Last year when I organized a raw food spiritual retreat at an ashram, I met some very lovely people. Two of those individuals were Patty and Denny (you can visit their blog to say hello to them). They were new to gourmet raw foods, so they were enthusiastic learners at the retreat. When they returned home after the blissful weekend, they began using their new raw food knowledge. Here are some excerpts of emails I have received from them since the retreat last year:
Well, you said you're motive in putting on this retreat was simply to pass on this valuable information and to help others; you were very successful where we're concerned - it is no exaggeration to say that you have changed our lives forever.
We've been almost 100% raw since the retreat. ... We're so excited about this new way of eating that we bought a new Vita-Mix. ...We can actually say that this has been our most notable and enjoyable dining experience - ever, in our entire lives! No one would ever put that much work into something if it were just for money; it is obvious that you did it from your heart. We feel blessed to have received such a gift.
We feel the love in your e-mail and we especially felt it at the ashram. We firmly believe that you feel the essence of the person that prepared your food; that's why we seldom eat out. You are a very special person and we are happy to have had such a close interaction with you.
We can't remember when we've had so much fun preparing meals. Attached is a picture of our beet alfredo and kale salad meal. ... We've been experimenting more and more and loving every minute of it.
Since that weekend, Patty and Denny have become even healthier than they already were. They jumped right into preparing gourmet raw foods, purchasing raw food recipe books as well as the various equipment that is helpful when living a raw food lifestyle. I'm always happy to see an email from them, hearing what they've been doing recently and seeing pictures of some raw foods they've been creating.
Recently, Patty and Denny prepared the raw potato pancakes and raw ice cream cake recipes that were sent out to our subscribers. Below are some pictures of the food, as well as what they had to say about the potato pancakes.
We finally tried your recipe for the Sweet Potato Pancakes and we're completely awestruck at how wonderful they taste and how great the recipe worked out - you've definitely found your true niche, the raw world is fortunate to have your valuable input. We used Kirkland's Organic No-salt Seasoning since Patty isn't crazy about garlic, and we didn't have the asafoetida, and it worked out great.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350" caption="Raw Ice Cream Cake with Extra Ice Cream"][/caption]
We read the blog you wrote about the potato pancake recipe, and we wonder how many people out there are labeling their produce incorrectly: we've seen what appears to be the exact same item called yams in one place and sweet potatoes at another. We've been eating what we thought were sweet potatoes frequently for some years and they are usually long (about 4-8 inches long by 2 inches thick) with a light tan skin often with long skinny roots here and there; while what we thought were yams were usually shorter and fatter with an orange skin. Oh, well, the ones we used in the recipe worked out great and both were labeled sweet potato, but one looked like a yam. [The raw ice cream cake was made with extra ice cream. It looks even tastier that way!]
We enjoy hearing from our blog readers (we consider you our friends, too!). It makes the effort we put into helping others very much worth it! Just having met Patty and Denny and hearing from them about how much I have changed their lives was enough to make my mission to spread the word about raw very rewarding! The more of us who learn about the vitality that comes with living a raw food lifestyle, the more we'll be able to share that information with others. Someday the knowledge of the health and vitality that is waiting for every single person through raw foods is going to be easily available to everyone! What a beautiful future we have ahead of us!
Thanks for visiting our blog, for sharing your stories with us, and for reaching out through your blog comments and email. It means a lot to us.
Lots of love to all of you,
Wendi Dee
XOXOXO
(You can visit Patty and Denny at their blog to say hello to them!)
Original Comments
Below, we have included the original comments from this blog post. Additional comments may be made via Facebook, below.
On January 27, 2009, wrote:
Patty & Denny are great people! It's been a pleasure meeting them a few times at our home and around Pittsburgh! -Jim
On January 27, 2009, wrote:
These two items look DELICIOUS!!!!! I can not wait to try potato pancakes out myself! You guys are wonderful for working so hard and putting this great stuff out there. THANK YOU!!!! <3
On January 27, 2009, wrote:
Thanks for your comment, Michelle!
