Sweet Sweet Indian Wedding

Photos by Baron Spafford

Lessons from My Son Luc

FOOD and HOME MAGAZINE
Cooking at Home Column
originally printed Fall 2005
Lessons from Luc
By Lynette La Mere


My year began as it always does with a lofty list of plans laid out like a child’s letter to Santa, only mine is to the Universal Powers that Be and, mostly, to myself. I intended to go through the process of finally reverting to my maiden name, grow my company another 25%, extend the passion and creativity in my work and somehow diminish the 90 hour work weeks. Be brave I’d written; challenged instead of overwhelmed, midway it states “I will parent with love and respect” along with what most would consider an insanely ambitious group of endeavors for the proprietor of a very healthy business and a single mom with sole custody of two lovely teenage sons.


Nowhere on there did it say I would face a monster named Crohn’s Disease with Luc, my thirteen year old boy; Luc’s year began very differently. Soon into January he began having occasional stomach pain, it quickly got sever. He would often buckle over and moan horribly after eating, one night I woke up to screaming and found him rolled into a hard sweaty ball yelling with pain in his sleep. “Don’t touch me, it hurts so much!” he was like a woman giving birth & then suddenly ok and still sound asleep. This continued. He couldn’t seem to eat anything with success. Luc had always been a big, strong, very healthy boy born 10 pounds 4 ounces. Suddenly he was literally dissolving before my eyes and no one could tell me why. Within ten weeks he lost twenty-five pounds.


My fifteen year old son, Max, and I were terrified. When we finally got the diagnosis we both crumbled with fear, that first night I will never forget. They told us Luc had an incurable disease called Crohn’s. What the hell is Crohn’s? I was so devastated I drove to the first home of a friend I could and literally fell apart.


Then I went to work. I studied everything I could get my hands on, that first week alone I finished three books. Crohn's disease is an inflammatory disorder involving the small intestines. It may also impair other parts of the digestive system, causes an autoimmune deficiency, malabsorption, and inhibits maturation and growth. There is no cure for Crohn's disease. I went on a relentless search for alternative answers, it seemed the only solution the Doctors had for him were a lifetime of pain, steroids and surgeries. He had gotten so skinny and frail, and there were days when I felt like I had no skin at all but I just plowed forward seeking a solution.


It is a digestive system disorder yet the medical community insists there is no dietary solution. Luc, Max and I all committed to finding a diet that didn’t “hurt”; food he could eat without getting pain, stop the inflammation and heal his body literally with food. As an ex-hippy and a chef I had always feed the boys good sourced natural foods, but over the years of working so much I had begun to cut corners and their diet had diminished.


What we finally found is working for Luc. He has not yet taken a single pill with the exception of a massive amount of nutritional supplements, A.M.P. Molo-cure and Probiotics. According to UCLA Children’s Hospital his disease is now fully in remission with no pain and he has maintained his weight now for about three months.  (Update 11/29/11 Luc turned 20 today and is 6’2” tall and a very healthy Stanford University student still in remission thanks to his incredible diet and his dedication to health and being well).


Luc’s response to all of this has been so open to learning and change, so remarkably brave and willing. Max and I are still in awe of his level of acceptance and his ability to completely alter his life in order to heal. How can such a logical, seemingly obvious response be so unexplainably rare? He has spent most of the year getting acupuncture treatments two or three times a week from an incredibly loving and healing woman named Pamela Grant. He has become very spiritual, studying Buddhism and meditation. He absolutely avoids eating foods that don’t work for him; he is so dedicated to feeling well it is a lesson to all of us. He has given up all sugar and wheat and replaced them with a nutrient dense array of vegetables, fruits, legumes, alternative grains, ground nuts and proteins.


The following are some of his “crohnie” treats; foods he loves that have helped him heal and a few others. These two first recipes in particular are things I will feed the people I love forever, they are very special. Even friends who “don’t like nut” love these. So many people have told me these recipes have to be shared, Max and Luc’s friends will tell you these are really delicious even if you don’t have an illness to fight, they are healing and extremely nutritious for all of us.


Cashew Cookies
These are addictively delicious.


