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Freshtopia.net - The Director’s Cut

Oscar Grimm — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:58:11 +0000

There’s a raw juice movement sweeping the nation. …as is seems to do from time to time. I remember my family briefly going through a similar craze when I was young. It seems to be a binge and purge business, there one minute, gone the next. This goes a long way toward explaining the impressive selection of juicers to be found in many suburbian rummage sale block parties.

Well, color me a bandwagoner, I’m hooked. For how long it will last, no one knows. Many folks in the raw food community are onboard already, such as Phillip, Heidi, and Kris, to name just a few. Last week I wrote about my favorite fresh juice, or more precisely, about its color. This week we’re showing how to make it. Without further ado, we give you… “The Director’s Cut.”
The Director’s Cut:

2-3 large carrots, to taste

2 ribs celery

Freshtopia.net - Valentine’s Day - Part 2

Oscar Grimm — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:13:17 +0000

This Valentine’s day, we’ve gone buck-rogers with a racy show about aphrodesiacs! For the occasion we’ve concocted a pulse-punding chocolate sauce chock-full of sensuous spices like maca, cayenne, and cinnamon to get you in the mood for love. Treat your sweetie, (or yourself!) and use it to top some of our fabulous nearly raw vegan ice cream from episode #0055 , or if you live in New York, grab some awesome raw vegan ice cream from Pure Food and Wine. Feel the love! Ginger-Cardamom Ice Cream:1 recipe “Simply Vanilla Ice Cream Base” and… add to the blender:1T fresh ginger juice, or 2t dried ginger1/8t cardamom Sensuous Spicy Chocolate Sauce:Serves 2 with extra for drizzling! 3T raw cocoa1t maca powder1t carob powder1/4t cinnamonpinch cayenne pepperpinch sea saltagave to moisten, about 4Twater as needed

Whisk all sauce ingredients in a small dish, add water if the mixture remains un-saucy. Serve portions of the ice cream topped with the sauce, fresh banana and chopped raw almonds.

Tags: ice cream, sundae, valentine’s day, vegan

Freshtopia.net - Valentine’s Day

Oscar Grimm — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:03:38 +0000

This episode we take you on a quick and dirty (and occasionally bloody) history of Valentine’s Day. The story of this holiday and its patron saint is still a bit of a mystery. From Roman pagan festivals Lupercalia, to saintly love letters sent from the joint, the truth behind the origins of Saint Valentine’s Day continue to illude.

Be sure to check back next Tuesday, when we’ll be showing you how to make some festive pagan treats of your own!

Tags: history, love, lupercalia, pagan, valentine

blueEnergy: Focused on Sustainable Development

editor — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:34:24 +0000

San Francisco-based blueEnergy provides sustainable energy services to isolated communities in Nicaragua. Mathias Craig, executive director and chairman of the board of the nonprofit corporation, was on-hand last year to receive the prestigious Accenture Economic Development Award at the Tech Museum Awards, presented by Aplied Materials. He spoke to PodTech for this video podcast, live at the Tech Museum.

blueEnergy brings electrification to remote regions by building power systems that convert energy from wind turbines to battery power. Their efforts have brought lighting and refrigeration to towns along the Caribbean coast on Nicaragua, where less than 20 percent of the population has ready access to electricity. Their systems are built from scratch, relying on local labor that ends up providing training of local laborers, increasing skills and local economic opportunities, while providing a critical necessity for continued economic development through electricity.

Long before his efforts in Nicaragua earned him and his growing company high-profile status as one of CNN’s “Community Crusader” 2007 Heroes, Craig and his brother were aware of the need for electricity in rural Nicaragua. Their mother, a linguist, spent time in the remote region, where only about 20 percent of the settlements have electrification.

Check out video of the award presentation at the Tech Awards, as well as links to lots of coverage of blueEnergy’s efforts. And of course, check out Mathias’s blog, on socialedge.org.

Full coverage of the 2007 Tech Awards

Tags: blueEnergy, sustainable energy, Nicaragua, Mathias Craig, Tech Museum Awards, socialedge.org, Tech Awards

Year Of The Rat

Oscar Grimm — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:32:39 +0000

Happy Lunar New Year! February 7, 2008 begins the year of the Rat, the first year of the Chinese zodiac, a time of activity and renewal. Today we’ll take you on a quick tour of lunar new year basics, factoids, and food traditions. It is said that this is a good year to make a fresh start, and after the year we’ve had, we couldn’t agree more! As uncertified joy practitioners, we here at Freshtopia.net love a good reason to celebrate and eat some delicious food. So why not wear a little red, do a spot of cleaning (a lunar new year tradition), bring some fresh blossoms into your home and enjoy some healthy, auspicious fruits and vegetables?

