Wine and Yin & Yang

speaking of balancing yin and yang, it may be better to have some yang food with wine--strong yin-- for a good balance.

meat, for example, is extreme yang.
so it sounds reasonable to have meat and red wine together.

for vegetarians like me?
cheese is also strong yang.
fish is, compared to vegetables, yang, too.

of course, they are extreme yin and yang, so i would not recommend that you "balance out" this way all the time.
it's like a roller coaster!

another thing is, if you are completely vegetarian but love to drink, that could be a little too yin, which may weaken your health.
for the same reason, "vegetarian and have sweet tooth" could make you very weak overtime.

then again, meat and cheese have other health issues to be considered(high saturated fat, for instance), so even though it looks "more balanced (in an extreme way)", that does not mean it's healthy.

balance and moderation is the key : )

Umeboshi

in terms of yin and yang, wine is very yin.
yin energy is "loose", "cooling", and "expanding".
alcohol is yin and the fruit(sugar)is yin, so it's a "double yin".
so excessive drinking could cause headache (everybody knows!), digestive problems(loose stool), fatigue, and even weaken blood and therefore, immune function.

but when you are in Napa, "what can i do?" , right?
my solution is to balance out by taking in "yang" energy.
that is, Umeboshi!

Umeboshi is a plum (apricot, to be exact),pickled with sea salt and shiso leaves and aged for years.
it cleanses and strengthens your blood with this high yang quality (salt).
good for headache, digestive problems(anticeptic), fatigue, and function of organs such as heart.

so every night and morning while in napa, i ate one umeboshi so i could enjoy wine : )
yes, balance is always important!

another organic winery

Frog's Leap.
even the building was LEED certified.
and in the garden, they are growing lots of organic veggies and fruits.
loved the tasting on the terrace. looking at the garden : )
and yes, the wines were pretty good!!

scenic view

another place we did hiking.
from the top of the hill, the view was spectacular!!

walk in the nature

between wine tasting, we tried to find places to walk and be in the nature.
drinking and eating all day would be too much, and also, a bit of exercise would help us appreciate more food and wine : )

we were lucky enough to find some good place for hiking.
and encountered some birds, including a HUGE wood pecker!--no pic, unfortunately...
and beautiful stream and woods.

being in harmony with the natural order

it was after the harvest, so most of the grapes were already harvested.
but i learned that depends on the weather, the harvesting could be as early as late august and late as november.
this year, for example, there was a huge storm in summer.
but since Robert Sinskey follows the luna calender--an important part of biodynamic farming--, they predicted the storm, so they could harvest before the storm.

a great example of "being in harmony with the order of nature" !!

beauty

they are all from the garden.
aren't they just pretty?

fresh from the oven!

look at this pizza!
using biodynamically grown veggies, simple but super tasty pizza, right from the oven!
yum yum yum : )

Winery in Napa

i made a quick trip to Napa, CA.
yes, wine country : )
since i visited there last year,i have been a huge fan of Robert Sisnkey Wine.
they practice biodynamic farming, and operates the whole business as sustainable as possible, such as growing their own vegetables in the garden and using solar power, etc etc.
and most importantly, their wines are sooooo good!

this time, thanks to Mrs Maria Sinskey, we had a culnary tour there, where we had a fabulous food and wine paring.

Coconut Kabocha Soup

while i was in seattle last month, i had a wonderful culnary--and wine--experience.
one of them was at Wild Ginger, where we had a fabulous coconut pumpkin soup.
wanted to try again but don't know anywhere else that makes this soup.
well then, why don't i make it myself?

so i bought orgainc coconut milk, and kabocha(from farmer's market).
using dashi soup stock (dried shitake mushroom and dried kombu seaweed), ginger, and miso, i made my own soup : )
and surprisingly delicious!!

Hiking in Bear Mountain

from the mountain, you can see manhattan!
great hike, tired but felt soooooo good after that : )
glad we had a big--and healthy-- sunday brunch before this hiking.

Hiking in Bear Mountain

it was a real hike, steep and took about 1 and half hour each .
but worth the effort.
amazing how just about 1 hour drive from manhattan can take us to this beautiful nature : )

Fall Color

might have been a bit too late, but we went out for forage.
on the way to bear mountain, this was a breathtaking view.

loved the color!
and the view of manhattan skyscraper beyond hudson river.