Make a date with a friend to meet at a Monday Dinner, or come by yourself and make new friends! Either way, you'll get a great meal and a lot more--everyone wins!

Help publicize the Monday Dinners! An easy way to spread the word about our weekly community gathering is to click on the Tell-A-Friend link in the upper left of this page. Just fill out the form with the email addresses of up to two friends, along with any personal comments you'd like to add, and click Submit--this emails your comments along with pre-written details of the Dinners and a link to this website!

Another way to help is to post a copy of our Dinner Menus in public locations. For a pdf file suitable for printing, click here.

To reduce expenses, the newsletter is no longer printed and mailed, but will continue online at peninsulamacro.org. To be added to an email list for notifications of newsletter updates (every two months) and other events,

On May 11, 1987, Chef Gary Alinder cooked a Gourmet Vegetarian Dinner for the Peninsula Macrobiotic Community at St. Bede's Church in Menlo Park. That first cooking gig marked the start of a regular Monday Dinner event-along with its associated friendships, educational activities, and community-which has repeated itself well past 1000 times. Join us on May 6 to celebrate our remarkable 26th Anniversary!

For a superb vacation, attend the 44th Annual French Meadows Summer Camp, sponsored by the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation, in the Tahoe National Forest, July 13-21 (partial stays possible). The camp includes vegan meals prepared by expert staff, lectures on macrobiotics, cooking classes, shiatsu massage, yoga, Qigong, hiking, dancing, variety show, and much more! For information, call 530 566-9765 or visit http://ohsawamacrobiotics.com.

Michael Bauce cooks and Kaare Bursell lectures at a monthly macrobiotic dinner and lecture at Michael's home in Berkeley, 1922 Ward St, on April 10 (The Unique Principle of Yin And Yang) and May 8 (Liver and Gall Bladder), dinner ($12) is served at 6:30 pm, and the lecture ($10) begins at 7:00 pm; by Monday. For more information on this monthly Wednesday event, see http://berkeleymacrobiotics.blogspot.com (find the August 19, 2011 entry in Older Posts).

Chef Gary Alinder has started a blog at http://macrochef.wordpress.com. Tune into Gary's views on a variety of subjects including food and health, and leave your comments! He has also posted a recipe archive which includes soups; main dishes; sauces, gravies, and dressings; and desserts and snacks.

The North Bay Macrobiotic Potluck Group usually meets the first Sunday of each month in Santa Rosa, contact Stephen Starkweather ( ), 707 542-9739, http://www.northbaymacro.org.

 

Macrobiotic cook Michael Bauce teaches a macrobiotic cooking class. Learn to cook delicious, healthy, vegan macrobiotic meals or sharpen your present skills. Learn to minimize your time in the kitchen and still enjoy balanced, home-cooked, satisfying meals. Sunday, April 7, 10 am-1 pm, $30, at Michael's home in Berkeley, 1922 Ward St. To register, or call 510 841-5420, http://berkeleymacrobiotics.blogspot.com.

James Holloway, frequent Guest Chef at the Monday Dinners, does personal home cooking in Palo Alto, in macrobiotic and classical styles, call 650 852-9182.

Marin-based cookbook author, lecturer, and macrobiotic food coach Meredith McCarty teaches cooking classes and lectures on health topics. To register, please visit http://www.marinlearn.com or call (415) 945-3730.

Cooking Classes are held at Redwood High School, Room 120/Staff Lounge, 395 Doherty Drive, Larkspur, CA 94939, $50

• Cooking Whole Grains: Sushi & Dessert
  Tuesday, April 16, 6:30-8:30 PM
• Beans & Greens!
  Tuesday, May 14, 6:30-8:30 PM

Lectures, at the locations listed, $25

• Plant-Based Whole Foods Menu Planning
  Thursday, April 18, 6:30-8:00 PM, Tamalpais High, Wood Hall Rm. 151, 700 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
• Healthy Eating for Healthy Aging
  Thursday, May 16, 6:30-8:00 PM, Tamalpais High, Wood Hall Rm. 151, 700 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941
• Healthy Vegan Home Chef
  Thursday, May 30, 6:30-8:00 PM, Sir Francis Drake High School, Rm. 102, 1327 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA 94960

For more information on Meredith's activities, visit http://healingcuisine.com or call 415 272-5525.

For information on macrobiotic activities in the East Bay, contact Macrobiotic Health Counselor Michelle Nemer in El Cerrito, 510 527-4367 or

Macrobiotic Counselor Julie Ong teaches macrobiotic cooking classes and does macrobiotic consultations in San Francisco; visit http://juliesong.com/ or call 415 312-0241.

Speakers receive a gratuity from the audience; please show your support and appreciation with a donation ($5-10 suggested).

