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INGREDIENTS Three cups of oat flakes 1 tsp. Sea salt ⅓ cup flax seeds ⅔ cup chopped walnuts One cup chopped almonds ⅓ cup sunflower avocado oil ¼ + cup maple or rice syrup ¾ cup dried apricots diced ½ tsp. Vanilla ¼ tsp. Almond extract 1 tsp. Cinnamon One cup of raisins PREPARATION Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Add the first five ingredients into a roasting pan. Allow baking for about an hour, stirring occasionally so the sides don’t overcook. Add the oil, sweetener, spice, and extracts. Stir the mixture well so it is completely coated. Allow baking until the mixture gets crispier (approximately 40 minutes). Add the dried fruit after taking it out of the oven. Allow it to thoroughly cool. Stores well in a closed jar or freezer bag in the refrigerator. This can keep for a long time. My rooster the late"Mr. Roo" loved my granola.

INGREDIENTS 1 cup cornmeal ½ cup Hasa Harina ¾ cup organic fresh or frozen Corn 1 Tbsp. arrowroot powder ½ tsp. Sea salt 1 cup plant milk 6 Tbsp. toasted sesame/olive oil PREPARATION Grind the corn in a blender. Mix all the top ingredients together and knead to make a stiff dough. If you have a cast iron tortilla maker, warm it up to medium heat, spread oil on it, place a golf ball size on the plate and push the arm down to flatten. Leave on the heat for about 4 minutes. Otherwise, you have to roll it out and use a seasoned cast-iron skillet for best results.

PREPARATION ⅔ cup diced onion 4 cloves garlic chopped ¼ cup chopped parsley 1 Tsp. Olive oil (XV) ¾ Cup water 3 Tbsp. mustard ⅓ Cup maple syrup ⅓ Cup vinegar 2 Tbsp. soy sauce 1 Cup tomato sauce or comparable puree 4 Tbsp. Allspice 1 tsp. Sea salt, Hot spice (optional) PREPARATION Sauté onion in oil, add salt, simmer for a few minutes. Add garlic, then add all the ingredients except parsley and soy sauce. Bring to a near boil, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add parsley and soy sauce. Allow to cool, store in the refrigerator in an airtight glass container. Keeps for at least a week.

INGREDIENTS 3 Persian cucumbers sliced thin rounds One small onion thin half-moon (preferably red) 1/2 tsp. sea salt 1 - 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar 1 Tbsp. maple or rice syrup PREPARATION Mix well most of the salt with the cucumbers, set aside. Mix the rest of the salt with the onions separately. Allow the cucumbers to sweat for about an hour. Squeeze out the excess liquid from both the vegetables, put them both in another bowl together, add the vinegar and syrup, toss together lightly. Variations: add toasted sesame seeds, tahini, mirin. Keep best for 2 days. Refrigerate.

INGREDIENTS Two cups brown rice Three cups water pinch sea salt per cup of rice PREPARATION Rinse the rice gently in a pot of cold water, using your hand, wash the rice by rubbing the grain, pouring off the cloudy water, rinsing until clear. Soak the rice in water for about 6 to 8 hours or overnight. To pressure cook or boil, start with no lid. Bring the rice to a boil, allow the broth to form a foamy cloud, using a stainless-steel flat strainer skim off the foam. Add salt and the lid. Bring to pressure or boil, lower the flame to a little above a simmer, if too low the pressure will drop. Use a flame tamer or diffuser under the pot, start your time. Approximately 45 min. to an hour depending on the time of year and the quantity of rice. Rice is harvested in the fall, so it will have more moisture than later as it has had time to dry out. You can adjust the water volume accordingly. Less water for new rice, more for dryer rice. Fried Brown Rice with Tofu and Vegetables

INGREDIENTS 1 cup dried pinto beans 6 cups water 1-inch piece Kombu kelp 1 tsp. Sea salt ½ tsp. Soy sauce 1 small onion slivered or diced PREPARATION Wash the beans thoroughly. Put them in a bowl to soak, add water to two inches above the dried beans. Allow soaking until the beans are double in size. Lift the beans out of the bowl being sure not to get any grit on the bottom. Do not pour beans into the pot. Add the Kombu, beans, and water to the pot. Bring to a boil, allow the foam to gather to the top. Skim off the foam with a strainer. Lower the flame, good to use a flame tamer under the pot to keep it from sticking. Cook until the beans are tender, add the salt. Cook for another 20 to30 minutes, add soy sauce at the end. Sauté onions in a little oil, a pinch of sea salt, simmer until transparent. Add to beans for more flavor. Options; Adding chili, spices, bay leaf. This is a basic way to cooking beans. Allow cooling, best to store in a glass container. Will keep it for the best of a week in the refrigerator.

