My Least Favorite Comments and Questions
Ok…I realize that I am going out on a limb here and hopefully I won’t offend anyone. First, let me say that I am very grateful to all of you who come here for healthy inspiration, information and recipes. I am grateful for all your lovely comments and wonderful e-mails. But, there are a few questions that I seem to get daily, and every time they show up in my inbox, I cringe. Mostly because there just isn’t a good answer. But sometimes it is just simply frustration. The following is an example. The names are changed to protect the innocent.
Dear Esmerelda (actually, that is me. I probably didn’t need to change my name),
I recently tried your recipe for (insert recipe name here). I didn’t have ingredient x so I substituted with ingredient y. Oh, and I didn’t have ingredient p so I substituted with ingredient q. And, by the way, I don’t have a dehydrator so I just baked them at 350 in my oven (or used a low temp with the door ajar).
I am not sure why, but this recipe didn’t taste good. Also, the texture doesn’t look the same as in your picture. I am dissapointed and will not be making this again!
Signed,
Mrs. Whatisrawanyway
Then there are the two evil step-sister questions: I don’t like (or am allergic to) x. What can I substitute? And…I don’t have a dehydrator, how I make these in the oven?
First, I will address substitutions.
While I understand and sympathize with people who have allergies and taste adversions, and I would guess there are some things that could potentially work as substitutions, I simply don’t have time to experiment with different ingredients in each recipe to see how it will turn out.
Recipe development is a tricky thing. I carefully balance every flavor and texture with all the other flavors and textures present. I take this to an extreme because I want the final recipe to be delicious beyond words. If I change just one little ingredient, it changes the whole recipe, requiring re-testing and rebalancing. Every ingredient used has it’s own personality, flavor and effect on all the other ingredients. It can be a delicate dance to get them all to work together in the most pleasing way. I take great pride in what I do and want your results to be the best.
Since I don’t know how substituting one ingredient is going to effect all the other ingredients, I can’t guarantee how it will taste and that is why I don’t offer substitutions. I do encourage you to experiment and see what you can come up with.
Second, the nasty little oven question.
Ok, here’s the deal. This is a raw food site. When preparing raw food, the food temperature never goes above 115 degrees even though some recipes start at 145. (If you want more information about that, read this: Dehydration Basics. ) Why? because we want to maintain the integrity of the nutrients of the food. The food temp has to stay under 115 to accomplish that. I only use a dehydrator for raw recipes. I don’t test the recipes in the oven.
Using an oven has two potential problems. Even at the lowest temperature with the door propped open, you normally can not regulate the temperature to keep the food raw. Second, ovens and dehydrators work very differently.
A dehydrator is a small box with a big fan and vents in the front. TONS of air move through the dehydrator during the dehydration process. You simply can not replicate that with an oven. Even a convection oven is a big box with a small fan. It moves air but doesn’t come close to functioning like a dehydrator. That said, the two are not inter-changeable. I can’t offer instructions on how to make my raw recipes in an oven. If you don’t care if it is raw and want to experiment, I encourage you to do so. Just don’t be surprised if you get different results than shown in the pictures.
Oh, and one little hint. We are dehydrating, not deep frying. The recipes simply will not have the same texture. But they will still be great!
Ok, I got that one off my chest. I am working on a FAQ page and will be reposting this and many other questions that keep coming up.
A final note. While I am still trying to get to all your emails and comments, the incoming volume is becoming overwhelming. I never want to be one of those people who say, I can’t respond because I am too busy, or I get too much mail, etc. You can do me a huge favor by searching the site before you email (I would say 95% of the questions asked are already answered on the site), asking questions of the Facebook Page for Rawmazing here: Rawmazing FB Group or carefully reading the post before clicking on that send button. I will try to answer as many as I can but with our traffic levels nearing half a million hits a month, it is becoming a bit of a challenge.
Elizabeth wrote on February 29, 2012
BY FAR THE BEST RAW FOOD BLOG in the blogosphere. I teach a weekly raw foods prep class at a preschool and search for recipes all the time. Your recipes are consistent and very good, unlike some of the more popular recipe books out there… Just made your crepes last week for the kids -mmmmm! And we always seem to have a batch coming out of the dehydrator at my house. I love you Susan! I am so grateful for your efforts, it’s apparent how much love you put into the recipes, the photos, and the blogging. Keep up the beautiful work. Mwuah!
