Think of something more universally loved than muffins? Can't be done (except maybe chocolate chip cookies). The beloved muffin deserves a day of its own, and for that we have February 20th. It’s National Muffin Day! "English muffins," with the prominent nooks and crannies from the sourdough, have been whipped up in kitchens as far back as 1,000 years ago in Wales, and American style muffins have been around since the 18th century. Muffins are a bad breakfast on the run, a better substitute for toast during brunch, and an easy sugar treat to make and give as a gift to people we don't like. Sugar is bad. How is any American going to celebrate National Muffin Day? Eating a face full of muffins probably, but there are ways of making this gluten-toxic treat good and good tasting. Here are a few ideas for toasting this usually bad when spectacular-when-baked good. Make it vegan, gluten-free, add blueberries and nuts, and serve it with a side of raw hemp milk or almond. nationaltoday.com
There is a world of Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. What is so good about vegan and vegetarian Thai and Indian foods, Chinese and Korean? Curry? No, it's that they are spicy and flavorful. But even Chinese food has a hot source call Szechuan. Mexican food (like sauteed fajitas) is the most popular cuisine in the USA. Why? It might have something to do with the spicy, freshness, crispy crunch, and health benefits -- greens, chiles, lemon, peppers, beans, and whole grains (at least in the original indigenous form). Many Buddhist countries, which are renowned for their calm, cool, and collectedness -- sure do offer a lot of spice. It is the characteristic of hot place, particularly tropical ones like Theravada Sri Lanka.
Through the gloom of clouds and mist, muddy streets and threats of "rain," we made our way to big house in Shadow Hills in the Foothills of the Valley. It was warm and bright inside, pulsing with lights and DJs. In a room to the right were throw pillows, tapestries, chocolates of all kinds and the massage area. On the ceiling was a map of the night sky in colorful lights or a psychedelic representation of it anyway. We gathered in a giant circle that spanned three rooms and the dancefloor, spilling into a fourth, for introductions. Pick a word that represents the year we are leaving. Introduce yourself to the person on your left, mimic their every move, share deeply. Raw vegan foods and cheesecake by Rawsheed were cooling, and warm curries were bubbling. Hibiscus tea filled a punch bowl with stevia and lemon essence.
There was socializing all around in every room and a long primary dinner table set to serve two dozen people as others retreated to an adjoining room to eat, talk, and plan their karaoke, dancing, and singalong routines. The massage room became a healing chamber with too many signing up too late as hours rushed until the ecstatic moment of the countdown: 10, 9, 8...2026 was on its way. Is this happening simultaneously in New York, or did it happen three hours before? It's already tomorrow in Oceania and Australia. Dancing, screaming, hoots and howls to welcome in the new year, it's something Gatsby might have overseen from West Egg. Where's Daisy? She's dancing somewhere.
Others are developing mindfulness and meditating, healing and letting go, and the drizzle has stopped down below in the Basin and Valley that is Los Angeles. People settled into corners for deep talks about the environment, human potential, psychology, saving the world, lamenting the Levant, and strategizing for paths to health and greater prosperity.
This is a good crowd with Vanessa and Annie outdoing themselves. Not since this past summer's pool party in Beverly Hills and book release has a compassionate celebration been so celebratory. Everyone was full, and it was approaching 2:00 am as we cleaned up, hugged, and meandered back down to the City of Angels.
Enter the glittering world of Arcana and find your Tarot Dreams. Once you arrive, find a host of figures to illuminate your chosen path. Draw in ultraviolet colors on the walls of your inner landscape.
Purchase a vegan food ticket ($40) to receive Alchemical creations by Chef Rawsheed (Facebook) and special elixirs. Appetizer, a main course, and dessert are all included.
Or just come to party ($15).
Everyone in attendance will be provided an elixir of sparkling cider for the midnight toast.
A DJ will be playing for our dancing pleasure at this ball between open mic and karaoke sets. Bring instruments!
Tip jar massage will be available.
Come dressed like a celestial Devi in silver or gold outfit for the ball. Or dress however you feel inspired with comfort as the goal.
Strut down a glittering catwalk in vegan ball attire for everyone to admire. (Please consider ahimsa, "non-harming," and avoid wool, silk, fur, leather, and feathers stolen from tormented animals).
Payment for the food ticket due by Dec. 29th.
Address of location given upon RSVP by Dec. 30th.
