Lee Chappell's Holiday Inspiration Using the Beauty of the Season

Lee Chappell expertly uses shapes,colors textures to create fall place settings

A mini pumpkin becomes the bowl to hold a pureed pumpkin squash soup

Deck Your Tables With Seasonal Bounty for the Holidays

Last week I had the great good fortune to be invited to a home cooked meal at the residence of legendary nightlife party thrower and promoter of creative expression Mr. Lee Chappell. Lee has an eye for talent and knows how to throw a party be it large or small regardless of the venue. Using local seasonal fare and exploiting the red, green and golden colors of Fall the effect for this dinner was warm, inviting and dazzling. The center piece was no more expensive than New York State apples like Jonagolds, and Cortlands set in an attractive bowl in the middle of the table. Lee is expert at mixing in real ingredients with naturalistic looking props creating a rich and sensual feast for the eyes. Beaded napkin holders, glass acorns, gold rimmed stemware and orange colored "leaves" worked perfectly with the patterned yet more subdued table cloth. As for the dinner itself, the ingredients were found in the local markets no more than a few blocks radius from his home. As you see here, a mini pumpkin was used as a bowl to serve a popular autumnal soup of butternut squash. The pumpkins were baked the night before and hollowed out after cooling. The seeds were saved to roast with the leftover pumpkin meat pureed and added to the existing soup base. Once the lid was removed the roasted pumpkins seeds were revealed to be sitting on top of the soup with an elegant flourish of thyme and rosemary used as garnish. Waste not want not. Talk about good and good for you! Everything was edible including the bowls as the pumpkin skin was tender and thin after baking.
As we sat in wonder my appreciation for every season grew even those we have been taught to regret. As my grandfather says "Everything God makes is good but you need to know how to use it. " Indeed.

Traveling to the Green Markets 

In Union Square the Green Market is back after being displaced by Hurricane Sandy. Gone are the power trucks and back are the farmers vending surprisingly colorful fare. Although I assure you my photo above doesn't capture the brilliance and vibrancy of these bunches of kale they were just as sunny as a summer bouquet. Exactly like over sized flowers I wondered how it was that I had never appreciated them this way before. A victim of pre - packaging like just about everyone else I know,  I only see them already picked clean from the heart , tied in bundles and laying flat in the supermarket looking boring. Here they were in their full splendor! The uses for decor are obvious with very little work on my part. I simply place them on a ceramic platter or other surface that will protect the furniture  while instantly adding seasonal beauty to the room. Post party the same kale will find itself washed, finely chopped and lightly sauteed for a nutrient  rich  dish filled with magnesium, calcium , C and fiber sure to boost any flagging energy with the onset of cold weather. It's worth taking a look at your local community farmers markets during this season with a new appreciation for colorful squash gourds, cabbages, and  celery root  considered less glamorous. Hearty and substantial they will add an entirely new dimension to your dining experience.
What have you planned for the holidays? How will you be incorporating natures bounty artfully into your festivities? I'd love to hear it! Happy Thanks Giving everyone! Blessings to those who find themselves homeless post Sandy.

111 Year Old Bernando LaPallo Speaks Thursday 15 November 2012

Bernando LaPallo Dial In Call This Week

Bernando at Coral Hall in Brooklyn NY January 2012

A special treat awaits those who are ready to live by the creed, "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy,wealthy and wise." this week. A free dial in call featuring author Bernando LaPallo is being hosted by the Billionaire Mindset Forum at 8AM sharp EST/5AM PST

Born in 1901, Bernando is undoubtedly a man of the world with a sharp mind and sound health. A regular speaker on the  secrets of his health and longevity, he has had distinguished careers as a chef, a merchant marine during the Great War, as a reflexologist, massage therapist, and podiatrist. He will share his pearls of wisdom on how to add more life to your years and talk about his upcoming book. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to see or hear him in personhere is your chance. Get up early and make the call!
To Your Health,
Ekayani Chamberlin

Details:

Featured Speaker: Bernando LaPallo

Date: Thurs Nov. 15, 2012

Time 8AM to 9AM EST/5AM to 6AM PST

To Listen in:

(712) 432 - 0075
PIN 915358#
Hosted by;  Billionaire Mindset Forum
To learn more about Bernando visit his website here: Age Less Live More Store

