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.

Best Wishes for a Safe and Happy Holiday Season, and a Happy New Year! Dinner will not be served on Dec 21 and Dec 28.

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.

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 101 Menu Ideas for Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays and a recipe archive which includes soups; main dishes; sauces, gravies, and dressings; and desserts and snacks.

For an interesting view of current health topics, check out the examiner.com online articles written by Suzanne Olson for the San Francisco Examiner. Suzanne is a regular at the Monday Dinners.

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.

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 a New Year's Resolution Cooking Class on Tuesday, January 26; 6:30-8:30 PM, Redwood High School, Room 120, 395 Doherty Dr., Larkspur, $50. Also, she will do a lecture, Healthy Eating for Healthy Aging, on Thursday, January 28; 6:30-8 PM, Tamalpais High School, Wood Hall 148, 700 Miller Ave. at Camino Alto, Mill Valley, $25/lecture. Register for cooking classes or lectures at http://marinlearn.com or call 415 945-3730. For more information, visit Meredith's website http://www.healingcuisine.com or call 415 272-5525.

Macrobiotic Health Counselor Michelle Nemer, based in El Cerrito, teaches The Power of Foods workshop series in Albany on December 3, 10, 17; and the Macrobiotic Healthcare workshop series on January 14, 21, and 28; Thursday nights, 7-9:30 PM, $35/class. She also teaches a variety of seasonal cooking classes on the following Saturdays: December 12, January 16, 23, 30. 1-4 PM in Kensington, $45/class. For details, email or call 510 527-4367.

Macrobiotic Counselor Julie Ong teaches macrobiotic cooking classes and does macrobiotic consultations in San Francisco; visit http://www.everythingmacrobiotics.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 December 14, longtime macrobiotic practitioner Maral Haddeland will demonstrate The Ginger Compress and Other Macrobiotic Home Remedies. The ginger compress consists of placing hot towels, or compresses, on an area of the body in need of treatment. The towels have been soaked in hot water containing grated ginger. Ginger has both strong yang energy because it is a root, and strong yin, dispersive energy which is released by grating it. The heat of the water and the energy of the ginger penetrate deeply, breaking up stagnant accumulations and improving circulation.

Compresses can be applied to any part of the body that needs them. The macrobiotic teacher Kaare Bursell is a strong proponent of applying ginger compresses to break up chronic intestinal stagnation in the large intestine, the result of eating a modern diet over a lifetime. Maral applies the compresses to the kidneys, to increase energy, decrease feelings of fear (associated with kidneys), and cope better with cold weather. With warming, relaxing, and energizing effects that are immediately apparent, doing a ginger compress on a friend is a precious and bonding gift.

In addition to demonstrating the ginger compress, we encourage participants to share any remedies that they have found beneficial.

In the 1970s, after watching a friend use macrobiotics to overcome a chronically tired condition, Maral immersed herself in studies with teachers Michio Kushi, Herman and Cornellia Aihara, and Patrick and Meredith McCarty. She has been doing compresses on herself and friends for over 30 years.

On January 18, Claudia Delman will speak on Flower Essences and Their Potential for Healing. Flower essences are energetic medicine which can help us heal on many levels. They can reduce stress and enhance our health by providing us with emotional support when we use them. They are simple to take and are a wonderful way to make subtle yet significant changes in our lives. During her talk, Claudia will explore a few of the ways flower essences and energetic medicine can help us live more to our potential.

Claudia holds a Master of Public Health degree and has been working with flower essences for more than 20 years. She treats both people and animals with essences and has created a line of essences to help people and animals adjust to life's challenges. 

By Macrobiotic Counselor Michelle Nemer

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: 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.