Venmo: @Vanessa-Marsot
Zelle: 818-383-5998
PayPal: vmarsot@gmail.com. Questions? Contact Vanessa at (818) 383-5998 or Annie at (310) 892-9617.
This event is advertised on multiple sites, so the Meetup numbers do not reflect the total number attending?
DISCLAIMER: Event organizers assume no liability; all participants do so at their own risk. By attending, you agree that neither you nor any third party will hold any of the group's leaders liable for any injury, loss, or damage to your own person or any members of your family, friends, acquaintances, children, pets, or property, arising directly or as a consequence from a group activity.
Nowadays, one can find a sheet-pan dinner recipe for pretty much any flavor that one craves. But before all of these existed, there were nachos.
The original sheet-pan meal can be found on virtually every bar and diner menu across the country. While nachos are now a popular Tex-Mex dish, they're a distinctly Mexican creation. Texas?
Invented in 1940, nachos were born when Ignacio Anaya, nicknamed "Nacho" (which is short for the Spanish name Ignacio, from the Latin Ignatius), threw together a quick snack of
corn (chips)
dairy (cheese)
chili (jalapeños)
veggies (tomato, black olives, cilantro, guacamole)
protein (pinto beans, Beyond Burger crumbles)
to sate the hunger of some guests visiting the restaurant he worked at in Piedras Negras ("Black Rocks"), Mexico.
The dish was an instant smash and quickly took hold in other restaurants before Texas-based businessman Frank Liberto created ballpark nachos in 1976, making them even more popular and readily available in the United States.
Nachos are typically eaten as a side or an appetizer, but with some careful doubling-up of ingredients and a few additions, they can become a hearty lunch or dinner.
The beauty of nachos is that while they have a few classic elements and ingredients, they can also serve as a vehicle for creativity and new flavors -- made fully vegan with full flavor.
So if anyone has ever had the urge to mix up a dish of nachos, here are some tips needed to make this dish even more special. More
This enriching cookbook celebrates eight important plants Native Americans introduced to the rest of the world: corn, beans, squash, chile, tomato, potato, vanilla, and chocolate/cacao—with more than 100 recipes.
When these eight Native American plants crossed the ocean after 1492, the world’s cuisines were changed forever. In Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky, James Beard Award-winning author and Chef Lois Ellen Frank introduces the splendor and importance of this Native culinary history and pairs it with delicious, modern, plant-based recipes using Native American ingredients.
Native plant based cookbook recipes
Along with Native American culinary advisor Walter Whitewater, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares more than 100 nutritious, plant‑based recipes organized by each of the foundational ingredients in Native American cuisine as well as a necessary discussion of food sovereignty and sustainability.
A delicious, enlightening celebration of Indigenous foods and Southwestern flavors, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares recipes for dishes such as Blue Corn Hotcakes with Prickly Pear Syrup, Three Sisters Stew, and Green Chile Enchilada Lasagna, as well as essential basics like Corn Masa, Red and Green Chile Sauces, and Cacao Spice Rub.
The “Magic 8” ingredients share the page—and plate—to create recipes that will transform our world.
(The Hidden Truth Library) June 26, 2025: What if every drink we take dims our inner light and stalls our soul’s evolution? In this eye-opening video, we uncover the hidden spiritual cost of alcohol: ancient wisdom we’ve never heard, the energetic block it creates, and why mystics throughout history treated it as a toxic sacred taboo to be avoided. Discover how to break free, reclaim inner power, and truly awaken higher consciousness. #SpiritualAwakening #AlcoholTruth #MysticalWisdom
Potluckers gathered to cook on four separate stoves in a very green garden with wild birds singing that made the mindfulness instructions seem easier to incorporate. New stimuli in an unfamiliar garden allows all of the senses become alive to what the feet are feeling (sensing), what fragrances of vegan food cooking are wafting, what sights and sounds are being taken in with new faces and networking opportunities, old friends and new fellows in acts of collective compassion, and finally the many delicious flavors from the grill, gluten-free vegan protein doused with Korean BBQ sauces over brown rice angels hair noodles and fresh kale, strawberry cheese cake from Silverlake. The sixth sense (the mind) had many delights to watch dispassionately with great interest but not self-interest, not "How does it relate to me?" reckoning, measuring, surmising, simply taking in. The health community in Altadena-Pasadena has remained cohesive and strong with loving bonds for Oh Happy Days Vegan Cafe and grocery. Music, slam poetry, and heartfelt talks were featured as we ate more than we could comfortably hold -- Korean, Mediterranean, Indian, Mexican, all-American grilled veggies, baked potatoes, kombuchas, punches, teas, and all of the usual entrees. The guest of honor was overwhelmed with the show of affection and enthusiasm for bringing back the store.