In addition to tossing a little green, Tanja put together a wonderful, earthy, spicy parsnip noodle salad for this episode. We’ll be putting the recipe in the next edition of the Freshtopian, so if you haven’t already signed up, do so by entering your preferred address in the field at the site’s upper-right.

Tags: chinese new year, lunar new year, year of the rat

Freshtopia.net - How To Ruin A Perfectly Good Grapefruit

Oscar Grimm — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:58:46 +0000

This recipe was inspired by Anthony, aka the Raw Model, and his nifty list of 5 things to eat every day for health and beauty. It was a well-intentioned soup, simple and unassuming, comprised of some of my very favorite things to eat, all in one convenient bowl. What we ended up with however, was a watery bowl of grayish-green horror, with a crime-scene chili swirl. Sorry Anthony.

Despite the soup’s tragic disposition, the episode may be worth a check-out, if nothing more than as a cautionary tale. “What not to do with grapefruits.” The music, by our friend Justin Winokur , is great, and there is a healthy dose of nervous laughs to accompany.

If we’re still friends after you watch this, consider tuning in next week. Among other things we’ll be showing you how to make our variation of green lemonade, as well as blogging up a storm.

Here’s the recipe, so you know what to avoid…

Sundried Tomato-Chipotle Swirl:
1/3C olive oil
1/4C sundried tomatoes
1 small dried chipotle pepper
1t mustard
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Grapefruit Avocado Soup:
2 large grapefruit, peel and pith removed
1 large avocado

Tags: grapefruit, raw food, soup

Freshtopia.net - Grapefruit 101

Oscar Grimm — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:40:18 +0000

A quick tour and history of this surprisingly young fruit.

150 MPG with AFS Trinity’s PHEV Technology

Matt Kelly — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:26:35 +0000

Prior to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), one news story getting a lot of traction was the conversion of a Saturn Hybrid into a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) capable of 150 miles per gallon. So I was quite excited to speak with Don Bender, chief technology officer for AFS Trinity, the company behind the conversion, about their soon-to-be patented Extreme Hybrid drivetrain.

Tags: AFS Trinity, Don Bender, Extreme Hybrid, hybrid, NAIAS, North American International Auto Show, PHEV, Saturn

Cadillac Provoq’s a Response at NAIAS

Matt Kelly — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:15:24 +0000

During the North American International Auto Show, (NAIAS), I spoke with Clay Dean, global design director for Cadillac about the Provoq, the luxury SUV concept based on the Volt E-flex platform, unveiled at CES.

Tags: Cadillac, CES, Clay Dean, E-Flex, NAIAS, North American International Auto Show, Volt

NAIAS: Ford’s Explorer America with EcoBoost

Matt Kelly — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:45:58 +0000

Another exciting discovery at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) was Ford’s EcoBoost platform and the unveiling of their Explorer America concept. Dan Kapp, Ford’s Director of Powertrain Research, introduces me to this next-gen SUV and it’s performance enhancing technologies that will boost power and increase mileage while also reducing harmful emissions. Paul Eisenstein of the Car Connection has a great writeup entitled, “Ford EcoBoost: V-8 Power from Six?”

Tags: Car Connection, Dan Kapp, EcoBoost, Ford, NAIAS, North American International Auto Show, Paul Eisenstein

Freshtopia.net - Squash!

Oscar Grimm — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:44:31 +0000

This episode would probably be better titled “Sage-Pistachio Pesto”, but the allure and onomatopoeia possibilities of the word squash were too many to avoid. This recipe is another winner. We originally shot this episode before we left on our cross-country train trip, but we had the dish again last night and I can honestly say it’s even better the second time. I’ll be asking for this one again soon. The episode calls for shredded butternut squash as a base, though after trying it over shredded parsnip last night, I have a slight preference for the latter.

Sage-Pistachio Pesto:

1/2 Cup fresh sage

1/2 Cup raw pistachios

1/3 Cup olive oil

1 small clove garlic

1 T nutritional yeast

Peel, de-vein, and chop garlic. Add all pesto ingredients to food processor and blend to desired consistency. Serve over julienned butternut squash, or the shredded vegetable of your choice.

Thanks once more to Justin Winokur for his generous contribution of just the right music. Happy new year Justin!

