I love to cook, share ideas and talk about food, but most of all I love to explore how creating a healthier relationship with food through using our inner felt sense to guide our choices, can have a profound effect on all our choices, and be a healing path. These are the chronicles of my new culinary excursions, armed with a keen sense of curiosity, an experimental nature and an open heart, and the latest addition to my kitchen, the spectacular Thermomix "Bimby".

About Me

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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
A galactivating human

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Adventure Begins...

Thank you and welcome to my online kitchen blog, A Starseed's Bimby Kitchen Adventures, where I can wax lyrical about my love of food, and the spectacular Thermomix Bimby, as uninhibitedly as I like.

I'm still waiting for my machine to be delivered, sometime this week, but I already have lots to say(...especially like this, in parentheses, so take note people, they are my most favoured form of punctuation, except maybe for, these...), so I apologize in advance for this lengthy first post. I've already chewed the ears off all my friends about it, so I figured a more appropriate, kinder(not to mention time-saving) approach might be to express my thoughts in writing, saving my conversations from being Bimby-dominated onslaughts, and allowing my friends and others to hear about all the details by directing them here.

This is the spot where I can also share tantalizing food photos, demo videos and recipes, and show you all the other culinary delights(and inevitable disasters) my "Bimby" and I are going to whip up together. But this blog is about so much more than that. It’s about documenting a whole new journey I’m standing at the threshold of, which is learning to experience food and my relationship to it in a new, much more intentional way. I know I'm not alone in my desire to do this. People everywhere are thinking more consciously about where their food is coming from and how it is being produced, and making healthier, more sustainable choices because it no longer feels right to do things the same old way. I'm taking things another step further and letting my food choices in each moment be guided by one of the most important navigation tools I have - my intuition, or as my friend Kyla puts it, my "felt sense", and I'm excited to be sharing this journey with you.

Now, forgive me if I start to sound slightly over-zealous, but if you want to see some irresistible foodie fodder such as watching how foods being prepared in this machine can come out perfectly in seconds, or how you can make an entire risotto from scratch in around 16 minutes(with no stirring), or how it will help make your own nutritious, additive-free, typically supermarket-bought items like butter, breads, preserves, soft cheeses, yoghurts, baby foods, ice-creams and sorbets, curds, custards, chocolates, breakfast cereals, sports bars, flours, real stock extracts, sauces like ketchup and mayonnaise, curry pastes, nut milks and nut butters, castor and icing sugar, even pet food(...it's pretty endless actually) at home, your arrival here could be the start of a beautiful thing.

As you can see, I've got a slight case of Bimby fever...I'm sure, once caught, it can make even the most stoic and reclusive of food-lovers into a customer evangelist in no time. Look at me for Pete's sake, after attending just one demo, perusing the website(and the many Thermomix fan blogs that have sprung up), and watching Thermo YouTube videos, I'm talking about it's many virtues like I've had one for years.

My first exposure to the “Bimby” began when I was chatting to a friend last year about how I was lusting after a Vitamix blender(I know, get a life, right!?). To put it into context, in the two years prior, I'd been really turned on by what I was learning(and tasting), from the burgeoning raw food movement, and I was doing my best to incorporate more raw, living foods into my diet. But, lacking the high-powered blender, dehydrator or even a decent food processor at home that many recipes require to get good results, I was feeling challenged.

The hardworking handheld blender I'd been using to make my green smoothies each day was quickly going from sharp to blunt from breaking down so much frozen fruit and ice, and the plastic s-blade gear that ran the small food processing bowl attachment, was also on it's last legs from all the nuts, seeds and hard vegetables I’d been routinely jamming into it.

This new, intensive style of food preparation was swiftly incapacitating my formerly good quality kitchen tools, but, this super-delicious and vibrantly alive "high raw" diet was having the exact opposite effect on my taste buds, inner glow, and my overall sense of peace and well-being. I felt elevated, lighter, and more purposeful when I could eat those foods more often, and it showed. So, I was on a mission to find a lasting solution for my ongoing blending and processing needs. Because yes, these were serious needs. I needed something to come along and save me soon. I needed it...like a plant needs it's roots. I needed it like a kiwi needs a fruit. And, I most definitely needed it...like the broadest bean needs something else on the plate, before it can participate, in what might be described as a decent meal.

Oh I know.....needs.

All the leading raw foodists seemed to have one of these super-duper Vitamix blenders, so I proceeded to do my own research to find out what made it the raw celeb's blender of choice, and the results were convincing. It was shortly after that, that I found myself in this conversation with a friend, where I proceeded to spend the next few minutes panting heavily, sorry, explaining in great detail, why I thought it was so good and how I had to have one.

After a pause, and with a Yoda-ish air of authority for dispensing such sanctified, esoteric information, she said knowingly, "Ah, yes....but have you heard about the Thermomix? It's even better." Her sister, an expert cook, had one in her kitchen and she'd raved about it to her all the time, plus my friend had sampled various dishes it had so effortlessly prepared at the many dinners she'd attended at her sister's place. Nuff said.

