adytum’s purpose and the feedback from guests is confirming that our intention, breathed aloud in the construction of this sanctuary, has been fulfilled. I have heard the word “reconnect” from guests over and over.

Additionally, the Benedictines Hales studied took a vow of stability with the land. They stay with one piece of land their whole lives. I love that concept reflecting commitment, care, nurture and enjoyment. Isn’t that exactly the element present in marriage and in our relationship with God and care of our own selves?

The Benedictines realize the importance of having a balance in life between the body, the soul and the mind. “Working with the plants, one gets to know their essence and understand that they are not just a commodity. The gardener becomes rooted to the ground, which is part of God’s creation…This is why we have to revere everything in the earth.” We agree a thousand percent. Monks hold respect for the soil as an essential element of God’s creation. Soil becomes us. We again become soil in the circle of life. Abe Lincoln said he was made of the field behind his house. Humbling… He also said that the footprint of the owner is the best manure. Footprints laid down in walking meditation and prayer, better still.

We have been dedicated to organic and green methods at Adytum from the beginning, unwilling to use chemicals, pesticides, herbicides or to pollute the ground water insofar as we’re able. Everywhere you dig on the nearly 16 acres will yield shovels full of earthworms. I can feel the life of the soil under my feet as I enjoy connecting with the land many times a day, regardless of the weather.

We have also, like the Benedictines, cultivated a profound awareness of the birds and animals that share this sacred mountain with us. This used to be called Birley Mountain. It was an impassable tangle of Himalayan Blackberries, Salmon berries and forest. We have slowly carved out pathways, preserving habitat with vegetation by steams and brush piles for birds, insects and small mammals to protect them from the ever present raptors.

We have gotten very clear direction about how to proceed with the management of the house and land here at Adytum. That direction just happens to align closely with the model set by the Benedictine community and we embrace it as a sustainable way of life for us, our guests and the land. We are cultivating a life on our knees, literally and on the knees of our heart as we seek to practice the presence of God here no matter what we’re engaged in or day of the week it is. There is no separation from us and God, or us and the land; we are all flowing harmoniously, feeding and being fed, nurturing and being nurtured, sustaining and being sustained in spirit, body and mind.

Quinoa, Food of Angels…

2011-01-28T20:05:00.000-08:00

This recipe came my way when a good friend dropped off the February 2011 issue of Food and Wine for me to enjoy. Tucked deep inside was this amazing, beautiful dish and I knew it’d end up on the Adytum table for retreat guests to enjoy. This is such a healthy way to start the morning. We don’t waste time on foods that aren’t going to work for us, and quinoa is at the top of the list.

Quinoa is an ancient grain cultivated over 4000 years ago by the Incas who considered the crop to be sacred. It actually reminds me of the manna mentioned in the Bible, the “food of angels”…Today it is grown in the Andes Mountains of South America and contains more protein than any other grain, 12-18%. It has a complete amino acid profile like eggs, milk or meat which is important for vegetarians like us who like to get a lot of protein.

Quinoa has a very high nutrient density which puts it on our radar for “best foods to include” in our diet. NASA thinks so too as it’s being considered as a crop in NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long –duration manned space flights. Since we have gravitated toward foods that are “gluten free” it is one of the best replacement grains we could choose. We feel great eating this way, even if we don’t “have to”! So many of our guests at Adytum are requesting gluten free now, so having a great breakfast alternative is a must for us.

Quinoa is rich in the minerals manganese, phosphorus, calcium, iron and selenium, B vitamins and vitamins A and E. It is light, airy and very easy to digest; it takes on the taste of what it is cooked with whether flavored broth or stirred into other dishes. What more could we ask for? Brown rice is great, but this is better. It could easily become a daily habit and all for the better.

I enjoyed this dish at breakfast this morning and decided to pull out the leftovers at dinner to pair with a hot Spinach Mushroom salad. It was excellent. I like the fact the quinoa will keep for several days in the refrigerator and can be stirred into the hot ingredients of choice later. I never follow recipes and my favorite Indian spice, Cardamom found its way into the recipe as well as using the regular Quinoa I had on hand versus the Red. It only takes about 15 minutes to make it, so we can put it on when we wake and it’s ready to accompany the rest of our lunch as we head off to Medical Vision Center for the day. As a side note, for those with drooping lids that end up obscuring vision (for which surgery is required) we recommend manganese. This mineral supports tendon/ligament strength and tiny tendons are involved in proper eyelid function. And, I’d be willing to bet, it’s easy enough for a bachelor to make! Enjoy, and next time I’ll post the dinner version: Thai Coconut Quinoa. Outstanding with some black beans with a bit of chipotle…It reminded us of Jamaican cuisine…

Sweet Breakfast Quinoa

4 servings; 25 minutes

1 c red quinoa, rinsed

2 c water

1 T extra-virgin olive oil

¼ c slivered almonds

½ c dried apricots, cut into ½ - inch pieces

2 T pure maple syrup

½ tsp finely grated orange zest

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ c fresh ricotta

In a small saucepan, cover the quinoa with the water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes. Lightly fluff the quinoa with a fork and cover it again.

