Ja-ne de Abreu
First place winner of a PenCraft Book Award as well as a first place Literary Titan Book Award, both in 2021. Sassy Food is a serious empowering tool disguised as a fun photo book that teaches you how to grow food in all ways. It is also a confirmation of the power of your choices. My inspiration to grow food in the pandemic led to much peace and calm to my 93-year old hanai mother and me while the chaos of the pandemic was out there. In our bubble of not allowing people inside the house and being just about completely isolated, we had positive changes every day. We added freshness to our meals with what we grew.
Many people think growing food takes a lot of time and space. And that is not true. Like the subtitle says, it really is possible to grow your own any size ‘farm’ anywhere, anytime of year with any budget. Sassy Food empowers you to take charge of adding peace into your life by bringing nature to your fingertips. All basics are covered from growing food from various growing methods, to cultivation and everything in between. It includes a flexible cooking technique showing how to create music out of food using a symphony of ingredients, without measurements. Artistic photos of gorgeous Eve models in Hawai’i will spark your creativity as to how you can grow food in your space, wherever you are in the world. Sassy Food shows women no matter what shape, color or age can shine their beauty from the inside out! This book honors food as we ought to honor all the women who plant, harvest, and cook it. I hope Sassy Food will inspire you to be lighter with yourself and bring sassyfreshhh into your focus.
This book is designed to bring light-hearted silliness into your life. It’s hard to maintain that levity with the constant seriousness of being in a global pandemic. When I do anything with my plants all of that goes away and I am present in the moment of seeing new changes, harvesting something to add to their meals, planting seeds that will grow into new meals-this simplicity is bliss. It restores me to have more energy to go back to caregiving 24/7. Yes, I have not had any time off, much less one day off, since the beginning of the pandemic. This is one way that helps me to keep on going. Inside a world pandemic, with wearing masks and social distancing, this artistic beauty was achieved. It shows we are all responsible for our individual choices and can make positive change despite any circumstance.
As soon as I finished writing Sassy Food, I caught up with my sister and brother-in-law. Grover described his experiences as a travel nurse going to COVID hotspots. He wanted to write a book about it and didn’t know how. I teamed up with Sandra and Grover, and Chasing the Surge was created.20% of proceeds helps others grow food by providing growing kits and seeds along with growing workshops. On sale with free shipping at JMFdeA Press.
Ja-ne de Abreu
