I have a new blog ...

Hi, and thanks for finding me here ...

Because even the blogosphere is subject to the 24-hour day, I can no longer do this blog since I have a new one on Beliefnet.com. I would be tickled pink if you'd visit there -- http://blog.beliefnet.com/yourcharmedlife.

If you like what you see (some of my favorite posts are "Angels Unawares" and "Victoria's Victorious Bailout Plan"), you can subscribe by pressing the "subscribe" button on the right. Or, to subscribe to both the blog and my monthly newsletter, "The Charmed Monday Minute," just go to www.victoriamoran.com and click on the "Contact and Subscribe" icon. Either way, Beliefnet will send you a link to click to be sure you're protected from spam.

Blessings on your day and may your best dreams find you before you know it --

Victoria

September 29, 2008

Greetings!

I took the summer off to finish two books. Living a Charmed Life: In an Ever Changing World will be out from HarperOne in April, and The Love-Powered Diet: Eating for Freedom, Health, and Joy, a completely revised and updated edition of my 1992 classic, is coming from Lantern Books in May. Right now, I'm in the midst of moving preparations as we prepare to officially be back in NYC as of October 8. I'm channeling my "inner Martha" as I figure out the decorating, the feng shui, and how to get a 2-bedroom NYC condo to accommodate two offices, a guest room, and William's and my living day to day. I know it will all work out; it's just transitional at the moment and we keep going back and forth on how to arrange things. It's not just things, though: it's arranging our lives, where we'll work, how life will take shape on a daily basis.

I keep exploring Harlem, discovering little treasures, most recently a chic bakery called Settepani that is also an Italian restaurant. (William was hoping for an Italian restaurant....) And being back in the city, even part-time as I am now, helps me feel so connected.

To those of you who celebrate Rosh Hashana, may it be wonderful. And even those of us who aren't Jewish can, I think, take advantage of another new year, a new beginning. We can never have too many of those.

All good things,
Victoria

Inspire me today

Please join me on Sunday, October 5th, 2008 as I am the featured Inspirational Luminary on InspireMeToday.com. Inspire Me Today™ is a website that provides the Best of the Best Inspiration Daily™- each day from a different Luminary. Enjoy a 10-minute podcast, a 30-minute audio feature, a 15-minute inspirational video, a personal story or simply my quote of the day. It's easy. Just click on this link and be inspired! Thanks for joining me!

When you register, please remember to use my referral code:

SAYY6AHH3U


Five Minutes for Peace

I met Patrick Swift when I taught "How to Live a More Spiritual Life" for the Learning Annex. He is a physician in New York City who has put together an exquisite online slide show of photographs and quotations. It is lovely to watch and take in, and it's so calming you can use it as an invitation to meditation. Here's the link: www.onemountainmanypaths.com.

A lovely thought

Eric Smith sent me a poem he wrote that ended with these lines I liked a lot: "God grant me the awareness, the willingness, to stop seeking Love, appreciation and approval, and find them in myself."

Radio days

I want to do a little survey and find out (1) if you listen to my Internet radio show, "A Charmed Life," on www.healthylife.net, (2) what it would take to get you to tune in (either live or after the fact via the online archives) if you don't already, and (3) the kinds of guests you'd like to hear on the show. If you want to respond, just drop a line of charmedassistant@aol.com.

For those of you who are new to this list, the show is live the 4th Friday of every month at noon Eastern (11, 10, and 9 a.m. as we count west...), on www.healthylife.net. Past shows are archived on the site for listening at your convenience. My guest for September was Charla Krupp, author of the number 1 New York Times bestseller, How Not to Look Old, now up on the archives. Taking the guest spot the 4th Friday of October will be Lillian Butler, author, raw food chef and educator, and co-owner of Raw Soul -- www.rawsoul.com -- a popular Harlem restaurant recently featured in the New York Times.

