Cry Me A River (whoa)

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After tonight’s radical farmers market score, and subsequent INSANE salad bonanza where we threw all caution to the wind and included watercress and spinach to our bountiful bowls, Diva, Britt, and I got started on what would end up being about five pounds of onion rings! Tomorrow night we’ll be serving tropical collard wraps and those fab rings with a side of tangy bbq sauce at the Ooga Booga party for Sharon Cheslow’s new book thingie. Usually things get a little mixxy in the kitchen the night before a big event – and by mixxy I mean wack-a-doodle – but we were calm as organically grown Persian cucumbers tonight thanks to the awesome slicing blade on our Cuisinart. Are you kidding me? We saved a thousand hours but couldn’t stop the tears. Thanks to serious sage and nag champa, because about twenty minutes ago that kitchen smelled like an onion holocaust. I’ve heard that if you leave yr tongue out and breath through yr open mouth you have a better chance to beat the stinky weepy beast.

The party should be awesome; we love supporting and helping Wendy at Ooga Booga – her store is dope and it’s in Chinatown, Jake. Need we say more? Maybe next time we’ll make sweet and sour veggies with schezuan peppers and hot mustard, but why compete? We know how to bring the flavor, duh. And the secret’s in the batter – that hint of nutmeg, cumin, black pepper, and orange. It’s bananas.

Crops and Rawbers Northern Excursion

This past weekend I went to San Francisco on tour with my band blackblack and while taking advantage of the trip and playing as many shows possible, I also got to experience some Bay Area food adventures. The first night we got there we played in sol house in oakland which is a center of sustainable living in which they grow organic produce and recycle and do community projects and education about sustainable living. We got there and they had made a delicious vegan meal, dirty pots and pans all over their huge kitchen and lots of happy eating faces! In back they have turned a vacant lot into a beautiful, plentiful garden. and they reuse their water for the garden. even the sink water in the bathroom went straight to a bucket and was used to flush the toilet. I talked to one of the ladies that made the meal and lives in the sol house and she said there is one coming in a few months to Los Angeles on Melrose and Orange, so keep an eye out!
http://www.oaklandsol.org/wp/
It was so fun to play a show in their sustainable palace, especially because we got to play with our friends Cryptacize, who are one of my favorite bands right now, amazing songs and overall adorable people.
myspace.com/cryptacize
The next day we lugged our amps to the middle of a Berkeley forest and played for a wonderful group of enthusiast face-painted college kids. They had yummy snacks, like vegan pumpkin cookies, and even tried crops and rawbers chocolate truffle recipe to great success. After lugging the amps back out of the forest, we were so ready for an energizing meal at Cafe Gratitude. It was my first time there and one of the most delicious raw meals i have ever had. All the dishes are named after sentences of self-admiration, and I got the I Am Cheerful with the works. Very appropriate! It was a sprouted pumpkin seed and walnut burger, def recommend it.
Constable got the same and Lola and Frederick got raw pizzas, the I Am Sensational and the I Am Mahalo. It was a great mid-minitour treat.
A very inspiring weekend overall.

Oh, the Glory of it All !

A Crops and Rawbers Guide To Los Angeles Farmers Markets

Oh plentiful California with yr temperate climate and yr bountiful sun food, we hail you! Seriously, our week is a revolving door of farmers markets – each one providing us with different produce pleasures and pals.

South Pas
Thursday night is South Pasadena – where babies obviously reign and weirdos working for the Democratic Party are on the hustle. Obama, kale, gay marriage, pluots, bok choy, etc. The true tip to mastering the So Pass market is a get in- get out mentality that enables you to weave beautifully through the best of stands and steer clear of overwhelming ex- punk rockers singing inane nursery rhymes and the whole front of house mess full of pulled pork or tri tip sammies, whole roasted chickens, the lonely lady who makes the “art quiches” (dear lord), and the always out-of-hand kettle korn fare.
Our faves:
Rad indie friend at the lettuce bag/fresh herb stand – he’ll break yr $50, banter with you about arugula, and has the best “spicy mix” ever
Korean fermented food guy – AMAZING RAW seaweed, kim chee, lotus and burdock root, and pickled ginger but watch out for his soy samples !
Rey’s suger cane stop – dude, she’ll set you up with raw master cleanse drinks, mix you up the avo-cane smoothie, sell you thai coconuts, and you can take a look at her unwieldy sugar cane juicer

