Day 15 at the Kushi Institute

Last night after dinner we had a drum session in the library.  One of the teachers brought a bunch of her drums and other instruments and we got a cushion and picked an instrument and we started playing.  It didn;t matter if you couldn't play an instrument there was something anybody could play to beating two rocks together to my favorite a gourd covered with a shaker hat.  That is what I hit all night.  It was a nice session and some of us got up and danced.  I think everybody had a good time. 
You can even learn abour skincare here.  One of the teachers was telling us that brown rice bran is good for washing your face because it gives the face a little exfoliation but also helps to nourish it because of the vitamin E and B vitamins.  They say that the women in Japan use it a lot.  I purchased it at the Kushi store and it is very nice.  They call it "Nuka".  You put about a teaspoon of the powder into a piece of cheesecloth and then you rub it on your face.  The residue you you massage into the face and then rinse with warm water. The cheesecloth will last about 3 days before you have to change it. You can also put it in the tub if you are suffering from dry skin, You then put about 2 tablespoons into a cheesecloth and let it soak while you run the water for the bath.   I also purchased oraganic Rose Hip Oil to help moisturize the face.  The two together give the face a nice glow.  Both items can be purchased fro the Kushi Store on line.  The more I learn about different things for the skin I will let you know.

Day 14 at the Kushi Institute

Today iit is beautiful.  The sun is shining and it must be about 75 degrees outside.  I have been here for two weeks and the time is just flying by.  It has been nice being some place that doesn't have a TV so at dinner and afterwards many of us spend a lot of time talking and getting to know each other.  Make-up and facy clothes is not important since we have to get up early to exercise and then go to classes I skip on the make-up and my hair is going to be in a bandana later in the day so it gets pulled back into a headband.  At the beginning I felt naked without my make-up and my hair looking perfect but after awhile your skin feels better by the foods that you are eating that you don't want to cover it in make-up and chemicals.  My hair is starting to have a nice shine so I don't want to douce it with hairspray.  When I get home it will be interesting to see if I will go back to wearing foundation or not.
Tonight I am going to practice my shiatsu massage technique on one of my collegues called Noemi.  She is from Japan and she is a student in Level one classes.  She owns a restuarant and got sick by eating all the fried foods that she was cooking.  A friend told her about Macrobiotics and she started following the diet and got better.  She came here to learn more and is going back and changing her restaurant into a Macrobiotic rstuarant.   I asked her if she was going to loose all her clients and she said no they are excited about the change.
Today for lunch we had some steamed squash which was great.  If you are looking for a quick vegetable to eat I would just cut up some butternut squash, acorn, or one called Kabocha.  It is so good for your digestion and will nourish the pancreas.  The squash is naturally sweet so you won't be have a sweet tooth later in the day.  All they did was  add a pinch of salt into the water and that was it.  I am learning how to just let the vegetables stand for themselves instead of always trying to add things to them or change them.

Day 13 at the Kushi Instiute

Today we woke up with the snow being all over the ground and everywhere.  It lasted till about 11:00a.m. and then it all disappeared, but it was beautiful while it lasted.  Today we learned how to cook with Barley and how it helps to break up animal protein and mucus from the body.  You can cook it in a pot like rice, the pressure cooker, or in the clay pot in the pressure cooker.  Th barley has to be soaked over night to help break it down a little bit.   My favorite way it was cooked today was called the "5 element" barley dish because you added 5 different vegetables to it and then put it in the clay pot and then the clay pot into the pressure cooker  to cook.  The 5 vegetables were carrots, corn, shitake mushrooms, lotus root, and dried tofu.  The only seasoning was a pinch of salt and the vegetables came out sweet and juicy with the barley being just the right consistency.  All the vegetables in the dish were diced about the same size.  This is a wonderful hearty dish to make during the fall and winter or when it snows in late April.   The kitchen made vegetable tempura for lunch also to keep us warm and at breakfast the chef added grated ginger too so we could stay warm while we sat in class all day.  It is fun learning how to tweek your diet for the weather or for whatever kind of energy you  are going to be spending for the day.  For example if I was going to at home writing a chapter of my book that day I should eat lighter and more greens so I could concentrate and stay seated to write.  If I was going to work outside and do physical labor I can up my nuts and natural sugars like fruit or a liitle brown rice syrup to give me the energy I need for that activity.  I am loving how I can help my family, friends, and patients with the different foods.

