This was my first time at this “low-waste, alcohol free, pet free, smoke free and must have fun event.”  I went with my blogging friend Laureen Hudson, her daughter (Michael stayed in Petaluma with Miriam and Aurora’s big brothers), and Laureen’s friend Lisa.

Held at the beautiful and green Salmon Creek School (pause a moment to lament that we don’t live near enough for my daughter to attend a school with such clean air and lack of chemical stink), it was a mix of hippie aesthetic with practical advice, local businesses, and of course samples galore.

Fermentation roughly falls into two categories: dead and alive.  This event covered both.  Alcohol and bread are the two best examples of the former.  You can’t make them without fermentation (excluding things like crackers or tortillas) but we eat them for the taste and general nutrition (and they preserve foods without winter or electricity).  There are few to no probiotics.  Probiotics are what make ferments live.  You eat these for all the usual reasons but also for the nutritional powerhouse of the yeasts and bacteria.  Yoghurt, kefir, krauts, and pickles are the best known live ferments (though they aren’t always sold live).

As regular readers of my blog know, I make a variety of vegetable ferments (krauts and pickles).  And I long to make more.  I’ve tried my hand at coconut yoghurt and have plans to make water kefir next.  Another project on my list is dairy-free cheese (something pungent, like blue).

Many attendees lamented the lack of alcohol at a festival dedicated in part to its production.  But there were workshops covering spirits; my guess is logistical concerns kept out the samples.  Cheese (from cow, sheep, or goat milk) was another large component.  Since dairy and I don’t get along well, I had to skip that part.  No one there makes non-dairy cheese but I will make this my mission to find out how.

The Beverage People in Santa Rosa has classes and equipment/ingredients for sale for a wide variety of fermented products, but their specialities are beer, wine, and cheese.  My friend Gabe Jackson, who works there, even made us a case and a half of blackberry wine (picked from our garden–and yes, a post on that is coming!).  He’s promised to keep his eyes open for information on non-dairy cheesemaking.  His dairy cheese class at the festival was a big hit.

I attended classes on sauerkraut and pickle making, both with demos and fairly straightforward advice for beginners.  Kathryn Lukas, the owner of The Farmhouse Culture, demonstrated a simple cabbage ferment.  The woman next to me sounded peals of joy when Kathryn said don’t bother to pound your cabbage, just massage it a bit with salt to release the juices.  Since it had never occurred to me to pound my veggies, I just smiled, but now I wonder what I do that isn’t necessary or what little things I might be missing.  Kraut making is pretty easy, but there is a lot that can go wrong too.

Another thing that that hadn’t occurred to me was the sugar content of the vegetables.  Usually with ferments sugar is a good thing, even necessary, as it feeds the yeasts.  But *aha moment* what makes krauts go off often is the yeasts gaining control; krauts and pickles are a bacterial ferment, not so much yeast.

Most of our kraut is red onion.  Most of the time it comes out fabulous.  Once in a while we get an unwelcome surprise.  I asked Kathryn her opinion and she said it was likely the sugar in the onions.  Which can vary a lot.  I don’t know how to fix this…can I add some acid?  Can I measure the sugar to know which onions to avoid?  I don’t want to mix with large amounts of other vegetables.

Kathryn says to keep your vegetable blends no less than 75% cabbage so they come out well every time.  That works great for kim chee, which I also make, but sometimes you want something different.  I asked her if there was a chart of different buggies (desirable and undesirable) but she didn’t know of one.  I would find that very helpful, since I know what my off ferments look/smell/taste like and could match the bugs.

Jill Nussinow (the “Veggie Queen“) taught pickles.  These should be easy but even more can go wrong than with krauts.  I’ve made cucumber pickles and had one fantastic batch, a couple okay batches, and one batch we couldn’t eat.  Turnip pickles were so-so and tomato pickles were a total fail (though I sat near someone who said her green tomato pickles come out great, so I’ll give it another try).  Cool temperatures seem to be pretty important (you can get away with summer temps with kraut) and so is good technique.  Other than that, I’m not exactly sure why mine fail so often.

This very expensive crook was much touted at the festival.  What do the experts say? does it make better kraut or pickles?  The answer is no, but it does make it a lot easier.  You still have to weigh down the veggies (you never want them to contact air); this crock does come with weights.  But apparently when you fill the outside rim with water and put on the lid, you get a seal that lets CO2 leave without letting air in.  So less chance of trouble.

In addition to the pricey rimmed crock, Cultivate in Sebastopol had a variety of crocks and other equipment, at decent prices.

One ferment I’ve been wanting to make for a while is water kefir.  Dairy kefir is pretty common and makes a drink similar to liquid yoghurt, though the buggies are totally different.  Instead of using a bit as a starter, like you do with yoghurt, you strain and save the kefir grains, which are like tapioca.  You put the grains into your new liquid and go again.  The grains will multiply with time so there are plenty to share.

You can use dairy kefir grains in a non-dairy liquid and they will turn into water kefir grains.  It’s the same minus a few cultures that only reproduce with dairy.  So you can’t make dairy kefir with water kefir grains.

Water kefir is delicious and can be made fizzy or flat.  Apple juice is a common base, so is coconut water (not to be confused with coconut milk).  But you can make it with water too, as long as you add some sugar to feed the yeastie beasties.  Like with all ferments, the bugs eat the sugar and you’re left with a low (or at least lower) carb product.

The folks at Cleansing Ministries Rejuvenation Center in Santa Rosa gave a demonstration on making ginger root beer water kefir.  I can’t wait to make it.  Once I get my hands on some water kefir grains, I’ll blog the full recipe and my results.  Miriam adores kefired apple juice, which she had at a friend’s once, but I am allergic to raw apples and apple juice and found that the symptoms kicked in after too many samples of apple ginger kefir.

Nowhere could you see the hippie/mainstream dichotomy of the festival better than by looking at the water kefir demo and the “Fermented Foods and your health” talk. Karen Miller-Youst admonished us not to make kefir in a room where there had been anger and Dr. John La Puma gave us isolated sounds bites about the medical wonders of fermented foods.

John started us off with his credentials (part his resume and part the famous people he’s worked with), accompanied by a glossy flyer advertising his book.  The flyer was similar to the talk, filled with little tips like “cooked carrots and cooked tomatoes are better for you than raw” (something that is not only banal but wrong: soft or ground carrots make it easier to get the nutrients out but raw whole ones still have them and there is exactly one nutrient, lycopene, in tomatoes that is present in higher amounts when cooked, not exactly a reason to give up raw produce).