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the almonds and cook over moderate heat, stirring a few times, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the apricots, maple syrup, orange zest and cinnamon and stir well until heated through.

Add the quinoa to the skillet and stir gently to incorporate the almonds and apricots. Top each portion of quinoa with a tablespoon of ricotta and serve.

Make ahead: The quinoa can be made and refrigerated up to five days. Reheat as needed or serve cold.

One serving is 311 calories, 11 grams fat, 2 grams sat fat, 44 grams carbs, 4 grams fiber.

Sacred Work

2010-12-28T11:51:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest pleasures and privileges in life is doing work that expresses our passion, talents and gifts. The most fortunate people on earth are those that, first of all, asked for their destiny calling to be revealed to them, and secondly, are able to work their unique calling.

This morning, I woke well before dawn in anticipation of making a spectacular breakfast for several guests who came to Adytum last night for Monday night football and then snowboarding today ~ guy’s night out, midweek. Donn and I have 5 sons/sons in law. Feeding them is so incredibly gratifying because they are so grateful. Even though several are phenomenal cooks themselves, you’d think they hadn’t eaten a decent meal in months. There are abundant compliments, lots of appreciative noises and of course no leftovers. They have proved to be part of the training for my destiny calling, teaching me to love waking early to make breakfast, and now for Adytum guests. It gives me tremendous satisfaction and pleasure to create abundant, healthy meals for others!

When my kids were growing up, we took a family vacation to the Paul Bunyan territory of Northern California. The breakfast we enjoyed, lumberjack style seated at long picnic tables, was enormous. I realized then that starting the day with seriously substantial food was something worth learning to cultivate. Now I know that healthy foods set the blood sugar regulation for the day and start the calories burning.

Even on days when we use Medical Foods Protein Shakes, or if guests request them, they are packed with extras like ground flaxseeds, brewer’s yeast, green drink powder, fiber powder and are blended with banana and frozen blueberries. We’ve been using them for 16 years now and the anti- aging effects of these lifestyle choices are remarkable; definitely worth cultivating as a lifestyle…We have insurance and we never use it. Our blood pressure is that of a 10 year old. We take no prescription medicines. Our blood sugar level is great. We enjoy great health because we purposefully pursue it in our choices.

Taking responsibility for the foods that others eat has always been a weighty responsibility for me, one that I take seriously. The goodness of the Adytum table, the healthy dishes full of freshness and purity are the foundation of meals here. Creating tantalizing combinations of flavors, textures and giving the eye a visual feast is where great meals begin.

Having been trained as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, as a healer on natural levels, means that my food or healing therapies should first “do no harm”. I can’t imagine sacrificing the momentary pleasure of a high sugar, high fat meal just to please the uneducated palette of some, to knowing I have just inflicted harm on health. My conscience is clear that the foods guests and family are presented with are nourishing, healthful, beautiful and delicious. The food has integrity and it is cooked, as my East Indian son in law would say, with “the scent of the hands”- which is love.

In 1666, there was a monk named Brother Lawrence working the kitchens in the monastery. He became famous for one thing: practicing the presence of God while he worked among the pots and pans, chopping and preparing food. He didn’t divide his life up into worship and prayer times segmented into different scenarios. For Brother Lawrence, it was all work, all prayer, all worship and usually all at once.

In the early predawn hour when I am working in the Adytum kitchen, trying hard to be quiet so guests can sleep, I too am practicing the presence of God. I am praying over the days’ plans for those I am cooking for, asking for guidance, blessing and protection for them. I set the atmosphere in the house with softly spoken words asking for peace, love, joy, harmony and connecting at deep levels. And of course, the food is prayed over before it is set at the main table or carried up to their suites.

The fruit of all the extra steps that go into meals at Adytum is well worth every bit of effort and extra focus that it takes to create it. The results of consciously setting the atmosphere here is interesting…even the young adults who are usually set on “getting out there” to the mountain or the lake are always reluctant to leave. “It’s so relaxing; it’s hard to leave…” I hear this often. And often I watch their plans abandoned to simply following their heart’s desire to stay here for the day to relax, use the hot tub or saunas, to read, to rest…some choose to stay on another day and those who don’t always say they wish they had planned another day at Adytum.

