Raw Adventure 2.1: Arnold's Way, Lansdale, PA

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How can I sum up the awesomeness that was our past 3 days in Pennsylvania? From Wednesday to Friday, we decided that we needed a little downtime from urban life so ran off to Lancaster County for a few days, where we were hoping to reconnect with ourselves, actual nature, and gear up for my final couple months in grad school! Of course, a BIG part of the trip had to be dedicated to our raw food adventures, and was it ever!!!

It all began with the long drive to Lansdale, PA to visit Arnold's Way, our first raw stop! Arnold is a really fun guy, and you can totally tell that he is absolutely 100% dedicated to what he does. Because Andrew and I want to start a raw community/support group/pot luck meet-up/cafe/whatever else might come of this grand project when we get back to Canada, we asked him how he managed to do what he did. Arnold's answer? "Why don't you grab a couple aprons and headbands and spend the day in the kitchen?" A day in the kitchen? YES, PLEASE! So we screwed all our other plans for the day and decided to become Arnold's temporary acolytes. (Yes, I even spend most of my vacations in the kitchen apparently... this always seems to happen no matter where in the world I am!)

First off, we had a delicious lunch. Andrew had the raw cheeze steak and I had their raw 'tuna' sandwich (I've been dying for raw 'tuna'!!!). It's been a while since I've had tuna salad, but theirs reminded me exactly of that mayo-pickle-tuna-celery goodness I remember! I especially loved their raw breads, which really inspired me to keep at it once we got home! I don't know why I just find making it so tedious even though it's a very straightforward and pretty simple process! We also picked up two slices of cake for the road. One was a raw carrot cake, and the other was an absolutely salivation-inducing coconut pie (so yummy, there is no photographic evidence of them).

After lunch, we got straight to work with Dorinda, who was working kitchen that day. She taught us to make raw pizza bread, their amazing banana whips (I had one with berries and spirulina, and I think I went to heaven for a few moments there...), and their raw banana bread. And I was just contended to get to work for about 4 hours in a real raw food commercial kitchen. It was such a treat to get away from our cramped little apartment kitchen into one with so much space and so many toys where we could actually work side by side without bumping into something! It was also wonderful to work with Dorinda, who loves beautiful platage and the little details that makes a great dish as much as I do.

However, I think my favourite thing about Arnold's Way is that they barely waste anything. Two summers ago, I waitressed at an amazing local gourmet restaurant in Kingston, Ontario (Luke's Cafe); one of the hardest things I had to put up with was seeing people waste the food they were served. At Arnold's Way, I got to see how the kitchen-side makes sure they get the most out of every bit of beautiful fresh food! For example, some of Arnold's staff takes their veggie scraps back home to their chickens at the end of the day; they make breads and crackers out of juice pulp; and banana bread out of the extra bananas that come from making their whips... it was such a green paradise!

All in all, we had such a fun day at Arnold's. I love the energy and quick-pace of the restaurant/cafe life. I definitely missed it! I would have loved to do it again were it not for our other super plans, which will make up tomorrow's post! But if ever you're in town, definitely check out Arnold's Way! I guarantee you, it's the best game in town!

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