This summer I’ve been facing the proverbial question every human seeks to answer at some point in their life. What is my greater purpose on this planet? Really since the election last fall, I’ve been asking myself the question of how can I make a bigger difference in the world. Is my work meaningful? Am I using my time and talents as efficiently as I can? Am I truly living my …

Taos has always held a fond place in my heart. There’s something so special about its many micro climates, of vast horizons over the sage spotted mesa, the white cotton candy-like clouds painting shadows and light across the expansive views, the cold mountain streams tracing pathways through the aspens. It takes my breath away every time.

My dear friend and I have been making annual trips to Taos for the last four …

Before I left for Kauai, my mom came to visit and provide her loving motherly support.  As all doting mothers do, they cook and clean and just generally make life better. Love you, Mom. For several mornings in a row, she kept offering to make me her favorite new oatmeal creation for breakfast. I resisted and resisted, insisting that I really didn’t eat oatmeal any more for XY&Z reasons and wasn’t …

I’ve recently rekindled my relationship with a regular Mysore practice. It’s safe to say Ashtanga was my first real love and gateway into the yoga world. Well, technically it was my mom when I was 7 years old who took me to a gentle hatha yoga class at our local fitness club in the early 90s. Or you could say it was the Jivamukti DVD I did …

I’ve been a bit seasonally confused lately. I left the cold Midwest winter last month and landed in Kauai on my birthday. It’s been an incredible month settling into the island and receiving her many blessings, including the abundance of gorgeous produce here. Saturday markets are filled with fruits and vegetables I’d never heard of before…soursop, egg fruit, bread fruit, longons, and over 80 varieties of avocados that I’m tasting my …

This is my tried-and-true granola recipe. It’s versatile and easy to modify flavor combinations using a variety of fruits and nuts to shift the seasonal focus – think chocolate/cherry, banana/walnut, coconut/apricot and more. This holiday variety uses warming spices and mix of fresh apples and dried cherries, it has a bit of fruitcake quality with it’s cinnamon, citrus, ginger and fruit combo.

Both of these recipes – …

Thoughtful homemade gifts are some of my favorite to receive, especially when they’re the edible kind.  For this year’s holiday issue of Edible Magazine, I created two new winter recipes perfect for holiday gifting – an instant chai hot chocolate mix made from superfoods and warming spices, and a maple apple granola. You can find these recipes alongside a series beautiful local food culture stories Keep Reading

Growing up with digestive issues, holidays were a notorious struggle for me. I loved the social experience of coming together to cook and share a feast around the table, but the food invariably left me feeling less than great. I would loathe the questions about why I wasn’t eating meat or couldn’t do the gravy on the mashed potatoes. One Thanksgiving, my sweet mother announced I could plan the …

Put down those smoothie bowls and cold kombuchas, vata season is here. In Ayurveda, everything in nature – from our bodies and minds, to the seasons around us – can be categorized by three primal energies known as the doshas, which consist of the five elements. Vata Dosha is the element of air and ether, it governs the season of fall and early winter. The qualities of vata and fall are alike – dry, …