Adytum is sacred space and I do my sacred work here. I love the expression of my destiny calling: caring for others with love, integrity and creating space for healing on deep levels that go far beyond the body’s needs. The impact of the natural beauty all around, the 75 windows making it hard to define the line of inside/outside, the soft music inside, the water and bird music filling the air outside…the fresh, clean air and territorial views…the enormous sky filled with brilliant sunshine, misty clouds or star shine…Adytum meets deep needs in the human heart, mind and spirit.

To be able to do the work I love, that gives me such a sense of living a fulfilling life, is a rare privilege. To be able to combine it with writing and working with my soulmate at our Optometry clinic, offering Nutritional Therapy to those there…well, let’s just say it’s all a dream come true and the Castle Adytum is part of the fairytale of my life that I’m so happy to share with all who come to this magical destination…exalted space.

The Christmas Machine and The Child of Wonder

2010-11-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

Like the earthquake we endured only 3 miles from the epicenter this month here at Adytum, my heart was shaken hard yesterday as I tried running with the herds in the malls for a few wretched hours. I will take control of this Season of Light and let the shaking open the doors of my heart once again to sense the Wonder Child’s residing there, offering hope to the world and forgiveness for our failings. This is the Gift of the Season, no matter what ends up under the soaring Christmas tree in the Tower Room.

Thanksgiving has accomplished the majority of the goals of the season: the ingathering of family and friends after their diaspora of summer life. We kept the meal simple, time in the lovely Adytum kitchen to a minimum and lots of emphasis poring over old photos that showed how long we’ve all loved each other. It was rich and noble. Enduring.

The next day for the first time ever, my daughter and I tried joining with thousands of Black Friday shoppers at the mall while some brake work on her Honda was being done nearby. What a jolt from the peaceful, deep time we’d just had at Adytum. The complete lack of parking, the flood of people, overwhelming scents in the shops, the red “sale” signage pasted everywhere seeking to manipulate shoppers into overspending for fear of missing a deal, the inability to walk a straight line at a decent pace…never again. My senses, my mind ,and my spirit were so effectively overwhelmed that it took a lot of time to recover from the experience. It left me frazzled and exhausted emotionally. Not only that, but it just felt wrong deep down. I walked out with nothing except some supplies for a box we were preparing for a solider and a sense that I was compromising my integrity and the vow to never do it again in this way.

Arriving back at the sanctuary of Adytum, seeing the lovely bright lights Donn draped over the little evergreens and around the entry were calming and full of hope as the darkness increases yet another month before the Solstice. Our dear friend left a tree in my absence at the entry; over 15’ tall, and we joked as we tried to drag it with all our power up the stairs and into the Tower Room. Wresting it into the special tree stand designed for enormous trees was risking our lives, literally for me at least. One wrong move and I’d be crushed under the weight of all the beauty and glory that resided in the tree plantation just hours before, as it had for the past 7 years preparing for this day.

How appropriate to live out the story that my spirit sensed in the city’s mall earlier by coming home to struggle with this Behemoth Christmas tree: life is full of fine lines and delicate balances. Ignore this and risk being crushed under the assumed glory and beauty of it all. Later when I saw a humorous face book posting about entering this religious season where everyone seeks out the mall of their choice, instead of place of worship of their choice, it all fell into place…

This season I will not be consumed by the Christmas Machine with all its assumed glory and beauty that just ends up in percentage gains posted on the financial market boards post season. We have a large family and I’ve felt such a sense of responsibility making Christmas “happen” for everyone. Like a cloak I am shedding, I am not going to pick that up this false sense of responsibility again.

I’ve been known to be a late bloomer…Donn laughs and says, “You’re just now figuring all this out?” He’s been on this journey longer than I and avoided the holiday crush long ago. I thought his avoidance was a “man thing” and took up the slack with renewed vigor not realizing I didn’t have to do it either. We will give the great gift of Christmas to ourselves this year. What’s good for us will be good for the rest of our family.

I will retreat into the simplicity, beauty and peace that will define the next month at Adytum. Instead of focusing on all the parties, gifts to yet buy, meals to plan and shopping to get those meals on the table, the focus will be on one thing:

The birth of the Christ Child, The Child of Wonder being born once again in our hearts. Taking our humble offer of room in our “inn” and turning it into a palace fit for the birth of a great King. The twelfth century Persian Sufi poet Rumi taught: “…only the unsayable, jeweled inner life matters.” In order to remain true to my matrix, the core values that make life meaningful, creating sacred space in this Adytum of my heart to know this Child of Wonder more fully is the emphasis and gift of the season.

The fresh, clean scent of the forest fills Adytum because of the spontaneous sharing of our friend. It is not the manufactured “Christmas in a Can” I was encouraged to pay for yesterday to create a Christmas ambiance here. We are the fragrance of the Christ Child: our acts of love, generosity and kindness to man and nature, birds and beasts. And to our “selves” as we shed responsibilities that were never ours, but were foisted upon us by the makers of the Christmas machine. In the mall, there was nothing of the Child of Wonder to be found alive.

