RAFFLE! Win a copy of Gena Hamshaw's "Choosing Raw"!

The incomparable Gena Hamshaw has graciously given us a copy of her fantastic first book, Choosing Raw to raffle. We are saying first, because we know there will be more coming. We are huge fans of Gena’s and this book is just an extension of her awesomeness. Ethan first met Gena years ago thanks to the magic of twitter. Their virtual friendship grew over the years and finally one day, when all the stars aligned, we were finally able to meet in person at The Seed in 2013. We have kept in touch with one another and were even able to find time to go to dinner together where she and I bonded over our love for Tzatziki. We are so happy to have her back in New York so that we can see her more often.

But back to her book… All the recipes in Gena’s book are easy to follow and wonderfully tasty. In fact, we have stopped buying almond milk and now make it ourselves using Gena’s easy to follow recipe. If you want to see Gena in action, check her out on the Our Hen House TV show.

“You may not be vegan, raw, or even a veggie lover. But no matter who you are and how you like to eat, I promise you that you’ll find something to savor in this book. Maybe you’ll want to try a meatless dinner now and then. Maybe you’ll discover a couple of new ingredients. Maybe you’ll be convinced that eating raw food doesn’t have to be scary or weird or a hassle: It can be fun and refreshing. And if you’ve been wondering about plant-based diet but are worried about meeting your nutrient needs, let Gena walk you through a safe, realistic road map for making the transition.”

-From the foreword by Kris Carr, New York Times bestselling author, Crazy Sexy Diet and Crazy Sexy Kitchen

Entering the raffle is easy, just click on the link and follow the directions.

And speaking of Almond Milk, here is the recipe from Choosing Raw.

Classic Almond Milk

Makes 3 Cups

1 cup almonds
4 pitted dates
1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise down the center, seeds scraped out with a spoon

1. Soak the almonds overnight, or for at least 8 hours. Drain and rinse them.

2. Place the almonds, the dates, the sea salt, the vanilla, and 4 cups of filtered water in a blender. Blend for at least one full minute on high speed, until the mixture looks totally uniform and creamy.

3. When it looks well blended, stop the blender. Over the mouth of a large container—a 2-quart mason jar, a large jug, or a pitcher—drape cheesecloth, folded over once to make a double layer. Secure it in place with a rubber band, so that it’s fixed over the mouth of the container. I often quickly transfer my unstrained almond milk to another container, and then use the blender itself as my container in which to strain it.

4. Pour the almond milk through the cheesecloth. You may need to do this in small increments, because it takes a little while to strain. As you wait for it to strain, you can gently remove some of the almond “pulp” that is building up in the cheesecloth and set it aside.

5. When all of the almond milk has been poured through the cheesecloth, let it sit for a while to strain completely. Scoop up the pay and reserve for use later (for example, Almond Pulp Milk Porridge [page 209]). Store the almond milk in a clean container in the fridge. It will last for 2 to 3 days.