It's Kind of Easy Being Green

June 30, 2008
The Charmed Monday Minute

Hello, all –

I was inspired to the hilt at last week’s Vegetarian Summerfest (happening again in July ’09 at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown – www.vegetariansummerfest.org). Much of the information in this issue of The Minute comes from what I learned there.

The main thing I got at the conference was that the environmental crisis is real and urgent. It’s not just global warming, but also that we’re in this planet’s 6th great extinction – and this one we have a hand in. If things continue at this rate, 50% of the plant and animal species with whom we share the earth today will be gone by the end of this century. (Parents: Give this a minute to sink in.)

Every step any of us can take toward going green is so crucial and so worth doing. It’s no longer an edgy thing or an optional thing or a part-time hobby; it needs to be central to the way we live. We can make it a chore or an adventure: I’m all for finding the delight in compact fluorescent bulbs, putting my groceries in canvas bags, shopping at farmers’ markets and eating locally and organically as much as possible, driving a hybrid for now (and going carless in NYC in a few months), and eating a vegan diet. Send your suggestions for going green to charmedassistant@aol.com and they’ll find their way into future Minutes.

As we approach the 4th of July, I want to take this opportunity to hold each one of you in the spirit of independence. May you be independent: free from addictions and entanglements, free in your thinking and in your choices, an independent and co-independent person, standing on your own and working with others to make life better for us all.

All good things,
Victoria

Dairy and Ovarian Cancer

“For each serving of dairy products, especially low-fat and fat-free ones, which a woman consumes on average each day, her risk of getting the most common, and most deadly, form of ovarian cancer goes up by 20%.” – Dept. of Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; reported in the International Journal of Cancer, June 2004, vol 110 (2), pg. 217.

For more on this issue, visit www.janeplant.com. (Thanks to George Eisman, MS, RD for this information.)

Recipe of the Week

I met Linda Long, a food stylist, photographer, and complier of a fabulous (and beautiful) about-to-be-published cookbook, Great Chefs Cook Vegan, coming in September but available now on preorder from Amazon. Long challenged the most highly regarded chefs in America to come up with the ultimate in plant-based dishes. The results are exquisite recipes and an exquisite volume. Here’s a yummy candy sample:

Mignardises – by Charlie Trotter and Matthias Merges
(yields about 80 ½ tsp. pieces)

1 cup raw cashew butter (you can buy this at the health food store, or purchase raw cashew pieces and make nut butter from them in a Champion or GreenStar juicer or, if you’re willing to scrape the sides of the bowl periodically, in a Cuisinart—vm*)
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup cocoa powder
½ tsp. vanilla seeds, scraped
1 Tbls. nama shoyu (raw soy sauce – at health food stores)

Combine well in a food processor. Pour into shallow container, cover, refrigerate 4 hours. With a melon baler, scrape chocolate truffle mix into small balls. Fill or roll pieces with cocoa, spices, cayenne pepper, mint, nuts, seeds, sugars, dried fruit or zests, shaping a desired.

On the radio

My guest last week on “A Charmed Life” on www.healthylife.net was Sera Beak, author of The Red Book and expert on spirituality for young women (and the rest of us). The show is archived, as are all editions of “A Charmed Life” at www.healthylife.net. Click on my picture or the name of the show and listen to the program with Sera or any past show. Guests have included Jerrold Mundis, author of How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously; Gene Baur, co-founder of the first sanctuary for farm animals and author of Farm Sanctuary: A New Ethic on Animals and Food; Jennifer Cornbleet, chef and author of Raw Food Made Easy for One or Two People; and my wonderful action partner, singer Sherry Boone (www.sherryboone.com).

Quotation of the week

“It has never before been possible for an individual of ordinary intelligence and modest means to so powerfully affect the course of human history.” – James LaVeck, www.tribeofheart.com.

