Where’s the beef?
If you’re inclined to the Slow Food Movement, it’s right here in Southern Arizona.
The organization, which exists locally, nationally and internationally, aims to encourage people to eat natural food from healthy plants and animals grown in methods that are positive to the ecosystem and produced by people fairly and who are fairly compensated for their labor.

Omph. That’s a mouthful of a definition, but what it boils down to is going back to agricultural and ranching roots, before the processes were industrialized and globalized. Eating simply, seasonally and locally, like the good old days when you knew your grocer, farmer and rancher because they lived, worked and played right in your own community. (Things that grow locally in Southern Arizona include pecans in Green Valley, Willcox tomatoes, tepary beans on the Tohono O’odham nation and more.)

If you’re interested in the slow food movement and food politics, you might want to pick up books like Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”; Barbara Kingsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”; and Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation.”)

And it’s not slow to buy your food locally. It’s simple, easy and can be fast, as long as you know where to look.

There’s a great farmer’s market on Sundays at St. Philips Plaza (River and Campbell) where you can purchase the beef from Double Check Ranch.

We’ve had the pleasure of meeting Paul and Sarah Schwennesen and their lovely little daughter and can guarantee that their beef is grown and cared for with integrity and love.

And it’s free range and it’s hormone- and antibiotic-free.

If you live in Tucson and you’re interested in slow food and community agriculture, you can join the Tucson Community Supported Agriculture.

In the winter months the Tucson CSA is serving up things like grapefruit, onions, red turnips, daikon radishes, Swiss chard, Tuscan Kale and spinach. Their weekly newsletter offers savory recipes to use up all the local goodies, including goat cheese from a ranch in the White Mountains of Arizona.

Here’s a recipe for beef from Loews Ventana Canyon Resort Executive Chef Marc Ehrler. If you’re adventurous, you can also substitute ostrich or buffalo (bison.)
Enjoy!

Loews Ventana Canyon Resort
Marc Ehrler
Sautéed Beef, Tohono O’odham White Tepary Beans Cassoulet, Saguaro-Port Reduction

Recipe serves 4 people

4each 6 oz Filet (Beef, Ostrich or Buffalo)
1 Tbs Olive oil

For the Tepary Beans
1 # white Tepary beans
1 tsp poblano peppers, diced
1 tsp green chiles, diced
½ tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp Black Pepper from the mill
1 tsp salt add only once the Beans are cooked

1. Cover beans with cold water and soak over night.
2. Drain the water and place all ingredients in a pot add water to cover the Tepary beans about 3 inches and simmer for 2 ½ hours
3. Let cool in their liquid or use immediately, (should be stored in liquid for later use).
Season with Salt and fresh black pepper.

Seasoned Bread Crumb:
½ cup dried bread crumb
1 Tbs chopped parsley,
¼ tsp crushed garlic clove

For herb Salad:
Young Parsley Leaves, Tarragon, Chervil, Italian Parsley, Thai Basil, or any soft green herb available.
1 tsp Olive oil
½ tsp Lemon Juice

Sautéed Beef, Tohono O’odham White Tepary Beans Cassoulet, Saguaro-Port Reduction

For the Saguaro Cactus Reduction:
2 c Saguaro Cactus Syrup, can be substituted for pomegranate juice
2 c port wine
1 c pomagranate juice

In a small sauce pan, simmer the Saguaro Syrup, Port Wine and pomegranate juice down to 1 quarter of its original volume; reduce very slowly to insure the reduction does not burn.

Cooking of the meat:
In a sauté pan add the olive oil; season the filets with salt & pepper, sear on one side until golden and flip to the other side, cook on the stove until desired temperature.

Stress much?
If your New Year’s resolution was to lose weight, quit smoking, have better relationships or just find some peace of mind in your crazy schedule, then it’s time to embrace the benefits of yoga.

And that doesn’t mean you have to spend hours each week meditating and chanting, although you could.

The best way to introduce yourself to the blissful peace of mind that comes from yoga is to learn to take quiet time for yourself. You can do this in your bedroom or some place you find soothing. Dim the lights, turn off all sounds (including your Blackberry and cell phone!)

Start in a comfortable seated position on the floor. You can use a blanket or a pillow underneath your bottom to position your hips higher than your knees. Sit cross-legged, or, if that’s uncomfortable, sit with your legs forward.

Close your eyes. Breathe in and out through your nose.
Your mind may wander to specific thoughts, or tasks, and that’s OK. Let them pass—almost watch them go by, rather than letting your emotions or nervous system react to them.

Focus on your breath and try to let your thoughts slow down. If it helps to focus your mind on your breath and the meditation, make up your own personal mantra and repeat it in your head. (It doesn’t have to have to be in Sanskrit, the classical language from the Indian subcontinent, although a very common chant in Sanskrit goes like this: Lokah samastha sukhino bhavanthu. It means: “May this world be established with a sense of well-being and happiness” or “May all beings be happy and free.” Want to hear it so you can say it? Click here.
After you’ve calmed your mind, try moving into the child’s pose, which is to kneel and sit on your feet and then fold your body forward. To see the pose and read more about it, click here.