1 cup raw almonds
1/ 2 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1 cup natural pure cashew butter
1/ 2 cup local honey
¼ t. salt
2 eggs
1/ 4 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla


Pour the cup of almonds in a blender and grind to a flour. Mix this with the rest of the ingredients and refrigerate the dough. Once hard it can be scooped out and baked on a vegetable oil sprayed cookie sheet at 350 degrees until golden, about 8 minutes.


Cronie Brownies
These are magical; deeply satisfying, yummy and healing.


3/ 4 cup raw almonds
5 1/ 2 oz. virgin coconut oil
1 cup local honey
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/ 2 cup well-packed unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1/ 2 t. salt
1/ 2 cup chopped walnuts
3/ 4 t. baking soda


Blend it all together and bake at 350 till solid and done smelling.


Excellent and oh so easy Banana Bread
I like to bake this in a shallow pan but a loaf pans ok too, just be sure you bake it all the way, don’t pull it out too early.


3-4 ripe bananas
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup honey or dried maple sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 ½ cup oat flour
½ cup broken pecans if you like


Mix it up, spray the pan with olive oil and bake at 350 till very brown and done.




Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the almonds in a blender and grind to a flour. Mix this well with the rest of the ingredients. Spray a 9x9 inch baking pan with vegetable oil and bake 35 to 40 minutes.


Vegetable Lasagna
Serves 6
I know Luc’s not the only one avoiding carbs out there so this is a good one for lots of us. I was surprised how very satisfying lasagna can be without pasta. Really any combination of vegetables would work well here, these are just suggestions. Lactose is another evil for him but a nice hard, aged parmesan cheese has a very low lactose level that he can tolerate. With proteins we look for natural sources and a low fat content, and we love the lean vintage natural beef for the flavor and integrity, however Luc no longer eats beef so tofu is a perfect alternative.


1 pound zucchini
olive oil spray
1 onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 1/ 2 pounds lean vintage natural ground beef or tofu
2 cups grated aged parmesan cheese (has very low lactose)
25 ounces of your favorite bottled marinara sauce with no sugar
8 sprigs fresh oregano, stemmed
1/ 2 bunch fresh basil, stemmed and torn


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stem the zucchini and the slice length-wise in 1/ 6 inch wide long pieces. Spray with olive oil a standard 3 quart lasagna pan and then line the bottom with a layer of zucchini slices, season with salt & pepper. Sauté the diced onion in a hot pan sprayed with olive oil till translucent then add the garlic to the pan and remove after a few moments. Set that aside then spray more olive oil as needed and sauté the mushrooms then the beef seasoning well with salt and pepper as you go. As the beef browns break it up and add olive oil as needed. You’ll find the lean vintage beef doesn’t give off a lot fluid as it cooks so it browns well & smells great.


Sprinkle 1/ 2 cup of the parmesan on top of the layer of zucchini, top with 1/ 3 of the marinara sauce then layer on the onions, garlic, mushrooms and fresh herbs.


Top that with the rest of your sliced zucchini, season with salt & pepper then the beef, marinara sauce and the rest of the cheese. Bake for about 40 minutes.

Recommended reading; Patient Heal Thyself by Jordan Rubin, Breaking the Vicious Cycle (Intestinal Health Through Diet) by Elaine Gottschall

so so grateful to help

All ya need is love, boopie dooby doo...wooooooo WE WON!!!

Giant Thank you for your votes & LOVE!!!!  We are sooooo grateful to get to make weddings and parties for a living, we adore our work & the fine people we work with. Thank you so much for branding us SANTA BARBARA’S BEST CATERER

Teddy Bear Cancer Fund Raiser was a Huge Success!

“We believe that laughter is a great healer, and this year’s event honoring Carol Burnett, one of the funniest and most generous people on the planet, offers the right prescription,” the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation’s Marni Rozet said. “While raising much-needed funds, this unique event helped us to continue building community awareness about the organization during a fun and poignant evening of laughter and love! TBCF is a locally funded, grass-roots organization with a clear mission to serve the families in our community whose children have been diagnosed with cancer.” 

Pure Joy Catering was happy to be involved with all food, 

beverages and full service staff donated to the cause. 

