January 2013 Favorites List

That time of year again. January. I must admit I get a little introspective this time of year. I think it is because the world is a bit more quiet than during the holidays and there are less distractions so I look at my life a bit closer. But when I do feel a bit down, I embrace it. Extra time in the bathtub or time with friends usually help. I create new recipes, and meditate an extra 10 minutes each day. I sleep in a bit more on Sundays when I can...
Here where I live, winter is just getting going and we start the rainy season in earnest.
Holidays behind us (just when my pandora classic christmas station was perfectly honed!) I am starting the year with a new favorites list. Would love to hear your favorites too. xo

1. Manuka Honey. I have replaced all of my first aid salves and creams with this honey. I threw my antibacterial ointment in the trash. I usually use rescue remedy cream anyway, but even that is being replaced by my new friend; honey. I buy this New Zealand honey and use it now exclusively. It can help wounds heal up to 36% faster than traditional wound care and it is effective against superbug bacteria like MRSA. Great for kids because it will prevent a bandaid from sticking to their wounds. My jar was about $22 for 8.75 ounces which is a total price deal compared to triple antibiotic ointments that are also petroleum based. I also buy the 250+ Manuka Honey which has been tested and is certified to contain at least 400mg/kg of dietary methylglyoxal. I have been using it for M's cracked lips, canker sores, cuts, blemishes, stomach aches..the list goes on and on.

2. Call The Midwife on PBS...
It could be my inner wish-I-had-become-a-doctor syndrome, but all my girlfriends love this show too. Call The Midwife is based on the memoir of Jennifer Worth and her stories of being a midwife in East London during the 1950's. I think I have cried every episode. Well acted, funny and stories that warm the heart.  Chummy, a character on the show is my new favorite all-star. Because it is on PBS, all the shows are available online to watch for free!

3. Revive Kombucha.
I have said goodbye to GT's kombucha and hello to this brand. It tastes like tea, has a bit of carbonation (just enough to make it completely refreshing but not too much) and is sold in half-gallon sizes at my co-op. There is a deposit for the bottle, but it is reimbursed when you return it to the store. A bunch of cool cats in Northern California brew this up. LOVE!

4. A recent article in the New York Times about Forgiveness playing a role in criminal justice

 A fascinating article based on the principles of Restorative Justice. I was first introduced to restorative justice when I was on the board of directors of my local cultural center. A group of kids broke into a storage shed at the center and stole alcohol. They were caught and the executive director of the center (who had been a principal at a local alternative school) asked if the board would consider restorative justice for the children as an action for the issue. It meant that the kids took full responsibility for their actions and were an active part of their "punishment" which was really them constructing a way to repair what they had done under the supervision of the director who believed in using the experience as a positive and learning one rather than a shaming one.

5. Pay By Phone
my new favorite app
 My sister turned me on to this app for parking in San Francisco. All the parking meters in San Francisco  can now be paid on my smartphone with this app. You enter in your credit card information which they keep on file. When you park you enter the meter number and the amount of minutes you want to pay for. You can pay remotely for your parking meter if you want more time and it even sends you a text message when your meter time is getting low. No more rushing to put money in the meter!

6. tiny beautiful things by Cheryl Strayed

 An advice column originally on Rumpus.net that was made into a book. My dear friend Jilan gave this to me for my birthday. It reads a bit like a modern day Dear Abby. Each chapter or section starts with a letter to Dear Sugar which is then answered. The stories go deep. Abuse, infidelity, transgender issues, death. Every story I have cried. Every single one. Life just never stops, and I love her words to keep going. Always keep going. Always. An incredible way to start off the year. I could not put the book down. Cheryl's acidic wit and bluntness had me cheering alone in my room. She just cuts to the chase. But with love. Always with love.


7.  The Biolite Stove

For $129 you can buy a portable stove that runs on twigs and charges your smart phone.
A M A Z I N G.