On April 29, Julia Ferré will speak on Awakening and Developing Intuition. Each person has a relationship with food that is personal, unique, and long lasting. Your relationship starts at birth and continues for your entire life. Learning about food and your relationship to it can help you develop healthy habits that not only support your well-being, but also supports intuitive awareness. Likewise, you can learn how to use intuitive awareness to reinforce healthy habits of food selection and consumption.

This lecture summarizes some of the key points from Julia's course, Food and Intuition 101. Julia introduced this topic last year at the Monday Night Dinner, and is returning with copies of the book for sale. Newly released, Food and Intuition, 101 is a 2-volume set and is available for purchase at special pricing. Come join in the release of this long awaited book.

Julia Ferré, CHT is a certified hypnotherapist, Reiki master, and an integrative facilitator in helping to enable consciousness. Her work includes personal one-on-one sessions, group sessions, workshops, and writing for a worldwide audience. Julia has received certification from the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners (ACHE) and Sylvia Browne and offers sessions for energy, attunement, and personal growth. She is author of the newly released Food and Intuition 101, Basic Macrobiotic Cooking, and French Meadows Cookbook. Julia and husband, Carl Ferré, manage the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation and the nonprofit East West Center for Macrobiotics, and write for and publish Macrobiotics Today magazine. The Foundation sponsors an annual summer gathering--the French Meadows Summer Camp. Julia lives in northern California with her family. For more information, see http://www.JuliaFerre.com.

On May 13, chef, educator, and author Laura Stec will speak on Cool Cuisine - Feed Your Body, Mind and Planet. Foods that are best for the health of our people are also best for the health of our planet. Is this statement accurate, why does it matter, and most importantly if it is true, what's in it for eaters? Based on the book, Cool Cuisine - Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming, and work by Harvard University in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America, this talk links the four key U.S. dietary concerns (overweight and eating too much sodium, poor carbohydrates, and red meat) to major problems affecting environmental health. We show how the problems (and solutions) contribute to the taste and nutrient-quality of our food, and how teaching food/environment connections is an important motivator (especially in youth). We review The Shoppers Challenge, a food industry take on how grocery shoppers choose what to buy, and discuss ways to inspire eaters toward healthy, full-flavored choices. A discussion of the "energetics of food," plus a mini cooking demo, complete the presentation.

Laura Stec is a chef, educator, and author, specializing in sustainable food education and product research and development. She is Culinary Health Educator for Kaiser Permanente and volunteer with Michelle Obama's Chefs Move to School program. Laura is former chef instructor for Lifelong Inc. and consulting chef for the International Culinary School. As Corporate R & D Chef for Pescadero Foods Inc., Laura worked on farms with pasture-raised chickens, and on a local-food line for the National School Lunch Program. In 1988 she founded EcoEaters, a premiere food and environment education program in the U.S., and currently lectures nationally and internationally about healthy people, healthy planet connections. Her book, Cool Cuisine - Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming, is co-authored with atmospheric scientist Dr. Eugene Cordero. Visit her website http://laurastec.com.  

The Community Connection feature appears when an author is inspired enough to produce an interview or profile for publication.

Enjoy these past features on community members by Denise Huajardo Springer, Sky Ann McGrath, and Gerard Lum:

• Simply Paul Schmitt
• Life Really Does Begin at 40! An Interview with Diane Wohler
• Eating Mother's Chicken: Making Choices in Life, An Interview with Gary Alinder
• Plain Miklane? An Interview with Miklane Janner
• Ken Becker on Macrobiotics, Part One
• Ken Becker on Macrobiotics, Part Two
• Passionate About Growing Healthy Food, An Interview with Patricia Becker
• By Having Hope, What Are You Going to Lose? An Interview with Geneva Page and Baron
• You Can Really Fly with It, An Interview with Gerard Lum
• An Evolving Vision of Community, An Interview with Miklane Janner
• Making a Difference Through Cooking, An Interview with Susanne Jensen 

Email Notification of Newsletter: To receive an email notification each time the Newsletter and Dinner Menus are published on this site (every two months), .

 

Mailing List Policy: The newsletter and dinner menus are no longer sent by postal mail; the last issue mailed was October/November 2012, No. 156.

Tax-Deductible Contributions: We welcome and can use additional contributions to the Peninsula Macrobiotic Community, as income from the Dinners does not pay all of our expenses. We are a nonprofit organization, so additional contributions are fully tax-deductible. Write checks to "Peninsula Macrobiotic Community", and mail to Gerard Lum, 101 E. Middlefield Road #9, Mountain View, CA 94043, 650 903-0447.

Back Issues of the Newsletter and Menus: Click here.