An Amazing Movie, Raw Gingerbread Success, and That Salad

Friday already?! I hope it's been a good week for you. Yesterday, we did get to see Cave of Forgotten Dreams, as I'd mentioned I was hoping to.

 It turns out that this was also the first time Phil and I ever went to a movie together just the two of us! I wish I'd taken a picture of Phil's giant bowl of popcorn, but anyone who knows Phil can picture it and probably the rest of you have an idea by now, too!

This was an unusual and amazing movie. Not just because of the film crew's exclusive access to a 32,000-year-old cave with animal paintings of astonishing dynamism and beauty. Not just because the sensitive circumstances of the cave meant that the film crew was restricted to four people and to a two-foot wide walkway in the cave, disallowing particular angles of approach or even the tidy hiding away of other crew members. Not just because of the insistent music (choir, small orchestra, cello obligato)--although the shrill dissonance of the choir right at the beginning almost made me run outside...

I was also struck by the fact that throughout the movie, we heard only one native English speaker, an American professor based at the University of Tuebingen. Otherwise, there was Herzog's gentle German accent and a couple other Germans, and mostly French people, all speaking English (or speaking French with simultaneous translation into English in a French accent). How many other languages would you find spoken mutually by second-language-learners like this? It was humbling.

The cave pictures themselves were more accomplished and beautiful than I had anticipated, with lifelike depictions of extinct animals and possibly, an allusion to the 'Europa and the Bull' story 20,000 years before the dawn of Ancient Greek mythology! And yes, I do think the 3D presentation enhanced the sense of their perspective and placement. I appreciated the discussion of the usefulness of paintings to communicate with the future (though alas, I can't draw or paint!) and of the permeability between material and spiritual world and fluidity of physical entity that appears to underlie some of what was there (what Phil would call "the woo-woo stuff").

There was even some humor--a bizarre musical performance on a vulture-bone flute by a German paleontologist and a spear-throwing demonstration by the French Einstein-lookalike anthropologist. The very bizarre postscript to the movie was maybe 'a bit much,' especially as the film is slow-moving, but I admire the artistic sense overall.
And yes, our first 3D movie experience--of course, I was always peeking over top of the glasses to see how different it was without them, and it really was an enhancement.

So, if you haven't seen it, and are at all interested in ancient cultures and artworks, or in interesting foreign accents, or in amazing 3D effects, I would urge you to go!

OK--this post has gotten long already! Let me wrap up briefly by sharing that my second time making Raw Gingerbread was much more successful.

 Here's what I did different:
I used sorghum flour and a bit of maca instead of the 2c almond flour.
I also added 1/4 cup irish moss gel and a tablespoon of molasses to the 'wet ingredients,' and upped the coconut oil to 3 tablespoons, since the overall fat content took a hit with the replacement of almond with sorghum flour.
I also mixed it by hand instead of in the food processor, although I did Vitamix the wet ingredients (first the sweeteners, then the nut milk and oil), since I already had the pitcher dirty from making irish moss gel! I enjoy using plain old elbow grease and was pleased with how well it came together (and that I got to break a sweat instead of using electricity)!

 And I dehydrated it for a little less time.
This time--moist, melt-in-the-mouth, deliciously spicy and not heavy!

Finally, I promised the recipe for this salad.

You need:
2 cups cooked great northern beans
2 cups cooked wild rice
1 large carrot, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 avocado, chopped small
3 chard leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup chives, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, finely minced

Mix together all except the chard and chives.
Pour boiling water over the chard and chives to wilt them, then strain, put in the freezer for five minutes to cool, and add to the rest. (If you prefer a stronger 'onion' flavor, leave the chives raw.)

For the dressing:
1 tb coconut nectar
2 tb lemon juice
2 tb olive oil
2 tb apple cider vinegar
1tsp turmeric
1 tb miso mixed with 1/4 cup water
Whisk all these together and mix into the salad.

The softness of the beans dances well with the chewiness of the wild rice; the avocado and tomato marry beautifully as always, with the special note of the thyme in there. The carrot pieces give a nice crunch and the greens are delicious without harshness.

As it stands, this is a mild salad: I enjoyed it with some salsa added. If bell peppers didn't make me sick, I'm sure they'd be great in there--as would some stronger spices. Play around and enjoy!

Have a great weekend! I'll be back tomorrow with some breakfast talk.
Have you seen Cave of Forgotten Dreams? Or would you like to?