8. Elderberry Syrup

When WebMD has a write-up on Elderberry Syrup for treating the flu, I guess it is finally made it big. I have been using this syrup every winter for 5 years now. I did get the dreaded Influenza about 4 years ago. And, with elderberry syrup and homeopathy, it was only 3 days of hell instead of 6. I love that it is safe for children. It is about $15 per bottle where I live, which is such a small investment if you get the flu and when you are ready to pay any price to get better. Just this last week news about what a severe flu season this has been popping up. You must start taking this as soon as you start feeling it come on, so get a bottle now to have on hand.
9. Flora Vegetarian DHA

A while ago I switched to this form of Omega 3 Fatty Acid. I take DHA, which is the most bio-available form of Omega 3 fatty acid. I used to take fish oil, but like this one without the fish burps. After all, fish eat algae to make DHA in their tissues and over fishing is happening more and more. It just seemed like a natural evolution for me. This Time Magazine article is an interesting look at the fish oil industry impacting world wide fish populations. Why take DHA? It heals the gut, helps feed vital neurotransmitters, is anti-inflammatory, helps balance the steroid hormone cascade, boosts immunity and provides support for healthy blood lipids.

I forgave her

"Duality embedded in wholeness produces truly healing results". Robert Waterman said that in his book Eyes Made of Soul, The Theory and Practice Of Noetic Balancing. This was somewhat of a life changing quote for me. Because beyond this, the theory of Noetic Balancing is to resolve duality through living love. Living love for myself. These last two years have been a personal laboratory for me doing just this. A month ago in my therapists office, I met for the first time with the woman my husband cheated on me with. He had immediately moved out when we split and moved in with her. They are still together. I created the experience of betrayal in my life to come into wholeness. It took many months, much processing and a lot of self-forgiveness to type that last sentence. I have cried buckets, been angry, wanted revenge, wanted them to suffer, rolled around on the bathroom floor from the pain of grief. I spent months terrified I would not come back from the dark side; the pit of life that had gobbled me up. I believed my husbands infidelity had taken away my safety, security, life as I knew it. And deep down, I persecuted myself because I thought I had driven him away to a younger, easier to live with woman who had all the attributes I did not. I think now that allowing myself to be in that place, and trusting I would come out, and looking deeper and beyond the idea of good and bad allowed me to surface from the storm and claim my life and the blessing of this. Because when I met with this woman, I wept with tears of gratitude for her. If she had not come forward, so my own drama could unfold, I might not have the compassion for myself, my world, others, and the collective journey we take. She helped me trust my life. Heartbreak, betrayal, loss, sorrow, grief, all helped me to trust my life. How could what I once labeled as "bad" be so life giving? Now I am waking up to all of life being life giving. When I let go of attachments of how things should be, and let myself just be, I am no longer a victim to life's circumstances. My mind may tell me otherwise, but my heart will lead the way.  She was an integral character in my own hero's journey.

Beyond the right and wrong of my personal experience was an opportunity to love myself. Loving myself was at first loving myself in my severe grief state. Because grief was crippling me so, I was willing to try anything. My mentor suggested I love the grief. So I did this first by laying on the couch all day. Treating myself to a movie. Making my daughter a quesadilla 5 nights in a row because I could not muster anything more. Spending every morning in the shower crying. I loved her first. I told her what a great job she was doing. I cut her a massive amount of slack. I had decided I was worth my own love. And why would that be? My past might say I am not worthy of that love. My mother had chosen not to mother me. My husband, the same. And now I see how my life had been conspiring these circumstances to do just this. It was never about getting the love from the outside. It was an inside job all along. I had been to the classes, read the books. Heard all the right ways to "do" life. But, this was not to be an experience of my mind, it would be a journey of my heart.  I had never experienced any real self compassion before two years ago. I had never awoken to any kind of living love for myself. In an effort to control the amount of pain in my life, I made sure to be the harshest critic, the most oppressive supporter of myself. Then there would be no surprises when it happened outwardly. My skin would already be so thick that any kind of disappointment would pale in comparison to the self-constructed wall against love and life I had created in an effort to protect myself from hurts manufactured out of the harsh landscape of life. But it did. The pain did knock me over. In the end I found my well thought out constructs blew over in an instant. Love was the glue of the universe that I had not experienced first hand. It had been there all along, but I had not let myself awaken to it. And when I judge my circumstances ("See Jessica, you are just a scorned woman, horrible mother, left by your husband. You drove them all away. You deserve a crappy life ") I produce againstness. I needed betrayal, or rather I crafted an experience of betrayal to move me beyond the idea that life was what it seemed. It seemed I was undeserving of the riches of love. Now I am able to include myself and everyone else in my definition of what is divine. Tender, loving, patient, forgiving; those are the new ways for myself.  In this, I have accepted full responsibility for the troubles in my life. Accepting responsibility in my life was key. Never can I blame anyone or anything for my life circumstances. I wavered for months and months with this foreign concept. It was so radical to me and somewhat overwhelming to know that I might accept my life as my own and not blame others for my pain and suffering.  But, I wanted peace, and that meant letting go of againstness. Againstness towards myself, my life, others. And that meant letting go of what was right and wrong (this woman was "wrong" because she hurt me so much) and I really started believing the universe was conspiring towards my wholeness when I saw I could muster even bits of compassion for myself. I was able to forgive the belief that I had that she has done something wrong. So never could I see myself in a one down position. And in that flash, I could not be against myself and believe the universe was against me, so I and, every person I meet whether close friend or causal acquaintance, or in my case "the other woman"  are a integral part of the movie of my life I am watching propel me towards wholeness and for that I am grateful for. So grateful for this world and all the things in it, I weep tears of joy. Now the boss that fires me, the bank lender that denies me, the person that betrays me, the friend that loves me, the family that embraces me, they all get equal billing of gratitude. They all are reflecting life back to me and now that I know that I am attempting to love all my experiences because of their ability to produce wholeness, I can stop running.