Tags: food, freshtopia, pesto, pistachio, raw food, SAGE

GM’s Chairman Rick Wagner Meets with Bloggers at NAIAS

Matt Kelly — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:28:06 +0000

In an hour sit down with online journalists during the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), GM’s Chairman Rick Wagner answered questions on several topics from the joint partnership announcement the day before with Coskata, to Tata Motor’s Nano, recently unveiled for the Indian auto market. Participating int he breakfast meeting were journalists including (but not limited to) Brian Dooley at HummerGuy.net, Lyle Dennis of GM-Volt.com, Joe LaMuraglia - Gaywheels.com, Paul Stamatiou, Gear Diary’s David Goodspeed, Hybridcarblog’s Chad Snyder, Hank Green of Ecogeek.org, Joel Williams of Lifegoggles.com, Alphamom’s Isabel Kallman, Autowriter Matthew Keegan, Philippe Daix of TopSpeed.com, Clayton Cornell of Green Options, and Autopia’s Marty Jerome.

Tags: Coskata, GM, NAIAS, Nano, North American International Auto Show, Rick Wagoner, Tata Motors

GM Partners with Ethanol Producer Coskata

Matt Kelly — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:24:10 +0000

During the North American International Auto Show, (NAIAS) one of the most important announcements I heard was made by GM Chairman Rick Wagoner, who announced a partnership with Coskata, a Warrensville, IL, biology-based ethanol producer. The company uses proprietary microorganisms and patented bioreactor designs to turn biomass, municipal solid waste and other carbonaceous material to produce ethanol for under US$1.00 per gallon. I spoke with Coskata’s founder Todd Kimmel and GM’s Alan Adler about the partnership and the implications for consumers and the world at large.

Tags: Alan Adler, Coskata, ethanol, GM, NAIAS, North American International Auto Show, Rick Wagoner, Todd Kimmel

GM’s Bob Lutz Holds Court at NAIAS

Matt Kelly — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:59:54 +0000

During the North American International Auto Show, (NAIAS) GM’s Vice Chairman Bob Lutz joined a roundtable discussion with a group of online journalists including (but not limited to) Brian Dooley at HummerGuy.net, Lyle Dennis of GM-Volt.com, Joe LaMuraglia-Gaywheels.com, Vincent Nguyen at Slashgear.com, Paul Stamatiou, Gear Diary’s David Goodspeed, Hybridcarblog’s Chad Snyder, Hank Green of Ecogeek.org, Joel Williams of Lifegoggles.com, Alphamom’s Isabel Kallman, Autowriter Matthew Keegan and Autopia’s Marty Jerome.

GM’s Rick Wagoner at CES

Matt Kelly — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 07:50:05 +0000

During CES, GM’s Chairman Rick Wagoner spoke with a group of bloggers and journalists.

Tags: CES, GM, Rick Wagoner

GM Provoq’s Audience at CES

Matt Kelly — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:28:02 +0000

During the keynote address at CES, GM Chairman Rick Wagoner unveiled the company’s newest fuel-cell concept vehicle on the E-Flex platform and the first vehicle introduction ever at CES, the Cadillac Provoq. Featuring GM’s fifth generation fuel cell technology, the Provoq includes a solar roof-top panel to power onboard accessories, an active front grille with louvers that close at freeway speeds to enhance aerodynamics and left and right fender-mounted charging ports.

Tags: CES, Rick Wagoner, E-Flex, Cadillac Provoq

Biodiesel: Out of the FOG (Fat’s Oils, Greases)

Matt Kelly — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:43:32 +0000

During the first annual Renewable LA, a day long “consumption-lite” eco fest celebrating renewable energy and transportation, Joe Gershen, Board Member, Green Depot sustainable energy organization, gave a presentation on the many benefits of Biodiesel.

Tags: biodiesel, Green Depot, Joe Gershen, Renewable LA, Joe Gershen

Hollywood Goes Green: Centron Energy

Matt Kelly — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:39:05 +0000

Ron Likis heads up Centron Energy Corporation, a Wisconsin alternative energy company that has created a fuel additive that after 300 million of miles of testing, has been CARB approved and EPA recognized to decrease emissions and increase mileage in gasoline, ethanol, or diesel engines. I spoke with him about his company’s creation during iHollywood Forum’s Hollywood Goes Green.