But onward to the talk.  What would you consider the number one reason to eat live fermented foods?  John’s was that probiotics lower the incidence of antibiotic-induced diarrhea (he even said it twice and had it on a slide).  Yep, it’s true, but…  His other reasons were about how probiotics are good for various gut conditions.  Also true.  But very allopathic.  You can’t be a doctor unless you treat disease, and all bodily workings are mostly separate from each other.  Right? Not really.

Granted, I left the talk before the end (the room was giving me a headache, the only problem I had in the building), but not once did I hear him say anything about the normal role ferments play in human health.  How every traditional culture has them in spades.  How they exist in nature as well and are part of non-agricultural societies cuisines.  How they work and why they are not just “healthy” things we can eat but essential to keeping our bodies balanced.

Fortunately, the organizers and attendees in Freestone needed no convincing.  The emphasis was on how to get more ferments in our lives, not why.  A nice playground and a butterfly ride for the kids, tons of samples (I could could have drunk Farmhouse Culture’s pickle juice all day), foods for sale, and live music rounded out the day.  I’ll be back next year!

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Peterson’s Farm
636 Gossage Ave, Petaluma, CA 94952
ettamarie@petersonsfarm.com
http://www.petersonsfarm.com/

The Peterson Farm as viewed from our driveway

Yes, we are lucky enough to live across the street from a small, working, chemical-free farm.  In a mere 6 acres, Ettamarie and Ray Peterson manage to raise hundreds of pumpkins (including several delicious varieties, not just ornamental ones), fresh eggs, glorious raw honey, and a few miscellaneous things depending on the season.

Naturally, we always get our Halloween pumpkins here.  This year they graced our Sukkah too.  They make good pie when they’re done being pretty.

Cyndi & Miriam pick out pumpkins

Neighbors wander in as needed for a carton of eggs or a jar of honey but this isn’t an attraction you can just drive over to: make an appointment first.  Mostly, they host school groups.  The joyous noise of children discovering their perfect pumpkin floats through our windows all October.

Peterson's Farm barn

There is a picnic area.

Peterson's Farm picnic area

And a large barn for workshops and classes.

Peterson's Farm Barn Interior

But what Peterson’s Farm is famous for is Ettamarie and her bees.  Here she is showing off a real hive inside a glass display case (there is a hose off to the right, through the window, that lets the bees go outside as desired).

Ettamarie Peterson & her bees

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
1945 SE Water Avenue, Portland, OR 97214-3354
(503) 797-4000 or (800) 955-OMSI (6674)
http://www.omsi.edu/

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9:30am-5:30pm (plus Mondays of school holidays; summers open until 7pm)
Prices: $11/adults, $9 kids & seniors, under 3 free.  Show your AAA card for a discount.  OMNIMAX, Planetarium, some rides & shows, extra.
Parking: $2 but they didn’t actually charge us for it.

It was dinosaur month and they had a special exhibit.  A couple of the dinosaurs moved and roared and it took Miriam a few minutes to believe they weren’t going to jump the wall and come after her.  Then she asked to go see them and had fun.  Even looking at the pictures as I was writing this, she said, “oh I am so scared” (half kidding) and added “are they alive?”  We were there almost two months ago but she remembers…

Cyndi & Miriam

They had both full-featured dinos and some that were just skeletons.

Miriam & Michael

And of course some silly tourist stuff.

Michael & Miriam vamp for the camera

Since we had gone to A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Villiage in Salem the day before, I was a little concerned about doing science museums two days in a row.  But the places were quite different and Miriam had a blast both times.

OMSI features an OMNIMAX Dome Theater, a Planetarium, and Laser Light Shows, which all cost extra, so we didn’t go.  The Featured Exhibit when we were there was the dinosaurs but now has switched to something else.

They also have a Science Playground for children 6 and under, which is a large room with places for parents to sit down and watch their kids play.  Any child over 3 would be bored there.  The Life Science Hall and Earth Science Hall have a bunch of interactive exhibits that range from fun to lecturey to broken.  Most were geared for elementary school age children.  Some were old and outdated and some of the newer ones were very patronizing.

They have several labs (chemistry, physics, marine science, etc) there which are mostly for elementary and secondary school aged children.

Where we spent the most time was Turbine Hall, which, ironically, is free to the public.  Here you find all the hands on hard science fun that I experienced at science museums both as a kid and as a teacher a couple of decades ago.  Miriam’s favorite was the Earthquake House, a little cottage on a moving platform that rocked and rolled to the sounds of Carole King (I felt the earth move under my feet…no, really).

Accessibility: The building is two stories and there are stairs, escalators, and elevators.  There were plenty of places to sit and rest around all the exhibits and the hallways and lobby.  As I recall, the bathrooms were pretty stinky (air freshener or cleaning product fragrance) but not completely unusable.  Some of the labs (the chemistry lab mainly) emitted very strong chemical smells that wafted out the door into the Hall. Something was going on in the building at large because I had a headache and the typical spaciness/fatigue that comes with exposure.  I can’t pinpoint it though.

For a 3 year old, this is a great place to go once in a great while.  I hear that older children (in the 10 year range) love the place.  And they seem to have enough fun to keep teens occupied too.  A toddler would have enough interesting things to keep busy.  It’s the 3-6 range that might be a bit weak, but then we didn’t explore every area they had.  It certainly was a good way to stay cool on a hot day.

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Kalga Kafe
4147 SE Division St
Portland, OR 97202
Phone: (503) 236-4770
Hours: Daily 5pm-12am

Kalga Kafe exterior

Despite what some reviews I read say about slow or indifferent service, ours was excellent.  Our young pierced server was friendly (without being intrusive), knowledgeable about the food, and more than willing to deal with our various food restrictions.  Actually, the restaurant is used to those: nearly any dish can be made vegan (most are already) and they’re good with gluten-free.

Kalga Kafe food

We started with a couple of young coconuts.  I buy them to open at home, which is quite an undertaking.  Getting the coconut water out is easy (hammer and screwdriver) but getting at the meat is harder, especially if you don’t empty the water first.   Kalga’s were very fresh and filled to the brim with water.  I remarked to the server that these must have been topped off but she said no.  She just whacks off the top and sticks a straw in (use a spoon for the meat).  I was impressed.

Our friend had a gluten-free vegetable-based dish (if I have any hopes of being a good restaurant reviewer, I’m going to have to bring home menus or at least take pictures of it; I couldn’t find one online) and Michael had a curry.

Our friend’s son and I both had Pad Thai with tofu, which is one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, and for good reason.  It was fresh and tasty and a large serving.  The noodles are rice but there is wheat in the soy sauce.  They can make the dish gluten-free but, for some reason, don’t have a gluten-free sauce to use.  The dish was already vegan so no worries about egg.

Miriam had some brown rice and tastes of other dishes.