PRE SHOW VIP RECEPTION

Passed Appetizers

*American Wild Caviar with Lemon Crème Fraichè on a

 Crisp Potato Star

*A Beautiful Variety of Cocktail Tarts; Tomato, Caramelized Onion, Olive and Goat Cheese with Basil, and other Provincial flavors

*Sweet Corn Tamale Poppers

*Grilled Prosciutto wrapped Figs, filled with Minted Goat Cheese with a Honey Mint Drizzle 

*Bamboo skewered Curried Coconut Chicken with

 Mongolian Dipping Sauce

*Warm Bacon and Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

*A Checkerboard of Crisp Wonton Squares with Seared Ahi with a Ginger - Wasabi Dollop and Spicy Tuna Tartar 

*Mesquite Grilled Shrimp with Citrus Mint Dipping Sauce

*Bite Sized Monte Cristo Sandwiches, 

Ham and Melted Swiss Cheese

POST SHOW VIP RECEPTION

PASS THE SUGAR!

*Mini Crème Brulee

*Fresh Berry Tart

*Rich & Tiny Macadamia Nut and 

Belgian Chocolate Tortes  

*Demitasse Mugs of Chocolate Espresso

 Pots De Crème 

Dear Patrick, Truly outstanding performance by you and your staff last night.... .

lovely note from the father of the bride.  Heres a few early pics

Amazing Days...

Adorable shots of Ellen and Clarke's wedding from Sophie Spier at Amazing Days Events. Love the tables from our fav Discount Party Rentals. This venue is Condor Ridge Ranch, perfect for an outdoor rustic style celebration. 

And the winner is....

As a sweet farewell to a really fun event season I want to offer you a recipe of one of the years best sellers. Originally done for a News Press article & photo shoot this little gem of a side dish has gone on to serve thousands of happy revelers this year.

photo by Chad Nassif, Firestone Wedding

Watermelon with Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese Medallions Dressed with Local Honey, Mint and Lime

Served 6-8

Quick, easy and quintessentially summer fare; this is an impressive presentation as well.

For the Local Honey, Mint and Lime Dressing;

2 tbl. lime juice (about 2 limes)

2 tsp. white wine

1.5 tsp. white wine vinegar

2 tsp. Santa Barbara honey

¼ tsp. pink peppercorns, crushed with the side of a knife

Pinch of salt

½ shallot, minced

1 tbl. mint, minced

¼ cup olive oil

Bed of Arugula

6 oz. log chevre (goat cheese) very cold

¼ cup shelled pistachio nuts

1.5 quarts cubed, seedless watermelon

¼ red onion, thin sliced

¼ cup shelled pistachios, garnish

8 mint leaves or sprigs, garnish

Whisk together the dressing ingredients to emulsify. Chop the pistachio nuts. Roll the goat cheese in the nuts pressing firmly & refrigerate till ready to cut. Spread your watermelon onto a salad platter over arugula. Top with the thin sliced red onions.

To slice the goat cheese it’s important that it’s nice & cold, use a thin knife, fishing line or dental floss and cut medallions. Arrange those on the watermelon then drizzle all with the dressing. Garnish with additional pistachios & mint.

all you need is love

Great Stations Menu, perfectly planned event by Patrick Ward gets rave reviews

All photos by Chad Nassif

Coconut Shrimp with Mango Chutney

Brazilian BBQ

Chef Jerry Wilson at Brazilian BBQ

Scallops on the half shell

Parmesan Baked Clams

Grilled Baby Lamb Chops with Fresh Mint Sauce

Organic Pizzas in Stone Oven

Pasta Station toss

Grilled Farmers Market Vegetables

Fresh Grilled Meats off the Brazilian BBQ

Bolitas de Queso Fritas, 

Little Yummy Cuban Cheese Balls, Crisp on the outside &

 creamy on the inside

Sambuca Marinated Grilled Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp with Rosemary  

Square Caramelized Lemon Tartlets                                                                                 

Demitasse Mugs of Chocolate Espresso Pots De Crème                                                      

Sweet Baby!

Wildlife Care Network, Catering by Pure Joy

                                    6 years in a row now we've catered this event out at sea for the Wildlife Care Network. These guys are saints! What they're doing for the  injured wildlife right here in our community is thankless labor - Pure Joy is here to say THANK YOU!!!! to the staff and volunteers currently helping approximately 4,000 native animals each year. This charity is a favorite around here, we just adore them. Check it out: Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network

Last weekends Foley Winery Barrel Room Wedding

Cha Cha Cha!!!