Late-Breaking News: Macrobiotic Teacher and Counselor Gabriele Kushi has just released a new book Embracing Menopause Naturally. She will be at our dinner on January 8 for a book signing and after-dinner reading. There will be no charge for this event, which was arranged after the December/ January newsletter was printed. For more details, visit After-Dinner Events.

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. Thanks to Sairus Patel for his donation of Adobe Acrobat software to the PMC.

Best Wishes for a Safe and Happy Holiday Season, and a Happy New Year! Dinner will not be served on Dec 25 and Jan 1.

Thank you to those who have contributed to our Fundraising Drive. If you have not yet contributed, your help is needed--donations to the Peninsula Macrobiotic Community (PMC) are accepted in any amount. $10/year is suggested to support the newsletter; larger amounts are applied to both the newsletter and other expenses, primarily insurance, and will also give us additional operating flexibility to handle rising costs. See From The Editor for details on contributing by mail. Donations, including $10 amounts to support the newsletter, are tax-deductible, as the PMC is a nonprofit organization.

Monthly Vegan Potlucks! The Peninsula Veggie Potluck People, a spinoff of the Monday Dinners, sponsor monthly vegan potlucks. For the date and location, call Diane Wohler, 408 873-4141, or Harold Stephenson, 650 856-1125, or visit http://pvpp.org. To host a fun potluck, call Harold or Diane.

Thanks to Cynthia Schuman for the following mini-review of a very unique restaurant experience: Even if you have no interest in raw foods, Café Gratitude (CG), which has locations in Berkeley and San Francisco, is worth a visit. They have a full menu including entrees, desserts, and lots of delicious, fresh-squeezed juices. But more than that, everything on their menu is titled with an affirmation. For instance, CG's uncooked version of marinara pizza is called, "I am passionate." Likewise, the live nachos take the moniker, "I am honoring." When the short-order cook wants to alert one of the wait staff that her order is up, he'll call out, "Mary, you are vivacious," so that Mary knows her stuffed avocado is ready to serve. (415/824-4652, http://www.cafegratitude.com)

Chuck Collison, Assistant Chef of the Monday Dinners, is a personal chef and runs a meal service in Marin. Call 415 258-0528.

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.

Anne Mark does macrobiotic takeouts and life style recommendations in Palo Alto, call 650 843-0255.

Marin-based cookbook author, lecturer, and macrobiotic food coach Meredith McCarty teaches cooking classes and leads market tours in Marin; call 415 381-1735 or visit http://www.healingcuisine.com.

Carolyn Peters caters and teaches cooking classes in San Francisco. Call 415 810-3496.

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

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could achieve your goals more quickly and easily? Wouldn't it be great if you could deliberately attract delightful people and amazing opportunities into your life? Wouldn't it be fun to master a few magic words that make it possible for you to thrive and prosper regardless of circumstances? This is exactly what you will learn on December 18 when Jacquelyn Aldana, author of the popular The 15-Minute Miracle Revealed, tells us How to Become an Irresistible Magnet for Love, Money, Miracles, and More.  

Jacquelyn Aldana is often referred to as the "Miracle Lady" because she discovered a proven-to-work formula that enabled her and her husband, Ron, to triumph over tragedy against all odds. In 1994, Ron was dying of stage IV cancer, their marriage was failing, and they were nearly bankrupt. While praying to God for a miracle, Jacquelyn was inspired to write something down on a piece of paper... and then it happened! Just 12 hours later, her "marriage on the rocks" became a marriage made in Heaven. Two days later, she and Ron began to generate more revenue than they had seen in 20 years. And three months later, Ron went to his doctors and they couldn't find a trace of cancer anywhere in his body! To find out how to consistently attract amazing miracles into YOUR life, join us on December 18 and/or visit http://www.15MinuteMiracle.com.

On January 8, Gabriele Kushi will sign and read from her new book Embracing Menopause Naturally - Stories, Portraits, And Recipes, A Guide To Balancing Your Midlife Transition With Macrobiotics. There will be no charge for this event, which was arranged after the December/ January newsletter was printed. Gabriele's book is a true companion for any woman who wants to nurture her spiritual and emotional growth, educate herself about cutting edge menopausal research, listen to other women's stories, try out easy kitchen-tested natural food recipes, and enjoy good health before, throughout and beyond the midlife years.

Author and chef Gabriele Kushi, BFA, MEA is a Macrobiotic Category One certified Teacher and Counselor for all Health Conditions. She holds a BFA summa cum laude in Photography and Native American studies, and apprenticed with Native American medicine women since 1986. For more than thirty years, Gabriele has taught people from all over the world and all walks of life how to become healthier and more self-reliant by choosing macrobiotic natural foods and sustainable lifestyles. For more information, visit http://www.kushiskitchen.com.

On January 15, Darren Huckle will speak on Beyond Food, Simple Ways to Increase Health and Vitality. Good nutrition can provide the basic building blocks for our bodies. Yet we can find that food alone is sometimes limited in its ability to rectify health challenges. In addition to health promoting "substance," i.e. nutrition, our bodies and minds also benefit from health promoting "signals" which can be internally or externally generated. This class will discuss the role of medicinal herbs, acupuncture and qi gong in enhancing "signals" for vibrant health and longevity. The talk will also include medicinal herb samples to taste and smell, and a demonstration of Golden Shield Qi Gong (an ancient system of energy cultivation; see http://goldenshieldqigong.com).

Darren Huckle, L.Ac., MTCM, is a Clinical Herbalist, Licensed Acupuncturist, and qi gong instructor from Santa Cruz. Darren has studied, cultivated, and used herbal medicines for over ten years. An avid holistic health educator, Darren teaches classes on Western and Chinese herbal medicine, wild edible and medicinal plants, nutritional energetics, organic gardening, Golden Shield Qi Gong, and Garden Based Herbalism. Darren teaches at The American School of Herbalism (which he co-directs), UCSC, Common Ground Garden Supply, and Five Branches Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Herb Presentation with Jody Main on July 10.

The Community Connection feature does not appear in this issue--interviewer Denise Huajardo Springer is unable to continue due to family commitments. We hope to resume the feature in the next issue.

Denise introduced her first interview for the December 2004 newsletter with the following:

This new section will feature one or two Peninsula Macrobiotic Community members each issue. The purpose is to get to know each other better and to provide information for striking up conversation and building connections. This column is based on my belief that each of us has unique gifts to share and a story to tell. Those featured here will range from those well known to many community members to those relatively unknown, from those who volunteer much of their time to those whose gift lies in their perspective on their limitations which might prevent them from giving in traditional ways. Please join in embracing what our community members have to share.

Past interviews:

• 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 

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: To get a printed copy of the Newsletter and Dinner Menus delivered by postal mail, or call the phone number below. To offset the expense of producing the Newsletter and Menus, we suggest a contribution of $10/year or more. The date and amount of your last newsletter contribution appears on your mailing label. Write checks to "Peninsula Macrobiotic Community", and mail to Gerard Lum, 101 E. Middlefield Road #9, Mountain View, CA 94043, 650 903-0447.

We periodically review our mailing list. Those who have not made a recent contribution are subject to removal.

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. Send contributions to the address in Mailing List Policy above.

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