The atmosphere was calming and peaceful.  Pleasant decor and no annoying new age touches.  The bathrooms were unscented.  All one level with easy wheelchair access (can not recall about the bathrooms).

Links:

• Portland Citysearch (reviews & basic information)
• VegGuide (reviews)
• Yelp (reviews)
• Portland Business Journal (2002 article)

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Multnomah County Central Library
801 S.W. 10th Avenue
Portland, OR 97205
(503) 988-5123

Three floors of book collections.  Grand old staircases (and an elevator).  And a children’s room to die for.  This place is bigger than some local branch libraries I’ve been in.

Children's room at the Portland OR Central Library

The bronze tree marks the front desk and it’s a beautiful sculpture (more pictures).  The wood wall to the left leads to a playarea/mini theater.  The tables have puzzles on them.  And the rear room stretches back further than the picture.

As you can probably guess, I spent most of my time in the children’s section, but the rest of the library was just as spacious.  The bathrooms had some light scent but were quite usable.

Right in front of the library, on SW 10th Ave, there is the Portland Streetcar that runs often and is free in the immediate downtown area.

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

So we were really looking forward to our planned lunch time stop.  Mt Shasta, just east of Mt Shasta City, which is past all the bad I-5 air.  A couple people recommended stopping at the health food store there, Berryvale, but we never saw it.  The town has several blocks of stores (and looked pretty interesting).

Once on the road, I realized I’d forgotten to put directions to the mountain on my palm.  Fortunately, it was on my map.  We took the first exit into town (should have taken the second, more northern, exit) and followed the signs to the visitor center.  The folks there were nice and the building was tolerable and reasonably scent-free.  The restrooms had a slight scent but I did not need my mask for the short time inside.  We got a street map of the town with directions to Panther Meadows.

A friend told us “Panther Meadows in August is something not to be missed.  The flowers, the fresh air, the streams, etc. are pretty spectacular…it is only a few hundred feet from the parking lot, so even kids can do the walk.”

I definitely feel like we missed something.  The drive to Panther Meadows was easy enough, and we had no problem finding it, but we saw nothing special.

Panther Meadows

This was it.  A small dirt parking lot, with some campsites a few feet away up the hill, lots of rocks, and a few trees.

We were all tired and cranky and starving and I had a splitting headache.  But there was no place to sit down, let alone eat.  The picnic tables were for the campsites, and they were all full.  We were told there was a one mile loop trail through the meadow; we saw what might have been a trail head, but nothing was marked.  We asked, but no one seemed to know where the trail or the meadow was.  I asked about the wildflowers and people just shrugged.

One arriving camper came over and said we were in the wrong parking lot.  That if we went a bit further, we’d get to the Panther Meadows day use lot and that it had picnic tables.  And that there were other areas with tables too.

There was no other Panther Meadows area.  We passed what must have been the meadow (with no way to drive in) but no there were no wildflowers.  It was hot and dry and most of the non-tree plants were dormant. It was a lot cooler on the mountain than in the valley.  Along I-5 our outdoor temp gauge read 103.  But it quickly dropped to 80 as we climbed.

We passed a lone picnic table or two.  In the sun with nothing around.  We went to the end of the road and found several tables.  Still in full sun with rocks and the occasional tiny shrub hanging on for dear life.  But there was a nice breeze.

Picnic table on the top of Mt. Shasta

We were nowhere near the top of the 14,162 mountain, but we were well above the 7450 feet of Panther Meadows.

Looking at the top of Mt. Shasta from uppermost parking area

The road up was a very easy drive, despite the elevation change.

Road leading up Mt. Shasta

We had a lovely picnic, though my headache deepened, along with weak muscles that came out of nowhere, and I realized I was suffering from altitude sickness.  It stayed with me until we’d been off the mountain for a few minutes (the base headache was freeway exposures and lasted all day).  Mt. Shasta City is at 3500 feet, which is low enough to avoid discomfort.

Picnic lunch: raw vegetable salad, banana nut bars, hummus, fish salad, and roasted vegetables

As we left to continue our trip, we passed Panther Meadows and stopped at the Bunny Flat (6900′) trail head to use the bathrooms (adequate, no water).

Bunny Flat Restrooms

We made our way back to the freeway and headed north to Oregon for the night.

Bunny Flat Trail Head

After this visit, I just assumed my friend was mistaken about August being wet enough for flowers.  Reading the various web accounts about Panther Meadows though, it seems it’s a special spot.  I’m not sure if the flowers persist through the summer, but many people mention the streams.

Had I known more about it, I would have found an easy access picnic spot (perhaps in town) then gone to Panther Meadows for an after-lunch hike.  Though there wasn’t much I could have done about the altitude sickness, being fed and rested would have given us the wherewithal to explore the area and find its treasures.

Links:

• Sacred Spring: Panther Meadows on Mount Shasta (Peggy Vincent’s description of the area)
• Recreation in and around Mt. Shasta (Mt. Shasta Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Bureau with lists of day hikes and other information)
• Mt. Shasta Area – Campgrounds

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

As we drove up, we found clean air, large campsites where no one seemed to be a smoker (I saw one cigar many sites away and that was it), and a huge empty field flanked by, what else?, blackberry bushes.

The view from our tent

Champoeg State Heritage Area
Champoeg Rd NE
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_113.php
503-678-1251 Ext. 225
Reservations: 800-452-5687

From Southern Oregon (a few minutes from Grant’s Pass), the trip is 230 miles, 3:45 hours.  From Petaluma, CA, it would be 10 hours, not counting stops.  It’s about 35 minutes south of Portland.

Directions: From I-5, take Exit 278 and head west. Follow the signs.

Check in time 4pm; check out time 1pm.

Our campsite from the access road

We spoke to the folks in the one site fairly close to us (on the right) and they were nonsmokers but also locals who decided they would rather come back when it wasn’t the middle of a heat wave.  So we ended up with no neighbors.

View from blackberries next to the field, back to our site

Experiences turn on a dime…had our neighbors been heavy smokers or pesticide users, my stay there would have been hell, like it was the night before at Indian Mary.  For whatever reason though, the campers at Champoeg (inexplicably pronounced sham-poo-ey) were quiet and fairly fume-free (not counting bbq and wood smoke, which fortunately doesn’t bother me, and is pretty impossible to avoid in a campground).

View to the right of our site

First order of business was getting our tent up.  Which took half the time it had the night before.  We didn’t bother with the rain flap this time, since it was still quite hot.  The night breezes were cooler than at Indian Mary though, and we were able to sleep.  Our second night, the heat wave finally broke with a thunderstorm.  Michael and I woke up in the middle of the night, put up the rain flap and got our belongings into the car, and made it back inside the tent just as the first raindrops started to fall.  It’s an excellent tent and not a drop made it inside.