My Hurricane Sandy Post from Greenpoint Brooklyn

What my life looked like on Halloween night

I have been sharing information on where people can get help around the 5 boroughs and that is about the extent of what I can do being somewhat landlocked here in Greenpoint. I do not drive and even if I did gas has been reserved for first responders. Although buses were running last week the details regarding how things are running can be your doing or undoing. There was no way to check the frequency of the B62 bus on Manhattan Avenue. After waiting for an hour, when temperatures started to dip I thought it wise to head back home. The number of people in New York City is literally in the millions. During trying circumstances like these it's better to think thoroughly and slowly about the outcomes than find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation with little to no recourse. As for getting around, finally the bike is being repaired today. The L and G trains to Manhattan are not going to be ready in the forseeable future. In Union Square as of Saturday there was a corral of trucks parked on the market square. The task is on to clear the water and repair the damage to that stop. For those who have asked ; "What use a bike could possibly be?"  or "Why is staying healthy important? ',  Hurricane Sandy has made that abundantly clear.  I was able to walk for four hours  without losing my breath or suffering swollen ankles, over and back on the Williamsburg bridge.  With a snow storm headed here this week I pray that all those who are freezing in the Rockaways, Staten Island, Breezy Point, Red Hook, etc. have much needed blankets. I will be open about my wondering aloud what the Red Cross is doing exactly on the ground here as basic things such a warm blankets are badly needed. If anyone has any information to share regarding that kindly comment in the comment section here.And I don't mean just to give them more money. Personally I'd like some proof of activity.

Tiny's Giant Sandwich Shop

LOCAL RELIEF EFFORTS
Walking through the lower east side Saturday 11/3/12, I saw plenty of signs that New Yorkers are pulling together to help each other with donations of food,water, clothing and general supplies. The ING NYC marathon had been cancelled and many of  runners that were  here are headed to Staten Island to help the flood victims that have been really hit hard! So many homes have been destroyed and it is humbling to see that Mother Nature exacts respect. Obviously we need to change the way we live here on the East Coast. New York City uses something like 90% of energy compared to the rest of the state! My downstairs neighbor Mr. Woodrum went out to the Rockaways and said it was pretty grim. He said he thought he was mentally prepared but really nothing could have prepared him for the shock of "third world" conditions with many renters sitting in the cold with no food,water or heat abandoned by landlords who "just don't care". The other extreme were those who were somehow able to mobilize. The bonds of community are apparently coming back into style. Governor Cuomo looked genuinely worried.

 http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/rockaways/
https://www.facebook.com/OccupySandyReliefNyc
https://www.wepay.com/donations/occupy-sandy-cleanup-volunteers
http://redhook.recovers.org/
https://lowereastside.recovers.org/
https://astoria.recovers.org/
http://brooklynbased.net/email/2012/10/sandy-in-brooklyn/
http://brokelyn.com/volunteers-needed-and-other-ways-to-help-sandy-recovery/
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/relief.html

USANA GREEN http://www.usana.com/Main/myUsana/page/USANAGreenArchive
It is good to know that a company like Usana Health Sciences  is actively using solar and wind in their manufacturing plant, sourcing only non contaminated ingredients and that anyone not using a hybrid car has to park at the back of the lot and walk to the front. If only EVERY company on the planet was doing the same Mother would be feeling well.  It's clear that the rubber has met the road and that really no more fooling around kids. If you are building a house use solar and wind, if you can conserve and recycle your water do so.
Look here for more info on what USANA does to make a difference. http://www.usana.com/Main/myUsana/page/USANAGreenArchive

Wake Up Govenor Cuomo & Mike Bloomberg You are Playing with Fire Water and Gas

Dear Govenor let this be a cautionary incident. Anyone who is native to this city like your Honor, knows that New York is literally layers of 450 years of new upon old construction. Rickety would be an apt desciption in terms of the way everything by some act of God fits together. But there is a lot we don't know.  The 91 homes that caught fire on Breezy Point make it clear that running a gas pipeline is the equivalent to running a bomb through the region. New York, as much as I love her (and I do) , is held together with spit and masking tape. Her fragile infrastructure is sitting on arguably THE most important watershed on the entire East Coast with a straight shot to the oil refineries in New Jersey right across the Hudson river.  The plan is reckless and heedless. I hope that Super Storm Sandy has made it abundantly clear that the Governor and Mayor need to put a screeching halt to all fracked gas constructions in The Rockaways to the Spectra Pipeline on the Hudson River to a stop. You ain't seen nothing yet!  The dimensions of human misery, ecological disaster are hard to fathom but if you think about it just a little bit and multiply what just happened by the entire East Coast and throw in some explosions you will want to stop before you begin. Companies from Texas have no idea what real weather is like. Fury doesn't really begin to describe what will happen if we don't wake up now.  And I mean NOW. Apparently so does Sandy.