Eagle Rock
Friday night lights at the Eagle Rock farmers market is a totally random scene. You could run into bored Occidental College kids looking for free peach samples, cool local business owners like Rainy from Lucy Finch, or even a weird Thai Elvis. Sadly the roasted peanut is king at this market, but friendly faces more than make up for that ! Also probably the rowdiest group of Asian buyers going through long beans and Japanese eggplants this side of downtown. Not to be missed !
Our faves:
Sweet farm girl at the first stand next to the bouncey castle – mangos, papayas, kiwis: are you kidding me?? She’s got giant jicama and oyster mushrooms and tells you when you’ve picked out a yucky dud
Bills Honey peeps – freshest, most delicious raw honeys in orange blossom and almond, and currently my only source of $9 bottles of bee pollen. YES !
Greens Hombres – best dudes ever selling holey arugula, chards, butterleaf lettuce, cucs, dill, celery. It’s my juice bar ! and best of all, they always remember you and give you the best deal every time
Dried Guy – most rad sundried plums, apricots, and raisins I’ve ever tasted with no shitty dyes, hidden sugars, or nasty oils. Also our badass stop for raw almonds, walnuts, and trail mix

Atwater
Sunday afternoon Atwater Village style is a wacky population. You’d think there’d be more amazing 30-somethings strolling around, trying to be seen in their Sunday best, but with the huge Hollywood market only miles away this is more of a devil-may-care crowd. I saw a few floppy hats, don’t get me wrong, but the vibe is so chill and the fruit and veg so colorful it gets my vote for the best brunch spot on the eastside.
Our faves:
Cheap fig basket Homies - $3.25 for a basket of green, plump figs and you’ve got a fan for life. Don’t even put them in yr bag, just stroll and chomp
Humane Adopt a Pet Stand – don’t have any, but it’s always a tempting offer
Caliente Crews – favorite array of hot chilies I’ve seen yet at the farmers markets, always looking so fresh and hot. So many to choose from, you could seriously jump in and swim in jalepeno

Highland Park
Tuesday after 4 you can hit up the Highland Park farmers markets for yr last minute smoothie needs and for tonight’s special din-din. Not a great selection, and def not a warm scene but an important middle-of-the-week raw rainbow, nonetheless. It’s the short and sweet that rule here, from the are-we-already-done layout to the lack of bustlin’ chatter so indicative of yr local street bazaar. But screw it, I can do my own thang.
Our faves:
Garden Gal – she grows everything in her back yard and has a story for each squash and gourd. She’s got these rustic basket displays and ten cent chilies and probably won’t be getting her pricey organic certification anytime soon
Avo Sample Studs – huge tupperwares full of avocado for sampling. Is this heaven, mom, am I here already? Not to mention they always point me away from the seedless grapes and straight to the potent life-giving ones.
Nectarine queens – the ripest, roundest nectarines and peaches. Apples and asian pears for our green juice, ready-to-eat persimmons and luscious lemons.

Please buy locally, seasonally, and from hard working hardass farmers who love the land, live the land, and bring it all right to yr lucky self. No more store-bought produce, picked early, ripened on a truck, driven from god knows where ! That’s our solemn oath and we’ve never been happier. Bon Appetite !

Au Lac

Last nite hang sesh with Cameron and Erica at Au Lac – the vegan/raw asian dive we discovered last month and have not stopped dreaming about since. Cameron and Erica are the raddest omnivores ever – they order off the raw menu with us, let me create giant zucchini noodle bowls for them, and live with a little raw foodie friend – sissy spacek the cottontail bunny. She chomps on her romaine like the best of us !

Sadly, Au Lac is in the bummer of all strip malls in Fountain Valley – where seriously half the spots are up for rent and the only thing appealing is a rasta store where I scored a major friendship bracelet. Usually I don’t say this, but screw the bad atmosphere. This place has sheer divinity in its food. I got the out-of-my-mind hot and sour soup with buttloads of amazingly giant pieces of seaweed, Britt had the sprouted wild rice masala, and Cam and Erica feasted on the oozing iceberg shell taco. But since we wanted to get serious, and there’s no screwing around with our greens, we had to order two “da bowls” – the salad to end your salad days. Avo, white onion, olives, tomatoes, bits of flax crackers, sprouted candied pecans and the lightest tangiest vinegrette since Mr. Newman passed on ! Better even – sorry Paul ! Dessert was slices of chocolate chai and scotch on the rocks pies. Look, it was just a moan fest. Jonathan Gold was right – the best shit ever is tucked away in the most random nasty complexes nestled between the Curves gym and the sketchy checks cashing place.