When Nietzsche declared God was dead it left man with the inability to cope with the need for forgiveness. “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”—Nietzsche, The Gay Science, Section 125, tr. Walter Kaufmann

The simple birth of the Child of Wonder born anew in our hearts offers the answer to Nietzsche’s astute observation: we need this Child. We have allowed this season to assume the Behemoth proportions of a Christmas Machine designed to boost the national economy, to crush us under the weight of our frazzled nerves and destroy the fruit of everything that Thanksgiving achieved: the ingathering of friends and family, the increase of our love and the ties that bind us. To find the Child of Wonder and commune with Him in the beauty of our jeweled inner selves, to focus on looking out for the needs of others, whether man or beast, and the spontaneous giving that results; the joy in simple companionship and the gratitude that supersedes it all: This is Christmas.

The "Safe House" is Inside

2010-11-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

We’ve put our heart, soul, time, energy and of course a lot of money into opening the sanctuary Adytum. Yet in the final analysis, our energy is best spent cultivating the things that endure, the inner life, the sanctuary of the human spirit and focusing on what we can control…

As the earth shifted under my feet at 7:42 this morning in a 4.2 magnitude earthquake, so my focus shifts back to the unshakable core of life: the strength of spirit, life’s true purpose and the things that will remain standing no matter what hits on the surface – faith, hope and love remain.

If the high winds of yesterday that toppled trees and left many without power, and earthquake this morning had reduced all our hard work of building Adytum to rubble in a moment’s time, it’s comforting to be assured that we would still inhabit the “safe house” of our spirit. We have our personal portable sanctuary well-tended and supplied with all the essentials of a happy, abundant life. Windstorms, earthquakes, fire and flood have no power to destroy the invisible.

Yesterday, the Pacific Northwest sun assured us of her presence for exactly three minutes out of the entire rain swept day, just before branding golden brilliance into the mountainside and sliding away. High winds immediately lashed out at dusk, throwing fir branches from nearby trees like arrows against this house of glass...75 windows at last count. Each November the trees hurl their wooden missiles at the glass, some sending entire branches to break in splinters on the roof. The force is so great that large limbs will be driven like stakes into the ground. A few nights of tree warfare and we were cured.

Yesterday Paul’s Tree Service arrived with their boom truck; a bucket and lift ready to transport them to the tree tops to cut “danger trees” down in segments with huge chainsaws. Grady and Paul guided the precise direction of the fall with strong wires, roping in Donn and Pablo to pull with them on the hardest trees where the chance of real damage to existing structures was the greatest. There is a real art to dropping a tree. They all did a great job; I took pictures from a safe distance.

Danger trees…a new word learned since building here four years ago. Basically there is a fine line between forest land conservation and responsible homeownership. As newbies, we erred on the line of conservation, leaving far too many trees close to the house in our early initiation. Now we have to face the fact that our decision leaves us, our guests and Adytum in danger, and we spent dearly to fix the problem after the fact.

Paul cut about half a dozen trees down, some small but deadly snags aptly called “widow makers”; brittle old trees growing up inside established trees, or dead limbs hung up in live branches waiting to make their fatal impaling earthbound exit. A tall tree of small girth, we learned, can shatter high above unexpectedly sending shards or the entire tree down with deadly impact on unsuspecting souls beneath even in windless conditions. The work was complete just before the high winds arrived last night.

Today I prepared to clean up all the bits and pieces of last night’s windstorm off the decks, patios and porches when Adytum endured yet another blast – a 4.2 magnitude earthquake with the epicenter just three miles east of us. Maybe the proximity to the epicenter is why it registered with us as an underground explosion rather than the usual rock and roll we’ve all endured. Standing in the Tower Room with glass going about 30 feet up all around, watching it act like it was about to explode into the room…then at the last possible second return to normal was terrifying. Things that are solid are supposed to be solid! What an illusion the notion of any kind of stability is in today’s world is…the financial markets are excellent recent example. The usual “shake and sway” never manifested and we were left in those initial minutes trying to determine if our natural gas line into the house had exploded underground. The news verified the quake minutes later.

Adytum’s construction is sound and true thanks to the careful craftsmanship of Elite Builders, NW – our son’s construction company. I thanked him for that when I called to let him know all was well at Adytum. We’ve watched this castle house survive the tremendous windstorms every November without flinching: like a lighthouse taking a battering from the sea Adytum remains after the intensity has swept over her. Now being nearly on top of the epicenter of a significant earthquake and absorbing the shock with a determined grace, Adytum still stands strong, an example for those of us who read something into everything. Grace under pressure, Kennedy once remarked…

The quake preceded by the terrific force of the wind last night has left a plaque lying face down on the courtyard outside. Putting it back on the wall, Dante’s words read, “Nature is the art of God”. Sounds so sweet… The beautiful sunsets we enjoy at “happy hour” where the skies celebrate day's end in explosions of pure color are a love gift. But there is a flipside to this artistry: the terrible majesty of November’s storms, blowing in off Lake Mayfield to batter against this glass house with torrents of wind driven rain and hail. Ancient fir near the house bending like California palm trees with the gale, shored up by our prayers that they stand firm and spare the house. Now the occasional shifting of middle earth, letting pent up pressure off in an explosion of terrific force. Inside we enjoy nature’s art in peace and safety.

