one of my recent commissioned oil paintings. what can i say. this little guy, who's not so little any more and growing like a weed, is just as inspiring as his sweet sister (see her portrait here). each time i see these kiddos they fill me with happiness, love and light. the piece is in my living room at the moment… lighting up the space just as those dear faces do! i shall have a hard time parting with it 🙂
have you ever had a painting commissioned of you, your kids or a loved one? feel free to contact me if you're interested.
"Laughing in the Park" Commissioned Portrait by Juliane Porter (16" x 20" Oil on archival quality, gallery wrapped canvas. Click image for better, larger view!)
"Laughing in the Park" is my latest commissioned portrait of a beautiful young brother and sister. I had a blast painting this carefree and playful pair. Can't you feel the bond between them?!
While painting, I was reminded of a favorite Emily Dickinson poem, There is Another Sky, which she wrote for her beloved older brother.
There is Another Sky
There is another sky, Ever serene and fair, And there is another sunshine, Though it be darkness there; Never mind faded forests, Austin, Never mind silent fields – Here is a little forest, Whose leaf is ever green; Here is a brighter garden, Where not a frost has been; In its unfading flowers I hear the bright bee hum: Prithee, my brother, Into my garden come!
~ Emily Dickinson (Written for her brother)
https://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.png00Juliane Porterhttps://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.pngJuliane Porter2014-09-29 13:59:002014-09-29 13:59:00Laughing in the Park
OMG I just had this Summer Salad with Raw Vegan Fresh Mozzarella Balls – and it was the BEST lunch ever!
Summer Salad with Fresh Vegan Baby “Mozzarella” (Bocconcini) is pure, over-the-top deliciousness! Perfectly ripe nectarines, multi-colored cherry tomatoes, golden corn and a punchy garden chive & cilantro vinaigrette whisked up with fresh lemon & olive oil are a perfect compliment to creamy, fresh baby “Mozzarella” aka Bocconcini.
I’m telling you, this is such heaven on a plate… and the best part is it’s actually dairy free!
And just like that, as if summer couldn’t get any better, it just has 🙂
I’d looked far and wide to no avail for a delicious raw vegan fresh mozzarella ball recipe and I finally created my own. It’s SO simple and incredibly worth it for delicious, versatile, healthifying, dairy free, hormone free amazingness. This pure, creamy goodness is made from raw cashews packed with copper (98% RDV per serving of cashews) phosphorus, manganese, bone-building magnesium, heart-protective monounsaturated fats, fiber and flavor galore!
And, though I tend always to think of my food as my medicine, what we eat is also the primary contributor to our external wellness as well. Nectarines, tomatoes, corn, fresh herbs, lemon & EVOO are all packed with concentrated sources of beautifying phytonutrients such as anti-aging antioxidants, lots of vitamin A for clear glowing skin, vitamin C for collagen building power, skin plumping healthy fats, hydrating, living water, plus minerals, fiber and tons of life force power we get from beautiful, living foods. Summer Salad with Baby Bocconcini is just as much a boon to our outward appearance as it is feast for the eyes, our internal health and tastebuds too!
Recipe for Summer Salad with Raw Vegan Fresh Mozzarella Balls
(serves 4)
Ingredients
Raw Vegan Fresh Mozzarella Balls (Bocconcini)
1 cup raw cashews, soaked 6 hours, drained & rinsed
2 tbsp fresh lemon juiced (aprox 1/2 lemon)
1/2 tsp sea salt (or more to taste up to 1 tsp)
a touch of stevia (I used about 1/4 tsp)
1/2 to 1 tbsp (depends on humidity/seasons) filtered water
Salad
2 ears fresh corn, sliced off the cob
1 cup fresh cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
4 ripe nectarines, cut into bite sized pieces
1/3 cup fresh chives, chopped (save a few for garnish)
handful fresh cilantro, chopped (save a bit for garnish)
1 lemon juiced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 cup raw vegan mozzarella balls (below)
Method
Mozzarella Balls
Blend 1 cup soaked cashews, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp sea salt (or up to 1 tsp to taste) and 1/2 to 1 full Tbsp filtered water (start with less as you can always add more) in a food processor until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
Dump mozzarella cheese mixture into a container and place in freezer for 10 or 15 minutes to firm up or in fridge for a couple of hours.
Once the cheese has firmed up, use a small melon ball sized spring-handled scooper to easily create tiny balls. Place all the mozzarella balls on a plate and put back into the freezer or fridge to keep firm while creating your salad.