Curious, I went straight to Google to search out this mythic appliance(still not entirely convinced it existed). It did exist, and it was way better all-round, but especially in the looks department, sporting a surgical grade stainless steel bowl instead of a plastic jug. While we do know that the Vitamix goes like a little rocket and all, there is one thing about it that you can't not notice, particularly once you've seen a Bimby. The Vitamix blender is.....well, fugly.

Which means we're going to take a momentary detour.
We'll return to the story soon.

 
I don't wish to be unkind, but we are now well into the 21st century. 
The drab-looking, utilitarian box-like base reminds me of a cross between Blackboard's face from Mr Squiggle, whose features I can see grumpily looming in the controls on the front panel, crossed with what looks to me like, a vintage, army ambulance vehicle, from some war-torn locale in the former Eastern Bloc. Or, it could pass for an armoured police van from the early 80's. You choose.
Now look back up at the Vitamix again. Is that what appears to be
a gigantic, heavy-duty flashlight, pointing to the skies
and duct-taped to the roof of the van?

Talk me through it, Vitamix. I want to understand.


Yeah yeah I know, I probably would've bought one if I hadn't come across the Bimby first, but hey, I can and do choose to see past the surface of things and focus on appreciating the beauty and truth of what's hidden inside, all the time. Par for the course really. It's just nicer when I don't have to. Blame it on the Venusian in me.

Now back to the biznatch at hand.

Once I'd gotten online, and after a proper look at what the Thermomix was capable of, I started to feel all warm and fuzzy.

Why? Because this compact kitchen tour de force is like the over-achieving love child between the consummate, almost perpetually hungry "I'll try anything once" foodie, and the unrepentant, unremitting, frayed-nerved hypochondriac in me. It was clear from the outset, with this little ripper of a machine, I could easily produce restaurant-quality dishes within minutes that were so scrumptious and healing to eat I could instantly silence and amaze both of these over-active(and at times overbearing) sub-personalities at once. This was like an answer to my prayers!

Jolted into action by the sudden synaptic frenzy of activity in my brain, brought on by copious popcorn-like explosions occurring between my startled brain cells, I continued my search to learn everything I could about the Thermomix. As I did, an abundance of other life-affirming potentials represented by this machine began dawning on me. Having one of these, I thought, could literally Save My Life. In more ways than one.

Like many other people, I'd wanted to revamp my diet and take better care of my health for a long time, so I was prepared to invest in the right tools. Clearly, for my fussy needs, the Thermomix was the best thing out there. It's all-in-one design instantly knocked two out of my three raw wishlist items out of the way, and besides it's ability to chop, juice, prepare, grind, mill, pulverize, knead, stir, mince, grate, whip, crush and blend things to within an inch of their existence with great ease, it was packed with many other features.

Built to last a lifetime, it was designed in Germany and manufactured in France. It had a variable heating element and thermostat in the mixing bowl for cooking foods at different temperatures, starting at a lukewarm 37 degrees celsius - going up to 100C in the bowl and 120-140C in the steamer. With temperature control like this, I could finally attempt making things that called for precise low temps, and know that I'd be preserving more of the living enzymes and nutrients that get lost or destroyed when food is cooked at heats over 45C).

It had built-in scales and a timer, came with a multi-use strainer basket for jobs like cooking rice and juice extraction, had a large double steamer that niftily sat on top of the unit, came with a cleverly-designed tamper stick/spatula, and it even cleaned and sharpened itself. Plus, it was economical to run and kinder on the environment as it uses much less energy to operate compared to other appliances. Totally fabulous!

But what got me even more excited about it than all of that combined, was knowing that I'd found a device that could very well propel me out from the raw food sidelines I'd been slouching around in, and greatly assist in my quest to take greater charge of my life, and better care of my body, mind and spirit, starting with inspiring me to make better food choices that give rise to higher levels of nutrition. All my research into a raw food diet had shown me that while perfect health was achievable, and many had healed themselves of life-threatening conditions that way, if I was really honest about it, so was the potential to become more spiritually-aware and physically beautiful, and I definitely wanted that too.

It suddenly hit me. I had fallen head-over-heels in love. I even know the exact time and day it happened because at 2:35am on July 13, 2009, I formally announced it to the world in a tweet. It simply stated: "I've just converted my Vitamix obsession into a Thermomix obsession. Uh-oh."

No one tweeted back. Evidently, I'd gone crackers.

....And I was probably a just a hair away from being one of those people that can only fall in love and have sex with inanimate objects, like motorbikes, retro furniture, buildings, and European-made kitchen devices so groovy and underground no one had even heard of them.

In my defense, research has shown that only people with very low expectations usually do that.

A favourite Oscar Wilde quote of mine is, "My tastes are simple. I am always happy with the best." Objectum-Sexuality tendencies could not thrive much in those conditions.

So, getting back to my Tweet, maybe "obsession" is taking it a bit far, but now, just a few months later, here I am, waiting(no, salivating) with eager anticipation for my Thermomix Bimby to finally arrive. I have to admit, during the intervening months, I’ve thought about everything I would like to make in it a lot. No doubt, my frequent food fantasies have helped propel it in my direction sooner than I imagined. Remember this, your thoughts are things! So make them count people. Make them count.