Adytum is built on solid rock. Still the cleansing winds and the convulsive shockwave of the earth beneath my feet remind me that everything I see can change instantly; be leveled or worse. There is destructive power in the art of God as well as artistry that feeds our souls night after night in the moments before dusk. Nature is part tender lover, part terrible majesty. Rumi reminds me where to invest time, energy and focus, “World power means nothing. Only the unsayable, jeweled inner life matters.”

Just as we had to find the fine line between forest conservation and responsible home ownership, so our outward focus must find the fine line balance between being caught up in creating our dreams on the earth and creating our “jeweled” inner sanctuary while we still have the breath it takes to do it. It’s all we can be sure of in today’s shifting world.

Adytum’s Signature Carrot Cake

2010-10-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

We’ve fallen into a celebratory tradition at Adytum: anniversaries, birthdays, lovers escaping for the weekend to celebrate each other again... Champagne on ice, sexy little flutes on a silver tray and Adytum’s Signature Carrot Cake provide the spark that sets these private parties aflame. After many requests for the recipe, finally the secret’s out ~ so let the celebration begin!

I don’t remember the origins of this recipe, written on an index card with the word “excellent” in parenthesis beside the simple name Carrot Cake. But everyone’s been the recipient of this delicacy at one time or another here. Over the years when our East Indian son in law came into our family, the Cardamom and often ginger and another teaspoon or two of cinnamon found its way into the mix to infuse the Adytum kitchen with all the warmth of India and the luscious warm scent of Indian spices.

Over the years, the sugar and white flour originally inscribed on the little recipe card gave way to honey and have finally elevated into a gluten free healthy gourmet indulgence we don’t feel one shred of guilt about. It is quick and easy to make. The carrots can be grated in a Cuisinart or a simple shredder or mandolin. Feel free to substitute toasted hazelnuts or pecans for the walnuts. This is one recipe that will meld into your own creation with ease to become your own family tradition for healthy celebrations.

Adytum’s Signature Carrot Cake

¾ c honey (local, raw if possible)

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup flour: either Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose or Pamela’s Bread and Pancake Blend (preferred as it makes a lighter cake)

1 tsp baking soda

½ cup coconut oil or olive oil

1 ½ c shredded organic carrots, skin on

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom (optional- adds the East Indian twist)

¼ cup EACH Bob’s Red Mill Unsweetened Coconut, chopped walnuts and currants or golden raisins

Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes…until the toothpick comes out clean.

Cool a bit and frost with

8 oz organic cream cheese

And either 2 ½ c powdered sugar and a half squeezed lemon for traditional frosting

or substitute maple syrup (no lemon, no powdered sugar) mixed in the Cuisanart with the organic cream cheese.

For anniversaries and birthdays…any celebration at all…we use individual heart ramekins for baking the Carrot Cake in.

Arachnid Artistry

2010-10-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

There comes a singular morning, often preceded by mists and fogs of early autumn when Adytum wakes to the artistry of the spider world. Silken webs drape every bush and tree while gossamer strings extend to the next possible site of construction. The dance of the arachnids marks the turn from summer to Fall. Arachnid art is on display before the fame of the flaming leaves takes center stage across the nation…yet few truly see it.

Catching this art show at the break of day is the best time, when early morning light illuminates the webs to show every perfectly laid silken line shimmering heavy with dew. Everyone in the spider community participates. In the arachnid experience artists are born, not made.

Mmmm… Perhaps this is true of more advanced life forms, like us as well, who believe only some are creative geniuses. The spider would say, “Don’t you realize that everyone’s business is to create?” True, they are hunting/making a living through creative construction of their web. So too are most human artists hunting/making a living for a paycheck through creations of their own. Spiders have found a beautiful, creative way to make a living.May we all be so blessed.

It is interesting that the highly significant symbolism of the web, in light of the birth of the World Wide Web connecting the whole world, and complexity of execution of design is left to the lowly, repulsive spider. Wikipedia tells us that “the tensile strength of spider silk is greater than the same weight of steel and has much greater elasticity. Its microstructure is under investigation for potential applications in industry, including bullet-proof vests and artificial tendons. Spider webs are rich in vitamin K, which can be effective in clotting blood. Webs were used several hundred years ago as gauze pads to stop an injured person's bleeding.”