Salad
Gently toss corn, tomatoes and nectarines together.
Stir together chopped scallion, cilantro & lemon juice . Next, whisk in olive oil.
Season dressing with sea salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste .
Pour 3/4 of dressing over corn/tomato/nectarine mixture and gently toss.
Top salad with fresh mozzarella balls and drizzle remaining dressing over mozzarella balls.
Garnish with a bit of leftover chives & cilantro.
Enjoy!
What is your favorite raw vegan swapout?
Do you have a recipe you’d like made over/upgraded to raw vegan? Leave it in the comments below… I’m ready to take on the challenge!
Bloomed Wild Rice Salad w Cranberries, Pecans & Citrus Dressing
Every so often, I'll stumble upon a game changer smack dab in the middle of writing a post on the very subject. Today was just one of those moments as I have just completely erased this entire post, to start over from scratch after making not one, but two new discoveries! A bit of background…
This week's Sprouted Forbidden Rice Salad with Cranberries & Pecans incorporated an amazing and simple sprouting technique I've been excited to share with you for some time. Sprouting or "blooming" rice is a fascinating way to achieve a beautifully soft, fluffy textured rice without ever having to turn on the hot stove! This super cool (haha) process wherein each rice granual splits open and unfolds from the inside out, similar to a flower blooming and unfurling it's petals, to reveal the white, pillowy interior of each piece of rice.
I had made two versions of this delicious Sprouted Rice Salad, one using Wild Rice, the other using an organic Forbidden Black Rice. The Forbidden Rice produced perfectly consistent, soft kernals in only 12 hours of overnight soaking while the Wild Rice, a mixture of several different types, sprouted unevenly. Despite these differences, I'd felt both turned out absolutely delicious Raw recipes incorporating insignificantly different swapouts – NOT SO! While the organic Forbidden Black Rice I'd used is indeed a Raw Living Foods product, it turns out the Wild Rice is actually not raw at all- in fact it's not even rice! Here's the scoop…
Wild Rice is not rice, but the seed of a grass that grows in shallow lake waters and streams around North America. The seeds obviously start out raw at which point they're plump and green. However, Wild Rice is harvested according to traditional methods practiced by First Nations peoples which involves parching the rice, rendering the seeds into dark grained "rice" which is no longer raw. Thus, the term "blooming" is best for Wild Rice, since parching destroys the rice germ preventing it from ever "sprouting". This probably explains the MUCH better results I had blooming/sprouting the living Forbidden Black Rice. As far as I can tell, it's virtually impossible to purchase Wild Rice raw, as there are laws in place to protect the traditional techniques used to harvest & parch it.
Forbidden Black Rice, on the other hand, is indeed rice and can be purchased raw (I used the Lotus Foods brand). Legend has it this ancient grain got it's name because it was so nutritionally beneficial only the Emperors of China were permitted to eat it. Considered a superfood worldwide, Forbidden Black Rice is a gluten and wheat free whole grain rich in iron, protein, mangenese, vitamin E and complex carbohydrates as well as the minerals magnesium, molybdenum and phosphorus. According to Chinese herbal medicine, Forbidden Rice is also considered to be a blood tonifier. The striking black color of Forbidden Rice is due to its high concentratin of anthoycyanins, the highly potent antioxidants also found in blackberries and blueberries!
Personally, going forward, I'll be sticking with sprouting raw organic Forbidden Black Rice as the results were consistently fluffy and it's a living foods product filled with enzymes and life force! That said, Wild Rice is also a nutritional powerhouse boasting high amounts of protein, folate, manganese, zinc and fiber, and if eating raw isn't crucial to you it's a fine & delicious substitute.
Sprouted Forbidden Wild Rice – raw & full of living foods power!
Blooming is as easy as soaking 1 cup of rice overnight in a jar topped with 4 additional inches of filtered water, placed in a dehydrator at 105F. If you don't have a dehydrator simply soak for up to 48 hours or until all the grains have split open, rinsing every 12 hours.
Sprouted Forbidden Rice can be incorporated anywhere cooked grains are used, from salads to pilafs, wraps, raw vegan sushi rolls or even as a delicious breakfast with sprouted nuts, dried fruit, creamy nut milk & honey.
