Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Join our next Group Cooking Class: Cooking to Restore Natural Beauty ‘n Health

Saturday, July 17               1-4 pm

RSVP: marsharueff@mac.com 770 . 396 . 9413         Limited seating!

Beauty is only skin deep – what’s deep inside us is who we really are, right?

Ok, but in macrobiotic view and oriental medicine, our facial features, coloring, condition of our skin, hair and nails actually gauge our health deep within, and the health of each of our organs.

So, this macrobiotic cooking class examines lifestyle and recipes to actually  attain renewed levels of health. And bring you both compliments & personal delight at how improved you look and feel! A very special class!

The Magic Menu!

Hato-Mugi Salad & Light Dressing

Kool Cucumber Soup

Summer’s Pressed Salade & Yummy Citrus Dress-it-up!

My Favorite Daikon Nishimi with Sweet Miso Dressing

Arame Salad

This Can’t Really Be a Dessert?! Dessert

We will also discuss and include recipes for home remedies to improve our health.

•••••••••••

July welcomes Warren Kramer back to Atlanta! Yep, July 28-August 1

Join our great week, starting Wednesday evening, July 28 at Cafe Sunflower with

our Dinner at 6 PM, and lecture to follow at 7:30 ~ location at the Rueff home.

Five days packed with lectures, cooking classes, private consultations offering you a chance to really streamline the macrobiotic diet and lifestyle to your personal condition at this time. Check Warren’s information at www.atlantamacrobiotics.com, and follow the prompts to the flyer of the week’s events and discounts! Definitely worth the trip to Atlanta! Remember, Warren’s the macrobiotic counselor Alicia Silverstone is suggesting we see whenever he’s available in your city.

A few consultation times are open, morning, afternoon, and evening after the lectures, so call or email me to get your time preference!

Please share with your friends & family!

Summertime, and Let’s Make Cookin’ Eazy. How’s that for a very Macrobiotic Cooking Class! And what makes these dishes great for summer you might be wondering! Rightfully so. It’s warm outside, and in too, and who wants to spend sunny delightful days inside cooking up a storm! Doesn’t fit, and you’re absolutely right-on! You’ll see some of these same types of recipes in Alisha Silverstone’s new book, The Kind Diet, and on her website too. Everyone is wanting to keep it so cool in the summer! You can too

So, this class features our favorite dishes, using less stove and prep time, yet giving the energy, relax, cool effect we all need for Summer’s heat. Each of these macrobiotic dishes suits the very organs we wish to nourish this time of year, yes you guessed right! Heart and small intestine. And these need and deserve our attention all the way into the late beautiful Indian summers so many of us enjoy at home and while traveling.

Here’s the macrobiotic cooking class menu, with a little more detail for your keen understanding! What’s the favorite dish served all summer long, and causing havoc for people over-indulging when fall-time arrives? You guessed it, Ice Cream. So that’s why we start this menu with a light Creamy Corn Fluff Soup, to please everyone’s palate, and enjoy that creamy texture. And if you get yourself the awesome Breville blender your soup will be as fluffy as ours!

For our grain dish we’ve chosen a Colorful Couscous Salad with a medley of veggies to further lighten the dish, creating a delightful sweet taste with roots & round vegetables, as well as lighter seasoning such as parsley & basil, picked from your own garden. We enjoy our pots growing treasures on our deck, and these sparkling our grain and veggie dishes all summer long! That bitter taste of parsley also nourishes our hearts! Enhance your dishes with parsley all summer!

For our protein choice, we combined real macro delicacy and old favorite taste, tho you won’t find any chicken here. But I think you could easily disguise it to some friends and family who haven’t tasted tofu yet, and get away with it in this Tofu Old-Fashioned No-Chick’n-in this Salad. A winning taste you’ll repeat all summer long! And tofu’s ease in digestibility , great for circulation, respiration & nervous functioning as well as excellent source for protein, calcium, iron and vitamins A & B according to Alex Jack and Michio Kushi in Healing Foods. Creates  summer cooling! Look at this: tofu is even used as plasters throughout the East to bring down inflammation, swelling and bruises – even more effective than ice. So this dish is a must-have!

I’ve chosen the Arame – Orange – Watercress Salad for numerous reasons! As we perspire more in summer’s heat, we want to replace our minerals – voila, Arame with it’s iron & calcium & being so great for our bones & teeth, … benefitting our circulatory system.* It works on removing old dairy – help out the ice cream again. The orange cooling factor, sweet taste and lovely color fit perfectly, and the watercress according to Healing Foods is high in calcium, vitamins A & C, and other nutrients. It’s fiber aids digestion…is especially strengthening to the liver and gallbladder. Ever chew watercress? It’s just about the macdaddy of fiber. Remember we’re nurturing our heart and small intestine all summer long, right? So, strengthening the organs we pay greatest attention to in Spring — our liver/gallbladder pair — even into the Summer, benefits the next pay-attention-to-me, now-it’s-summer-heart-&-small-intestine-time still even more.