Mary (Carey) McCabe Herman, & Cornellia Aihara, Sensei N. Muramoto Driver/Friend This section is dedicated to the memory of past Macrobiotic teachers, from my own experiences with stories, anecdotes, recipes, writings, and references for future study. I have been encouraged to share my firsthand recollections, especially those who can no longer be able to themselves. I was introduced to Macrobiotics when I was 21 in 1970. I went to St. Thomas on a college winter break with a friend. I was very into photography, and while walking on the beach, I noticed the most beautiful man sitting peacefully. He was very handsome with a silver sculpted beard. I approached him and asked if I could photograph him, and he said yes. So, I took several pictures, and he and his companions began to ask about us. I was entirely unaware of who these people were. As we all laughed and talked, my very savvy friend asked me if I knew who they were. I did not. Although, the more I looked at the one person sitting behind my camera's intended, started to look surprisingly familiar. I kept asking, "are you? No, are you? He kept grinning quietly at me. Finally, I turned to my friend and asked if he was who I thought he was. She was sure and said he was Tony Perkins, the actor. I was shocked. I had had a crush on him when I was ten years old, and he was in the film "Tall Story." Right in front of me was someone I thought was the living end, and I met him. The handsome gentleman turned out to be Jerry Robbins, a famous choreographer. Well, we all became friends. Tony and his partner invited us to New York on many occasions. And they had an enormous effect on my life from then on. He made me question what I was eating and when I was eating. It put me in the direction of searching out health food stores to find more healthy food choices. It was 1970, and in Philadelphia, there were very few choices. I have Tony to thank for changing my life in the direction he put me. One day I found Essene Natural Foods, one of the few health stores in the city. As it turned out, my girlfriend from high school was the cashier. She invited me to come to this "study house" where she was living. So I went, and the fellow who greeted me offered me tea with soy sauce. The kitchen had an earthy smell that I loved and just wanted to indulge. That was my introduction to Macrobiotics. Denny Waxman was running this house and needed a breakfast cook, so I volunteered. While I was there, a group of Japanese Macrobiotic teachers came to offer a teaching program. Cornellia Aihara, macrobiotic cook and author, gave a cooking class and prepared a fully balanced macrobiotic meal. It was my first. It was historic how delicious and satisfying it was. I went to Michio Kushi's lecture and was impressed by what he had to say, especially about predictions for future generations. I also took a week-long class with Shizuko Yamamoto on Shiatzu. She was excellent, the stories she told of her own experiences, and the effects of her foot massage only added to my intense awakening. It all made so much sense. I managed to purchase the two main books by Georges Ohsawa, The Book of Judgment and Zen Macrobiotics. It was exceedingly difficult to eat the way they were teaching because it was very salty, and the resources for ingredients were limited. There was only Hatcho miso, too strong for us young Americans, who were used to a meat-based diet with soda and lots of sugar foods. It became a giant leap worthy of the plunge. Cornellia Aihara I began to know Cornellia by participating in the French Meadows summer camp kitchen, located in the Tahoe National Forest mountains of California. It was such a wonderful experience. We would all meet in the wee early morning, very chilly in the mountain air. The fires were already started, and everyone would hover around until we got our directions from Cornellia. We would prepare for the morning breakfast, which was always the leftover grains, beans, veggies, etc., all cooked together all night on low embers. The breakfast was for all the kitchen cooks, children, and some elders. Then, we would work all morning preparing lunch. Cornellia had all the menus planned. She was a master at being able to design a daily menu spread over ten days with no refrigeration. It all worked. The light foods that do not last are prepared first. By the end of the camp, she would serve spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce. Everyone was crazy about it. So here are some recipes by her, I remember so well and enjoyed. Pinto Beans with Sauteed Onions and Corn Tortillas From: The Do of Cooking by Cornellia Aihara Fresh Corn Tortillas From: The Do of Cooking by Cornellia Aihara Homemade Fresh Corn Tortillas Corn Tortilla Dough Fresh Ground Corn Meal Golf Size Dough Ball Caste Iron Tortilla Maker Tortilla on Griddle

