georgevutetakis.com http://georgevutetakis.com/blog The Vegetarian Guy Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:39:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 The Vegetarian Guy no Jeanie McNeil, A Good Friend http://georgevutetakis.com/blog/2007/jeanie-mcneil-a-good-friend/ http://georgevutetakis.com/blog/2007/jeanie-mcneil-a-good-friend/#comments Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:02:51 +0000 George http://georgevutetakis.com/blog/?p=45 robert-and-jeanie.jpgroyal-oak-03-2006-053.avi < Video of Jeanie

I first met Robert Taylor in India in 1975.  We both cooked at a temple in Vrndavan, Uttar Pradesh.  In a twist of destiny we both ended up in the Detroit area.  Robert met Jeanie twelve years ago and had been inseparable since.  Robert is an astrologer and natural performer.  Jeanie wrote a small, but potent book on positive affirmations and shared it with anyone in her path.  Together, they became local television celebrities with their respective programs on channel 5 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.  We did a number of shows together about my restaurant at the time (Inn Season Cafe) food and spirituality.
Jeanie’s positive disposition was infectious. Whenever we spent time together, I would depart feeling spiritually uplifted. She was a unique soul.  The last TV show we did together was a tour of our Royal Oak Fifth Street project, a traditional California Craftsman home.  As a twist, when we entered the kitchen, I gave a short cooking demonstration, tying the home to a natural and organic lifestyle and we recently discussed doing the same with the current project just before she fell ill.  Even though we occasionally saw each other, Jeanie was the kind of person who left a lasting impression.  Her spirit and work inspires us to teach and share without pre-qualification. Robert and Jeanie are the kind of  people one rarely meets in a lifetime and whenever we visited together it was as if there had been no lapse of time. I consider there friendship an honor, cherish the memories and look forward to assisting Robert to carry on Jeanie’s legacy. Together, they made the community a better place.  With her passing, her presence in our hearts will encourage us to continue.

The pain of losing a spouse comes over one in unexpected ways. After years together, couples personalities become intertwined in what seems to be inseparable ways. When death pries this bonded persona apart, one of the more difficult things to deal with is facing the loneliness. With Jeanie’s passing, this has become something Robert and I have in common, I contemplated what would be helpful and decided to cook for him. A memorial can be taxing for the person who lost a companion and nourishing the body is an important thing to do. Robert, Jeanie, Sara and I had lunch together just a few weeks before Jeanie fell ill. During our meal, we discussed diabetes and cures. One of them was an Ayurvedic preparation made of bitter melon and turmeric. I took a trip to a local Indian store and found Kharela (Indian bitter melon), chana dahl, fresh neem leaves, cilantro and ginger. I entered the kitchen to make a few preparations that Robert would cherish.

Robert and first met in India sharing time as apprentices to Anand Maharaj, a cook whose family goes back six generations at the Jagannath Puri Temple in Orissa. While there, I learned the famous Jagannath Puri dahl recipe that has been distributed for hundreds of years at the temple. I prepared it to serve with Gujarati Debra (blue millet and fresh fenugreek leaf bread) and Matri (a semolina, cracked wheat and crushed fennel cracker) as well as Kharela (baked bitter melon with turmeric). It had been a while since I cooked Indian food in the traditional manner and did so while meditating on Jeanie, Robert, Anand and the spiritual path of food I had learned in Vrndavan. For me, it was a re-awakening, memories of sensual moments in India were flooding my mind. Back then, we were cooking in the all marble kitchen of Krsna-Balaram Mandir which had just opened and we would assist Anand in making twenty five dishes every day for Raj Bhog. Daily, five parrots would sit in a row watching us in the small openings in the stone lattice walls outside the kitchen window. Living in the spiritual center of India was a mystical time for all of us and I experienced traditions and cultural phenomena which could be traced back 5,000 years. To this day, my cooking carries the influence of those times. This foray into the kitchen allowed me to relive it as I had experienced it and I am grateful to have had a friends such as Jeanie and Robert to coax it out of me.