Day 12 at the Kushi Instiute

Well my husband says if you don't like the weather in New England just wait 5 minutes and today proved him right.  It was a cool sunny day and then suddenly it got cold, cloudy, and then it started to snow, so this is a picture of the snow that was falling for about 10 minutes and then it got suny and hot again.  We all ran outside to take pictures.  Today I learned how to cook Nishime.  This dish is good for tonifying the digestion and the intestines.  You cut up squash, carrots, shitake mushrooms, and burdock and then you layer them in a cooking pot begining with the shitake mushrooms first, squash, then the carrots, and the burdock last.  Put about 1/2 and inch of water and bring it to a boil.  Add a pinch of salt cover and cook for about 20 -40 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.  Be careful not to burn the vegetables or to pull them out before they are ready especially the burdock root.  It contains a volatile oil that needs to be cooked out.  This dish is very delicious and with the weather going from cold, then cold rainy, and then a little sunny it warms the belly and nourishes the digestion.
Burdock Root if you have never seen burdock before you can buy it at most Asian stores it is a loon brown root that is kinda of beige on the inside.  The helps to clear the skin but also helps to tonify the large and small intestines.  It is very yang so it also give you energy and warmth to intestines.  I love cooking this root I guess because my weakness is my large intestine and every time I eat it I just feel good inside.
At the Kushi Institute they don't use much seasoning at all except for some salt, soy sauce, mirin, ume vinegar, and miso.  At the beginning it can be a little disconcerting but then after a few days you get used to it and you really get to enjoy the real taste of the food.  I am liking how the different vegetables just burst with flavor in your mouth.

Day 11 at the Kushi Institute

For all you that have kids or teenagers you are going to love what I learned in the kitchen today.  We made a pasta dish that was just as creamy and delicious as pasta alfredo, but it did not have any of then cream, butter, or regular pasta.  The chef  used spelt spagetti that is a grain pasta and then he made a sauce out of roasted pumpkin seeds.  After he roasted them he put them in the blender with some ume vinegar, water, and some soy sauce and it was gone in a few minutes.  He did add some brocolli, carrots , and  scallions to the dish so it just wasn't pasta and sauce, but I can't wait to get home and cook it for my 15 year old son who loves pasta alfredo. 
The other exciting thing that happened yesterday was I finally got it when the chefs would say let the knife do the work and just help it.  It felt amazing when you finally get it and you are not pushing the knife against it's will but it is doing most of the work and it does it so effortlessly.  I flet like the knife and I were friends or when you horseback ride and you and the horse become one.  It was a nice feeling.  It just took me 10 days to finally get it.  I guess on this issue I was a slow learner.

Day 10 at the Kushi Institute

Today is Sunday and this weekend is very quite.  I like it slow for a few days.  You get to catch up on your reading, do your laundry, and hang out with the students that remained.  Today for brunch we had corn meal and blueberry pancakes with maple syrup or brown rice syrup diluted.  The pancakes were a nice treat.  The other thing the chef made that I loved was broccoli flowerettes with grated mochi and then it has a chickpea, tahini, and lemon sauce.  That was my favorite and I can't wait to cook it for my children and for family.  The mochi kinda melts so my kids will think it is cheese but it is not.  Mochi is a pounded sweet rice that has been dried into hard block.  You can then grate it with a very fine grater so it lookes like parmesan.  I am on my way to cook dinner and another adventure in the kitchen.

Day 9 at the Kushi Instiute

I got to do breakfast and lunch today so I was a litle tired at the end of my shift.  One of the chefs today taught me how to chop an onion.  The first onion I did did not look so good but I finally did get used to it.  I also got to help in making a pressed salad out of red cabbage, pickled daikon, and grated radish.  He added Ume vinegar to it instead of salt because the pickled daikon was already salty.  They came out great too.  My big project this afternoon ws making the black gomachio.  Black gomachio is a seasoning that you put on your food.  It is made up of black sesame seeds and sea salt.  You first roast the sesame seeds in a frying pan and then in another you roast the salt.  It was 6 cups of black sesame to 4 1/2 teaspoons of salt.  You then first put the salt into a pottery bowl that is serated on the sides and you take a wooden pole and start grinding the salt down till it becomes lke a powder and then you pour that into a bowl and start grinding the black sesame till they kinda break in half and then you mix it together.  The black sesame seeds are high in calcium, iron, good omega oils, and the black sesame seeds   I love it.  If you are interested you can go to the health food abd buy it at Chamberlins or Whole Foods.  Just sprinkle it on your greens, and grains.
I'm off to do my laundrry