And so when I met her, I told her how much I have hurt. I was honest with my story. I apologized for ever wanting to hurt her or wanting others to hate her. I thanked her. I loved her. I do this because I do this for myself.  I too, am a human who makes mistakes, and does humanly things to get my needs met. She is no less than me. It was only because I was hurting and suffering so much that I wanted the world to hate her and what she had done. Before, I thought my suffering might ease if she suffered. But really what has happened is that I freed myself by forgiving her. I waited until I was truly ready. I was scared shitless though. It was not easy to face this woman, meet her, be honest and cry for an hour straight. But I want to live life to the fullest of my potential and I want life to meet me where I meet it. And so life will keep handing me my lessons towards grace. It all is for grace. It is that because I choose it.
 

My Sister's Hashimotos Journey

I am going to start a three part series on auto-immune disease. I am constantly encountering people who are touched by this complex health issue, including my identical twin sister.  I will be providing you with an alternative look into autoimmune disease. It is a look into helping the body cure itself. Many people are taking a new approach towards autoimmune disease, so by no means am I alone in my theory. I am purely adding to the pot of information already being embraced widely. There is a journey we all must take that is our own, and along with that, there is a way to support our bodies and not suppress them. This is my offering.

My sister's blog Heal Hashimoto's has been an online journal of her Hashimoto's journey. She found an alternative doctor in Marin, CA, after getting fed up by being tired and having abnormal periods. She had been to her gynecologist who tested her thyroid ("perfectly healthy") and offered no options to test bio-available hormones. Side note: Christine Northrup MD recommends a test like this Complete Hormones test from Genova to accurately test steroid hormones. But, my sister's  prominent MD gynecologist had no idea about tests like this and did not offer them. So, frustrated and intent on finding answers, she found an alternative doctor (it was an Osteopath) in Marin. With no glaringly obvious symptoms other than 'almost 40 years old lethargy', she made the appointment.  Turns out this new doctor routinely tests  clients for food absorption,  and my sister's test came back reporting she was only absorbing 50% of her nutrients. Half of her nutrients were being absorbed. The other half of her nutrients were floating into her blood stream through her leaky gut. Leaky gut was causing so much inflammation in her body she was also experiencing large amounts of adrenal fatigue. Beyond the straightforward fatigue symptoms, she had nothing glaringly obvious that her immune system was overreacting. That conversation was yet to come. After she found out her nutrient/food absorption was low, the doctor ordered a celiac test which came back positive. Both gluten antibodies and the gene for celiac came back positive. Danielle has come to call this "silent celiac" as the disease was causing her gut to be in a constant state of inflammation that prevented half of all supplements and food to be utilized by her body yet had no obvious symptoms. I look on gut inflammation now as a root of many chronic diseases both obscure and obvious, that I think it will be the next wave of science to help medicine progress. 17 years ago my close friend's uncle was a GI doctor. I remember him laughing at my insistence of the use of probioics for disease. Now I see modern science is catching up when every drugstore in the US has them. People are changing their minds about gut ecology.