And, what’s summer without watermelon! Here’s a delightful surprise for a watermelon treat that goes a bit beyond just slicing it up, and passing it around! I mean, everyone in your world will know you’ve done something very special here! And what better way to cool off than this lovely refreshing Summertime favorite.

So we certainly hope to see you at one of our summertime macrobiotic cooking classes.

This is the first class for our series in 2010 we are offering at 2 different time slots, May 18 and May 22. Trying to honor your schedules, and requests for some guests who could not attend Saturday macrobiotic cooking classes!

Please RSVP as soon as you know, and mention which class you wish to attend!

At the home of Marsha and Fred Rueff, 1130 Trailridge Lane, Dunwoody, Georgia 30338

RSVP: marsharueff@mac.com 770 . 396 . 9413

Limited seating: your check holds your place. Please write check to Marsha Rueff.

May 18          11 am – 2 pm       $45 per person

May 22          1 pm – 4 pm       $45 per person

Menu

Creamy Corn Fluff Soup

Colorful Couscous Salad

Tofu, there’s just No-chick’n in this Old-Fashioned Salad

Arame-Orange-Watercress Salad

Watermelon Surprise

*Healing Foods, Alex Jack & Michio Kushi

Scrumptious Desserts! We’re talkin’ macrobiotic, vegan without sugars, eggs, cream or other dairy products. Some ingredients are even used in macrobiotic home remedies. Meaning, they actually promote health, like soothing kuzu, aides digestion, and kanten flakes, a sea veggie full of minerals. Isn’t this amazing! And for sweeteners we use Suzanne’s Brown Rice Syrup or Barley Malt which are actually made from grains. Being complex sugars, not simple sugars, they go through all steps of our digestion process and don’t cause havoc with our blood sugar. These sweeteners appear in some macro home remedy drinks, such as Ame Kuzu and Warm Barley Kanten. You can be rest-assured these are not artificial sweeteners causing ill side-effects – no saccharin, splenda, or tropical stevia located here. We enjoy these sweets a few times a week, and find ourselves satisfied. Free from candy bars & cakes we use to crave.

What’s the ideal Macrobiotic Dessert? Gentle desserts, just cooked stove-top, rather than baked in the oven. Here’s the reason: when we’re changing our health, we avoid hard, baked ingredients with flour products so cookies, pies, cakes are not recommended daily fare. Instead we enjoy fruit cooked stove-top with a lovely kuzu glaze, or fruit kantens creating a luscious pudding consistency. Or select a parfait with fresh fruit, using kuzu rather than dairy for the creamy sauce. With locally-grown organic melons and berries soon available & ready to cool us down this summer, May’s perfect timing for a sweet macrobiotic cooking class featuring desserts!

S’pose you’re wondering: if I wish to be really healthy, why would I want to eat desserts anyway? A very insightful question! Here’s the reason. Just like deer are attracted to a salt lick, humans desire a sweeter flavor for eighty percent of food. That may seem like a lot, but just look at all the sweet vegetables we enjoy, as well as fruit, and there you have it. Even sauces served around the globe often have a sweet taste. And sometimes we just want a little something to end the meal, clear the palate, as Margaret mentioned when we prepped our Leftover Macrobiotic Cooking Class yesterday. And these milder treats keep us out of  t-r-o-u-b-l-e, like all traditional brimful of sugary, creamy, buttery sweets everywhere we go.

Another reason for learning good quality Macrobiotic Desserts is serving company and even friends stopping by. You feel confident something in your fridge is yummy-as-the-Ritz or NYC’s Serendipity – even serving friends who aren’t eating macro. You’ll enjoy your dessert, and their compliments. Recently we delighted Abe, the insulation expert inspecting our home, with our Apple Crisp, & we joined him too, natch! Learn some delicious, healthier desserts in this macrobiotic cooking class, and you won’t have to be singing this old song:

If I knew you were comin’ I’d've baked a cake, hired a band, goodness sake!
If I knew you were comin’ I’d've baked a cake
Howdya do, howdya do, howdya do?