The Charmed Monday Minute: 5/26/08

Greetings this Memorial Day -- This is my first week to send The Minute without Joya (my able assistant) so we'll see how well I do. Several of you have written to me offering to do virtual assistant work and I thank you so much. I think I'll be looking for someone local who can help me deal with the paper mail, shipping, etc., but thanks from my heart for offering. I'm finishing up two weeks in NYC and it has been glorious. I walked in off the street at 8:02 last Tuesday night and got a 5th row center ticket for Gypsy (fabulous, amazing, carried me away), and yesterday William was in town and we got 5th row center seats for Spring Awakening from the half-price ticket booth. (Spring Awakening has lots of young love, sex, and death. It's a new kind of Broadway musical. William didn't care for it. I must admit I did.) In any case, these great seats are an indication to me that New York is inviting us back. We have looked at apartments to buy and we are in process there. I'll let you know what's up when something is certain. In the meantime, your prayers and good thoughts are greatly appreciated. Know that I'm holding all my readers and friends in the Light as well. My very best, Victoria Book of the Week Lillian Butler and Eddie Robinson, owners of Raw Soul Restaurant in Harlem where I took the "cooking" class in April have a new book out called Health Journey: Your Personal Road Map for Vibrant Living and Youthful Aging. It's a compact and jam-packed guide to natural living, vegan/whole-foods nutrition, and raw foods. Topics include hydration, food combining, juice fasting, exercise, making changes last, and a terrific recipe section featuring ultra-flavorful dishes from the restaurant's menu. This book is well researched, an easy read, and exquisitely balanced in the way that Lillian and Eddie are able to both call it as they see it and still respect their readers at whatever point they find themselves. I'm about to read it a second time. Order online at http://www.rawsoul.com or by phone: 212-491-5859; the cost is $21.95 plus $4.50 shipping. (And stay tuned: Ms. Lillian will be my radio guest in September or October.) Recipe of the Week I've taken this recipe from the featured book, Health Journey by Lillian Butler and Eddie Robinson. It's Ms. Lillian's Down Home Greens, one of the dishes we prepared in the class I took at Raw Soul. We all know how nutritious dark, leafy greens are but getting enough of them in our diets can be difficult. Either we didn't grow up eating them and don't know what to do with them, or we did grow up eating them but they were overcooked, over-salted, and seasoned with pork fat or bacon. Here's a way to enjoy greens with no cooking at all, and they are incredibly delicious. (Parenthetical remarks are mine.) Ms. Lillian's Down Home Greens (4 servings) 4 bunches collard greens 4 bunches kale or mustard greens Flax oil to coat greens 2 large diced garlic cloves 1 diced sweet onion Juice from 1 lemon 1 Tbls. apple cider vinegar 2 Tbls. agave nectar (a honey-like, low-Glycemic-Index sweetener made from cactus - available at health food stores) 1 Tbls. chili powder 1 Tbls. cumin 1 Tbls. Celtic sea salt (this is a minimally refined, mineral-rich salt; if you don't have any, use regular sea salt but cut the amount to 2 teaspoons) 1 tsp. cayenne 10 sliced Shitake mushrooms (I've used reconstituted dry Shitakes when I didn't have fresh) Wash and cut greens, removing stems. Coat greens with oil. Add seasonings. Mix well with hands. Taste. Adjust flavors. Add mushrooms. Let marinate overnight in refrigerator. These greens get better with time, so make enough for a few days. You won't miss the cooked version. (In class, Ms. Lillian had us really massage the greens, allowing the pressure, as well as the acid from the lemon and vinegar, to tenderize them the way cooking would have. This enabled us to enjoy the dish that evening without the overnight wait.) If You Have a Book in You ... Book consultant Jennifer Wilkov is a powerhouse who may be able to help you become an author (or a better-selling one). I took advantage of one of her offerings, "Lunch with Jennifer," and found it a remarkable experience. She has an uncanny ability to zero in on what is working for a writer and what isn't, on a practical, psychological, and spiritual level. I know that I'll be more successful as a result of working with Jennifer, which is why I want to let you know about her. She does phone coaching all over the country and also offers fabulous teleclasses, some of them free of charge. She doesn't confine her work to established authors either, and she can be a great help to new writers and to people who don't think of themselves as writers but who know that there's a memoir or a novel or a business book that they're supposed to get out into the world. Read more and be in touch on her site: www.yourbookisyourhook.com Coming on 'A Charmed Life' Radio, www.healthylife.net My live radio show is coming up this Wednesday, May 28, noon Eastern time, 11 Central, 10 Mountain, 9 a.m. Pacific. My guest will be Jennifer Cornbleet, author of Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People (she came up with the amazing brownie recipe I gave you a couple of months ago and on which I'm still getting positive feedback). We'll talk about getting more fresh produce in our diets, what raw foods are all about, the basics of raw food prep, and Jennifer will share some of her simple, scrumptious recipes. You can read more about Jennifer on her site: www.learnrawfood.com. The link is to the show is http://www.healthylife.net. If you can't listen live, all shows are archived and available for you to hear or download at your convenience. Where I'll Be Sunday & Monday June 8 and 9 (and returning July 20-21) - I'm doing the evening lectures on "Younger by the Day" and "How to Live a More Spiritual Life" at the New Age Health Spa, Neversink, NY, www.newagehealthspa.com Thur. June 19-Sunday June 22 - North American Vegetarian Society Summerfest, Johnstown, PA, www.navs.org. They'll have me working a lot and doing various lectures throughout the week on health, well-being, aging well, making peace with food and weight, and bringing your ethics into the real world without being insufferable about it.