While we enjoy the interconnectedness of the World Wide Web, the spider has been literally drawing out that conclusion for us for thousands of years silently hinting at the broader application. While we have sensed that we are all connected, that we are indeed all One, the spider again has been imaging that basic truth for millennia. Rather humbling...

The art of spiders represents tremendous skill, strength and beauty in symmetry with literal healing potential inherent in its raw materials. While I still don’t want one in bed with me as I sleep, it’s hard not to have increased respect for such skilled craftsmen and healers, eight legs or not. Perhaps this autumn I’ll leave a web or two I’d normally sweep away from the kitchen window where they always work. The cobweb is abandoned and needs clearing, but the active spider web is in use. Have I been aware of the need for respect, even a certain amount of reverence and even awe?

The spider and the web will remind me of my own creativity and how the world will be uplifted and blessed when I discipline myself to create and share my gifts. It will remind me that I am full of strength and healing power; that we all are. That we are all connected, even as One.

Week of Love

2010-09-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

Adytum: Sanctuary in Greek: (www.adytumsanctuary.com) has been reveling in love these past few weeks. Starting with the Ward wedding September 18, and including not only Donn’s and my own anniversary, but a 50^th anniversary celebration (both couples from Olympia and Port Orchard) we are now looking forward to another anniversary and birthday celebration this weekend here. Adytum has become a house of love and celebration…

Julia had several wedding venues booked: The Chelan Winery and the Avalon Hotel on the river in Portland before realizing, “Why didn’t I think of Adytum?” Julia and Chris were here in February celebrating Chris’ birthday and were part of our “soft opening” or trial guests. They came and enjoyed a spa weekend with an onsite massage, champagne and chocolate fondue. In exchange, they shared honest appraisals of their experience so we could bring it to the highest level of satisfaction possible for future guests.

It seemed so right to have them say their vows here. And of course, it rained and all 37 of us came inside and made a fairy tale come true for Julia and Chris in the Tower Room overlooking Lake Mayfield close to sunset. It was intimate, magical and they looked just like an old Hollywood couple, she with her exquisitely lovely long white gown – when I saw her I nearly dropped to my knees…. and Chris looked exactly like a movie star…

One of the overnight guests mentioned how incredible Adytum was to a Chehalis dental office manager and suddenly we found ourselves hosting yet another intimate celebration; a 50^th wedding anniversary! Champagne on ice, gold rimmed crystal glasses, two dozen red roses in their suite and little heart shaped healthy carrot cakes awaited the foursome…It has been so much fun having all this love contained in the Sanctuary Adytum…This week, couples from Massachusetts, Vancouver and California come…and again the birthdays and anniversaries and spirit of celebration continues.

I learned a principle long ago from my mentor, author Alexandra Stoddard who has written so many books now. It is called the 5% principle. We all have fine things and they are usually tucked away and brought out a few times a year at best. Alexandra taught me years ago to USE the things that are lovely every day. Celebrate every day. Live as well as we can in every moment and we will end our life with a string of memories like a pearl necklace. This month, Adytum has been the castle in which the pearls of great price, memories that are priceless, have been created.

I hope this inspires you to love…to finding your precious things to spoil your loved ones with. To celebrate your life. In the end, all that really matters is love.

Every Guest Who Visits Adytum Leaves Something of Themselves Behind

2010-09-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

This week Adytum, (www.adytumsanctuary.com) has the great pleasure of hosting Philip Folsom and Leo VanWarmerdam from Santa Monica, CA. Philip is co partner in www.fulcrumadventures.com, and Leo works with him in this international adventure company that has trained over a half a million people with the goal of realizing their full potential. What a worthwhile career… who wouldn’t want to wake up and put a smile on a face and a spring in a step every day, knowing the investments made in the human spirit live on and affect other lives as well.

Philip and Leo are in Mossyrock this week doing a group team building training focusing on adults who work with kids in the after school program. This particular program is specifically targeted for the children who may not be enrolled in after school sports, but they also serve those that are. So many of us just weren’t sports minded…but we would have grown tremendously in self esteem, discipline, self determination and confidence through the experiences Fulcrum Adventures charts out. I’d be willing to say hands down it would have changed the course of my young life had I had this program available.

Philip and Leo are two fun loving guys, with quick witted humor, a casual and relaxed style, and exude fitness, confidence and an “I can do anything” attitude themselves. They are walking examples for the “Do, Risk, Grow” which is Fulcrum Adventure’s motto – an invitation to cultivate potential greatness within by meeting challenges head on- and they supply the helmets- literally.

