Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day 2012 – Stone Soup Party

This past weekend, Galya and I hosted a Real Food "day in the park" on Saturday, and a Stone Soup Party on Sunday, all to celebrate Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day, and the beauty of real food.

On Sunday, we invited friends to bring some simple, fresh, whole food ingredients, while we provided the metaphorical soup pot and the stone.

It was a resounding success, as we not only made a large variety of dishes, but we showed that good food can be simple and easy, particularly when the ingredients are fresh a healthy, and surrounded by a fun and positive attitude.

I can't remember all the dishes we made, because many weren't "dishes" at all; simple foods like seared steak don't need a name. Steamed green beans with ginger are simply steamed green beans with ginger, and no fancy recipe name is required.

As people arrived, Galya, our friend Rupina, and I started chopping, cleaning, and cooking, and in the end, course after simple, delicious course was laid out in front of our friends. Of the top of my head, I remember the simple steak, a chicken and mixed veggie stir fry, mango, citrus, pomegranate, and jicama salad, green beans and ginger, a chopped veggie salad, sauteed "flying saucer" summer squash, citrus glazed chicken with rosemary, and a variety of cut up fruits and veggies.

Good food was had by all, and I promise that there are great food pictures and recipes coming soon (I'm just waiting for the "film" to be "developed.").

In the end, all of this "Food Revolution" stuff is about the kids, right? Imagine how Galya and I felt when we got this message from our friend Jenna.

"Okay so Kaitlyn was really impacted by this weekend. She has incorporated what she learned into her play time. She was making healthy treats. When she delivered my order she said it was a donut with strawberry sprinkles. Confused, I asked her how that was healthy. She responded, "I used all natural organic ingredients and the "donut" is actually an apple, and the sprinkles are from fresh strawberries." It is so cute!! Thank you and Roland for your positive influence."

You gotta love that! It's definitely the kind of inspiration we need to keep pushing the Food Revolution message to more kids and families. Thanks, Jenna, for passing this along!


The Stone Soup Story

I don't remember when I didn't know the story of "Stone Soup," but over the past few weeks I've come to realize that not everyone has heard it yet. So, here it is!

Stone Soup

Once a great famine swept the land. The starving people jealously hoarded whatever food they could, hiding it even from friends and neighbors. One day a wandering minstrel happened to pass through a village; he asked if he could stay for the night.

“You had better keep going,” he was told. “There’s no food here.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I have all that I need. I’ll be making stone soup tonight, and I have more than enough to share, should you be hungry.”

The minstrel walked off and pitched camp near the town square, made a large fire, and placed a pot full of water over it. When the water started to simmer, he drew a smooth stone from inside a soft bag, polished it carefully, and slipped it into the water. The villagers had never heard of stone soup, but they were now very intrigued. They watched from a distance, as the minstrel tended the pot, stirring occasionally with a long spoon, and licking his lips with anticipation. Soon, growls of hunger began to come from the stomachs of the villagers.

“I do love stone soup,” the minstrel said, loud enough for the eavesdropping villagers to hear. “Stone soup with onions is good when you can get it too, of course,” he added. He continued to stir, humming as he liked to do.

Soon one of the villagers slowly approached, offering out a few small onions. He gestured toward the pot. “Onions!” cheered the minstrel, adding them happily to the pot. “This reminds me of the salt beef and onion stone soup that I had last year. Now that was a soup to remember.”

After a few minutes, the village butcher stepped forward, smiling as he offered the minstrel some salt beef for the soup. ...and so it went, adding carrots, potatoes, cabbages, mushrooms, sausage, herbs, and spices, until the soup pot was brimming with a delicious soup; enough for all to share.

The villagers gathered around the soup pot, and the fire, staying long into the evening, eating, telling stories, singing, and dancing, while the minstrel played for them, but in the morning, they found that the minstrel had gone. Years later, long after the famine had ended, they still hummed his tunes, shared stories around the fire, and told their children about the finest stone soup that they’d ever had.