This colorful Sprouted Rice Salad with Cranberries, Pecans & Zippy Citrus Dressing can be enjoyed all year round as a colorful summer picnic dish or as a beautiful addition to a winter holiday table. Sprouted pecans (simply soak pecans overnight then dehydrate til dry - see more on sprouting nuts in this post.) provide a meaty crunch while dried cranberries offer a sweet contrast to the rich depth of the Forbidden Rice. A zippy citrus dressing adds a fresh twist with a note of ginger to make everything sing!
The Zippy Citrus Dressing adds a fresh twist with a note of ginger to make everything sing!
Sprouted Forbidden Rice Salad with Cranberries, Pecans and Zippy Citrus Dressing
Recipe inspiration:Becoming Raw, Brenda Davis & Vesanto Melina
Recipe for Sprouted Forbidden Rice Salad with Pecans, Cranberries & Zippy Citrus Dressing(Plan ahead to account for sprouting)
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
Sprouted Forbidden Black Rice Salad
1 cup Sprouted Raw Black Forbidden Rice or Bloomed Wild Rice. (Soak 1 cup of rice in a jar topped with 4 additional inches of filtered water in a dehydrator at 105F for 12 hours/overnight. If you don't have a dehydrator simply soak for up to 48 hours or until all the granules have split open, rinsing thoroughly every 12 hours. *See additional freshness note below.)
Gently toss together rice, red bell, chives, cranberries & pecans in a large bowl. Season with Himalayan salt to taste.
Toss all the dressing ingredients into a vitamix and blend til creamy.
Pour dressing over the salad ingredients and toss gently til well incorporated.
*If using Wild Rice rather than Forbidden Black Rice, take extra care to use freshly purchased Wild Rice that hasn't expired or it may not bloom! However, if this does happen, do not despair, simply add water, and simmer for 10 or 15 minutes on the stove since it's not raw to begin with anyway 🙂 Personally, I found the Forbidden Black Rice bloomed beautifully and with incredible ease plus it's actually RAW so it's filled with living enzymes and life force power!
Have you ever tried blooming rice? What type did you use?
What's your latest holistic or raw food discovery?
Fresh Cream of Corn Chowder with a Kick… + a side of my secret recipe Raw Vegan Onion Rings!
Fresh Cream of Corn Chowder with a Kick is a celebration of summer in a bowl!
This simple and delicious recipe takes full advantage of local farmers' markets, currently overflowing with the plumpest, juiciest ears of succulent corn. Golden jewels so honey-sweet and tender they're best fresh off the cob. If you've ever eaten corn fresh, standing in the middle of (an organic)corn field you understand perfectly why subjecting these pale golden delicacies to steaming kettles of boiling water or smoking hot grills is a practical crime. Besides, who seriously wants to deal with hot steam or smoking grills on a beautiful summer day?!
**Do you spot my napkin (below) on which a vintage letter from Mark Twain is printed? More on this in my personal comments after the recipe 🙂
Beautiful, fresh foods brimming with life force have taken me to physical, mental & spiritual levels I never imagined possible!
This cool, creamy bowl of goodness boasts a wonderfully thick chowder texture, the freshest, sublime corn flavor and a perfect kick of smoked paprika & tabasco. I've paired it here with my Raw Vegan Onion Rings (the recipe for which I'm equally excited to share with you soon!). As with all StyleNectar raw vegan dishes, Fresh Cream of Corn Chowder is incredibly nutritious. Sweet corn is loaded with lutein and zeaxanthin, two phytochemicals that promote healthy vision. Corn also contains significant amounts of vitamin B1, Folate, Vitamin C and dietary fiber.
Of course, this fantastic chowder needn't be relegated to summer months only. Simply substitute organic, frozen corn, which has been frozen at the peak of ripe flavor, retaining all it's amazing enzymes and nutrients, and warm up to 105F (the temperature of a baby bottle) to keep it raw.
Eating a Raw Vegan diet tastes and makes me feel so amazing, I could never go back. This is my submission to the lovely Jacqueline at No Croutons Required and Lisa of FoodandSpice.
Recipe for Fresh Cream of Corn Chowder with a Kick
(Serves 2)
Ingredients
6 ears organic, sweet corn on the cob (make sure it's fresh, no more than 24 hours out of the field)
1/2 + cup almond milk (click here for nut milk instructions) or sub filtered water which is just as tasty (add additional liquid beyond 1/2 c, slowly, til reach desired consistency, I'll guide you thru this below)
a dash or two of your favorite hot red pepper (I used a tiny dried tabasco from last year's garden)
frehly snipped chives, chopped & reserved for garnish
smoked paprika, reserved for garnish (if you're a stickler for 100% raw use unsmoked)
Method
Place a kitchen towel over your cutting board and slice the corn off the cob with a sharp knife. The towel is a great trick to prevent the kernels from bouncing all over the kitchen 🙂
Reserve 2 ears worth of kernels and set aside.