Breathe for a few minutes. Notice the stretch in your hips and lower back, two areas where people often feel sore when they are stressed.

Repeat this simple practice each evening, or maybe even one evening a week.
Find what works for you. This is the first step to being aware of your mind and body and your first step on your road to stress-free (or less stress) yogi-dom!

Namaste (Thank You.)

*If you’re interested in learning more about yoga, keep reading ventana lounge for more tips. Or, talk to our spa director, Jill Winberg, by emailing her at jwinberg@loewshotels.com. Loews Lakeside Spa offers several yoga classes each week.

The Tucson Gem, Mineral and Fossil Showcase will take over the city for two full weeks beginning Feb. 2. With almost 50 different sites—in tents, hotels, motels and other places across town—it really is the event in Tucson for February.

Opals from Australia, diamonds from Canada, beads from Africa and Tibet, pearls from Japan and dinosaur fossils are just a few of the attractions across town, but what some visitors often miss is the bling that comes from right here in Southern Arizona.

If you know where to look, you might not only get a tour of the gems of the world, but also a look at the very land that surrounds you during your visit.

The show at Westward Look showcases collectors who specialize in Arizona minerals. You might find an orange “rock” there that’s often found near copper mines.

It’s called Wulfenite and it conatins lead, which is released from the mineral galena when it is oxidized by ground water. The lead then combines with molybdenum, which is prevalent in the ground in areas of copper mining, such as Bisbee and Morenci.

For a guide to the shows across Tucson that allows you to search by the items you’re seeking, including minerals, beads, fossils, antiques, gold and crystals, visit the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau site.

Chi or Qi is a Chinese word used to describe the natural energy of the universe. According to Traditional Chinese philosophy, it’s in us and everything around us.

It’s often also described as your breath. (For yogis, it’s a similar concept to the Ayruvedic/Yoga concept of Pran,or life force energy.)

Still not sure what it is?
Try this:
Stop what you’re doing.
Cease the worry, the apprehension and just let your mind quiet down for one moment while you sit to read this.
Breathe in deeply into your belly, in and out through your nose.
Let your mind relax and just be in the moment.
Notice how your body feels. Does anything tingle? Ache?

Do this for awhile and you may begin to understand Qi, or the feeling of energy within your body, manipulated by your breath and movement.

One of the ways to enhance your understanding of this life force energy that Chinese tradition says is within us is to practice Qi Gong.
Qi in the closest English translation, means energy. Gong means work.
Thus, Qi Gong is energy work dealing with the breath, flowing movements of the body to harness and control the energy within. It’s this quiet life-force that we can turn our attention to to find health, peace of mind and general well being.

If this sounds New Agey, it’s not.

Chinese Healing Arts and Traditional Chinese Medicine are a 2500 year old general practice rooted in the rural areas of China. They’re coming around as Western culture embraces the age-old practices of Easten culture.

The Tao Te Ching is a book of almost poetic expression of basic Chinese principles and philosophy that embrace stillness of the mind, heart and body for good living. Each line means something different to each person, yet each interpretation is correct. It’s a guide for peace of mind, heart and body and overall well being.

Qi and the philosophy of being may sound complex, but is really simple in it’s nature and lifestyle philosophy.
Here’s a bit from the Tao Te Ching. We’ll write more about Traditional Chinese Medicine and the healing arts on a later post. For now, try to meditate on this food for thought:

In Tao the only motion is returning;
The only useful quality, weakness.
For though all creatures under heaven are the products of Being,
Being itself is the product of Not-being.

The Red Planet, Mars, has become viewable in the night sky.

Consider this foreshadowing for the excitement that’s surrounding the Phoenix Mars Mission—a NASA Scout Mission on it’s way to Mars right now to investigate the history of water on the red planet and the habitability of the ice-rich soil.

This mission is particularly exciting to us here in the Tucson desert because the Principle Investigator leading the Phoenix Mars Missions is Peter Smith of our own University of Arizona’s Department of Planetary Sciences Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.

In May 2008 the Phoenix is expected to arrive on the martian north polar region to begin science operations to learn more about the polar ice caps of Mars and the history of water on the planet.

For amateur stargazers this is an exciting time to view the red planet with a telescope at home and to learn more about what the Phoenix Mars Mission means to planetary exploration.

Mars is best seen after 7 p.m. in early January and will continue to become easier to see as the month progresses.

Loews Ventana Canyon Resort offers complimentary stargazing to guests and the Tucson community on Saturday and Wednesday nights with University of Arizona planetary sciences graduate students at 8:30 p.m. For more information on stargazing, please call the Concierge at 520-299-2020.