How do they accomplish it? The idea is to use the challenges they present to realize full potential. We are all so much greater than we believe, and they prove it to us through conquering high rope courses, rock wall climbing and the invitation to take the leap of faith off an outrageously tall phone pole, grabbing life by the horns with white knuckles clinging for dear life to a trapeze bar. At some point, evidentially you think, “Bring it on!” You’re completely transformed…They’re not just fostering adrenalin junkies but fueling people with indomitable confidence and empowerment that will transform their whole lives…

They don’t stop short with their far reaching vision; they’re out to impact the whole world by transforming and expanding the potential of everyone they train which in turn affects the entire planet. If you caught the run up on gold this year, you know how awesome it feels to pull off a winning investment. Imagine repeating that feeling every day with kids, adults…anyone who breaks through and discovers the true reality; that we are powerful beyond measure…making those kinds of investments – aiding in self enrichment in others - are how I imagine they’d spend their dying hour.

We were invited to join in support of this wonderful program when other leaders from the program came to Adytum with Philip and Leo for a tour. Donn and I met two members of the National Guard, Timothy Allan Brown and Le’Juan O’bryan. The National Guard partners with Fulcrum Adventures for the after school program. Erin Riffe, Director of Afterschool and Summer Programs for Educational Service District #113, as well as Miss Washington, Jacquie Brown. Jacquie has as her focus “youth mentoring”. Erin and Jacquie had many ideas for Adytum including fund raising events hosted here and at our suggestion, exposing kids to fine art of which Adytum has a small, museum quality collection. Also receiving actual classes and talks with artists who visit Adytum.

Check out the gallery link on www.fulcrumadventures.com to get a sense of the work they do, some in the form of games. Other types of training provide wilderness skills, increased in mental strength and self determination. Since our character is the only thing we’re taking with us when we end our time on earth, making self investments to increase character makes perfect sense. They are here to help.

They use the BOLD method which creates team synergy through integration of different leadership styles. Who doesn’t need that? “Plays well with others” is a nice statement at any age. Figuring out where you fit into that equation is nothing short of a gift. A short behavior assessment is followed by “facilitated experiential activities”- a nice way of saying get ready to confront some fear – that is if the ropes challenge course is on the agenda. These exercises allow participants to discover the strengths and challenges of their own leadership style as well as how to partner with team members of different styles to create a high performing organization. Their work takes different forms. One way is to work with heights…ropes…trapeze bars…zip lines…think of all the tightrope, high wire amazing Circ Du Soliel acts and then visualize yourself doing them- and loving it- once you realized it was in you all along, anyway! Other methods are games from the Crate that enlarge those who participate.

At Adytum, when they see our giant fir trees, they are thinking “zip line opportunity!” This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that from other adventurous souls. Our retreat acreage is just the kind they create high rope courses on to take participants to the edge of their comfort zone…then beyond. In the strangest way, it dovetails so perfectly with Adytum’s desire to bring healing, peace and wholeness at deep levels although I’m not sure our insurance agent would be excited to hear it…Philip and Leo go right to the source to create wholeness: the mind and emotions, working their transformative magic. The mind is the center of true health, wellness and wholeness. They are psychologists, psychiatrists and healers of another order…get rid of the obstacles and the real self will emerge in all its glory and wholeness.

Adytum keeps evolving in ways we never foresaw. Like the visit last year from Napa, California renowned Impressionist artist Don Hatfield (www.hatfieldfineart.com) Don has a disc golf course on his 15 acres and people come from all over to use it. He got us so excited about it when he was here doing a photo shoot for a commissioned painting that we stocked up on discs for our alpine course. Not only did Don leave his amazing impressionist paintings for everyone to enjoy in the house, but left his commitment to creating relaxed playfulness around exercise with the disc golf. He is one of the possible guest artists that will support the program by holding workshops at Adytum when his busy schedule permits.

Philip and Leo found the discs on the Orion Courtyard, alongside some Bocce balls. Apparently their adventure doesn’t stop when the sun goes down. They were playing bocce ball in the moonlight…on unfamiliar hillside terrain with sharp drop offs. The next night was disc golf over 16 acres before coming in to invent new games for the program until well after midnight.

It makes me so exceptionally happy to see the visions I have for life here at Adytum coming into reality. I love to create space for others to enjoy, creating different vignettes and scenarios and then watching the “actors”- in this case Leo and Philip- enter the stage and go for it, laughing and playing, sucking the marrow out of life like Thoreau said. They caught the spirit- the sense of retreat, relaxation and play- that we know as a vital aspect of this sacred space; the attitudes that foster the creation of wholeness, inside and out.

We’ll see about the ropes course, zip line and fitness course they suggested; bringing more play and personal “metal testing” for personal growth to our mountain. They have shared how much they’ve enjoyed what we’ve created here, and we now possess a new sense of how Adytum lands can to evolve to expand human potential and build character. Maybe we can rope them in (no pun intended) to coming on a regular basis, holding retreats designed to enlarge the human spirit by facing our fear and personality obstacles.

