Lunch and Plums

Hello, Annalisa here again...last time I was here we made plums jam, and it was very interesting too see how a jam can be so delicious and so very natural, without refined sugar added.
Sanae and Eric have the tree in the yard, so we picked some plums, fresh from the tree right in the pot...cover the big pot half with water, boil it about 4-5 hours, then add some brown rice syrup to taste...and voila'!!
Too bad I didn't have my camera, so I couldn't take pics...well...next time, comin'up!
Today it's a little chilly,at least for me. I just got here, Sanae and Junko are at the post office, and I'm here, surrounded by those sweetie pie dogs that are sleeping, waiting for them to come back, and cook lunch alltogether.
I'm wondering what's cookin'today!

Since I don't have much to talk about today, I'll say this..I don't know why I'm literally craving corn those day...well,probably cause it well satisfies muy sweet tooth :-)...safely...anyway...I was brousing Sanae's cookbook, and there are a lot of recipes with corn. The one that appealed to me was the corn chowder...so I did it....it also includes a little piece of potato to show people it's ok to have a little bit every once in a while, like if U R healthy, U CAN, yes, U CAN have some nightshades here and there, some spices, etc...always, if U R not healing from any condition in particular...so, see, macrobiotic is not all about "don't eat this, avoid that.."...It's good to know I can still have some of my fav foods...by the way...did U know U can make delicious french fries out of yams??!! Try that too!! Satisfaction guarantee!
The other day I made the corn chowder, following it exactly...I cannot begin to tell U...how delicious it was. And without dairy! It's unbelievable, was so sweet I almost didn't crave any sweet for the whole time...I particularly LOOOOVE the basil oil, whicjh I actually used also as a dressing for other recipes, like for ex. a pressed salad, it's very refreshing, and it keeps good in the refrigerator for a while, so U can really use it and use it...I could have it out of a spoon...my dad was here a few months ago, and I asked him to bring me some very good e.v.olive oil from Italy, organic of course. So I used that, and also fresh basil just bought at the farmes market on Main str. in Santa Monica.
Also, I tried the simmered turnips, and those too, came out great, very tasty.
Actually the recipes are pretty easy to follow, and I feel sorry for non-vegetarians, which they don't know what they miss...before I gave up the standard diet (january 08) I thought I was going to be miserable, eating plain this, plain that, steam and boiled food that tastes like cardboard...well, I'm very glad to see I was very wrong. Almost every dish on the planet has the vegan version, and much more healthy too...for ex., Sanae's corn chowder has no milk at all, not even soy milk, but it's made creamy just by blending half of it, and putted it back to the pot. Of course, I think U can do that with other kind of soups too, like kabocha (my fav food), butternut, red lentils, etc...Also, one interesting thing is that the more I try these recipes, and the more it opens my mind, cause I can always use the ideas and changing the ingredients around..God bless the day I decided to give macrobiotic a try.
Best to all the readers,
ciao#Annalisa