Wilbur Hotsprings - Specials / Events

Half off Wednesday has returned! Beginning January 7th, stay two nights in a room of equal value that includes a Wednesday and receive 50% off the Wednesday night. Holiday periods excluded; not combinable with other discounts. Offer expires February 26th, 2009

(Please note that workshop costs below do not include accommodations, meals or taxes, unless so indicated.)

Charlie Cascio has cooked throughout Europe, including in Germany, France, Belgium, and Spain. He has worked as a personal chef and has been head chef for numerous restaurants. Charlie has taught natural food cooking seminars to individuals, restaurants, and health professional throughout Europe and the Untied States. He continues to cook for large conventions to develop natural health food products and recipes, and to teach courses on cooking, including cooking with raw foods. .

Marion Cascio comes from a family of cooks and has been involved with restaurants since childhood. She studied classical culinary arts in Germany for five years and has cooked in many famous restaurants and spas. Marion was a staff cook at the Esalen Institute for five years where she learned ethnic cooking techniques and fell in love with cooking from the garden. Cooking for Marion is a creative outlet, a place where she can be an artist of taste and texture.

Charlie and Marion live completely self-sufficiently on land in Big Sur where they keep goats, bees, chickens, and an abundant garden. The love and joy they have for their arts is immediately apparent in their fabulous fare. During their weekend at Wilbur, they will marry healthy, organic cuisine with exceptional taste.

Award-winning cookbook author, food writer, food teacher and cooking professional reviews Wilbur's Guest Chef Weekend with chefs, William Albrecht and Liam McDermott:

A Guest Chef Review as originally published in the Contra Costa Times on July 8, 2008:

Marie Simmons beats the dinner rush with a simple beet-potato salad

By Marie Simmons Correspondent

Article Last Updated: 07/08/2008

http://www.contracostatimes.com/foodandwine/ci_9819215?source=email

I've discovered that recuperating from a book tour can be fun. Suddenly I have time to return telephone calls and write long e-mails, clean off my desk and reorganize closets, go to lunch and take long hikes with friends, and get back to my yoga practice.

This weekend I went one step further and treated myself to a yoga retreat at Wilbur Hot Springs, a lovely old-fashioned resort located far, far off the beaten track in Colusa County.

The setting was bucolic, the yoga healing, the mineral baths — they call them flumes — soothing, and the food fabulous.

The guest chefs for the weekend shopped the many organic farms situated along the road on the way to Wilbur. The produce was picture-perfect and the flavors transcendent. Among the many excellent dishes served was a heavenly beet salad.

I know that yoga is supposed to encourage "being in the moment," but after one bite, I had beet salad — not downward facing dog (for the uninitiated, that's a basic yoga pose) — on the brain.

Fueled by the taste of that luscious beet salad (it was made with crinkly spinach leaves and crumbled goat cheese), first thing the morning after my return I went to the market seeking fresh-pulled beets.

I scored. The beets I found were so round, plump and weighty that when steamed, the skins slipped off like silk gloves. Cooked in a large steamer insert that fits snugly into a matching 8-quart pot, they cooked in less than 35 minutes. Steam large potatoes along with the beets or add smaller potatoes later so both vegetables are done at the same time.

Because beets and potatoes both have a fairly soft texture, I decided my beet salad needed a little crunch. Not excited by the thought of adding good old reliable chopped celery, I reached for a crisp juicy Fuji apple. Perfect. It added just the right texture I desired, plus a pleasant hit of sweetness.

I topped this trio with diced sweet white onion (I like to crisp diced onion by soaking it in cold water for about 30 minutes before using), a small handful of parsley and mint leaves, finely chopped, then finished the salad with a simple vinaigrette of good olive oil and fruit-flavored vinegar.

Who knew that a yoga retreat would both restore my energy and inspire me to ake beet salad? At the moment, I think life is good.

Reach Richmond resident and award-winning cookbook author Marie Simmons at: marie.simmons@comcast.net.

Jacqueline Lasahn is a storyteller of the cosmic currents, a wisdom guide and compassionate ally at the crossroads of inquiry. Intuitive astrologer, ritualist, wedding minister. Offering tarot consultation, meditations and sound healings with Tibetan bowls at Wilbur. Jacqueline has been playing ibetan bowls for over 20 years in meditations, ceremonies, public performances and individual healings. More information at http://www.astrospirit.com/

Meditation with Tibetan Bowls ( 10:30 AM ) Simple meditation focusing on breath, the sounds of the Tibetan bowls in the quiet sanctuary of Wilbur. Length of time - 30 minute meditation and 15 minute talk. No experience necessary. This is a gift to Wilbur guests, there is no charge.

Sound Healing with Tibetan Bowls
The subtle yet penetrating sounds of Tibetan bowls combined with vocalizations, aroma therapy and gentle touch are a nurturing guide into one's own inner landscape. It is a transformative experience that can access altered states of consciousness.

Tarot Consultation with Jacqueline
Tarot is a ceremonial tool of divination that can target specific questions or dress the larger picture. The evocative images reveal the designs of your life stories. Each card turns a page and offers new possibilities and perspectives. Mystery is distilled into a greater understanding of your life situation. Each private consultation is approximately one hour.

Please join us for a weekend of breath, chanting, asana and soaking in the healing mineral waters of Wilbur. Come strengthen your practice while relaxing and rejuvenating your body and mind. We'll step back from our daily routines and retreat to this sacred land, home to healing waters that have been used for renewal for centuries. We will delve into different yogic practices and ways of being and see how these can support us in strengthening our bodies, calming our minds and connecting to the deep peace and silence echoed through this beautiful land.

Located 20 miles from the nearest town, on an 1800-acre nature preserve, Wilbur Hot Springs is a health sanctuary blessed with transformative and healing mineral waters. Students will practice yoga on Wilbur's beautiful yoga deck, cradled in nature with the sound of spring birds and the Wilbur creek. We will begin each day with chanting and pranayama, followed by breakfast and then an active morning session. In the afternoon there will be time for bathing, hiking, massage and personal time. We will gather in the late afternoon for a restorative session followed by a delicious dinner.

Come and join us for a retreat that will invigorate your body, renew your spirits, and quiet your mind.

Tune in to Dr. Miller's radio program, "Mind Body Health & Politics " , on National Public Radio affiliate KZYX-FM every other Tuesday at 9:00AM, California time, alternating with Chinese medicine scholar Ken Rose. Listen live on your computer at http://www.kzyx.org.

We invite you to sign up your friends or family for our new monthly email newsletters –- now the best source for special offers and Wilbur's latest news. info@wilburhotsprings.co