Miriam helps stake the tent

We planned to spend all day Saturday in Portland so Friday night, the night we arrived, we decided to have a campfire.  Michael bought some wood but neglected to get kindling.  All we had was matches, logs, dried grass, a couple twigs from the ground, and 2 pieces of newspaper.

Getting a fire started

Fortunately, all my old Girl Scout training came back to me.  I rearranged the logs Michael had laid side by side and, in very little time, we had a fire.

A blazing fire

The food we cooked (in a cast iron pan) was pupusas that I’d made before our trip, and Amy’s gluten-free, vegan pizza. Both were frozen when we left Petaluma but defrosted in our cooler.  The pupusas didn’t quite work out.  They were very dry.  I’m not sure if that was because they were frozen first.  On the way back, I had some fresh pupusas I made in Vancouver (didn’t freeze them and didn’t put them in the cooler) and they were very dry eaten at room temperature but fabulous when heated well in a toaster oven (even though those were chilled first).  No amount of cooking saved the ones we had at Champoeg though.  They were edible, but needed moist sides.

Cyndi & Miriam cooking on a (semi) open fire

The pizza though, was another story.  Who knew? pizza heated in cast iron over flames is delicious.

Michael & Miriam preparing fire roasted pizza

It was Shabbus, so we lit beeswax candles and put them in a fire-safe place near the picnic table.

Shabbus candles

We ended the meal with the top item that Miriam had deemed essential for camping (getting all her camping knowledge from watching Curious George): marshmallows.  I found kosher ones (egg, dairy, and gluten-free) at Trader Joe’s.

Michael & Miriam roasting marshmallows

Champoeg has a visitor’s center and museums with tours and kids programs, disc (Frisbee) golf, and huge day-use areas, none of which we were able to see.  The Willamette River was way back behind the cabins and Miriam and I didn’t manage to see it either (although Michael wandered past what appeared to be a wading section during a late-night stroll).  With 615 acres, there is a lot we just didn’t have time for.

History, overview of programs, maps.
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/champoeg_history.pdf

Full park brochure and map
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/champoeg_full.pdf

Campground map
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/images/pdf/champoeg_map.pdf

We were in Campsite B9.  The B loop had sites that were much further apart than the A loop.  So better for single campers or small groups.  If you look on the map, above us and to the right is a large circle labeled club camping.  This is the place for groups because there is a shared grassy area in the middle.  When we were there, an extended family was having their annual reunion.

We were warned to bring bug spray and, indeed, there were bugs that came out at dusk.  They were smaller than mosquitoes and seemed to bite a little, but didn’t give us typical mosquito welts.

The park doesn’t use pesticides or herbicides and the bathrooms have no air freshener and are cleaned with “environmentally safe” cleaners (don’t know what, but they had no smell).  Each shower had its own full-enclosed changing room, which was nice.  Bathrooms had flush toilets.  The park host has wood for sale and a cooler with bags of ice.

Champoeg was an easy commute to Portland, and very livable.  If I were in the area, I wouldn’t hesitate to go there again for group camping, single camping, their programs, or a picnic.

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Indian Mary Park
Uninc Josephine County, Oregon
7100 Merlin Galice Rd, Merlin OR 97532
(541) 474-5285
Connected to the Oregon State Park system but run separately, through the county.
http://www.co.josephine.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=491

Directions: Take I-5 North or South to Exit 61. Go under the freeway and turn left on Merlin Galice Road, which turns into Merlin Road, for about 3.5 miles. Merlin Road turns slightly left and becomes Galice Road.  Continue another 7 miles to the Park entrance on the right.

A friend of ours goes there every year with a large organization that reserves a block of spots near the Rouge River and provides all the meals.  And for that sort of trip, this place would be awesome.  The river is gorgeous and the park has a communal feel because all the sites are very close together.

Miriam at the Indian Mary boat launch

Unfortunately, we weren’t with a group and the closeness of the campsites was overwhelming.

Our tent in the middle of several campsites

That’s us in the middle with an RV to the far left, an empty site to the immediate left, three sites behind us, and one RV to the right.

Between the stifling heat (98 degrees in early evening) and being surrounded by cigarette smokers, I ended up with a fall down asthma attack in the center grassy area at the front of the picture (beyond it is the bathrooms) while trying to escape the smoke.  I had my oxygen tank but not my inhaler and Michael was off with Miriam at the playground.

Fortunately, I was able to call for help and, after several tries, some folks (including a paramedic) heard me and got my inhaler and my family.  Miriam cared less about the fact that mommy was sick than about the fun of getting to ride in the park’s golf cart.  The smokers near to us were very kind and all said they wouldn’t smoke near us anymore.  And they didn’t.  But the damage was done.  I was fragile over the next couple of days and had trouble walking any distance.

Before the attack, we managed to get our borrowed tent up (first time since the dry run at home).  This was my first time dealing with a tent, or camping at all, in over 20 years.  Michael had never done real camping.  It was Miriam’s first time.  Not the greatest (re)introduction.

It only took us half an hour to get this baby up

The night went more smoothly.  I had chosen an RV site vs a plain tent site because the former had electrical hookups and water and we had an electric cooler.  The tent sites weren’t very different or less crowded.

Our campsite

We ate from the cooler, went to bed, roasted, took off the rain flap, roasted slightly less, tried to block out the partying around us, and fell asleep mostly hating the place.

Then it was morning.

Morning at Indian Mary is magical.  Everyone else was asleep, the air was cool, and Miriam wanted to see the river.

Rouge River in early morning

Once we were away from the campsites, the air at the park was very clean and fresh.  They don’t use pesticide at the park and they only use herbicide once in a while at the boat launch (most recently 3 or so months earlier).  I walked slowly because my legs were still unsteady and my lungs not at full capacity.  We made our way to the top of the riverbank, where Miriam, naturally, had to stop for some blackberries.

Miriam picking blackberries along the Rouge River

Then to the boat launch where she expressed her deep down desire to go fishing (one she has repeated dozens of times since…some day little one).

Miriam for a morning walk and yoga pose in her jammies

Then of course we had to make our way to the playground, where her visit the day before had been cut short.  We couldn’t stay long because the other campers were waking up and the cigarette smoke began to waft over.

Children's playground at Indian Mary Park

Unless I came with a very large, smoke and bug-spray-free, group, I can’t see myself returning.  As solo campers who wanted to sleep early and weren’t interested in socializing (drinking beer around the campfire with strangers), this was completely the wrong spot.  For someone with asthma and MCS, it was a nightmare.

Nominally, the park is pretty safe.  No pesticides, almost no herbicide, no air freshener in the bathrooms (they told me they use strong smelling cleaning products but we must have been there between cleanings because it wasn’t a problem).

