Day 28 at the Kushi Institute

Well today was my last day in the kitchen and I got to sneek out early to attend the last class of level one which was desserts.  I have never been a big dessert maker, but I know if I want John (my son) to embrace macrobiotics I would have a better chance with a few desserts up my sleeve.  The first dessert was so easy and delicious.  It is called a Kanten which is kinda of like a jellow but they use a seaweed called agar agar instead of the animal product gelatin.  The dessert consisted of organic apple juice, chopped up apples and agar agar.  You take about 2 cups of apple juice to 2 cups of chopped apples and 5 heaping teaspoons of agar agar.  Put it in a pot to boil stirring ocassionally so tha agar agar doesn't clump. Simmer it for about 10 minutes or until the apples are soft.  Take off the stove and pour into small serving dishes or into a glass shallow bowl.  Refrigerate.  That can be the end of it or like the chef did today you can top it off with some cashew cream that was very easy to make.  The cashew cream was made by taking 2 cups of raw cashews washing them off and then pouring them into a pot with 2 cups of water bring them to a boil add a pinch of salt and cook for about 5 minutes or till they are soft.  Then transfer them to the blender and add a teaspoon of vanilla and a teaspoon of brown rice syrup blend until it is creamy.  The cashew cream gave the kanten a rich wonderful taste.  I can't wait to get home and make it for my family and our next meeting at our church.

The other thing I got to experience with Korean Moxa on my hand.  One of the students from Korea brought it and showed me how to do it.  Moxa is an herb called mugwort.  It is the most yang herb which means it stimulates circulation, warms the body and brings things back to balance. I burn moxa at my clinic on areas that are stiff and painful but in Korea they only use it on the hand because they say that the hand represents the whole body.  The moxa has been dried and it is put on a litle clay stand.  The whole thing is about one inch and you place it on different points of the hand for the digestion, reproductive, circulation, and memory.
She gave me a box and I am going to see how they worka and if I like it I will be doing it on my patients.