This macrobiotic cooking class features desserts you can use frequently plus just one over-the-top for very special occasions, well, maybe two over-the-top! Sometimes we just need something a little more special, or when we entertaining. I mean wouldn’t you just love to serve a mini chocolate truffle? What if it had kanten flakes in it instead of eggs & a little Eden Blend Rice/Soy Beverage instead of butter & cream?

And that little chocolate chip cookie I made this December? Chips sweetened with barley malt, without dairy! So delish I gave them to lots of people in our world. One sweet note on top of a letter ~ Sure enjoyed those chocolate chip cookies! Thanks, Mailman Mike tells it all. Bet you’ll like them too! So like Rosemary Clooney sings, Come on-a my house, I’m gonna give you candy …!

Come on-a my house, my house,  I’m gonna teach you cookies and truffles and tarts,
Come on-a my house I’m gonna teach to you … some sweet, yummy, healthier macro things..

Join us in Atlanta!  Macrobiotic Center of Atlanta

Saturday May 15              1-4 pm        $45 per person

RSVP: marsharueff@mac.com 770. 396  9413

Menu*

Fruit & Berries Tart, A Macro Perfection
Possibly the Yummiest Rice Pudding on the planet
Blueberry Pie
Chocolate Truffles
A very teeny, harmless Chocolate Chip Cookie
~ Peach Compote with Kuzu ~
perfect recipe for blueberries, apple, pears & more!

* menu choices may change slightly as new desserts are being tested! check for updates!

RSVP please,  soon as possible!

Your check to Marsha Rueff holds your space:
Please mail to 1130 Trailridge Lane, Dunwoody, GA 30338

Springtime, perfect time to recreate delicious opportunities for yourself  as we approach Summer’s warmer weather. Designed to enhance your well-being, with scrumptious, health-enhancing vegan recipes ‘n savory suggestions – these classes will guide your health to an all-time highest level.

Our wish: you attaining optimal health & energy accomplishing your 2010 dreams!

Please join these interactive and engaging cooking ‘n lifestyle classes!

All classes: 1-4 PM                                 Cost per class          $45

Saturday June 26                            Cooking for Strong Healthy Bones

Saturday, July 17                            Restore Natural Beauty & Health!

Saturday, August 28                      Wrap it Up: Sandwiches & Wraps!

Saturday, Sept. 25                          Italian Ciao Bella!

Saturday, October 9                      Mexican Fiesta

Saturday, October 23                    Holiday Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner!

Hope to see you! Early registration is greatly appreciated.

RSVP: marsharueff@mac.com phone: 770.396.9413    cell:678.643.5662

With limited seating, your check reserves your space.

Send to Marsha Rueff, 1130 Trailridge Lane, Dunwoody, GA 30338

**Private Macrobiotic Cooking Classes available, designed just for YOU!

**Providing Macrobiotic Meals to Go!

Valentine’s Sweetheart Dinner

A Special Macrobiotic Cooking Class

Saturday, February 6 1-4 pm $45

Valentine’s Day is just 2 weeks away,

& you’d like to share a romantic evening with your special love!

Even if dining out Valentine’s evening,

you can delight your palates with these

heavenly tastes sometime leading up to the weekend!

Or surprise!

Serve a Valentine Brunch!

*Menu*

Red Lentil Soup

Wild About Rice Salad

Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Walnut Apple Carrot Salad

Chocolate Mousse *Strawberry Mousse

Red Zinger Tea with Apple Juice

or open your favorite Red Wine

Hmmm, not exactly what you’d expect in Macrobiotic Cooking?

This is the party food of the equation, that 5-10% social eating,

EWEYW: eat whatever you want!

The balance you seek: A little over-the-top menu for a special occasion!

We simplify the menu for those concerned. keeping the meal very satisfying.

All organic, highest quality ingredients are prepared in class,

& offer you resources to enjoy the same!

Join and Enjoy!

At the home of Marsha and Fred Rueff

1130 Trailridge Lane

Dunwoody, Georgia 30338

Please RSVP asap! Your check holds your spot!

Hurry, space is limited!

Chocolate Chip Cookies,

thanks to Meredith McCarty, Sweet and Natural cookbook

Preheat oven – 350 degrees. Remember, organic ingredients enhances tastes!

dry ingredients

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup malt-sweetened Sunspire non-organic chocolate chips*

1/2 cup walnuts, rinsed, then toasted, and chopped

1 teaslpoon aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon si salt, sea salt, Kushi Institute Store

wet ingredients

1/2 cup light vegetable oil such as walnut, or safflower

1/4 cup brown rice syrup, Suzanne’s, Natural Import Company, NC

1/4 cup pure maple syrup, Grade B is for baking!

