Meeting & lunch with Cherie Soria

Two days in a row last week, I got to hang with the Queen of Living Light herself, Cherie Soria!

The day started with a Blueberry Hill smoothie for breakfast…

…and a pile of greens with black olive hummus and a bit of sundried tomato dip for lunch.

That afternoon, Cherie and her husband Dan Ladermann came to visit our Nutrition class.

Cherie is more warm, welcoming, and kind than you can imagine.

She signed my copy of her book, The Raw Food Revolution Diet…

…and I finally had the chance to thank her, in person, for the amazing opportunity that brought me here.

Cherie also invited us to come watch a demo in the culinary studio the next afternoon. Of course I took her up on the offer! But first, I breakfasted on this awesome chia porridge I’d prepped the night before, along with raw nuts and fresh blueberries. (I shared the recipe on Facebook!)

After watching the demo, Cherie personally invited me to eat lunch at a table with her, Dan, and Martine (one of the instructors). Once again, of course I said yes! They had a huge all-you-can-eat salad bar set up, and I helped myself to a big plate of romaine leaves, mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts, carrot, red pepper, avocado wedges, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, nutritional yeast, and raw tomato-basil dressing.

The funniest moment of lunch was when Cherie turned to me and said “Now wait, I thought someone told me you don’t eat salads?” Haha! I’m not gonna call myself a bona fide salad lover all of the sudden, but it’s true that since my first day here, my hatred for munching on leafy greens has miraculously retreated. I don’t know what’s gotten into me! I congratulated Cherie for cracking my code, whatever it is!

Cherie and Dan also commented that I’d received FAR more votes in the Hot Raw Chef contest than ANY contestant EVER had before—by a landslide! I was wowed, humbled, and touched. To everyone that voted for me back in February, again, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I grabbed a slice of lemon poppyseed cake from the Café on my way back to the Inn. It was a sweet ending to a lovely afternoon!

Have you ever met a famous chef or food personality? I feel very lucky to count Matthew Kenney, Russell James, Ani Phyo, and now Cherie Soria among my culinary acquaintances!