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YOGA + CHOCOLATE WEEK IN L.A.!

To celebrate the 5 year anniversary of Yoga + Chocolate, I have 3 exciting events to share each of which is followed by a tasting of exotic so amazing I promise it will be the single best thing you’ve ever tasted. Why Yoga + Chocolate? When relaxed as you are after yoga, a piece of chocolate changes from a note of flavor to a symphony of pleasure. Everything is sweeter in the moment!

1. Tuesday September 8   4:15pm–5:45pm    at Yogis Anonymous in Santa Monica

Cost: Donation Only

A 60 minute flowing vinyasa yoga class followed by a tasting of the amazing Barcelona Bar from Vosges Haut-Chocolat.   Here’s a little description on this incredible treat:  “Deep milk chocolate melts into the mineral and sumptuous taste of sea salt and roasted almonds, reminiscent of Marcona, Spain.”

2. Thursday September 10   4:15pm–5:45pm    at Yogis Anonymous in Santa Monica

Cost: Donation only

A 60 minute flowing yoga class followed by a tasting of the Funk & Disco truffle from Vosges Haut-Chocolat. Here’s more on this singularly incredible chocolate: “Visit the Southeastern United States and you will likely encounter various incarnations of banana pudding, ubiquitous in local markets and five star restaurants alike.  Banana pudding seems to be America’s answer to the English trifle—with just a box of vanilla wafers, sliced bananas, custard and whipped cream, dessert is done.”

3. GRAND FINALE  Thursday September 10  7:30-9pm    at Topo Ranch in Venice

Cost: Free!

If you really really really love chocolate, then come on down to Topo Ranch on Abbot Kinney in Venice at 7:30pm. The evening will start with a reading from my book Yeah Dave’s Guide to Livin’ the Moment followed by a reading of brand new material including a piece about the oddity of “mustache on female.”  You can pick up a copy of my book and get it signed. The mantra woven through my book: Everyday, if you can find one funny moment, one delicious moment, and one beautiful moment, it’s a way of slowing down and enjoying life before it slips through your fingertips. After some insight and laughter, what better way to celebrate a late summer evening than a guided tasting of several exotic and mysterious treats from Vosges Haut-Chocolat.

Yoga + Chocolate has been featured in Newsweek, O Magazine, and The NY Times. For more...

I love to eat (that’s the Italian in me) but am embarrassed to say that I barely know how to cook & let alone bake.  So when my good friend Lilian said I HAD to try this nectarine tart I knew the only way that would happen is if she made it for me.  She adapted the recipe from Food & Wine by substituting peaches for perfectly ripe nectarines & made the crust out of ginger snaps.  I know it may sounds feminine for a guy to be raving about a tart but it was delicious & something I definitely recommend all foodies out there to give a try.

The original recipe is in Food & Wine magazine (Sept. 2009)

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/white-peach-tart

As described by Lillian Sizemore:

I used organic yellow nectarines because they looked and smelled the best at the market.

For the tart dough, I had the idea to add crispy ginger thin cookies (Anna’s Ginger Thins) to the flour. I pulsed the thin cookies in the food processor until fine, and replaced 1/4 cup of the flour with the ginger cookies. I also added a dash of cinnamon. The hint of spice paired perfectly with the nectarines.

I didn’t have peach preserves, so I used apricot-orange marmalade (Trader Joe’s brand).

Technical notes:
The dough is really loose, so work quickly as you knead. I dusted with flour as I worked or it sticks to the counter, your hands, everything. I did follow the instructions and used firm fruit. With firm stone fruit, it doesn’t want to fall away from the pit so easily, so be patient as you slice it or you’ll bruise the fruit and it won’t look so good.

My final note:  Hold love in your heart as you work. Delicious!!!

My conversation with Sally was interrupted when the host of the party’s little dog ran by. Sally kneeled down and picked up the dog.

Let’s just say Sally really loves dogs. I don’t mean “get down, tickle their ears, and scratch their belly” loves dogs. I mean “rub their ears, scratch their belly, tickle their loins, open their mouth, and get your tongue in there” loves dogs.

Not since the first time I saw two kids french kiss on the playground of Coleman School in San Rafael, California during 2nd Grade have I been so dumbfounded by a kiss. I felt like the worst kind of voyeur perv sipping on my red wine while watching Sally and dog swapping spit. After what must have been 95 seconds, she put the dog down and turned to me, “So where can I get a copy of your book?  Wait…before you tell me, come with me out to the living room. I wanna find the lab.”

