"Kitchen Farming" epiphany & My Sweet Tooth

*'Kitchen farming' is a term coined by Terces Engelhart of Cafe Gratitude.

We have been making radical shifts in the kitchen, driven by a bodily condition that demands new input; building good blood for major surgery. We are juicing piles of greens every day, especially fennel, parsley, kale, celery,  with ample fresh horseradish, ginger and garlic. The green juice is phenomenal. I can almost hear my cells zinging and have no doubt that my blood is getting richer as it courses through my veins.

Part of the regimen has been to eliminate all grains for the time being (I happen to find surprisingly liberating), and it also requires eschewing all refined foods, which means (the big one); seeking out and experimenting with all manner of sweet alternatives to refined sugar. We both love chocolate and have for years concurred that most 'alternatives' to our favorite chocolate treats in no way rank as acceptable alternatives.

It was right around my birthday when we discovered Cafe Gratitude's Chocolate Mousse. For clear moments we were speechless (with joy!); knowing that every ingredient is something our bodies are more than happy to put to good use, AND.... it tastes like the real McCoy (as my dad would say). This chocolate mousse even has Irish moss in it; Irish moss!! Now that's sweet.

So we got hold of the Cafe Gratitude book, 'I Am Grateful'. We've been making our own chocolate mousse** among other delights, and we are stoked.

Yet, all of this is a process; a lot of work; takes time; a lot of time. Everything takes longer to bring this food to our plates; from juicing veg to soaking nuts to combining tons of 'new' (long-forgotten) ingredients into our daily round.

And here comes Terces of Cafe Gratitude and names it. She calls it 'kitchen farming'* and she delights in it; everything that it takes to make it happen, she delights in it.

Kitchen farming..... it caught me inside, right where I needed catching. The concept is doing the trick. It lifts me from the tricky feelings I have been encountering through this increased 'workload' in the kitchen to a bigger context. I know I am not alone among my women friends, to have experienced going into the kitchen with a willing heart, only to find ourselves depleted and drained before we're done, just as our mothers before us. Over the years this has made me avoid the kitchen, tend towards deli bars, grazing, snacking; anything to eliminate cooking full-on meals in endless rounds.

To relate to what we're doing now as kitchen farming begins to shift a drudgery dynamic passed-down (former slaving over a hot stove!). It actually causes me to remember the whole cycle; what it took to till and plant and grow and bring this awesome array of foods to our kitchens. Now here I am doing the final piece; preparing the feast from great plenty, and I am in awe.


** Note on sweeteners - chocolate mousse recipe in Cafe Gratitude book calls for Agave nectar. The Cafe Gratitude chocolate mousse we purchased in San Francisco was actually sweetened with coconut palm sugar. We guess Cafe Gratitude has made the switch.


We have not been using Agave syrup since we read the 2009 excoriating article in the Townsend Letter so I was curious about this 'coconut palm' sugar source. 

Coconut palm sugar is the sap of the coconut palm; low glycemic and high in minerals, making it a good choice for nutritious desserts. You are going to see more natural food manufacturers making the switch in coming months.


You might experiment also in your dessert adventures, with using a little Stevia (then less of whatever other sweetener you are choosing to use). Stevia plant is a great resource but if used as the sole sweetener, will leave you with a weird aftertaste in your mouth.