Each guest of Adytum brings valuable gifts that increase and expand the spirit, build health and wholeness in the mind. They come as guests needing a place to stay for a few nights, but Adytum is never the same when each one leaves a bit of their special interests, talents and desires for future development imprinted on this house and land. We all benefit from these investments. We hope you check out these amazing programs Philip and Leo facilitate. Since our businesses aren’t large enough to fall under their group teaching, we plan to look them up when we’re in Southern California next month and try it as a couple.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson

“Philip and Leo were both amazing, and we had wonderful time learning from their devotion to make the world a better place. I know personally I will use the training I received to make the Mossyrock Jumpstart Program a better success! Our program does reach out to all students, even those in sports. We have many students who attend after their practice is over.” Jamie Wilkinson

It’s Blueberry Time

2010-08-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

The annual Mossyrock Blueberry Festival (www.mossyrockfestivals.com)was yesterday, August 7, and nearby Pan American Berry Farm (212 Klickitat Creek Road) was packed with tourists loading up on their annual supply of blueberries. We buy between 80-100 pounds every year, enjoying some fresh and freezing the rest for our daily protein shakes. Though the festival is over, Pan American will remain open until Labor Day if you want to get some.

As I stood in line waiting to get another 40 pounds of blueberries, I heard snippets of conversation….”they say blueberries are one of the best things you can eat for health…” From my Nutritional Therapy background, it is soul satisfying to see people interested in securing their part of the blueberry harvest and securing greater health at the same time.

Blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidants and even prevent urinary tract infections like cranberries do. They are excellent brain food too, “Earlier research suggests that oxidative stress may be a factor in age-related loss of brain function. So, we fed antioxidant-rich blueberries to aged lab rats in one study and to mice with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms in another and found improvement in memory function and motor skills in both…” James A. Joseph, PhD.

It’s interesting to note that blueberries are a rich source of the trace mineral manganese which helps in tendon control. I did a nutritional therapy consult Friday at our optometry office; Medical Vision Center in Morton, with a woman in her early 60’s who had ptosis. Ptosis is when the eyelid droops, obscuring the vision. A drooping eyelid acts as an early warning indicator that tendons are losing integrity in the whole body which can lead to ankle sprains and even tinnitus when the tiny bones of the ear are affected with weakening of tendon control.

Blueberry consumption to increase manganese is part of her answer. She was also advised to take a Complete Mineral Supplement like the one we carry at the office from Designs for Health(www.designsforhealth.com.

We had guests for breakfast Saturday at Adytum who enjoyed dairy free/gluten free pancakes from the Bob’s Red Mill mix topped with blueberry compote fresh from the fields in the valley below. Those fields will turn the loveliest russet color soon so if you want blueberries, come before Labor Day when Pan American closes for the season.

I made an interesting compote starting with blueberries, water and cornstarch to thicken, then adding cinnamon, Mexican chocolate and orange peel shaved thin with a microplane. My husband pronounced it, “Awesome…off the charts”. I added honey also purchased from Pan American. It was the best compote I’ve created yet and everyone loved it on the pancakes. One guest was an adorable six year old little ballerina who sat beside me and pronounced breakfast “really good”. I felt good feeding her healthy, gourmet food instead of the traditional white bleached flour pancake and fake syrup disaster.

Some interesting variations on the pancakes are adding blue corn meal and then topping the compote with pan toasted crushed hazelnuts and more fresh blueberries. We get our hazelnuts from Freddy Guy’s(www.freddyguys.com) in Portland at the Saturday Market. This is another stocked item at Adytum. We freeze 80 pounds last year and enjoy them all year long. The increase in health benefits from these two additions alone is outstanding.

Mossyrock is the quintessential “best kept secret”. When I lived in Olympia for 25 years, I ventured out to Mossyrock once…I didn’t even know it was there until I did…but that seems to be changing. The Blueberry Festival also had a car and quilt show, along with live music. The next festival we’re looking forward to is the Mayfield Lake Summer Tunes! Late Summer. Jazz. Wine. Sunshine…at Mayfield Lake, Saturday, September 12.(www.summertunes.org) More people are discovering that Mossyrock is a beautiful mountain town at the foot of the Cascades, rich in natural beauty and of course, blueberries.

The DeGoedes Bulb farm(www.degoedebulb.com)is located here too. Judging from the crowded parking lot yesterday, evidently there are as many gardeners as blueberry lovers. Since Pan American Berry Farm is just 20 minutes east on Highway 12 from I-5, it’s a fun day trip, for those that aren’t staying at Adytum (www.adytumsanctuary.com)to come out and get your blueberries and something for the garden too.