The bathrooms have flush toilets and small shower stalls with tiny changing areas.

There is the playground for the kids plus lots of flat grassy areas, a Frisbee (disc) golf course, volleyball, horseshoes, and a place to boat and fish.  We were there on a Thursday night in mid-August so there were plenty of free spaces, though it was mostly full.  The better sites were of course taken.

Take a look on the map.  We were in site 74.  If I went again with a child, I’d want site 46 (preferably the entire surrounding chunk).  The map is somewhat misleading because those distances are actually quite close (it’s also not entirely to scale).  Many other park maps look similar on paper but they fit half as many campsites in the same space.  From us in 74 to the smokers/partiers in 85 was about 20 feet.  You can see their white car behind and to the left of us in the two site pictures above.

We packed up and got on the road by mid-morning.  On to another two nights of camping.

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Williamette River at the south end of Riverfront Park

This huge and beautiful park is worth the couple mile detour for anyone travelling along I-5 in Oregon.  Our first stop was the picnic area.  They have a large covered section of tables, which was taken when we were there so we ate at a table in the sun (during a heat wave unfortunately).

Covered picnic area at Riverfront Park

The building in the background houses a gift shop and an old-time carousel.  With fairly safe bathrooms and air conditioning.  $1.50 per ride for both adults and children.  Children must be 42″ to go alone.  They would not allow me to ride on the same horse as Miriam or to ride on a horse next to her.  I had to stand.  But Miriam chose the sleigh instead.

Miriam & Cyndi on the Riverfront Park Carousel

Next we walked down to the far south end of the park to see the handmade tiled Eco Globe.

Eco Earth Globe Eastern Hemisphere

Eco Earth Globe Western Hemisphere

This 23 acre park has plenty of room to spread out.

Grassy expanse at Riverfront Park

We walked back past the playground but, despite asking for it, Miriam was too hot to play.

A very hot and tired Miriam & Michael heading away from the Riverfront Park playground

The Williamette River runs along the entire west side of the park.

Miriam reading the river map

Williamette River at the north end of Riverfront Park

After our long walk, we were ready to get indoors.  Our next stop: the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village down the block.

Disability access: Nice flat sidewalks making a loop around the park.  Plenty of places to sit down and rest.  The bathrooms inside the carousel building were decent (no strong scents) and the building itself seemed okay.  I didn’t test the bathrooms by the playground.  I don’t know what their pest and weed control is there but I didn’t notice any chemicals.

Riverfront Park
116 Marion St. NE, Salem, OR
http://www.cityofsalem.net/departments/parks/river_front.htm

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Expo West is held in the Anaheim Convention Center. As disability accommodation goes, it’s not terrible, but of course could be better. The spread out nature of the center, along with few elevators, make wheelchair navigation tedious, and the carpets everywhere don’t help (they are often plusher in the booths, which puts a strain on the shoulders).

The air quality is better than many other places, but that isn’t saying much. Last year, they made a huge effects to make the Expo “green” and they advertised lower-VOC carpets, safer cleaning products, and all sorts of stuff. And it really was better. I noticed the difference right away. This year, the bathrooms were cleaned (during show hours!) with nasty stuff and the carpets were the ordinary toxic variety.

The biggest problem for me is cigarette smoke. Of course it’s forbidden inside, but people smoke right outside the doors (in droves) so the lobby tends to fill up with smoke due to leakage and people going in and out of the doors. A few signs and some comfortable seating areas for smokers away from the doors would ease that considerably.

Driving there is a nightmare. We commuted from LA, which was a 30 to 90 minute drive, depending on traffic (even outside of rush hour). In the morning, the worst of it is in the last 2 blocks. On our first day there, it took us half an hour to go those two blocks, past Disneyland, to the parking lot. Parking is difficult at best (and expensive) but flashing a handicapped dashboard sign was like the key to the magic kingdom. We were ushered in to the main lot where there were plenty of handicapped spots (last year they were hard to get). Note: our friends with handicapped licence plates said that they had trouble getting into the lot because the folks directing traffic didn’t notice them (it’s very crowded and hard to get people’s attention as you get your 2 seconds by the entrance before traffic urges you on).

I would gladly get a local hotel and walk, but I’m not sure any of them will be MCS-safe. The show is toxic enough that I have to have a 100% safe place to go afterwards (we stay with a friend).

Over the next few weeks/months, I’ll be blogging about what I discovered. I shared some finds at the Los Angeles Foodlab get together and I have many more bags of samples and literature to go through.

Here are some of my favorite finds:

* Mary’s Gone Crackers now has a thick straight pretzel shape with new flavors. The best part is that, unlike the crackers, they are soy-free. All their products are organic, vegan, and gluten-free.
* Coconut juice/water was hot this year, with several booths, including some of the bigger ones that sample in the lobby. My favorite was ONE (which tastes like the real thing) but there are other good ones too.
* Gluten-free is also really hot, which isn’t necessarily a good thing. When you depend on a type of product, the last thing you want is for it to become trendy. That’s how you lose it. A couple years ago, the hot thing at Expo West was lowcarb. It had its own section and tasting buffet. By the next year, it was practically gone.
* Gluten-intolerance digestive enzymes. I found these at a booth specializing in enzymes. I am not one to be easily impressed by supplement claims, but these folks knew their stuff. The product is designed to reduce symptoms for accidental exposures to gluten. They are clear that celiacs must continue to avoid gluten. For people with non-celiac gluten-intolerance, they say increased ability to consume gluten is a possibility.

Stayed tuned for reviews of other products, including cosmetics, personal care, candles, pet food, a trillion food products, fiber/yarn, and more.

Reviews so far:

* Safer cosmetics
* Sharkies Organic Sports Chews
* French Meadow Bakery

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Fortunately, we discovered the Boys and Girls Club. They are national, and Petaluma alone has 10 clubhouses. We used the main Petaluma location:

Boys & Girls Club Petaluma
Lucchesi Park Clubhouse
203 Maria Dr., Petaluma, CA 94954
(707) 769-5322
http://www.petalumabgc.org/

This is a large building with several function rooms, a gymnasium, a commercial kitchen, a teen room, and a central space with game tables. Most are for rent by the hour. We chose the multi-purpose room, which is quite large, with plenty of tables and chairs. There are lights and electrical outlets, but no water. Bathrooms are across the hall. The kitchen is a couple rooms down.

(Miriam watching her friends play musical chairs)

The cost? $40/hour for the room and $10/hour for a staff person to be on site. We chose Sunday, March 2, 2008, and had the place completely to ourselves. These folks are very accommodating. I didn’t even have to negotiate but they gave us kitchen privileges and an extra half hour before and after the party at no additional cost. They even allowed us to have the gym as a backup for the piñata if the weather was bad. So, for a two hour party and an hour of setup/cleanup, the total was $110 (2 hours for the room, 3 hours for the staff person).