A few minutes later, I sat across from Sally on the couch with the lab. The dog was lying on its back, strewn across Sally, who honest to God was again french kissing the dog, red rocket and all. I’m embarrassed to say I went and sat on the couch with my red wine and watched. My inner dialogue went something like this, “What’s wrong with her? What’s wrong with me? I miss Schmutzie. Sookie is mine!”

As the lab scampered off, Sally turned to me and asked, “Do I have anything in my teeth? Chocolate? Bacon? Alpo?”

*****

It goes without saying that some people are extreme dog lovers. They’d rather the tongue of a dog than a human. The truth be told, according to veterinarian Marty Becker, you run more of a risk when french kissing a human than you do when kissing a dog.* Becker says many bacteria in the mouth of a dog are species-specific so they won’t harm a human.

I know you what you must be thinking and I agree. Why bother with the Latin masseuse when it’s safer with a Chihuahua? Why hassle with the frisky spin teacher when you can get a cleaner brand of spunk from the Labradoodle? Next time you see someone french kissing a dog, think twice before you judge them. Love comes in many forms. A furry creature. A horny devil. A hairy Moldovan woman. You just never know.

Right when you think you’ve got life figured out, the bank account filled, the kids gleeful, and the spouse satisfied, you may be Tested. As author Barbara de Angelis said, “Love is a choice you make from moment to moment.” So do yourself a favor.

Choose the dog.

Following on the heels of yesterday’s exciting release of prisoners in North Korea, I wanted to recap an upcoming wetreat. You may have read about this in the past…

For some, danger is a thrill that beats even the biggest buzz. For others, danger causes angst, fear, and an excessive need to pee. Danger is powerful if used effectively. Said Nietzsche, “The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously.”  How does danger affect you?  I’d like to offer you the opportunity to find out. IN the wake of the launch of my book, I’m excited to announce a yoga retreat I’ll be leading in early 2010. Following on the success of Yoga + Chocolate, Yoga + Wine, and Yoga + Snow comes the next chapter in the journey:  YOGA + DANGER. We’ll be headed to none other than the danger capital of the world:  North Korea. Yes! I’ve secured 10 visas thru a Canandian Travel Company to enter the forbidden land also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

We will begin on a 4 stop plane ride starting in Los Angeles, connecting in Tokyo, connecting in Seoul, arriving in Pyongyang. If you haven’t yet bonded in the 37 hour plane ride, hold your horses because we’ll just be getting started. Upon arrival, we will check in to the Moonstar Plaza Hotel which has a stunning view of the demilitarized zone. You’ll enjoy evening rations of water while staring out your window at gorgeous moonlit silhouettes of soldiers staring down their barrels. That is just an appetizer of the danger yet to come. We will awaken the following morning for a yoga class in a real live bomb shelter in the hotel basement. After yoga, we will enjoy a morning breakfast of raisins and low-grade Russian vodka.  Soon thereafter, our “handler” will lead us on a tour of downtown Pyongyang where we will have a chance to view monuments to the fallen leader Kim Il Sung.

You might be asking, “Why would I want to spend my vacation in a bomb shelter eating raisens and low-grade Russian Vodka when I can be chilling on Vinnie Marino’s  yoga trip to the beach in Tulum?”

Just wait. My daily yoga classes will feature themes on communism, pain, and heartbreak all of which will blend in perfectly to the stark surroundings.  Other featured events will include an evening of deep stretch yoga set in the foothills overlooking the border to China. As people attempt to escape over the border, we will watch from the cobbler’s pose and root them on using our thoughts and pure Shakti power. Danger will be everywhere and I will teach skills and breathing techniques to stay calm amidst the force of North Korea’s 1.1 million person army.  If you feel something poking your back, that won’t be a private part of your favorite male yoga teacher; it’ll be a North Korean soldier poking the cold barrel of a Russian manufactured AK-47 into your shoulder. But if this still is not danger enough for your thick skin; there’s more!

The climactic moment will be our arranged meeting with current North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. We have been warned to dress in a certain way and greet the leader as “if we were greeting God Himself.”  Get this. My friend dressed up his young son as Kim Jong-Il for this past Halloween(see above photo). I thought it was such a brilliant idea. So everyone on the retreat will also dress up as Kim Jong-Il to greet the leader. It will be a great surprise. And hey, what’s the worst thing that can happen to us?  It’s dangerous and danger is the name the game for our 4 death-defying nights in this dark corner of the world.

If this trip sounds like a bit much for you, I’d at least like you to consider your relationship with danger. Don’t be scared.  As Winston Churchill said, “Danger; if you meet it promptly and without flinching; you will reduce the danger by half. Never run away from anything. Never!”