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.

Thank you to the many who contributed generously to our Fundraising Drive! If you would like to support the Peninsula Macrobiotic Community (PMC), donations are accepted in any amount; $10/year is suggested to support the newsletter. 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 details, visit http://pvpp.org. To host a potluck, call Diane Wohler at 650 704-0669, or Harold Stephenson at 650 856-1125.

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.

A rare opportunity to learn from the Master! Monday Dinner Chef Gary Alinder will offer two Saturday cooking classes designed for novice and experienced cooks alike: on February 28, A Wide World of Soups, featuring classic soups from France, Turkey, Mexico and Vietnam, never before featured in any of Gary's cooking classes; on March 7, Home Style Japanese Vegetarian Cooking, including dishes Gary learned when he lived and worked in Japan. The classes take place from 10:30 am - 1 pm in the kitchen of the First Baptist Church of Palo Alto and include lunch. Suggested tuition is $45/class, $80/both, or sliding scale. To register, contact Gary at , 707 645-8402, or at the Monday Dinners.

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.

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

On February 16, Macrobiotic Counselor Julie Ong and future counselor Hana Kilibarda will speak on Cultivating Mindfulness and Beauty Through Macrobiotics. Suffering from debilitating migraine headaches for 20 years, Julie looked to macrobiotics for relief through diet and spirituality. Eating macrobiotically, especially whole grains, had an immediate, calming effect. And by cooking for herself and directly experiencing the effects firsthand, she began to develop and trust her intuition.

In the macrobiotic view, dis-eases such as migraines are really the result of blockages which prevent energy from flowing through meridians or energy pathways. A common cause of blockages is consumption of extreme foods. Removing blockages, by careful selection of balanced foods, restores natural, healthy energy flow in the body. With balance restored, dis-ease gradually recedes.

While blockages are usually created by extreme or unbalanced foods, they can also be created by merely thinking negative thoughts. In such cases, we can restore balance by re-focusing our thoughts positively through meditation and prayer, to realign ourselves with the order of the universe.

More than just food and eating, macrobiotics is really a wholistic way of living which can help us connect with universal energies. Through macrobiotic practice, we can develop and learn to trust our intuition and spirituality, to live and enjoy life in a higher state of mindfulness. And there are valuable side-benefits: when we eat quality foods and develop our inner wisdom for true health and wholeness, our inner beauty naturally shines through.

A recent graduate of the Kushi Institute, the world-renowned leader in macrobiotics, Julie is a certified macrobiotic counselor, spiritual life coach, ordained ministerial counselor, acupressure practitioner, and natural chef. She is passionate about coaching her clients from the wholistic view of macrobiotics, to nurture the self-transforming process of developing one's own intuition and spirituality. She currently holds cooking classes at Manzanita Restaurant in Oakland, specializing in organic vegan macrobiotic cuisine. Visit her website http://omkariwholisticliving.com (Julie's spiritual name is "Omkari").

A student and practitioner of macrobiotics for over ten years, Hana Kilibarda is currently working towards becoming a macrobiotic counselor. While obtaining her B.A. in Philosophy, Hana focused on Eastern philosophy, transpersonal psychology, and notions of collective consciousness. She is an alumni member of the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential. Her current research is focused on the dangers in cosmetics and personal care products, which she will cover in detail in her presentation. Prior to immersing herself into Omkari Wholistic Living, she was a civil rights attorney.

On March 16, Carl and Julia Ferré join us in an evening of Celebrating Macrobiotic Living. Julia will have copies of her new French Meadows Cookbook along with copies of her classic, Basic Macrobiotic Cooking. Rumor has it that she will bring samples of her delicious sesame brittle for everyone to share.

Having worked closely with Herman Aihara on his groundbreaking work on acid and alkaline in the 1980s, Carl will share his current work: Common Misconceptions About Acid and Alkaline. His presentation will include tips on how to maintain a restorative balance and how to alkalize quickly when needed. Those attending the talk will be given copies of Macrobiotics Today containing the first two installments of Carl's series on acid and alkaline.

Carl Ferré began macrobiotic practice in 1975 and has been studying, practicing, and teaching macrobiotic thinking and lifestyle ever since. He is author of Pocket Guide to Macrobiotics, president of the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation, editor of Macrobiotics Today magazine, and director of the French Meadows camp. He enjoys playing music and hiking in his "spare" time. Julia Ferré is a macrobiotic chef and cooking instructor who trained with Cornellia Aihara beginning in 1980. She helps Carl run the Foundation, specifically working on Macrobiotics Today and conducting the French Meadows camp.

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 

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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.

Back Issues of the Newsletter and Menus: Click here.