One wrinkle: to rent the space, you must provide a liability insurance waiver. If you have homeowner’s insurance (or possibly renter’s insurance), you simply go to your provider and they give you the waiver for next to nothing. But ours said they didn’t do that. The only other solution was to go with the independent insurance the club recommended. But they wanted $175!! For a two-hour children’s party! Others were similar.

After a day or two of sheer panic, we simply switched homeowner’s insurance companies. We ended up saving hundreds of dollars a year on our premium and the waiver cost a whopping $4.

(Miriam in background with her cousin Jaiden. In front, from left, Aunt Kim, cousin Kalea, cousin Stephanie, Grandma Julie)

A rare trait among public buildings: The Boys and Girls Club doesn’t use pesticides or herbicides inside or outside. They also don’t have air fresheners. (The director couldn’t understand why anyone would consider using stuff like this around kids.) When I went during the week to check it out, the bathrooms and other rooms had little to no scent at all (except for some paint smell in the art room). It was very nice.

The day of the party though, the whole place had a mild but persistent cleaning chemical scent. We opened the windows in the party room and wiped down the tables (they were thick with cleaning residues) with our own cleaner. This made a big difference and the chemically sensitive among us survived.

It’s important to me to be able to provide my own food (too many allergies to risk it) and that was no problem here. Just no alcohol (you can…but it costs extra). And I liked having our own games and other activities, not orchestrated by staff or a preset menu of options.

Partway into the party, some of the older kids (age 6 or so) told me they were bored (they loved the games I had but they weren’t nonstop so they didn’t know what to do with themselves). I resisted the urge to fix it and entertain them. I expressed sympathy and told them what was coming up and went to work on something else. Before I even turned back around, they had discovered the crayons I brought and a stack of paper plates make great fun.

The one thing I wasn’t crazy about with the rental is that you’re required to clean up, or you forfeit all or part of your hefty deposit (ours was $400). That sounds reasonable in theory…until you’re rushing to get folks outside for a piñata (without them going home) and, in addition to picking up, wiping off food residue, and putting the chairs back, you have to scrub all the tables, vacuum the floor (they loaned us a vacuum), and even take out the trash (hey, at least they didn’t make us clean the bathrooms, though I was required to check them). I would have gladly paid the staff person another $5 for a half hour of cleaning, but it wasn’t an option. On the bright side, I totally forgot to take out the trash (it was all in one bag in the can) and they didn’t ding us for it.

The club had some nice outdoor space too. Since it was a gorgeous day, we had our piñata outside. It was a huge errr…hit.

All in all, I was happy with the space. The room fit our needs perfectly. I would have preferred another hour though (people showed up late so there wasn’t enough time to do everything; we skipped present opening and held the piñata bash after the official end time). From an MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity) perspective, it was a decent choice, though I’d look into the possibility of providing them with some cleaning products ahead of time for a larger event.

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

Several years ago, I started taking 101 instead of 5 when heading to San Diego to clean out my mom’s apartment over the course of several months. If you start from the South Bay, it’s only an extra half hour or so, because it’s an extra shlep to get over to 5. From the North Bay, where I am now, it’s more like an extra hour.

Google Maps: Petaluma to Los Angeles

Via 5: 6:20, 413 miles.
Via 101: 7:42, 468 miles.
My experience, via 101: 7 hours each way, not counting stops.

A friend of mine who also has multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) likes to drive 5 for the quickness factor, but does it at night, when they aren’t out working the fields or dropping pesticides by plane (don’t be fooled though…the crop irrigation sprinklers are on 24/7, and they put out chemicals too). This year though, even she said it was time to switch to 101. I like 101 better anyway. It’s far prettier, with gorgeous views of the ocean, and there are real places to stop, not just highway food and gas stations. Now that I’m doing my travelling with a child, I appreciate the nicer stops too.

I have four stops along the way that are kid-friendly and good for adults too. All are reasonably MCS-safe and good places to picnic, with nontoxic bathrooms. There are plenty more possible stops, but I haven’t checked them out.

MCS Notes: From just north of Salinas to a bit south of King City (around an hour’s drive), the area is solid agriculture. Big corporate (Dole, etc) farms with huge flat fields that get massive amounts of pesticides. There are some scattered farms north and south of this area as well. I manage more or less by keeping windows shut, A/C or whatever to recirculate, oxygen on via nasal canula , and no talking (breathing air through my mouth). The pesticides/herbicides are so strong they will come into the car (Miriam got fairly ill from them) but these measures will help a lot. Be sure to plan your trip very carefully so that you will not need gas or bathrooms for that hour. Before and after you can find oasis’s of clean air.

Stop #1 (A) – Toro Regional Park

Toro Park – 501 Monterey-Salinas Highway 68, Salinas, CA 93908
Hours and contact info: http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/parks/toro.html

Detailed descriptions & photos: http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=CAMOTO&CU_ID=1

Photos & map: http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-parks/parks-cnty/toro.html

From the north: Take 101 S to Salinas, then get on to 68 S towards Monterey, and go about 6 miles.

From the south: Take 101 N to Chualar River Road a few miles south of Salinas. The road will curve around to the right and become River Road. Take to highway 68 and turn left, towards Monterey. The park is less than 2 miles down.

Picnic areas, playgrounds, and bathrooms are not far from the entrance. We didn’t check out the hiking trails but the park has 4,756 acres to roam around in and 20 miles of trails. We stopped here a year ago and it was a great place for a picnic and to let Miriam play. Since it was a weekday in March, it was practically deserted.

The air quality is not perfect, as it does get some air flow from nearby agriculture. There is nothing directly there but you should keep your windows closed as you approach, especially along River Road. The bathrooms were fine and the playground nearest the entrance (pictured below), with the animals to ride on, was okay. The grass and roads also seemed okay. But some of the other playgrounds had a terrible chemical smell that I couldn’t be near. I think it was the bark.

Stop #2 (B) – Camp Roberts Rest Stop

This is actually two stops, one northbound and one southbound. They are a short distance apart and aren’t connected. The Camp Roberts area is a semi-wilderness oasis, just south of the pesticide/agriculture nastiness. A few farms are south of it, but they are spotty. So the air in Camp Roberts is pretty decent, though it is close to the freeway. I especially like this stop though because it is halfway between Petaluma and LA.

8.5 miles North of San Miguel. Monterey County. South of King City.