Organic Ohsawa Brown Rice in Stages Clockwise: Growing Awn New Rice Seedlings Raw Brown Rice Cooked Brown Rice Whole foods make us more whole. That is a simple truth. What is a whole food? Ask yourself. My early days were in the '50s, a very different world than today. We never locked our doors, we left our keys in the car in the driveway, we have an amazing amount of trust, not even a question. For me, the turning point was when JFK was shot. Shock happened, disbelief, and our world of naivety ended. My mother, birthing of eight, was very innocent and naive. She was a good cook as was her own mother, a story down the road. They both cooked and baked all homemade, using fresh ingredients, wonderful classic time-consuming creations. I asked her one day after I was more aware of the origins of foods, "where does flour come from?". She did not know. She had been using white flour in all her cooking and never thought about it. It was the times. If we go into the history of how the food industry has changed our mentality and relationship to our basic foods, we would see how we have been misled by their influence through advertising and salesmanship. They were not proponents for our wellbeing and now more than ever we should be extra vigilant about what is in our food supply. When I began cooking brown rice I was instructed to use a pressure cooker. As time has gone on for many years, I now alternate and often boil the rice in a stainless steel pot or a clay pot. When I would cook for many people I would use a pressure cooker, but when cooking just a smaller amount, I would not pressure cook. If one looks at a whole grain one will see a complete seed, ready to grow into a plant. IT IS ALIVE! How wonderful to be able to have this available to us from the living life and energy from the sun and moon, from which it grew, to transfuse into our bodies. How to cook whole grain brown rice: 2 cups brown rice 3 cups water pinch sea salt per cup rice so 2 pinches Rinse the rice gently in a pot of cold water, using your hand, wash the rice rubbing the grain, pouring off the cloudy water, rinse until clear. Soak the rice in water for about 6 to 8 hours or overnight. To pressure cook or boil, start with no lid. Bring the rice to a boil, allow the broth to form a foamy cloud, using a stainless steel flat strainer skim off the foam. Add salt and the lid. Bring to pressure or boil, lower the flame to a little above a simmer, if too low the pressure will drop. Use a flame tamer or diffuser under the pot, start your time. Approximately 45 min. to an hour depending on the time of year and the quantity of rice. Rice is harvested in the fall, so it will have more moisture than later as it has had time to dry out. You can adjust water volume accordingly. Less water for new rice, more for drier rice. RECIPE / Guidelines Brown rice is very sensitive. There is no set recipe only guidelines and practice. No matter how many times I have made brown rice, it can be unpredictable. It has more to do with how we treat it. I can remember being told to have high thoughts when washing it, never be in a disagreeable mood when cooking in general. I have found that brown rice is especially receptive to one's humor and disposition during preparation. It seems that it was easier to cook for many people versus one or two. For brown rice I recommend working with at least 2 cups of brown rice, it just cooks better. For every cup of rice, the standard would be 1 1/2 cups of water. Depending on the volume and time of year, you can adjust more or less liquid. When pressure cooking and done, turn the flame off, allow the pressure to come down. Uncover immediately, and using a moistened wooden rice paddle, begin to turn the rice from the bottom to the top, working from the sides to the center. Use the side of the paddle to gently part the rice, allowing air to circulate. This applies to boiled rice also. It is important to take the rice out as soon as the lid comes off, otherwise, the taste is very different and not in a good way. It has to do with oxygenating the grain. If the bottom has a layer of golden brown rice try to lift it up and leave it on the side of the bowl. This rice is called bottom rice, it is stronger than the rest, usually meant for men or strong members. If it sticks too much on the bottom, just add good water and soak it until it loosens. It will make good morning porridge. Traditionally, the rice was put in a wooden bowl made just for rice and covered with a sushi mat or dampened towel. Hangiri Wooden Rice Bowl Sushi Mat and Paddles