Danielle went to work researching celiac and low nutrient absorption. She started on The Specific Carbohydrate Diet to heal her gut and reduce inflammation. Over a course of months however, she saw did not see the increase of energy and weight loss she expected to see. She met with a practitioner who put her on dessicated thyroid supplements and went on to find a functional medicine chiropractor who had experience treating Hashimotos and Celiac disease. It sort of took a village for her to find the right combination of practitioners that in the end was the right formula.  She discovered and treated her leaky gut. She did this by addressing the overgrowth of candida in her gut, and eating a diet that healed her gut. She ate nothing but vegetables and protein for 10 months. She gave up coffee. She drank no alcohol. She exercised regularly. This addressed her fatigued adrenal glands (adrenal fatigue is rooted primarily in gut inflammation).  She gave up all dairy, grains, beans and fruit. This process took months to come together, as most of the advice she got from different practitioners had helped in fits and starts. But, even in a progressive area like the San Francisco bay area, it was largely a process of self-education, detective work and a whole lot of effort by Danielle to completely change the way she ate, uncover and relieve the root of all of her autoimmune issues. It is my whole hearted belief that beliefs that start as a thought trickle down to the physical level, and it was the same for my sister. This goes beyond mind-body medicine into the morphic field of healing potential.  She discovered the beginnings of her disease started with self directed anger. That belief she uncovered was the gift of her complaint. Hashimotos, as she herself has said, has been the teacher life has reflected back to her. I completely admire her tenacity and her drive to keep going until she found the right treatment plan, and the courage to see the energetic component driving her experience to begin with.

Celiac and gluten intolerance have become such buzz words that I think allopathic doctors are starting to cry wolf. And it is true that many people have stopped eating gluten. I have heard europeans do not have the same levels of gluten intolerance because they use less hybridized strains of wheat. Theories abound. But, I do know after talking to clients who have asked their primary care doctors, allergists and endocrinologists about wheat allergies there are a lot of lukewarm responses. And, once a diagnosis is made, few are linking celiac with other chronic diseases like Hashimotos. Even my sister who was being cared for by the one of the "best" alternative medicine clinics in Marin, had to ask for the tests that lead her to a Hashimoto's diagnosis. And, if she had continued along the path with that original, well-intentioned but poorly educated Hashimoto's doctor, she would be in worse shape than she is. But, autoimmune disease is rapidly becoming more common than breast cancer in this country, and soon everyone will be paying attention. Truly, I think Autism is the next illness to be re-labeled autoimmune disease, and when that happens, medicine will change as we know it.

She looked into celiac disease and found some literature that linked Hashimoto's to celiac. She asked her doctor to test her thyroid and her antibodies were elevated. Her TSH was slightly elevated based on the new test scale, but mostly her thyroid function was within range. This to me is extremely alarming because many many doctors do not test thyroid antibodies because they think that is a secondary test to TSH, T3 and T4 if those are out of range. But, you can have "normal" thyroid tests and elevated antibodies and still have autoimmune disease.

Danielle went right to work after uncovering her Hashimotos and discovered there is very little information about how to heal it naturally, which she is doing. I will tell you honestly that unless you SEEK OUT a knowledgeable doctor, synthetic thyroid hormone medication is the answer you are going to get. But, be forewarned; healing autoimmune disease, while completely possible, requires dedication. And, if you know anyone affected by an autoimmune disease of any kind, there is a way out. There is a way to heal your immune system. There is no such thing as a dire diagnosis you have to live with. If that is what your doctor has told you; that there is no cure, that is your cue that they have traveled as far along on the autoimmune path as they can with you, and it is time to start looking for people who can pick up where they are leaving off, and not give up hope. Doctors treat the immune system that is over-reacting to itself by suppressing the immune system. This view of treatment removes the idea that there is a reason your body is over-reacting to begin with. If you have the willingness and time, I say go there first. Examine why your body is attacking itself. There will be answers there. I say this to remind you that your doctor has been hired by you, and you can ask for 100% of what you want. And, as for the parts that you can manage without a doctors help, there are many. I am not suggesting going it alone. I am suggesting the opposite. Assemble a team for yourself.

So perhaps you, or someone you care about has been recently diagnosed, or suffering with an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune disorders can cause permanent damage in your body, but an autoimmune state is just where the body happens to be.  And you can move out of that state. But, what I am going to tell you right now, the very most valuable information about healing your body, is that it will take time and requires you to change your life. It will require effort on your part beyond taking a pill. It will require dedication, education and perseverance. You can heal your body. You change the way you nourish your body. You can do this. My sister has done all of her healing without the help prescription pharmaceuticals. That doesn't mean you have to do it that way however. Journeys like this are a personal one, and when we can love ourselves, even in the midst of discomfort on an autoimmune journey, riches lay waiting. There are practitioners who can help you do this. In the coming weeks I will be talking about these steps in more detail. For now, a few books to help you dip your toes into this new way of considering healing. Not all will apply directly to you. But, they all will give you a new understanding of disease and inflammation. 

