The Sazón Cooking School with its specialized kitchen complete with overhead mirrors and closed circuit TVs provided the perfect setting for our program on the art of preparing perky recipes with pungent plants. Victoria Challancin, introduced as “fascinating and charming” and in other glowing terms by Jane Sallis, is a well-known expert and teacher of food preparation, specializing in the use of herbs and other plants. She maintains a newsletter and blog named Flavors of the Sun to which all of us are invited to subscribe and use and is a trip organizer to exotic places.
Victoria began with a fascinating history lesson on the nasturtium and then taught us to love its colors (yellow to red), versatility (pestos and salad to simple adornment), health benefits (natural antibiotic) and flavor (pungent to spicy). Since the group expressed such interest in the medicinal qualities, Victoria gave us recipes for both an elixir and tincture of the leaves for use as a fast-acting antibiotic which does not kill the flora in the intestines. It was obvious from this informative and lively discussion that Victoria is a history and academics buff who is coincidentally fascinated by botany, loves cooking and can translate all that into unusual and flavorful dishes thus bringing all her loves together in the kitchen.
She pointed out how beneficial and underused are the whole family of salad greens and how our health could be vastly improved by their inclusion in our diets. Arugula, now growing wild in the campo as well as being available in our organic markets, has forty known medicinal uses and is now being studied in universities as a treatment for stomach ulcers and is thought to be is a tremendous cancer fighter. Its leaves form the shape of a cross and is sometimes called the “plant that serves man”. Victoria continued her green plant discussion with examples of the actual plants being passed among us so we could touch, taste and smell them. Watercress is an acquatic plant which is high in sulphur content and used as a strong diuretic as well for pulmonary and kidney problems. It is a blood purifier that also contains high levels of iodine, potassium and vitamins. Kiwa is a round-seeded grain full of all essential amino acids and therefore very healthy. Victoria is so well-informed and gives such an entertaining stream of conversation that we could have spent the entire day listening and watching her prepare dishes but our own special luncheon at the Hotel Sierra Nevada’s Restaurant was waiting hence we sadly had to bring the program to a close. She stressed the need to support the local organic farmers and to change our diet to include these tasty and healthy foods. Many thanks to Victoria for her fun and informative commentary, the shared dishes to taste and the “perky” recipes.

website- www.Flavors of The Sun.blogspot.com

Back to our Garden Club by popular demand, our program presenter, Ben Pitre, was introduced. Ben received many years of formal training from an old and famous Japanese school in the ancient and honorable art of Ichibana flower arranging. Ben gave us a fascinating history of floral compositions as it intertwined with Japanese history up to modern times when non-traditional arrangements, as opposed to the rigidly orchestrated arrangements that were largely for religious purposes, have gained in favor.

Ben demonstrated the construction of three non-traditional arrangements. His first display, which many in our group most admired, was deceptively simple, with two gracefully opposing palm fronds, two birds of paradise, and an agapanthus bloom cut very short. This arrangement made it easy for us to visualize the ¨7-5-3¨formula, in which the tall flowers, the medium-height flowers, and the short flowers emulate those perfect proportions. The most important feeling to be imparted by the arrangement, Ben said, was that butterflies could fly through it. We all liked that concept.

Ben completed two more delicious floral concoctions using leaves and flowers, and both traditional oval and non-traditional low vases.

The height of the finished arrangement, he said, should be 3.5 to 4 times the diameter of the vase. At the conclusion, Chris conveyed to Ben our enthusiastic thanks, along with wine in a lovely basket. Ben Pitre´s artistic, sensitive handling and placement of the various plant materials was fascinating to watch, but is difficult to summarize in words.

“The Dream of the Turquoise Bee”-

Dianne Aigaki awed us with the depth of her commitment to the people of Tibet, both the Tibetan refugees in Diane’s current home of 15 years, India, and in Tibet itself. In her desire to live in a culture with respect for a benevolent leader and where the aspiration to end human suffering is a primary goal, Dianne moved to Dar es Salaam. She began working as a volunteer for fundraising and project development to assist the Tibetan exiles in India, 3-4000 of whom trek each year over hazardous terrain over the mountains from Tibet to India to escape Chinese rule. Her current project grew from that involvement. Formerly an abstract painter, Dianne became interested in botanical illustration of the Tibetan plants growing in the 11,000-18,000’ altitude. From examples of her work, she has obviously become extraordinarily proficient in her new vocation including the painting of flowers in the gardens of the current Dalai Lama. After she saw the devastating effects of recent drought on the subsistence-level East Tibetan farmers, Dianne got the idea for tours into the area. She now leads expeditions into lovely Kham, Tibet, where her guests experience the countryside and its people, botanical illustration, painting, photography, botany and other outdoor activities, plus… shopping! These tours help support the Tibetan villagers, yet Dianne’s charitable endeavors extend much further. She has also provided support to individual Tibetans in India whose histories of incarceration, torture and suffering were difficult for some of us to hear. Proceeds from the sale of greeting cards made from her exquisite botanical illustrations go toward an assistance fund which Dianne helped to create for the frail and elderly country folk (These cards sold like hotcakes after the presentation.). Dianne has also taught botanical illustration at the Ganzi Girls’ Orphanage, and helped the girls sell their art. Offsetting the sad stories of what some have had to endure were her lyrical photos of the people and countryside of Eastern Tibet presented in a slide show format. The eyes in the weather-beaten, worn faces revealed stoicism plus good humor – faces which spoke eloquently about the reasons for Dianne’s love of these people. As to the origins of “The Dream of the Turquoise Bee,” the title of her talk and her tours: The sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, ordained 1697, referred to himself as “The Turquoise Bee.” He was the only Dalai Lama to never take “orders” and was a lover of wine, women and song. He was revered by his people, and the simple country poems he composed in his short life were so beloved that they continue to be sung by Tibetans to this day:

White crane
Lend me the power of your wings
I will not fly far
From Lit hang, I shall return

March presentation by Jeannie Ralston, author of “The Unlikely Lavender Queen”. Jeannie went from being a designer-clad big-city girl to a reluctant lavender gardener with dirt under her nails in Blanco, Texas. Never heard of Blanco? It was just a teensy speck on the map until Jeannie came along. Now it is known as the Lavender capital of Texas, all due to the work of Jeannie (OK, her husband Robb Kendricks, well known National Geographic photographer, helped a little). Now that she is in San Miguel, Jeannie has assisted the women at Rancho La Colorado in Dolores Hidalgo with their own lavender growing and marketing. Maria Fernanda Romera, the Lavender Project manager, showed us some of the marvelously fragrant and lovely products they make. The Lavender Project farm will eventually have enough of the best quality lavender, Provence and Grosso, to sell to those of us who were eager to possess some by the end of Jeannie’s talk. Jeannie said something we thought was great: “Life takes its own course. Embrace it!”

website- www.TheLavanderProject.com

Alison Bastien of La Victoriana gave a presentation regarding the meaning of flowers in the Victorian era, with fragrant examples of various nosegays. She also discussed the homeopathic benefits of floral and herbal tinctures.

website- www.LaVictoriana.com