Charmed Monday Minute, May 19

Hello, lovelies -

We're a day late since this is the day I can be in the glorious presence of radiant Joya, my brilliant assistant who is headed for the graduate program in directing at Arizona State University. This is our official swan song and she'll be teaching me how to send The Minute and do some of the many other things she does so well. Joya: I already missed you and now I miss you enormously. Please invite me when you're up for your first TONY.

In other news, I am in NYC this week and half of next, working on The Charmed Life Handbook and looking at apartments so we can move back. There may be some developments on that to report next week: good thoughts and prayers appreciated.


Victoria

Book of the week: What Would Audrey Do? Timeless Lessons for Living with Grace and Style, by Pamela Keogh (author of Audrey Style), Gotham Books, 2008. You know I rarely use the p-word, but to my mind What Would Audrey Do? is a perfect book. It looks beautiful. It's the right size and shape. It has quality paper and fun illustrations. You could proudly give it as a gift and happily pick up another copy for your very own. And the information in it is so practical, so usable, and so readable, I plan to keep this little gem on my bedside table for months to come. I admire Audrey Hepburn anyway and have long believed that she exemplified what it means to live with grace, style, and compassion. Her life wasn't easy---her father abandoned her and her mother, she survived the lean and frightening times of World War II in Europe and witnessed the Nazi occupation---and she went on to enchant millions as an actress and fashion icon, and inspire millions more as a humanitarian. Keogh so captures Audrey in this charming book that looks at its subject in the myriad aspects of her life and guides us as readers in adopting for ourselves some worthwhile Audrey traits. Two thumbs up. If I had more thumbs, it would be more thumbs up.

Another Admirable Woman: Some of you know the work of Sera Beak, comparative religions scholar, author of The Red Book, and gorgeous, real-life, 30-year-old dynamo who is out to help young women (and anybody else who's game) develop a personal spirituality that rocks. Sera will be on the East Coast in June doing a weekend workshop for women at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck June 2-22, and a Redvolution talk for women AND men in NYC on the 23rd. Here's what she says about the Redvolution: "A Redvolutionary is someone who does not play by the social, religious, cultural, sexual, or political rules. She affects change by daring to be herself, forging a unique path, and serving her planet authentically. She is a "spiritual cowgirl," rebelling against dogma and ideology in order to experience a direct and intimate relationship with the divine. She has a fearless commitment to truth and freedom, chocolate, red wine, and gold body glitter." For information on the Omega workshop, go to www.eomega.org, and for the NYC talk "Redvolution: Dare to Disturb the Universe," (7 to 9 on Monday June 23 at Lila Center, 302 Bowery at Houston, 2nd floor), go to www.theidproject.com. And there's more on Sera at her own site: www.serabeak.com.