Both rest stops have large grassy areas with picnic tables. There is water and the bathrooms are moderately safe, with some residual cleaning chemical smell. No air fresheners. We stopped at the northbound area in March 2007, and the southbound both in 2007 and March 2008.

Northbound:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/maint/ra/ra32.htm

Southbound:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/maint/ra/ra33.htm

Stop #3 (C) – Mitchell Park, San Luis Obispo

Mitchell Park
1400 Osos St
(corner of Pismo & Santa Rosa)
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

From the north: exit 101 S at Monterey Street. Turn left at Toro Street. Turn right at Pismo Street. To continue south: head northwest on Osos Street. Turn left at Higuera Street. Turn right on Marsh Street. Take 101 S.

From the south: exit 101 S at Marsh Street (202A). Turn right at Osos Street. To continue north: head northwest on Osos Street. Take 101 N.

Looking on the map, there are tons of parks, with and without playgrounds, in SLO. Here is a great list of them, geared for parents, with photos: http://www.centralcoastkids.com/parks/san-luis-obispo.cfm.

We drove into SLO because I heard there was a good picnic area on the main downtown street (not sure which street they meant). We didn’t find that but we stopped to ask someone to guide us to a playground and she sent us to Mitchell Park, which turned out to be perfect.

There was a nice picnic area, lots of grass to run around on, a large big-kids play structure, a smaller toddler structure, and bathrooms that had no smell of any kind. The overall air quality is pretty decent.

Stop #4 (D) – Shell Beach, Pismo Beach

This is very close to San Luis Obispo, so use one for northbound and the other for southbound. It’s fairly easy to find going south, as you pass it and then can take the next exit and double back. But we missed it on the way north. By the time we saw the beach, the exit was right there and the next one was many miles up.

Dinosaur Caves Park
Shell Beach Rd at Cliff Ave
Pismo Beach, CA

From the north: 101 S to Shell Beach Road exit on north end of Pismo Beach. Go about 1.5 miles until you see a playground on a cliff to your right. To continue south: take the on ramp to 101 S that is right at the park (on Price Street).

From the south: 101 N to Shell Beach Road exit. Turn left on CA-1/Mattie Road. Turn right at Price Street.

There are many beaches and parks in Pismo Beach but Shell Beach is right off the freeway and completely gorgeous. Here is a list of parks: http://www.centralcoastkids.com/parks/pismo-beach.cfm

Air quality in this town is stellar. There is nothing bad directly around it and you get clean ocean breezes. The bathrooms at the park were fine, with a slight cleaning product smell, but I didn’t need my mask.

Other resources:

Central Coast Kids has lists of parks and beaches by city, with pictures and descriptions.

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

A few of the guests sharing their meal.

There was an organic turkey, stuffing, a variety of side dishes, desserts, and more.

Main food tables.

Michael carving the turkey.

Dessert Table.

I brought five offerings, all homemade (from scratch), organic, and vegan: 1) Cranberry sauce (made with lemon instead of orange due to my daughter’s allergy); 2) pumpkin pie with a pecan crust (I cooked and pureed pumpkins from the farm across the street from me); 3) cashew cream; 4) edamame salad with roasted red cabbage; and 5) two vases of flowers and greenery from my (certified organic) property.

My food offerings plus one of my flower arrangements (the one on the right). Note how they’re on a special table to avoid cross-contamination with potential allergens. All foods at Ecology House or Environmental Health Network events are labelled with ingredients.

Organic isn’t just about the food either. Ecology House was built with lower-toxin materials and uses no pesticides, herbicides, carpets, or VOC-containing products. All residents and guests are required to use fragrance-free nontoxic personal care products (we buy organic when possible). Most of us can’t afford all organic clothing, but it’s all my daughter wore for her first 6 months, with a large percentage of organic fiber afterwards.

How wonderful it was to celebrate the holiday not just with good friends and good food, but in a place with clean unpolluted air.

Ending on a cute note. Miriam having fun (age 2 1/2).

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.

I mostly eat at their Daly City (just south of San Francisco) location but have been several times to Concord, CA and a couple locations north of San Jose. I have eaten once in Los Angeles. We generally go three times a year: on each of our birthdays and on Christmas.

Prices, hours, and specials vary some depending on location. Here is the current information for our closest location, subject to change:

Daly City, CA Pacific Plaza 1901 Junipero Serra Blvd. #A Daly City, CA 94014 Tel: 650-997-0882 Fax: 650-997-0822

Restaurant Hours Lunch 11:30am – 2:30pm (Mon – Fri) 11:30am – 3:00pm (Sat, Sun & Holidays) Dinner 5:30pm – 9:00pm (Mon-Thurs) 5:30pm – 9:30pm (Fri-Sat) 5:00pm – 9:00pm (Sun & Holidays)

Price <effective from August 1, 2007> Adult Lunch $14.95 (Mon-Fri) $16.95 (Sat, Sun, Holidays) Dinner $24.95 (Mon-Thurs) $26.95 (Fri, Sat, Sun, Holidays) Children(Under 12 yrs. Old) Lunch 5 feet & under 1/2 Price 4 feet & under $ 5.95 3 feet & under Free Dinner 5 feet & under 1/2 Price 4 feet & under $ 6.95 3 feet & under Free

*20%Off – Seniors 65 or Older (Dinner only) *Soft drinks included

Specials: A complimentary half shell Lobster per adult buffet ( Added value, Fri-Sun Dinner only)Birthday Promotion – Free Birthday Meal on your birthday Valid Photo I.D./ Must be accompanied by at least one paying adult

Promotions: KIDS EAT FREE- MONDAY THRU FRIDAY (Limited Time Offer) Children under 12 years old and under 5ft./ Must be accompanied by one paying adult per child“Christmas Special“* (Tuesday,December 25th,2007 ) - Open All Day 11:30am – 9:00pm / All Day Serving Dinner & Special Menu : $26.95 per person - Special Menu:Turkey, Prime Rib, Lamb Chop, A complimentary half shell Lobster per adult & much more… – Special Promotion - Kids eat FREE with one paying adult. - Buy one Beer, Get second one for $1.00 (S) & $2.00 (L)

There is enough there that people eating only sushi will have plenty to choose from, and friends who hate both sushi and seafood can also be satisfied. It’s kid friendly (be sure to ask for a balloon!) and they’ll sing happy birthday to you (also free on your birthday if you come with a paying adult).

We discovered this place when living on the San Francisco peninsula. A friend and I had a habit of eating at a Palo Alto sushi buffet on Christmas day (thus keeping alive the rule that Jews eat Asian food on Christian holidays…Chinese (and in areas that have them, other Asian) places tend to be all that’s open). All of a sudden, our regular spot started closing on Christmas and we drove around looking for an alternative, and found Todai. Now it’s Michael’s and my tradition, and one we’re teaching our daughter.