This gratifying turn of events has additionally come about through a string of lovely synchronicities peppered with altruistic, kind-hearted gestures from some of the human angels in my life, and it's been hard not to notice the many significant shifts that have started occurring within me, coinciding with the Bimby's imminent arrival. It's like ever since I found out about it, and the closer it has come to being here, a new, very magical, supportive and motivating energy has been weaving it's way through my life, and it's been hard to ignore. There's a "right-ness" about how I feel this machine will fit in with me and my lifestyle, alongside the potential it has to help me transform my relationship with food(especially emotionally), but also in other areas of my life, where I've longed for lasting change.

You see, as it's so obvious that I just love it, I knew it would be good if I signed up with the company as a Thermomix demo consultant. The incentive is strong for people like me who are, clearly, passionate advocates for the product already and can't wait to own one, but who may not have all the resources to purchase one outright(a gadget packed with all those super features, it is priced accordingly, and I only work part-time). Through a serendipitous encounter late last year, I learned that I could earn one by doing demos, then more recently, my friends Jon and Adam bought one, and at at their delivery demo I found out how to sign up. The Force has definitely been with me…and so, just like that, in a few short days, my Bimby will be materializing before my eyes, and an exciting new career path is laid out before me.

I'm deeply grateful for what all this represents(funny how a kitchen appliance can represent so much!), and for being able to be sense the workings of angelic forces growing in strength around me, as they've helped coalesce subtle fields of energy in the larger system on my behalf, to help make this happen. Not to mention being thoroughly delighted and humbled to be a recipient of their grace.

I'll soon have a fabulous new tool in the kitchen that will make preparing fresher, more nutrient-dense, whole, unprocessed and living foods so much more inviting than before(with the occasional exception!), and I can't wait to experiment with new ingredients, tastes, textures, techniques and recipes to see what kind of diet and foods work best in my life. I've never done anything as consciously as this with food before, but I have a strong inner knowing that major transformation is at hand. It will be life-changing for me just to document my progress as I go alone, but with all this new awareness and zing I'll be bringing to how I am choosing to nourish my body with food, I sense it'll be amazing to see how that brings more awareness to my decisions when it comes to how I nourish myself in all other ways.


For an indeterminate amount time I'm going to live my life, as Buckminster Fuller did, as an experiment, and sincerely dedicate myself to discovering how I can attempt to design a tailor-made approach to diet, health and wellness that is perfect for me. I'm on a journey of discovery to find out which foods, supplements, wellness products, tools and techniques work best in my life. After spending most of my adult life learning and researching other people's methods and findings, this path makes so much more sense to me, and my very active felt inner knowings, than any other kind of approach to diet and health I've learned about or practiced before. 

We are all unique, and so is the path we each walk, so I know that some of what works for others may not work for me and vice-versa, but it's my hope and "felt sense" that maybe some of the things I learn and share will resonate with many others out there, and provide you with some food for thought and inspiration in your own kitchen. 

I am inviting you to periodically check in on my journey, as I playfully learn to tango my way towards creating a more harmonious relationship between the role food and diet play in my life, discuss their affects on my body and consciousness, and how that connects to how well I can train myself to be present in each moment, and allow my inner guidance to steer all the choices I make. 

Please come back again soon. I think this experiment will be fun to follow, stimulating and ultimately empowering....oh, and did I mention, mouth-watering?

Peace, love and...mung beans(well this is a food blog after all),

Liz

2 comments:

  1. Wow, I have never in my life been so completely intrinsically entertained by reading about food. After fully perusing your blog and absorbing it's content I felt as if I had just finished a complete action novel. The after effect however, does have me fully convinced that I need to procure this Thermoix tool for myself. It is my sincere hope that with a tool such as this, I may actually survive and flourish long enough to see my children fully grown and perhaps find some time to travel one day to the Down Under of the Earth. Should I reach such a far off and adventurous place I hope our paths should cross so I could personally thank you for your delightful entreaty to the Thermomix, and perhaps if I was truly lucky you may even explain to me what a Galactivating Human is? Or you could just tweet it to me if you are not too busy saving the world one nutrient at a time. Anyway " I see you " and it brings a smile to my face. Thank you... TK cybravatar

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Cybravatar,

    Not only do I have a huge grin on my face right now from that corker of a review(what a way to kick the comments section off! - thank you) I am truly excited for you and your offspring that you want to get a Bimby of your own! You must let me know if and when you get it so I can vibe off YOUR excitement. If you are in the US, you may need to get yours from Canada as it's not being distributed Stateside yet.

    I have to say, it would be lovely if you did make it down here sometime. Anyone who can truly "see me" is a definitely a friend of mine, and it was one of my goals, when I began to write this blog, to be "seen" in just the way that you mean. I was absolutely tickled as I read your note.

    Now, back to "saving the world, one nutrient at a time". That has got to go down as comment of the century so far. Bless you!

    ReplyDelete

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A Starseed's Bimby Kitchen Adventures by Liz Millar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Australia License.