Alemany Farm: San Francisco Urban Farming

Ryanne Hodson — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:35:09 +0000

Alemany Farm is a 4 acre, fully functioning urban farm nestled between a major highway intersection, a newly gentrified neighborhood on a hill and a housing project- the perfect place to grow some food! We got a tour (and some amazing fruit) from Antonio Roman-Alcalá, Volunteer Coordinator and soon to be videoblogger/documentarian extraordinaire. The work being done at Alemany Farm proves the point that urban farming and local food production is totally possible and necessary for the health and well being of a city and it’s inhabitants. Local farming and gardening are great motivators for people to get acquainted, eat more healthily and become more connected with where their food comes from and what it actually is (olives grow on trees? broccoli is a flower?). If you live in the SF Bay area, you can visit or volunteer at Alemany Farm on the weekends- check out AlemanyFarm.org.

Food Not Lawns: No Lawn Left Behind

Ryanne Hodson — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:11:31 +0000

Ever since we started living in a place were every square inch is growing something useful (to people and other creatures), our eyes are opened to the possibility of transforming lawns and other unused green space to grow food. Why water a lawn full of grass when you could water and grow salad greens, root veggies, herbs, squash, tomatoes, peppers, the list goes on and on. In this video we used some scrap wood to build a raised garden bed over a 7′x7′ patch of driveway gravel. Not only do we pluck the greens for dinner, it looks a lot nicer than the dumping ground of found materials that it once was. If every neighborhood had even a few lawns turned into gardens, we could start hyper-localizing our food supplies and getting to know our neighbors- because, after all, you’re going to want to trade gardening tips!

EVS 23: The Fuel Cell Store

Matt Kelly — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:00:51 +0000

One of the interesting folks I met at EVS 23, the Electric Vehicle Symposium in Anaheim, Calif., was Kathleen Larson, former math teacher and owner of the Fuel Cell Store. Concerned about reducing their carbon footprint, she and her husband started the company seven years ago, which sells among other things, hydrogen fuel cell model cars for science school classrooms nationwide. The company was just acquired by ECOtality and will be moving from Boulder, CO to San Diego, CA as part of Innergy Power and also offers teachers information about where they may receive financial assistance to fund these teaching tools.

Tags: ECOtality, EVS 23, Fuel Cell Store, hydrogen fuel cell model cars, Innergy Power, Kathleen Larson

Raising Chics from Scratch

Ryanne Hodson — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:44:29 +0000

You might remember from our Stone Soup video that our little eco-village has started to cull our chicken flock to make room for new birds. For the last 2 months we’ve been learning what it takes to be mother hens and raise two dozen newly hatched chics. Jay and I grew up in urban areas where there were no chickens but in the grocery store, so this was a learning experience for us both. These babies need tons of food, water and warmth because they grow exponentially in their first months of life. The benefits of having chickens in your backyard are many- they eat veggie food scraps and weeds, they poop instant fertilizer, they lay eggs and, if you’re into it, they’ll eventually make a great organic, free range, home raised meal.

EVS 23: The V3 by Vectrix

Matt Kelly — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 04:42:05 +0000

Another company making news during EVS 23, the Electric Vehicle Symposium, was Vectrix Corporation. Durng the show, Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Morrill introduced me to the V3, an all electric three-wheeler featuring twin front wheels that grasp the road during cornering, offering the agility of a scooter and the safety and stability of a small car. It’s lithium ion battery powers the three-wheeler 0-50 MPH in 5.2 seconds, reaching a top speed of 62 mph and goes 40-60 miles on a single charge. Yet at lower speeds, the bike is stable and allows riders to remain upright without ever having to put their feet down.

Tags: EVS 23, Jeff Morrill, V3, Vectrix

EVS 23: Big Kid Toys

Matt Kelly — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 01:58:10 +0000

I met EJ Wessel, owner of Big Kid Toys in Napa, Calif., at the LA Auto Show, but sadly, I wasn’t able to go for a ride in his T-Rex then. So when we met at EVS 23, the Electric Vehicle Symposium in Anaheim, Calif., I was all game for for a test ride. The electric version was on the show room floor and getting primed for its appearance in an MTV special, so I had to forgo that experience, but a ride on the gasoline version was just as fun. 0-60 in under 4 seconds…definately a gas!

Tags: Big Kid Toys, EJ Wessel, EVS 23, LA Auto Show, T-Rex

Producing the Next Generation of Transportation Fuels from Clean Tech - Part 2

John Ince — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:55:37 +0000

Jonathan S Wolfson, President and CEO of Solazyme Inc. talks with John Ince about how biotech companies in the biodiesel space can reduce their carbon footprint by focusing on process technology to make savings and reduce the amount of energy that goes into biofuels production. He also talks about the current climate in Washington and how legislators should be more technology agnostic when crafting energy legislations. Part 2 of a 2 Part Series

Tags: Biotech, Fuels, John Ince, Jonathan Wolfson, Solazyme, Transportation