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

Now let’s make these cookies dance onto that cookie sheet!

Your oven’s preheated to 350 degrees. Now line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly brush with oil. I prefer the stoneware bake sheets to metal ones.

Mix dry ingredients in large glass bowl,

Whisk wet ingredients in medium glass bowl, and stir into dry ingredients.

Want medium-size cookies? Use a small ice-cream scoop about 1 1/4 inch diameter, leaving 1-2 inches between cookies.

Bake 12-15 minutes for small cookies, or 15-20 minutes for large cookies.

My gas oven takes 20 minutes for smallish cookies. And they are delish.

*Sunspire – in this case, we do not select the organic because the organic is sweetened with organice sugar;

the non-organic is the one sweetened with barley malt. The company got this one backwards!

Apple Noodle Kugel with Crumb Topping

Heat oven to 325 degrees                  Bake 30 minutes

8 ounce wide noodles Deboles or BioNature                                                           Topping:

Corn oil (to oil casserole)                                                                                                8 Westbrae Lemon Cookies*

10 ounce mori nu soft tofu, or other tofu as you wish

2 golden delicious apples, sliced

1-2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup rice syrup

3/4 cup raisins

2 teaspoons cinnamon (or less)

1. Cook noodles about half the time you ordinarily would, 4-6 minutes.

2. Place in bowl with all ingredients, except topping ingredients.

3. Mix together and place in large oiled casserole.

4. Place cookies in blender and pulse to make crumbs.  Sprinkle over top of noodle mixture.

5. Bake 325 degrees 30 minutes or until top is crisp and light brown.

6. Let cool about 15 minutes,

7. Then cut into squares and serve.

For topping* can also use Heaven Scent Windmill Cookie, Almond or Traditional Spice

Still, holiday and party food can be a wonderful way to enjoy these past memories, and thanks to some wonderful cooks and their cookbooks, we have healthier ways to accomplish some traditional foods! Just this week I was on a Coconut Lemon Pie search - my mother’s absolute favorite and I found this wonderful recipe in Love, Eric by Eric Lechasseur. Please hurry to order this book, as they are stopping print as we speak!

It cut beautifully, and firmed quickly. I changed the crust to 3/4 cup Pastry flour and 1 cup unbleached flour being without Spelt flour, and not being able to wait one more minute! And, please, use organic ingredients for best flavors. We always use organic both at home and in our Macrobiotic cooking classes in Atlanta, and the results as they say are in the pudding! Enjoy.

Pie crust

1 cup spelt flour

3/4 cup unbleached flour

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup maple sugar

1/3 cup safflower oil

1/4 cup water

Let’s make the pie crust!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl.

Add oil and water; knead quickly, forming dough.

Allow dough to sit 15 minutes! Yep, i time it!

Rolling pin and 2 pieces of wax paper, roll dough in circle to fit your 9-11 inch pie pan, or flan pop-up pan is what i prefer! William Sonoma

I like a really thin crust, no more than 1/4 inch, and even less!

Gently line pie pan with your crust and bake 20 minutes, maybe 25.

Remove from oven and let it cool.

***

Filling ingredients

1 cup plain Amasake, Rhapsody, from Vermont

1 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup brown rice syrup, Suzanne’s

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of 1 lemon

2 1/2 Tablespoon agar flakes

4 Tablespoon arrowroot

1/4 cup organic apple juice, not Gravenstein

extra lemon zest for garnish

and of course, coconut flakes for the yumminess of it all!

***

Now, it’s make a wonderful lemon filling time! So, turn on your favorite dance music!

Let’s whisk away to the music!

Combine all ingredients, except arrowroot and apple juice in saucepan.

Bring to simmer, whisking constantly, and cook 8 minutes! Whisk to the music!!

In small bowl, combine arrowroot and apple juice, then whisk into the lemon filling.

Continue cooking, whisking and dancing a few more minutes.

Remove from flame and let slightly cool.

Pour filling into your beautifully baked pie shell. Garnish with zest & coconut flakes

Refrigerate ’til firm.

Enjoy. i just had one more little slice to make sure it’s really delish! It is…..

And easy enough to prepare! Just follow the directions, and remember what I said about prepping your recipes as soon as you can! All my recipes are fully prepped for my Sunday Macrobiotic Cooking Class for Thanksgiving Day! I’ve even cut the baking paper for my stoneware loaf pan that will bake the pumpkin-nut bread for that class! And every dry ingredient is measured, ready to be used! What a time-saver, and those cannisters are all put back in the cabinets! Another advantage to this pumpkin bread recipe: if you want to make it in advance, you’ll just enhances that moist deliciousness! Mine is sitting within a cake platter, looking yummy!