Place remaining 4 ears worth of kernels into high speed blender along with 1/2 cup almond milk (or filtered water depending on what you're using) and a dash or two of your favorite hot, red pepper. Buzz it up til thoroughly combined. Taste to check & adjust seasoning/consistency. You'll probably need to add a touch more liquid til you reach your exact consistency. I start with 1/2 cup so as to not add too much too soon. This is a cream of corn chowder after all :)
Mound the reserved kernels from 2 ears of corn into each of the two serving bowls.
Ladle the blended chowder mixture carefully around the mounds.
Garnish with freshly snipped chives and a dusting of smoked paprika.
Enjoy!
~
An update on my summer adventures… living without air conditioning is still a dream come true. I simply won't tire of feeling the fresh breeze on my skin, the scent of nectar and rich soil deep in the lungs, twittering baby robins caressing my ear… The closer we are to nature the more abundance we experience. magical life force. that which scientists are still unable to discern. the mystery of life. and great unknown.
the challenge of uncertainty. in a perfectly, beautiful, big Adventure.
So what are my tricks to stay sane during these last few days of high humidity in the mid 90's? A couple well placed (and pretty)fans are key. Also, taking advantage of when it's cool… It's truly remarkable how much the temperature dips at night, so letting in all that fresh, clean goodness overnight creates a fantastic cooling affect in the home. Of course this nocturnal cooling creates for gorgeous mornings, so I take full advantage of the shady 6:45 am calm on a long walk serenaded by birds. After that, a refreshing cool shower. During the day… Fresh juices on the rocks, frosty smoothies, cool crisp salads, juicy fruits, chilled soups and creamy Nice-creams. So delicious and perfectly designed to keep body temperature balanced, hydrated and comfortable. (check out the StyleNectar Recipe Index for 50+ Juice, Smoothie, Chilled Soups & Salad Recipes!) The body grows responsive and adapts to the fluctuations of nature if we let it. We're part of nature after all – it's not as though there's the universe, earth and then MAN. No, we're all life, part of a cycle that works in harmony. By resisting the wisdom of life, in our futile attempts to control it, we cause ourselves much unecessary suffering. Conversely, letting go of all our conditioned (no pun intended)beliefs and assumptions allows us the spaciousness to tune into a much higher vibration of wisdom, an intuitive knowing with which we're all equipped. A peace and all-encompassing love in which all is perfect just as it is.
We have so many friends around us. The tiniest of spotted baby deer wobbles zig-zagging about after Mama. Black and white woodpeckers wearing great red beaks slide up & down tree trunks in stacatto calling out tropical cackles. A few days ago, Jim found a huge, slow turtle the size of a tire crossing the drive to reach the other side of the small brook that winds about our property.
love
this life.
PS. Did you happen to spot the napkin in my photos on which a letter from Mark Twain is printed?It's one from a vintage set by great authors including D.H. Lawrence, Jack London & Emily Dickenson. How fun to read correspondence with my lunch, trasported to London in the mid 1800's, via beautiful words from Mark Twain in New York. It's the sweetest of love notes. Here it is in entirety (click image to enlarge text & read):
A letter from Mark Twain with my lunch – what a treat!(click image to enlarge text & read)
Have you ever eaten corn fresh off the cob?
What's one of your favorite moments from summer so far?
All Love, Juliane
Thank you for visiting 🙂
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https://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.png00Juliane Porterhttps://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.pngJuliane Porter2014-07-02 13:48:072014-07-02 13:48:07Fresh Cream of Corn Chowder with a Kick
Southwestern Cauliflower Couscous is a delicious, light and lively dish. Fabulously complex in flavor, yet incredibly simple to prepare, this gluten-free delight is everything we're looking for on a hot, summer day!
Fluffy cauliflower couscous is tossed with bright, red tomato and buttery, lime-green avocado all dressed up in a punchy-sweet Honey-Cumin-Lime vinaigrette.
Refreshing.
Summery.
&
Bright!
Eating Raw provides an amazing boost in energy.
And, as always, brimming with Rawsome, enzyme rich, living foods power!
Check it out…
Raw live foods are much easier to digest or assimilate putting less burden on our digestive system and more time into cleaning or repairing our body.