1. The Autoimmune Epidemic by Donna Jackson Nakazawa
2. What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Autoimmune Disorders by Stephen Edelson

Vegan Coconut Chocolate Mousse

Gingered Toasted Pecans

There are numerous reasons why toasted nuts keep us happy. A mid day snack, trail mix, granola ingredient, salad topper, garnish on hummus or a grain salad, folded into homemade ice cream, sprinkled on oatmeal in the morning. And when fall comes to us in all its glory, why not give nuts the star billing they deserve? After all, the squirrels are doing it!

I made these on a whim for a raw kale salad. I have somewhat ditched traditional salad greens for kale and arugula these days.  I don't know if I have told any of you that I officially gave up wheat, so I am making my vegetable intake more hearty with fewer grains in my diet. Kale is very satiating for me and packs a nutritional punch. My identical twin was diagnosed with Celiac induced Hashimotos Disease a year or so ago. Because we are twins, and she tested positive for the celiac gene, I have a 75% chance of having the gene too. I may not have expressed the gene as she has however, and as I told her, I don't do disease and divorce in the same year. So, I will remain oblivious to that big ball of fun until I am ready to examine it further. She talks about her journey on her blog Heal Hashimotos. Autoimmune Disease is the next big thing we are looking at in the country as women in my opinion. It is a very misdiagnosed area of disease, and many many doctors are not able to treat autoimmune disease except to sometimes prescribe medicine to slow its progression which in turn may deplete the immune system more. Women who have one autoimmune disease are very likely to get more their lifetime. Think for just a moment how many people you know that have an autoimmune disease. Is it more people than you know that have breast cancer or heart disease? Yet modern medicine cannot explain autoimmune disease triggers mostly, and the immune system still remains a mystery to scientists. But, you can in many cases halt or heal autoimmune disease regardless what a doctor may say when you look at improving your whole body function through nutrition and food. Terry Wahls is an example of healing MS, and she is a MD! You can watch her TEDx talk here.  My sister is another example of someone who took their health back by not taking 'no' for an answer. She had to cycle through many practitioners to find a combination of healers that fit her goals, and she fell short a few times even in San Francisco where some of the best alternative doctors practice. She went grain, dairy, sugar and fruit free for 9 months. She healed her gut through diet, supplements and belief changes that worked on the root of the illness (for her it was self directed anger). A lot of this was facilitated by a practitioner who uses Noetic Field Energy Medicine. I have found NFEM to be a very progressive and form of somatic therapy. She also found a NAET practitioner in San Francisco who helped desensitize her body from the foods causing systemic inflammation.

So, I have been gluten free and I feel better. Any person who has an autoimmune disease, I recommend to go off gluten. I also take supplements targeted for glutathione production and inflammation reduction. I got a constitutional homeopathic remedy for increasing my vital energy. I regularly meditate. I switched to algae DHA instead of fish DHA after the earthquake in Japan. All of these things together is medicine. Not the narrow view we currently have offered to us. We can widen our view of medicine for ourselves by knowing we always have options and choices even if it appears we do not.

Gingered Toasted Pecans
makes 2 cups

2 cups pecans
2 Tbls maple syrup
generous pinch salt
2 heaping teaspoons fresh grated ginger

I use a microplane zester for grating my ginger. It makes is almost like paste. I did not peel the skins off of the ginger, although you can if you would like. A trick: use the back of a spoon to peel ginger skin off instead of a peeler; works great!
In a bowl, mix pecans, maple syrup, salt and ginger. On a silpat, parchment paper or very seasoned (so therefore non-stick mostly) cookie sheet, spread pecan mixture evenly.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes stirring once. Cook for 5 more minutes then remove from oven and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