We still have a few openings for this unique Macrobiotic Cooking Class featuring Thanksgiving Day recipes. Sunday afternoon, November 22, 1-4 pm. Just $45 per person. So if you have friends or family in Atlanta, please let them know to contact us! And you might just want to make the trip over too! If you’re out of town and wish copies of our recipes just send your $20 check, and we’ll mail or email them to you!

PUMPKIN-NUT BREAD

from Sweet and Natural, by Meredith McCarty

Baking time : 45 minutes, up to 1 3/4 hour, depending on your stove.

Dry ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup unbleached white flour

2 1/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon}

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg    }     or       1  1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon cloves       }

Wet ingredients:

3/4 cups sweet kabocha squash puree or a 15-oz. can organic pumpkin

1/4 cup light walnut oil

1/2 cup maple syrup or 1/2 cup barley malt and 1/4 cup maple syrup

To fold in later:

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1/4 cup raisins

2 Tablespoon golden raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree,, Line bottom of a standard 9×5x3 inch loaf pan with parchment & brush the sides with oil.
2. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl, whisk wet ingredients together.
4. Then stir into dry ingredients, until well moistened.
5. Fold in nuts and raisins.
6. Transfer this thick batter to pan and smooth surface.
7. Bake until bread tests done, is golden brown and pulls away from side of pan, about 45 minutes. My oven cooked this in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Please watch your oven carefully.
8. Set pan on rack to cool 10 minutes, then turn loaf out to cool completely. It becomes more moist as it cools! Enjoy!

• Prepare Squash: Peel skin, discard skin and seeds. bake  at 350 either whole or cut in half, cut side down on baking sheet. Or cut in smaller pieces, and place in casserole dish with small amount of water. This will soften in about 25 minutes and is ready to puree in a food processor,  perhaps adding tablespoon of water if dry. 1 pound squash yields less than one cup of puree.

Orange Glaze: optional – we thought the pumpkin bread really did not need this.

1/4 cup orange juice                                       1/4 cup maple syrup or brown rice syrup

Bring ingredients to boil in small saucepan, then turn heat to low & simmer til a light syrup forms, 5 – 8 minutes, whisk occasionally. Drizzle and enjoy!

Did you use to cook a Sweet Potato Pudding for Thanksgiving with 4 cups of brown sugar, Carnation condensed sweet milk, sweet potatoes – queen of the night shade vegetables, plus 3 cans of Dole crushed pineapples? Topped with melted brown marshmellows? Yep, that was my beloved family’s heritage recipe from all Thanksgivings past, and just about every other holiday as well.

Now enter a Macrobiotic Diet, 17 years of it to be exact, and we found the most delish substitute – cooked stove-top, delectably sweet, savory and healthy!

In my macrobiotic cooking classes I call it Easy Squash Pie, but our first Thanksgiving dinner with my son-in-law’s family when his dear Aunt Gail said, “This is the best Sweet Potato Pie I’ve ever had”, my daughter and I never said a word that it was made with Kabocha Squash! Kids of all ages enjoy this one! And a dessert really good for you, too! Didja know, squash is really good for our skin and especially our pancreas?

Here’s the recipe for you and your family to enjoy and savor!

Easy Squash Pie
1 Kabocha squash per 8 people, cut in inch large chunks
please use organic and do not peel, just cut away hard spots on
surface
potato masher
Steamer basket
Filtered or Spring water
Pinch Si Salt Sea Salt – teeny pinch enhance sweetness of squash
Optional: Suzanne’s Brown Rice Syrup if you wish a little sweeter

Directions:
1. Steam squash for about 20 minutes, until knife slides easily through chunks.
2. Mash squash, and place in pie pans, serve warm.
That’s it folks! Nature has sweetened this squash for you! Yummy it up!
Optional: set into pie crust if you like.
Sprinkle with toasted pecans.

Please join our Thanksgiving Cooking Class, Sunday November 22nd
Atlanta/Dunwoody, Georgia 1-4 pm for a complete Thanksgiving Dinner
Menu perfect for vegan, vegetarian and macrobiotic diets! $45 per person.
Can’t make that date? Private classes are available.
Check our website for menu: www.atlantamacrobiotics.com
RSVP: marsharueff@mac.com or call: 770 -396-9413
Not in Atlanta? Send your $20 check to Marsha Rueff, 1130 Trailridge Lane, Dunwoody, Georgia 30338 for perfectly wonderful and healthy Thanksgiving
recipes! Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your dear ones!