Survivor John Hopkins
Once upon a time, there was a vegan restaurant, grocery store, and vitamin shop in Altadena (Los Angeles) called Oh Happy Days.
It was in a time warp and felt like a den of vegetarian hippies and an old-timey General Store after hiking down on Lake Avenue from the Cobb Estate (home of Groucho Marx) and White City, looking down on LA, Orange County, even Santa Monica Bay and Catalina Island.
We are all Friends in the new Los Angeles
The local Native Americans -- now called the Kizh (Tongva, Gabrielenos) -- must have loved the view of their land next to Hahamog'na (headwaters to the LA River starting Pasadena, near the Rose Bowl), east of the Tataviam Tribe in the Valley (Fernandeño), They would have loved it more if they could eat here with the hippies and health conscious.
Burned in Eaton Fire
The shop burned down in the Eaton Fire, along with the owner's Altadena home, vehicles, and those of his workers. Read all about his harrowing survival:
Clearing the Eaton Fire debris has taken months, due to its size and also clearing Pacific Palisades. But things are developing apace.
In the meantime, before it formally reopens, Oh Happy Days is returning to its monthly Potluck Parties with a REUNION (with music and mindfulness meditation) at nearby home:
What is pie? Who better to ask than a poetess? She is sure to have a numerological opinion she can beautifully articulate. Some may think it's a pizza, but this is not New York or Vicenza, Veneto, Italy with its famous piazzas. Surely the greatest of pies is the blueberry, healthful and delicious.
But, wordsmith, what would that have to do with today of all days?
Well, it may be arbitrary, like most National Days, although my robotic phone seems to indicate that pie has more to do with Pi (3.14159) or Greek π, than the baked variety. Maybe in 1959, no, that doesn't make sense. Let me ask my egghead friendboy; he knows about stuff like this due to his Star Wars obsession and penchant for boring things.... Ah, pi seems to be a reference to math. How boring! I'd rather snack and sip tea, or even pizza or placing a puff of whipped cream in someone's face would be more fun.
Well, that was a wash. Might you produce a poem in honor of pi/pie?
Ode to the Baked
My friendboy likes his films
My friendboy likes his pi
If only he could see
That it's right between my
Did I mean to say peeps?
Did he hope digits point
at pants -- like he does when
I show him my flower
No, it's not a violet
No, it's not a red rose
But it is quite scarlet
And well known to his nose
COMMENTARY: Eyes, thighs? Rose, nose? You mean this is a sexually tinged iambic tetrameter terse but trite toss off? - No comment. Poetry is poetry, not math.
March 14 is commonly referred to as Pi Day, a day that aims to celebrate the ratio of the circumference of a circle [Eggheadspeak for a way of measuring the space inside a wheel.]. The number is known as 3.14 or π and can actually go on forever [or be stopped if we change to Base 3 or something other than Base 10, but numbers are all Greek, so who knows?]
The most accurate value for Pi, according to Guinness World Records, is more than 62 trillion digits (62,831,853,071,796 to be precise) [because some computer somewhere says so, as if 63 trillion wouldn't be even more precise], calculated in August 2021 by the University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland.
Because it relates to a circle, π is found in many formulae in trigonometry and geometry, especially those concerning circles, ellipses and spheres.
It is also found in formulae from other topics in science, such as cosmology, fractals, thermodynamics, mechanics, and electromagnetism. It also appears in areas having little to do with [sacred] geometry, such as number theory and statistics, and in modern mathematical analysis can be defined without any reference to geometry.
The ubiquity of π makes it one of the most widely known mathematical constants inside and outside of science. Several books devoted to π have been published, and record-setting calculations of the digits of π often result in news headlines. What is it?
The circumference (perimeter) of a circle is slightly more than three times as long as its diameter. The exact ratio is called π. This pi (π) is commonly defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference C to its diameter d: π = C/d. The ratio C/d is "constant," regardless of the circle's size.
For example, if a circle has twice the diameter of another circle, it will also have twice the circumference, preserving the ratio C/d.
This definition of π implicitly makes use of flat (Euclidean) geometry; although the notion of a circle can be extended to any curve (non-Euclidean) geometry, these new circles will no longer satisfy the formula π = C/d [10]. We should have paid attention in high school instead of being so worried about makeup and dating. More
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