Whole foods make us more whole. That is a simple truth. What is a whole food? Ask yourself. My early days were in the '50s, a very different world than today. We never locked our doors, we left our keys in the car in the driveway, we have an amazing amount of trust, not even a question. For me, the turning point was when JFK was shot. Shock happened, disbelief, and our world of naivety ended. My mother, birthing of eight, was very innocent and naive. She was a good cook as was her own mother, a story down the road. They both cooked and baked all homemade, using fresh ingredients, wonderful classic time-consuming creations. I asked her one day after I was more aware of the origins of foods, "where does flour come from?". She did not know.

She had been using white flour in all her cooking and never thought about it. It was the times. If we go into the history of how the food industry has changed our mentality and relationship to our basic foods, we would see how we have been misled by their influence through advertising and salesmanship. They were not proponents for our wellbeing and now more than ever we should be extra vigilant about what is in our food supply.

When I began cooking brown rice I was instructed to use a pressure cooker. As time has gone on for many years, I now alternate and often boil the rice in a stainless steel pot or a clay pot. When I would cook for many people I would use a pressure cooker, but when cooking just a smaller amount, I would not pressure cook.

If one looks at a whole grain one will see a complete seed, ready to grow into a plant. IT

IS ALIVE! How wonderful to be able to have this available to us from the living life and energy from the sun and moon, from which it grew, to transfuse into our bodies.

How to cook whole grain brown rice:

2 cups brown rice

3 cups water

pinch sea salt per cup rice so 2 pinches

Rinse the rice gently in a pot of cold water, using your hand, wash the rice rubbing the grain, pouring off the cloudy water, rinse until clear. Soak the rice in water for about 6 to 8 hours or overnight. To pressure cook or boil, start with no lid. Bring the rice to a boil, allow the broth to form a foamy cloud, using a stainless steel flat strainer skim off the foam. Add salt and the lid. Bring to pressure or boil, lower the flame to a little above a simmer, if too low the pressure will drop. Use a flame tamer or diffuser under the pot, start your time. Approximately 45 min. to an hour depending on the time of year and the quantity of rice.



Rice is harvested in the fall, so it will have more moisture than later as it has had time to dry out. You can adjust water volume accordingly. Less water for new rice, more for drier rice.

RECIPE / Guidelines

Brown rice is very sensitive. There is no set recipe only guidelines and practice. No matter how many times I have made brown rice, it can be unpredictable. It has more to do with how we treat it. I can remember being told to have high thoughts when washing it, never be in a disagreeable mood when cooking in general. I have found that brown rice is especially receptive to one's humor and disposition during preparation.

It seems that it was easier to cook for many people versus one or two. For brown rice

I recommend working with at least 2 cups of brown rice, it just cooks better.



For every cup of rice, the standard would be 1 1/2 cups of water. Depending on the volume and time of year, you can adjust more or less liquid. When pressure cooking and done, turn the flame off, allow the pressure to come down. Uncover immediately, and using a moistened wooden rice paddle, begin to turn the rice from the bottom to the top, working from the sides to the center. Use the side of the paddle to gently part the rice, allowing air to circulate. This applies to boiled rice also. It is important to take the rice out as soon as the lid comes off, otherwise, the taste is very different and not in a good way. It has to do with oxygenating the grain. If the bottom has a layer of golden brown rice try to lift it up and leave it on the side of the bowl. This rice is called bottom rice, it is stronger than the rest, usually meant for men or strong members. If it sticks too much on the bottom, just add good water and soak it until it loosens. It will make good morning porridge. Traditionally, the rice was put in a wooden bowl made just for rice and covered with a sushi mat or dampened towel.