FBLNM Brookdale College HIghlights: On Friday of last week, I did the closing keynote for the Brookdale Community College Women's Conference in Lincroft, New Jersey. Welcome to everyone from there who is now subscribing. I promised you (and our other readers) that I'd recap the highlights here: (1) Take care of yourself with M-E-N: meditation, exercise, and nourishing yourself on every level. When it comes to food, make the best choice from what's available. (2) As for your money: What happens in the month stays in the month. Either pay as you go, or pay it off. (3) The key to great relationships: Fall in love with your own life, your own company, and your own self. Then you'll be happy regardless of who else is around, and you'll attract great people into your world.

Where I'll Be: Sunday & Monday June 8 and 9 (and returning July 20-21) - I'm doing the evening lectures on "Younger by the Day" and "How to Live a More Spiritual Life" at the New Age Health Spa, Neversink, NY, www.newagehealthspa.com Thur. June 19-Sunday June 22 - North American Vegetarian Society Summerfest, Johnstown, PA, www.navs.org. They'll have me working a lot and doing various lectures throughout the week on health, well-being, aging well, making peace with food and weight, and bringing your ethics into the real world without being insufferable about it.

Quotation of the Week: "Anyone or anything that does not bring you alive is too small for you." - David Whyte

The Charmed Monday Minute, May 5

Hi, all -

I'm going back to a weekly Minute to see if I can keep these short--really a Minute to read. In my news, I don't have much except that I'm happy that it's spring (it doesn't look or feel like spring up here in the Catskills today, but we've had some hints and at least there's no snow).

I'm working on the edits and updates for The Love-Powered Diet which will be out in a new edition - its third incarnation - next year from Lantern Books. And I'm writing the essays for the sequel to Creating a Charmed Life. The publisher hasn't decided on a title yet but my working title is The Charmed Life Handbook: When You Absolutely, Positively Have to Live Remarkably.

Oh, we got it straightened out with Inspire Me Today: they will re-feature me in the fall. I apologize for any confusion there. And those of you who signed up but missed me can find me in the archives here.

Be well and happy -
Victoria

Recipe of the Week: Every time I don't do a recipe, somebody writes to me saying they missed it. I'm happy to share my favorites. As you've picked up from the past few Minutes, I'm doing a lot of raw food now so many of the recipes I'll share with you will be uncooked, but I'll share with you some of my favorite cooked recipes that my family has enjoyed over the years, like this one from Ingrid Newkirk's The Cookbook for People Who Love Animals (Warner Books): "Mock Chicken Loaf Florentine with Chickenless Gravy" For the loaf: 1 10-oz. pkg. frozen spinach, thawed 1 Tbls. vegetable oil or water 1 small onion, finely chopped 2 Tbls. imitation chicken-flavored powder, or 1 vegetable boullion cube 1 ¾ cups boiling water 2 cups TVP (textured vegetable protein) granules 1 pound soft tofu 1 cup gluten flour or ¾ cup whole wheat flour 1 Tbls. nutritional yeast flakes 1 ½ tsp. salt 1 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. poultry seasoning ½ tsp. onion powder 3 Tbls. vegetable oil Chickenless gravy: 2 cups boiling water 2 Tbls. vegetable oil 3 Tbls. nutritional yeast 1 vegetable boullion cube ½ cup diced fresh mushrooms ½ cup finely chopped onion Onion salt to taste Unbleached all-purpose flour Steam the spinach and drain well. Heat the oil or water in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until transparent, about 5 minutes. Dissolve the imitation chicken-flavored powder or boullion powder in the boiling water. Add the TVP and let stand for about 10 minutes. Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Pat the tofu dry, then mash. In a large bowl, combine the TVP mixture, spinach and tofu. Stir in the remaining ingredients and pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 ½ x 4 1/2 -inch loaf pan. Smooth the top and bake for 45 minutes, or until brown on top. (If the loaf starts to get too brown, cover with aluminum foil.) Make the gravy. In a large saucepan, simmer all the ingredients except the flour for approximately 5 minutes. Slowly add the flour (tablespoon by tablespoon), whisking after each addition, until desired thickness is reached. Keep warm. Let load stand for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and turn out onto a platter. Serve with gravy. Serves 6 to 8. Preparation time: 45 minutes. Baking time: 45 minutes.