My Sept. 11th

On September 11th, 2001 I was living in the japanese tea house. I wasn't married, or a mother yet. I was just a girlfriend to the buddhist electrician; a nutritionist making her way in the wild world. I was not yet even 30 years old. I was young enough to call my father instantly for reassurance watching the nightmare come true before my eyes, but old enough to know in an instant nothing would be the same.  We had no tv. Internet was dial-up. At 6:30am my friend called me to tell me what was happening. With no voice mail, I heard her voice on the answering machine. I immediately called my sister and sat on the phone with her while she gave me the blow by blows watching tv. The second plane hit the tower. The first building fell. Then the second. People screaming. People jumping from the burning towers. America fell apart, and we cried together. How could this be happening? She worked for Gap corporate then, and the company told them not to come to work that day. Good thing, because I had begged her not to go to work as soon as I saw what was unfolding, before we all knew it was an isolated event. I remember telling her I had dreamed this would happen the previous week. Dreamed of being in the twin towers (which I have never been in) riding an escalator, reading a newspaper while in the building about the future events that were unfolding in my dream. Dreamed of being in the basement while the skyscraper above me fell, dust everywhere. But back then, big news still happened on television and not on the internet, so I felt simultaneously safe being in the middle of nowhere and the angst of having limited information. It seemed the world was in a daze in an instant. Shock worked its way into our nervous systems that day, and we all were just people in the world watching people jump from buildings, crying while feeling completely helpless. 

Sometimes it takes events this big to move us.

And honestly I will tell you I moved into fear. I stockpiled food over the next few months. I made sure we always had gas for the generator to power the house. I asked for a pressure canner that Christmas so I could put food in jars. I made contingency plans with my twin sister who lived in the bay area. It felt like the only way to hold on to control when it felt like I had so little of it in the world. This was before WMD, anthrax, Saddam Hussein, wars in Iraq and a dude named Bush acting like Oz behind a big curtain calling the shots. Every day seemed bleaker.

But then stories emerged from the ashes that moved us. And collectively it seemed that we kept getting messages from those ashes that stayed with us in a different way than before Sept. 11th.
Be kind to your neighbors. Enjoy each day you have. Love your family. Don't take anything for granted. Happiness is an inside job. Life is an illusion. Courage was redefined that day by many, many people.

Sometimes it takes events this big to move us.

A new generation is here now. Technology is here now. I don't live off-grid in the so-called-safety of dirt roads and stockpiling. I live in the security of going inward. I live in the security of knowing that I get to decide where to place my focus when the world is falling apart. I had no way for myself on Sept. 11th 2001.  My first real glimpse of the impermanence of life was Sept. 11th. And if I had not had that gift; that realization that nothing stays, and it is all love anyway, I would not have looked for more.
If we do not know we are suffering then we cannot find a way to love it.
And that day I was moved. And this day I am moved. And I keep going. And I keep loving. And I keep choosing the focus to love. And it is always inward. And a thousand billion tears can be shed, and lives can be lost, and I am thankful for the perfection, even in that. Because more loving can come forward when I choose to see it that way. When the the disaster is the miracle. When love does not fall apart. It glues us together.

The Best Sun Gold Cherry Tomato Soup Ever

Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes. It deserves capital letters. I had never even heard of them until I moved to California. But for the last 12 years they have been a special breed of tomatoes for me. They are little bursts of sweetness and tartness. They are so far superior to cherry tomatoes that I hesitate even comparing them in the same sentence. Sun golds are little cherry tomatoes that are bright orange in color and pack a flavor punch that is worth seeking out at your farmers market or produce stand.
A few weeks back a local farmer and friend Ruby asked if I had made a soup with these little gems. I knew right then I would be working this recipe into my list of early fall must-haves. As we move through tomato season, you will find great prices on them!
This is fall in a glass.
You know I am all about simple and easy, and this soup is. But, dang if this does not give any kind of bisque a run for its money, I don't know what will. This soup has no cream in it like bisque soups do, but tastes like it does. I know it has a stick of butter, but just go for it! I did not add stock on purpose to see how concentrated I could get the flavors. It was a good call. People will ask you for this recipe if you make it, so be prepared!

Sun Gold Cherry Tomato Soup
makes 4 servings (about a quart worth)


3 baskets sun gold cherry tomatoes (take little green stem off)
1 stick butter
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 large onion chopped fine
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
1 clove garlic chopped
salt to taste

In a small soup pot, sautee onions, garlic and shallot in butter on medium heat. Add tomatoes and wine after 15 minutes. Cook on medium heat covered for about 1 hour.
Then pour soup in blender (it will be hot so cover the top of the blender with a clean dish towel so you don't burn yourself, and blend until smooth (about 1 minute) or use a immersion blender in the soup pot for a few minutes. Either way you want the soup to be relatively creamy. Cook for another 20 minutes on low heat covered. Add salt to taste.
Strain soup through mesh strainer into a bowl. Use spatula to force all the soup through the strainer leaving all the tomato and onion skins behind. Compost those.
Note: you could add a bit of stock to this to stretch it. I like the concentrated flavors and how thick the soup is.