Major and all shout outs and props go to Chef Ito, the man of the night, who, after taking a vow of silence, makes his daily raw delights with all the love, spirit, humanity, and calm of a monk on the Himalayas. Complimentary chocolates, bear hugs, constant eye contact through admittedly strange hand and facial miming, and – most badass of all – a crazy elixir cure-all on the house for super sicky Cameron. One shot and he was speedy and snotty – ahh, the road to recovery ! And all raw, organic, vegan, and composed with care. We were all feeling elated and hopeful. Food that beautiful can be served to you by a man so beautiful. High all night and into today.

Check out Au Lac restaurant
Our favs:
Curried guacamole
Hot and sour seaweed soup
Durian smoothie
Raw soft taco
Da Bowl

I Scream

Raw chocolate ice cream is what keeps us going. Britt claims it’s that final hump at the end of the day that makes him say, “hallelujah I’m raw.” Seriously, give up pizza and fries – at least the cooked versions we know of them – and suffer a bit. Taste the raw versions and adjust yr palette - we have… happily ! but missing ice cream and feeling the hole that’s left there in yr heart – or tooth, perhaps more accurately – is a crucial hump to bump in yr transition phase. Why fret? Honestly, chowing on our raw chocolate orange ice cream last night sprinkled with some cinnamon and a few chopped walnuts was like a good old jaunt to ben and what-his-names anyway ! I got this ice cream maker for ten whole bucks at a random thrift store in the valley – even to Britt’s protests that it may not work – and we’ve never looked back since. We made wild fig and vanilla after our forage into the woods brought plentiful fruits and poison oak, almond butter cup swirl for helga’s birthday gift, and blackberry peach sorbet to assuage the cravings beast, but it’s been a chocoholic meeting nightly around here. A fav tip – it’s the quality of the cacao that gets you that instant high. We use dagoba or navitas and it kicks the butt of any wimpy haagan daaz anyday. More fav tips – keep yr ice cream canister freezing over night, let the ice cream churn for twenty minutes but past that make sure to check it hasn’t overdone it back to soupy stuff, and lastly you can invest in the great book vice cream but only follow the recipes so closely. If you don’t have everything he calls for, throw in some substitutions and get wacky ! It’s time the world saw more salt and pepper sorbet or lemon basil mint ice cream. Throw in some greens too if yr looking for the ultimate alkalinity meets sugar rush! Next on the cue – a pecan and praline and something with kale for diva. The ice cream socials never stop. It’s a rocky road for sure.

time to get this blog going again!!!
so much exciting stuff has been going on in the crops and rawbers world.
After a small semi-hiatus due to amanda's adventures into living light culinary school certification (!!!!), we are ready to feed the masses with some really delicious dishes.
We are going to be having some fun events coming up so make sure to check up on our myspace, and check back here for photos!
October 2nd we will be starting our dinner and a movie series at Echo Curio, with Woody Allen's Bananas and a cuban food voyage in accompaniment.
anyway, here's what we have been up to all summer (Beast Feast, Flowerpot Cupcakes, Kombucha Popscles, and Friends):

TSOL

With only 7 days to go until the big day, the Dompe' faction of C&R decided to start the countdown with a little raw tribute to the island that started it all. With so many theories being thrown around, whose to say the Lost island isn't actually a raw food cake sitting on top of a pots and pans sculpture in my kitchen in a parallel universe? (see photo). The puke green color of the island was made possible by the avocado (one of my favorite ingredients for any recipe) with some sweet extras. The ocean, however, proved a more difficult task. Who knew blueberries do not produce a blue juice perfect for oceans? So it was decided that the ocean would be blood red, symbolizing doom. The body of the mountain was obviously made of banished souls. That's why it is so spooky! But guess what, it's also delicious. Everyone dug in. Even the cat (a.k.a Fortress a.k.a. Emperor a.k.a. Vlad a.k.a. Chippypepep) was contributing some serious vibes. Next up: life-size John Locke cake.

tonights dishes: DHARMA RAWMA