Dot D. wrote on February 28, 2012
Susan,
I sympathize with the volume of respondants you have and coping with answering all of them. The best thing I did for myself this year was get me a Virtual Assistant who helps with my website, blog and FB pages so I can concentrate on my business.
Next, I very often experiment with recipes….raw and cooked….and if they don’t come out right….it’s MY OWN DARN FAULT! How can people blame you if they don’t follow your recipe exactly?? I’ve also changed some of your recipes to add or take away ingredients I want or don’t want. It still comes out fine.
I love your site and appreciate all the work you do to share your creations with us. Your food photographs are beautiful and make me drool…. I could just reach into the computer to grab a bite! Take heart in the knowledge that there are more of us out there that appreciate you, than those who don’t. ~~ <3 ~~
Dragonmamma/Naomi wrote on February 28, 2012
Ha, ha. Alwyn Cosgrove is a trainer who deals with the same thing. People write to him saying stuff like “I did your 6-week muscle growth program and followed it exactly except that I can’t do pull-ups so I substituted running instead, and I only did it two days a week instead of four, but other than that I’ve done it exactly and I didn’t get any results. Your program stinks!”
Laura wrote on February 28, 2012
Actually laughed out loud at this. Telling it like it is! I completely appreciate and love your recipes/advice on living raw and making raw recipes. I’ve had so much success with a lot of them. You rock 🙂
Desiree wrote on February 28, 2012
Oh my… Some people…. 🙂 I really appreciate your posts and recipes!! Thank you for the inspiration! Keep up the great work!
Serenity wrote on February 28, 2012
LOL!!!! If you want to be “Raw” you have to buy all the toys…..
Susan wrote on February 28, 2012
Actually, only if you want to do some of the more advanced recipes. There are tons of raw recipes that don’t require dehydration. But if they do….
Raw Antonia wrote on February 28, 2012
Hi Susan, I would just add a couple of things: I usually start from the assumption that if someone is visiting a cooking/food preparation site, then they are interested in cooking/food preparation. That being said, they would not stop making food just because one recipe has gone wrong one time. Food preparation is a trail and error domain, especially when one does not adhere to the original recipe. God knows, i tried some things 4 or 5 times before i got them right. And some things i never get right, but i still try them out now and then. :p
Regarding the substitution part, you got me there. I’m pretty sure I asked about that once or twice, but given the popularity of this blog, i find it’s a great place to share ideas and sometimes other people will respond and provide valuable info from their own experiences with the recipe. I think it can be a good thing that we ask questions and share experiences when we try out recipes, but i do think a FAQ would be most welcoming, especially if the questions are getting overwhelming for you.
Love and hugs. 🙂
Jean Luc wrote on February 27, 2012
Susan, I’ve been following your work for nine months now and I’m inspired by your creative recipe development and talent for flavor balance. I’m sure if you are new to raw foods that it would be easy to think that there’s a simple way to create your recipes using short cuts like using an oven. The beauty of raw preparation is that it is pretty simple once you get the basics. A dehydrator is one of the essentials. I know not everyone can put that in their budget but, wow, when you do get one, it really makes all the difference.
Thanks for all of the delicious food you share with the community!
Ronda wrote on February 27, 2012
Hi Susan, you know I had to chuckle when I read your blog post today. I recall when I was first interested in raw foods, I would find myself looking for recipes that I could make using typical ingredients I was used to using in my every day life. I didn’t have a dehydrator and I probably was naive in thinking I could duplicate raw food recipes.
That was then…
Now I understand raw foods are exactly that. RAW and not cooked over a certain temperature. One of the things that really drew me to your site is you had all these fabulous recipes that to me, mimicked many of the familiar cooked ones I had been making all the years before. BUT the difference is yours are healthy, vibrant and I can honestly say (since I have made ton of them and own every book you ever published), delicious!
THANK YOU for sharing so much of you! I love your honestly. It’s truly refreshing. 🙂