Soup is a big subject. Everyone loves soup. It can be a start to a meal or just a banquet depending on its contents. It would be good to enjoy soup every day, somehow. Barley Miso Soup White Miso Soup Kombu Dashi is an excellent base broth to use in place of water for extra flavor and nutrition. (Kombu is a sea plant) Sesame Seeds and Gomasio An essential seed is the sesame seed. It has so much value in the tiniest little package. It is also a way to introduce sea salt to your metabolism by making sesame salt, a.k.a. Gomasio in Japanese. This process makes the salt cooked. It is easier to metabolize salt with the oil from crushed sesame seeds. Gomashio with spoon Raw and Toasted Sesame Seeds Suribachi Bowl and Suri Koji Cast Iron Skillet Wooden Spoon Stainless Steel Strainer Grinding Mortar and Pestle There are many recipes to make sesame salt/Gomasio. It very much depends on the volume of salt you wish to use. It all goes by a ratio of salt to sesame seeds, one part salt to however parts of sesame seed. Recipe: 1 Tbsp. sea salt 12 to 20 Tbsp. whole organic sesame seeds (unhulled) One part sea salt to eighteen parts sesame seeds (recommended) Wash the seeds in a bowl, and swirl around with your hand. Please put them in a fine-mesh strainer to drain for about 20 minutes. Warm up a cast iron pan for about 5 min. Then add salt. Toast on medium, stirring continuously. Use a wooden spoon until it starts to change to a light grey color. Transfer salt to a grinding bowl, such as a Suribachi, a Japanese grinding bowl. Place the bowl on your lap or a stabilizing surface with a towel under the bowl so it does not slide. Hold the grinder with one hand in the center of the pestle. Rest the palm of your other hand on the top of the pestle using no pressure. Begin to grind in a counterclockwise circular motion until the salt is softly ground. Toast the drained sesame seeds carefully over medium to high heat, continually stirring with a wooden spoon in one direction. Use a potholder and hold on to the pan; give it a shake to keep the seeds uniformly cooking. They should begin to pop like popcorn and adjust the flame to low, so they do not burn. The trick is to keep them moving. Once the seeds stop popping, turn the flame off. Use the pan's heat and keep stirring. It is a quick window to catch them when they are done or overdone. Practice is key. You can taste or place them between your thumb and baby finger; they easily pop for doneness. Have a bowl ready to pour them in and allow it to cool. Store in a covered jar. Tempeh A nutritious soybean by-product made. At Mary's Restaurant in Philadelphia, we always had tempeh on the menu at my restaurant. We were from 1988 to 1997. The preparation I found to work best as a base for keeping tempeh for several days and readily used in many recipes was as follows. We would deep fry the tempeh in superior quality organic oil, drain, rinse, and low boil in water for 20 minutes, lower to a simmer, add soy sauce and cook for another 30 to 45 minutes. This preparation allowed the tempeh to hold for several days in the refrigerator. We had to prepare tempeh this way every few days since it was so popular. Our Sunday brunch was bustling, and we would serve tempeh bacon made fresh. We had a spinach salad on the menu with tempeh bacon, a big seller. Spinach Salad at Mary's Restaurant Freshly washed spinach, grated carrot, toasted sesame seeds, homemade bread croutons, tofu cubes, slivered red onions, sliced tempeh bacon, scallion garnish. Tempeh Bacon Slice tempeh prepared tempeh into thin slices and line them in a row on a baking sheet. Mix soy sauce, maple, or rice syrup, toasted sesame oil, and water. Cover tempeh with marinade. Broil on medium until the first side is golden brown; turn over and broil again until crispy.

The seasons of the calendar aren't just divided into four which we normally think, especially up north. The days change slowly into a new season. As spring begins to emerge, we still get chilly days, with a fun warm day tempting us into the promise of more to come. Just as the changes are eventual, so we can adjust our cooking. This way we can make our whole body, mind, and spirit more comfortable for the new temperatures, making the transition smoothly as we evolve into a full-blown season. We can look to nature to know what to do in the choices we make in how to eat in harmony with the seasons. SPRING IS IN THE AIR Spring starts to begin around the beginning of February, even though it is still cold and snowing. The changes are starting to move in a direction of rising energy, it always surprises me to see little shoots popping up under the snow. This is a sign it is time to begin to think of the changes we want to plan for in our kitchen and pantry. Daffodil shoots in February SPRINGTIME IN MY GARDEN I live in the Northeast in a small town called Seaville, in Southern New Jersey. I can enjoy four seasons throughout the year. It's a joy to move from the chilly grey outdoors to the promise spring naturally offers us, like coats of green, plentiful rain, and warming sunshine. We can begin to open ourselves away from the heaviness of winter and transition to light jackets and soft hats protecting ourselves from the increasing rays of the sun. To aid in the transition of the changing season it is immensely helpful to consider adjustments in our cooking. Spring is full of rising energy, with its slow explosion of light coming with more daylight, more colors erupting from the ground; so too we can imitate by less baking, less fire, less cooking. Instead of cooking our food for digestion, we can use fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, pressed salads, lightly boiled vegetables, fresh greens. I like to enjoy softer grains, creamy warm cereals, barley in stews and beans, and soups. Also cucumbers in various ways mixed with onions, vinegar, or lemon. My grandmother often made a summer salad so refreshing and simple.