Correction: The New York Times has to do these so I can, too. Last week when I told you about creativity coach Debbie Abram, there was a typo in her email address. It should be Debbie_spiritdancer@yahoo.com. If your creativity is blocked or it's been crowded out for other things, drop her a line.

Quotation of the Week: "The animals of the world ... were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women were created for men." - Alice Walker in her introduction to Marjorie's Spiegel's bookThe Dreaded Comparison

Something for Moms of Every Sort: My dear friend (and one of my many mentors), Alice Marie is hosting a workshop in New York City on Saturday, May 17: "This Is an Emergence: Giving Birth to Your Authentic Self." It's for moms-to-be and anyone, male or female, who pregnant with a creative project. It's bargain ($15). Register at www.mamapalooza.com.

Where I'll Be: Friday, May 16 - Brookdale Community College (Lincroft, NJ) Women's Conference, "All in a Day's Work." I'm doing the closing keynote, "Fat, Broke & Lonely No More." The morning keynoter is executive VP of WE TV speaking on "The Other Side of the Tube," and the day is filled with terrific breakout sessions as well. For enrollment info or questions, email Linda Martin: lmartin@brookdalecc.edu. Sunday, May 18 - Unity Church of New York, Sunday service, 11 a.m., Symphony Space, 95th & Broadway, NYC. My topic will be "When You Get Lost Between the Moon and New York City." Sunday & Monday June 8 and 9 (and returning July 20-21) - I'm doing the evening lectures on "Younger by the Day" and "How to Live a More Spiritual Life" at the New Age Health Spa, Neversink, NY, www.newagehealthspa.com Thur. June 19-Sunday June 22 - North American Vegetarian Society Summerfest, Johnstown, PA, www.navs.org. They'll have me working a lot and doing various lectures throughout the week on health, well-being, aging well, making peace with food and weight, and bringing your ethics into the real world without being insufferable about it.

A New Internet Radio Event: Nancy Mills is the very focused woman who's come up with The Spirited Woman Circle Tele-Chat Conversation Series -- first Tuesday of the month, 10-11am PST, 1-2pm EST. Register at thespiritedwoman.com or call 888-428-1234. Here's the lineup: April 1: Jill Conner Browne, Sweet Potato Queens Books of Love May 6: Susan Miller, founder of www.Astrologyzone.com June 3: Carolyn Howard-Johnson, writer's advocate, "How to Do It Frugally" series of books July 1: Jacquelyn Mitchard, highly acclaimed author of Oprah's first Book Club pick, The Deep End of the Ocean August 5: Laurel Touby, founder of Mediabistro.com, just sold her company to Jupitermedia.com for $23 million September 2: Catherine Ryan Hyde, bestselling author of Pay It Forward October 7: Victoria Moran, self-help guru (I am?) and author of Creating a Charmed Life

The Charmed Should-Have-Been Monday Minute, April 3

Hi, all -

I'm late with these posts more than I'm on time, it seems. Life up here in the Catskills is very slow-moving. It's hard for me to remember my energetic NYC self who was so eager to communicate all the time. I trust that this affliction is not permanent and I appreciate your patience with my inability to get these out on Mondays.