It used to be that Todai, and other open restaurants, were a haven from Christmas madness. They were their ordinary selves, filled with fellow Jews, Asian immigrants, and others who either weren’t Christian or chose not to celebrate. Now, Todai plays Christmas music, decorates the place, has special “American” food, and warmly greets customers with “Merry Christmas.” Fortunately, the food is still good enough to make up for those changes.

You can look at their menu online, but the offerings change frequently, and no location has everything at once. They have sushi and sashimi, cold salads, raw and cooked cold seafood, fresh cut fruit, various hot entrees and side dishes, soup and udon, and desserts.

They make most of their foods on site, which makes it a lot easier to navigate dietary restrictions. Although some of the components for their food arepre-made (and many are frozen), they cut up their own fruit, put together their toppings, and make the sushi. I’ve found the staff to be very helpful and kind. They offer to special order foods if they’re not horribly busy and the staff who doesn’t speak English (perhaps half, in my experience) takes the time to bring you someone who can.

If you’re used to paying top dollar for high quality sushi, this is not the place for you. The food is good but it’s not great and you will likely be disappointed. Still, it has a homemade flair to it, is mostly fresh (with some frozen elements), and isn’t nearly as junky as most restaurant food of its class. I react badly to preservatives and such, but always do fine there.

If you’re gluten sensitive, beware. Many dishes have soy sauce added. The sushi is pretty safe (avoid the one with tempura batter) and the staff will tell you which one or two (if any) have a soy sauce topping. The hot foods often have soy sauce and of course some are breaded. They don’t blink an eye though to your bringing outside foods, so go ahead and bring some wheat-free tamari and enjoy your sushi. I asked about the tempura once and it is possible it is gluten-free, but I can’t remember for sure. The batter has egg so I couldn’t eat it anyway.

A surprising number of foods there have egg. The fried rice and the Thai noodles both did but there was another noodle dish that was safe, along with the plain rice. My favorite offering there is the lobster, which is only available for dinner on weekends and holidays. I gave it up a while ago when I discovered the topping was a mixture of miso and egg yolk. But this last Christmas I asked if they’d be willing to make some without the topping and they did. It tends to be a bit dry, so it needs something, but it was still good. And Miriam didn’t get sick from that meal (she will if there is the slightest trace of egg in anything). I don’t know if their miso is gluten-free…Miriam and I both can cheat with gluten and dairy once in a while, just not orange or egg.

This floored me, and will turn away any serious sushi fan, but many of the rolled sushis have mayonnaise in them. The plain fish over rice kind are safe, but maybe 2/3 of the rolled ones have mayonnaise. Some have cooked egg as a filling too. And watch out for fake crab which has egg. Again, the staff is great and, since they made these themselves, they know what is in them. Fortunately, the selection is large enough that I had at least a dozen kinds I could eat. Some of the Todai locations have a smaller sushi area than Daly City and there are only 4-6 kinds I can eat.

Being an Asian restaurant, there isn’t a lot of dairy, but you will need to ask. The crab legs (the warm ones, not the cold ones) were swimming in butter and there is cream cheese in a couple of the sushis . Sometimes one of the cold salads has cheese in it. Most of the dishes are okay; it’s the more American ones that generally have butter or cheese.

If you eat seafood but not meat, or if you’re avoiding raw seafood, or perhaps just shellfish, you will have no problems finding a good selection of foods. There may be some cross-contamination with shellfish, so be careful if that is a concern.

Now, if you are avoiding all animal foods, you’ll have less to choose from. There will still be a couple of sushis. They always have the rice in the tofu skin and one or two purely vegetable rolls. You can ask them to make you some fish-free rolls too and they probably will if you explain why (they don’t do foods to order there like a sit-down restaurant, but they’ve been very accommodating of allergies and other food restrictions). There will be rice and noodles and salads (not just basic lettuce, but some delicious and interesting ones like seaweed) and probably soups (I haven’t asked about stock). If you eat egg, there is vegetable tempura too.

Lowcarb is quite possible here too. Sashimi and raw shellfish, some of the cooked meats and fish, seaweed or cucumber salad, green salad, stirfry vegetables, edamane, and melon for dessert.

Drinks there are basic. Soft drinks, coffee, and tea come with the meal but I don’t drink any of those so I can’t review them. For an extra price, there is juice, beer, sake, and some other things. They usually have a special on one or more alcohol.

Then there is dessert. The fresh fruit is usually near the sushi, not the dessert area. Unfortunately, they choose the same set of fruits over and over so they’re not always in season. You can see them cut them up from a whole piece of fruit but that doesn’t mean they are any good. The watermelon I had on Christmas was so bad I nearly spit it out, but my daughter loved it and asked for more. The honeydew was barely tolerable. But if you get these in the summer, they’re fine. They often have a cooked banana and cream dish.

Watch out for shared tongs if you react to any of the fruit. Some places are more separate than others. For the Los Angeles Todai, I didn’t feel comfortable with any of the fruit because of shared tongs near the orange slices. But the staff brought my daughter a big plate of freshly cut melon from the kitchen.

They usually have a crepe area and they are good (but not for us anymore due to the eggs, and wheat). They cook them to order and add whipped cream and/or fresh or canned fruit.

There is generally also an ice cream dispenser. They used to have a green tea ice cream (possibly it’s still in some locations) that was not only good but vegan too. I really miss it. Now they have nonfat (lowfat?) vanilla and chocolate ice cream that has milk but no eggs. We had some vanilla on Michael’s birthday last September because we wanted something to stick a candle in that Miriam could eat. It was watery and overly sweet and tasted like chemicals. Miriam enjoyed it but Michael and I thought it was pretty nasty. Do ask at your location because you might have something different.

The standard dessert display is really nice. Many cakes and tarts all in bite-sized pieces so you can have several without filling up. They are frozen and the restaurant cuts them up. They generally have cookies and often creme brule and white chocolate. We have checked a couple of times and every last one of these things has egg in it. I haven’t asked about gluten or dairy. My guess is that there will be several choices for those restrictions. Okay, on Christmas they did have one egg-free dessert: tapioca pudding. Which would have been fine except it was bright green-blue and I wouldn’t let Miriam so much as see it. Fortunately, she’s happy with fruit.

All in all, I enjoy my outings there and always have a huge variety to fill up on. My favorites are lobster, broiled oysters, sushi, sashimi if they have the seared ahi which is amazing, and cold salads, especially the seaweed and cucumber. I look forward to being able to eat eggs again some day (I’m not allergic to them myself) so I can have more sushi and tempura.

I couldn’t eat there too often, but it is a fun three time a year treat.

©2012 Norwitz Notions. All Rights Reserved.