]]> http://georgevutetakis.com/blog/2007/jeanie-mcneil-a-good-friend/feed/ 0 royal-oak-03-2006-053.avi < Video of Jeanie I first met Robert Taylor in India in 1975.  We both cooked at a temple in Vrndavan, Uttar Pradesh.  In a twist of destiny we both ended up in the Detroit area.  Robert met Jeanie twelve years ago and had been inseparable since.  Robert is an astrologer and natural performer.  Jeanie wrote a small, but potent book on positive affirmations and shared it with anyone in her path.  Together, they became local television celebrities with their respective programs on channel 5 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.  We did a number of shows together about my restaurant at the time (Inn Season Cafe) food and spirituality. Jeanie’s positive disposition was infectious. Whenever we spent time together, I would depart feeling spiritually uplifted. She was a unique soul.  The last TV show we did together was a tour of our Royal Oak Fifth Street project, a traditional California Craftsman home.  As a twist, when we entered the kitchen, I gave a short cooking demonstration, tying the home to a natural and organic lifestyle and we recently discussed doing the same with the current project just before she fell ill.  Even though we occasionally saw each other, Jeanie was the kind of person who left a lasting impression.  Her spirit and work inspires us to teach and share without pre-qualification. Robert and Jeanie are the kind of  people one rarely meets in a lifetime and whenever we visited together it was as if there had been no lapse of time. I consider there friendship an honor, cherish the memories and look forward to assisting Robert to carry on Jeanie’s legacy. Together, they made the community a better place.  With her passing, her presence in our hearts will encourage us to continue. The pain of losing a spouse comes over one in unexpected ways. After years together, couples personalities become intertwined in what seems to be inseparable ways. When death pries this bonded persona apart, one of the more difficult things to deal with is facing the loneliness. With Jeanie’s passing, this has become something Robert and I have in common, I contemplated what would be helpful and decided to cook for him. A memorial can be taxing for the person who lost a companion and nourishing the body is an important thing to do. Robert, Jeanie, Sara and I had lunch together just a few weeks before Jeanie fell ill. During our meal, we discussed diabetes and cures. One of them was an Ayurvedic preparation made of bitter melon and turmeric. I took a trip to a local Indian store and found Kharela (Indian bitter melon), chana dahl, fresh neem leaves, cilantro and ginger. I entered the kitchen to make a few preparations that Robert would cherish. Robert and first met in India sharing time as apprentices to Anand Maharaj, a cook whose family goes back six generations at the Jagannath Puri Temple in Orissa. While there, I learned the famous Jagannath Puri dahl recipe that has been distributed for hundreds of years at the temple. I prepared it to serve with Gujarati Debra (blue millet and fresh fenugreek leaf bread) and Matri (a semolina, cracked wheat and crushed fennel cracker) as well as Kharela (baked bitter melon with turmeric). It had been a while since I cooked Indian food in the traditional manner and did so while meditating on Jeanie, Robert, Anand and the spiritual path of food I had learned in Vrndavan. For me, it was a re-awakening, memories of sensual moments in India were flooding my mind. Back then, we were cooking in the all marble kitchen of Krsna-Balaram Mandir which had just opened and we would assist Anand in making twenty five dishes every day for Raj Bhog. Daily, five parrots would sit in a row watching us in the small openings in the stone lattice walls outside the kitchen window. Living in the spiritual center of India was a mystical time for all of us and I experienced traditions and cultural phenomena which could be traced back 5,000 years. To this day, my cooking carries [...] royal-oak-03-2006-053.avi < Video of Jeanie I first met Robert Taylor in India in 1975.  We both cooked at a temple in Vrndavan, Uttar Pradesh.  In a twist of destiny we both ended up in the Detroit area.  Robert met Jeanie twelve years ago [...]