You are very welcome! :-)
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
On January 27, 2009, wrote:
Thanks for the update on Patty and Denny! I'm going over to their blog right now.
~ Melissa
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Uh-oh, we're famous now! Thanks for the kind words. The raw community is full of so many very nice people; everyone is so loving. Thanks Wendi, Jim, KDcat, and Melissa and Dave and Ella for being our inspiration.
Lots of Love,
Patty and Denny
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Break out the sunglasses so you won't be swarmed with fans when you are
out in public. ;-)
Lots of love to both of you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Thanks for your comment, Becky! It's nice to "see" you here.
No, there's no chance of another retreat this year. I would have loved to
organize one, but with all of our very large projects there just isn't
time. That retreat took me nearly eight months to plan, prepare, market,
etc. I would never want to just throw one together without putting a lot
of attention, effor, and love into it. At this time I just can't manage to
do that.
Stick with us, however, because I'll be doing retreats whereever we settle
after the RV tour!
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
This looks so yummy. Where are the recipes
Can't wait to get started on them!
Rosey
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Rosy,
You need to sign up for the free eBooks, first. If you haven't already
done that, you can do it by signing up for our newsletter. Two days after
receiving the free eBooks, you'll receive the potato pancake and ice cream
cake recipes. It's set up in an automatic mailer to make it easier on us
(saves us from manually sending it out to each person individually).
I'm sure you're going to love the recipes!!
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Hi Wendi,
I have the 2 ebooks already. I wonder if I signed up before those were
posted. It was the day you were with Kevin in the video.
Thanks so much!
Rosey
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Rosey,
You never received an email other than the free eBooks one with the links
If not, please send me an email and let me know what address you used to
sign up for the eBooks. I'll have Jim look into your subscription to see
why you didn't receive the susequent emails from us.
Thanks for visiting our site!
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Hi Wendi,
I signed up at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. I have the ebooks and I'm enjoying the
cookbook very much.
Thanks!
Rosey Dow
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Thanks for letting me know, Rosey. I'll have Jim check into your
subscription to figure out why you didn't receive anything other than the
first email with the eBooks.
If you still don't receive them in the next two days, please email me at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to let me know. I want to make sure you are able
to receive the extra recipes and everything else we'll be sending over the
months to our subscribers!
Thanks for your patience as we figure this out.
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
I also haven't received the subsequent emails :( I wonder if there's something wrong with the auto-mailer?
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Michelle,
I am glad you let me know this. If there is more than one person, there
may have been an error with the auto-mailer. We are new to all of this, so
I appreciate everyone being patient if things didn't work the way we
expected.
Many people have received the subsequent mailings, so I'm curious if you
signed up the same day that Kevin announced the potato pancakes, like
Rosey did. If you did, that may help us figure this out sooner.
I'm very sorry for the inconvenience. We will be sure to get the recipes
to you.
Thanks, again.
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
On January 28, 2009, wrote:
Hi Michelle-
I looked up your subscription. According to the records, you should either have received the Potato Pancake recipe email already, or it'll be coming within a day. The system we use sends them out in a particular order, so I think you'll get that email very soon. If not, just drop us a comment and we'll get it to you asap.
Thanks again,
-Jim
On January 29, 2009, wrote:
I got the recipe this morning! I'm so excited I wish I didn't have to go to work so I could just say home making this! I will make them as soon as I get home tonight and tomorrow I will let you know how they turned out. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! <3
On January 29, 2009, wrote:
Great, Michelle!
I think the timing of the auto mailers isn't always exactly 24 hours from
the time of signing up. I'll remember to tell people to wait up to three
days, then.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience with the recipe!!
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
On January 29, 2009, wrote:
Hi Wendi,
I have two questions about the recipe I was wondering if I could ask you. Is there an email address I can send them to?
On January 29, 2009, wrote:
Yes, Michelle. You can contact me any time at WendiDee @ PureJeevan.com
I also wrote a blog entry about the potato pancakes recipe, answering some
questions a few days ago. So you might want to read through those, first,
if you haven't already. ;-)
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO