Making Love in the Kitchen

Written by Christopher Paton-Gay

Just before last Christmas, I had a scheduled full checkup with my doctor. That was when I discovered that my blood pressure was getting dangerously high (165/124) and so I was immediately referred to a cardiologist for stress tests and a MRI. A week later my cardiologist had finished the tests and prescribed two types of blood pressure pills. I filled the prescriptions and never took a pill; feeling that I could control my BP and pulse rate by making some substantial changes to my lifestyle and more particularly, what I was eating. At the time, I weighed 224 pounds, drinking 16 cups of coffee a day on average, smoking (1 pack a day), travelling constantly and eating in restaurants in Europe and the USA.

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Yeppers. It’s now feeling really official that I am getting hitched. The wedding will be at the end of this summer – less than five months away- and our sweet planning is just about complete. We all know I didn’t need a part time job planning a wedding so keeping it all simple and true to my man and I is the name of the game. With that in mind, when it came time to plan a stagette, my sister-in-law and best girlfriends went to work to create an evening that was pure joy- Meghan style. There was no need for late night drinking or strange naked men flipping their their floppy about. We’re all in our 30′s after all, so it was time to do something mature…

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As a natural foods chef, I spend most of my day creating menus and cooking healthy meals for my clients and their families. All of my meals are whole foods based, local as possible and often all-organic. But by the looks of the dinner parties, cocktail soirees and celebratory brunches I put on weekly, you’d hardly know the food I serve is all-natural, or heaven forbid- healthy. Because you see, although my clients are often already on the healthy train (or well on their way, by hiring me!) their guests often are not. It’s my job to create a menu that will satisfy even the pickiest of eaters, and impress even the most hardcore fast food addicts of the bunch. So when Meghan asked me to do some posts on healthy entertaining, I agreed without hesitation- this is my area of expertise. My goal is to show you how to impress your guests with healthy food- no arguments or wrinkled noses in sight.

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To celebrate the final pass off of the manuscript of my book (more exciting book news coming soon, soon, soon), I ran away with my, um… superhero clinical nutritionists / fiancé (there, I used the word) to enjoy the very first sparkle of spring out at my cottage. The treats of spring seem to have sprung early and we had quite the adventure. There is nothing more rejuvenating for us than getting out of the city, breathing some fresh air, eating some amazing food (and wowza did I cook up a feast this weekend), getting our hands dirty (literally, as we dug for the wild leeks) and sleeping lots. That my lovers is what I call a retreat.

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Only four spots left in my 2013 Nourish Your Soul retreat. Group signed up is, thus far, AWESOMETOWN! Only thing missing…is you! So get on it and come play on the beach with us. Happy Passover! What fun- a weekend full of food, laughs and family. Does it get any better? I don’t think so! Cooking up a storm for friends and fam? You can keep the best parts of traditional holiday fare- and ditch the worst part! Here are my three favourite Passover recipes. (Pssst…for my peeps celebrating Easter! Don’t think I forgot about you. Come back Monday for my all-time favourite chocolate recipes!)

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Written by Carrie Klassen, a sweet, sweet member of Meghan Telpner’s Superhero Posse. She is our Superhero DIY and All Things Beautiful Creatrix. Read Carrie’s bio here. When you need to reconnect with your inner creator/creatrix but you’re stuck at your desk (or only have 10 spare minutes), the wonderful world wide web can be your best friend. Here are a few of my favourite places to play.

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I’ve been there. I am sure you have been too at one point or another. You know- where you feel like you’re doing everything right, everything according to plan and yet you still don’t feel well. You eat all the right foods, do everything your doctor or natural health care rock star suggests and still it seems like it is all continuing to unravel. As a health cheer leader, I am forever telling my own story and offering guidance for others. Sometimes, I need to hear it too- my words but in someone else’s voice.

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The title of this piece is tongue and cheek as much as it is serious. The truth is if you want to read about the facts of why and how yoga can help you, you can go to a health magazine or bookstore and find out. Don’t get me wrong they are very necessary, of extreme importance actually, but those articles/books become un-interesting quickly because it feels like you are reading something that is in a foreign language. Reading that a posture will massage your internal organs or rather someone speaking about your cervical spine and the importance of creating space while being properly supported is most likely going to go in one ear, and out the other. What I can and am going to do, is tell you about a type of yoga that I believe to be the most transcendent, transformative, and empowering type of practice I have personally experienced and witnessed. It is called Restorative Yoga.

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A sweet, sweet sneak peak at January’s readers digest, in which yours truly is asked for tips on cutting out the big bad wolf known as SUGAR!

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She turned her can’ts into cans, and her dreams into plans.

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Calling all lovers of the good life! Live my creed – ya know, flirting with farmers, crunching on carrots, riding bicycles covered in flowers – then why haven’t you entered this yet?

Don’t know what to make this weekend? Three great dishes to get you through the week and have fun making them now. And of course- dessert comes first. Enjoy!

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I wrote the creed in about 10 minutes. For real. I had been thinking about it and when it came to put pen to paper (or index fingers to keyboard- yes, two finger typer over here), it just flowed out. Why? Because I live it of course. Every mindful moment of my day, I do my best to lighten up, smile and always remember that Today, most certainly, is the day. We have been getting emails and letters (and even photos!) from around the globe, with people sharing how they are doing their best to live this creed as their own manifesto. It’s become art on their walls, backgrounds on their phones, wallpaper on their desktop, and of course- their go to tote bag. For this reason, I have something I would like share… in a moment. First- we made a few creed inspired changes around the kitchen (that went with a few changes on my biz site). We took down my old signature decal that greets guests in my kitchen.

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We are all about sharing the love here at Making Love in the Kitchen. When we came across The Giving Keys, we absolutely fell in love with the concept and beautiful necklaces. The awesome powers at be with The Giving Keys are kindly sharing their message with us and giving away one of these beautiful keys! Crystie Bowes in marketing explains…

“You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” – Henry Drummond.
The good we do today comes back to serve us tomorrow. The understanding of paying it forward has been the driving force behind the charity I work for: The Giving Keys. Our organization employs the homeless off the street to make engraved necklaces out of keys. But that’s not all. Once you receive the key with your unique message, you must eventually give it away to a person who is equally in need of the same message and come back to tell your story to the community.

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I came across this on a blog I love, SweetOnVeg, run by Jennifer- a woman I adore over in Vancouver. I had to share. Everyone you meet comes with baggage. Find someone who loves you enough to help you unpack. Image courtesy of Nightwolf Graphics  

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Last week- this whole book thing became very, very, VERY real to me. We shot my book! Yes we did. I had a whole crew in the kitchen with me. My amazing kitchen fairies, my editor and the designer from my publisher McClelland and Stewart, my photographer Catherine Farquharson and her assistant Nicki, Amy Lam, my make-up artist, and Ashley Denton, the food stylist. Wowza did we zip through loads of goodness. It was so much fun. Day 1 of the shoot was all about me in action- playing in the kitchen. Day 2 and 3 we shot all the amazing food shots. On Sunday, I invited some ladies over for a fantastic brunch and we rounded out the four day shoot with a visit to my home to catch my man and I just hangin’. The book is all written. Handed in my last chapters before I left for Hawaii. Now I just have to edit. I can’t believe I have to wait a whole 11 months before I get to show off the prize of all these efforts. Wanna to me a favour and start getting excited right along with me? Maybe these pictures from the first couple days of the shoot might help.
(And before you ask- all clothes from my fave store ever- Anthropologie)

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