Joya has been traveling the country applying for Masters programs in directing for the theater, which is very exciting and she'll be great, but it means she doesn't have a lot of time for being the "charmed assistant" so I find myself behind on a lot. Still, they're predicting sun for tomorrow and even though it snowed here yesterday (it snows a lot here), I can smell spring, which is a good thing.

Speaking of spring, Adair and I both had our birthdays. Mine was on the Vernal Equinox, the first day of spring. I went to the city (of course), and Adair and I had lunch at Bonobo's, a raw cafeteria in the Flatiron District, shopped at Victoria's Secret, hit a nail salon, and found a sweet little indie coffee bar to hang out and talk. That evening William and I went to Pure Food & Wine, an amazing ultra-gourmet raw restaurant on Irving Place near Union Square. It was exquisite. I had raw vegan versions of Caesar salad, spanokopita, and strawberry shortcake, and William had a baby greens salad, raw vegan lasagna, and an utterly amazing raw vegan tiramisu. In the gift department, Adair and Nick gave me a gift certificate to MooShoes (non-leather shoes, belts, purses) and William treated me to an afternoon at the Red Rock Day Spa here in Woodstock--massage with passive stretch, detoxifying body wrap, and sensitive skin facial --yum.

For Adair's birthday on the 29th, we went for presents (her in-laws gave her and Nick tickets to a Broadway show, and the rest of us regaled her with gift cards for spa services, dancewear, knitting supplies...) and lunch at Vegetarian Paradise II in The Village (a foursome: Adair, Nick, William, me) and then Adair and I took off for a girls' afternoon--costume-jewelry shopping, a street fair, and the farmers' market in Union Square. We both bought plants. I named mine Justin and Alissa, and Adair wrote to me and told me she'd named hers Eve. I guess some eccentricities just run in the family.

-Victoria

Recipe of the Week: This recipe is for super-easy, sugar-free brownies: even my husband scarfs these up. These are truly one-bowl brownies--you'll never have to wait more than 5 minutes again when that chocolate craving strikes. Brownies from Raw Food Make Easy for 1 or 2 by Jennifer Cornbleet (a great cookless book, by the way, and there's a companion DVD). Yield: 8 brownies, 4 servings 1 1/2 cups raw walnuts, unsoaked dash salt 10 pitted medjool dates, unsoaked 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa or carob powder 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons water 1/4 cup dried cherries Place the walnuts in a food processor fitted with the S-blade and process until coarsely chopped. Remove 1/4 cup of the walnuts and set aside. Add the salt to the remaining walnuts and process until finely ground. Add the dates and process until the mixture begins to stick together. Add the cocoa powder and vanilla and process until evenly distributed. Add the water, dried cherries, and reserved walnuts, and process briefly, just to mix. Pack the mixture firmly into a square container. Stored in a sealed container, Brownies will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator or one month in the freezer.

Calling All Christians: I know my readers and subscribers come from a vast array of belief systems, but if you are a Christian who has changed to more of a vegetarian diet, you oughta be in pictures! Here's the scoop from the producers: "Our project is a short documentary produced for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) that will focus on how an increasing number of Christians are changing their eating habits based primarily on their commitment to faith. Such Christians feel that the way animals are treated is not consistent with what God had in mind when he created them. They feel God had no intention for animals to be mistreated at factory farms, where such cruel and abusive practices are used such as battery cages, gestation crates, and veal crates, in addition to the various mutilations and physical beatings they often endure. "This new movement of Christians points to specific verses of scripture that call for better treatment of animals. We are trying to find individuals, who, through their own relationship with God and/or scripture, have come to this realization. If you feel you meet this criteria, or if you know someone who does, we would love (!) to hear from you. Please email our producer, Emily Webster, at Ewebster@twocatstv.com or info@twocatstv.com (if the first inbox is full). "New York-based Two Cats Productions is an Emmy Award-winning television production company that has produced films for PBS, ABC News, CNN, FOX, MSNBC and over 20 networks outside of the US in such countries as France, Germany, Canada and Australia. For more information: www.twocatstv.com or www.HSUS.org"

Books recommended in my "How to Live a More Spiritual Life" seminar: So many people have requested this list. It's very eclectic and draws from many traditions. Take what suits. Some of these books are contemporary; others are classics. Jump in --it's a lifetime's adventuring: Poetry: The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke The Prophet, Kahlil Giran Emily Dickinson's Poems The Essential Rumi Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman The Essential Blake Nonfiction: The Law of Attraction, Abraham Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men & Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism, Anonymous The Red Book, Sera Beak Becoming Like God: Kabbalah & Our Ultimate Destiny, Michael Berg The Key to Theosophy, Helena Blavatsky Ecstatic Confessions, Martin Buber Cosmic Consciousness, Maurice Bucke, MD Lessons in Truth, H. Emilie Cady The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell, Ph.D. Life After Death: The Burden of Proof, Deepak Chopra, MD The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Deepak Chopra, MD Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy Emerson's Essays, Ralph Waldo Emerson Power vs. Force, David R Hawkins, Ph.D. The Hidden Wisdom in the Holy Bible, vols. I & II, Geoffrey Hodson The Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes The Perennial Philosophy, Aldous Huxley How to Know God, Christopher Isherwood, tr. Dark Night of the Soul, St. John of the Cross God Made Easy, Patrice Karst The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis Life After Death, Raymond Moody, MD The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale The Biology of Transcendence, Joseph Chilton Pearce Peace Pilgrim: Her Life & Work in Her Own Words, Peace Pilgrim Invitation to a Great Experiment, Thomas Powers The Game of Life & How to Play It, Florence Scovil Shinn The Religions of Man, Huston Smith A Most Surprising Song, Louann Stahl Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and Its Attainment, Rudolf Steiner The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition, Dianne Sylvan The Way Out, The Teacher The Impersonal Life, The Teacher My Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis The Eternal Now, Paul Tillich The Power of Now, Eckhard Tolle In Tune with the Infinite, Ralph Waldo Trine The Cloud of Unknowing, Evelyn Underhill The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, Barbara G. Walker Heal Thyself, White Eagle The Quiet Mind: Sayings of White Eagle Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda Metaphysical Mediations, Paramahansa Yogananda The Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukav

A New Internet Radio Event: Nancy Mills is the very focused woman who's come up with The Spirited Woman Circle Tele-Chat Conversation Series -- first Tuesday of the month, 10-11am PST, 1-2pm EST. Register at thespiritedwoman.com or call 888-428-1234. Here's the lineup: April 1: Jill Conner Browne, Sweet Potato Queens Books of Love May 6: Susan Miller, founder of www.Astrologyzone.com June 3: Carolyn Howard-Johnson, writer's advocate, "How to Do It Frugally" series of books July 1: Jacquelyn Mitchard, highly acclaimed author of Oprah's first Book Club pick, The Deep End of the Ocean August 5: Laurel Touby, founder of Mediabistro.com, just sold her company to Jupitermedia.com for $23 million September 2: Catherine Ryan Hyde, bestselling author of Pay It Forward October 7: Victoria Moran, self-help guru (I am?) and author of Creating a Charmed Life

Where I'll Be: I'm in writing mode at the moment and not doing a whole lot of speaking, but I'll be here and there and would love to have you join me... Speaking: New York, NY, Sunday, April 13, 9 a.m. to noon, panel- "Publicity for Writers," annual conference, American Society of Journalists, Grand Hyatt Hotel, info at www.asja.org