Cauliflower, like its fellow cruciferous members is full of nutrients including minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals and antioxidants. It's rich in vitamins C (one serving containing 77% RDA), K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, and folic acid. Cauliflower contains a compound called glucoraphanin, a precursor of sulforaphene found to have protective effect on the lining of the stomach wall. Sulforaphene also prevents the growth of bacteria called Helicobacter pylori which can cause gastroenteritis.
Live, raw food does not spoil or decompose quickly. It's packed with energy, minerals, vitamins, and everything we need to stay healthy.
Cauliflower is also rich in antioxidant phytochemicals like quercetin, caffeic acid and kaempferol which prevent development of cancer by destroying free radicals directly attacking the DNA of cells. And that's just a fraction of the power of the cauliflower alone! We've yet to delve into the realm of the vitamin C and lycopene rich tomatoes, the bone building, protein rich avocados, and the all other powerhouse ingredients in this superfood recipe!
Suffice it to say, Southwestern Cauliflower Couscous is as delicious to eat as it is at creating our healthy bodies, vitality and joy:)
Eating Raw provides an amazing boost in energy. I have more energy now than I've ever experienced in my life.
Living, plant based Raw Food is incredibly delicious to eat, beautiful to look at and amazing for our bodies, minds and spirits.
Eat Clean. Feel Rawsome. & Live Beautifully!
Eating freshly picked food just feels different. There's a connection to the earth and a feeling of being grounded.
Please enjoy my most recent commissioned oil painting..
(Click image for better, larger view)
16 x 20 Oil on Canvas by Juliane Porter
Ah…
days of simplicity
on a beautiful butterfly bench
nothing else exists
only cool, icy treats in the company of siblings, doing our own thing.
no explanations of why.
nothing to do next.
no expectations.
just being.
wondering if we might all be whisked
up,
up
and away
on this gorgeous butterfly in the very next breeze.
~
Have you ever had a portrait painted of you or your loved ones?
What is one of your favorite childhood memories?
All Love,
Juliane
Thank you for visiting 🙂
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https://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.png00Juliane Porterhttps://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.pngJuliane Porter2014-06-10 14:58:392014-06-10 14:58:39Cool Treats on the Butterfly Bench
Dragon Fruit makes it’s own exotic and beautiful serving boat!
Eating a wide variety of different foods is crucial in a healthy foodstyle to ensure we’re receiving all the nutrients we require, and to prevent overdoing any one particular nutrient as well. As the saying goes, “the medicine is in the dose”. One of the ways I add variety to my diet (ok, really I just do this cause I think it’s fun)is by shopping at the various specialty markets in our area. I know, I know, eating local has all sorts of great wisdom behind it, so do that too. However, it can be like taking a mini trip into another culture to step into a place that caters to a totally different region of the world. (Speaking of… do you love shopping the local markets when travelling as much as I do!?) For example, the Asian market in our area is brimming with huge piles of the most amazing tropical produce – stuff that’s totally unavailable in typical grocery stores – from the exotic Dragon Fruit featured here, to amazing selections of wild mushrooms, my fav indulgence, the creamy, custardy Durian and more. It’s a must stop at least once a month.
Plant based raw living foods are stunning to behold!
This gorgeous Dragon Fruit is harvested from a night-blooming cactus grown in tropical regions such as South America and Thailand. The unusual, colorful fruit sprouts from the arms of the cactus, and is created only if the cactus flowers are pollinated at night by nocturnal creatures such as bats and moths.
Is your mouth watering yet?
Dragonfruit is delicious and sweet, similar in flavor to kiwifruit, pears or mango. It’s full of nutritional benenefits including vitamins B1, B2, B3 and C, iron, phosphorus and magnesium in addition to being a rich source of antioxidants, fiber and essential fatty acids including omega-3.
Plant based living foods infuse us with their powerful beauty!
How to select: Avoid buying over ripe dragon fruit which you can detect if it’s got lots of blotches on it or if the fruit is overly dry and the little points around the fruit are super brittle and already crispy. You want bright and even colored fruit with firm hydrated points.
When is it ready to eat? When the little points begin to dry and become flexible the fruit is ripe. I let mine sit in the sun in my kitchen until this point.
How to prepare: Just slice it open and scoop it right out by the spoonful or get fancy and use the shell as a beautiful serving bowl filled with cubed up Dragon Fruit and a few blueberries or anything else your heart desires!
Raw Living Foods such as the Dragon Fruit are high vibrational gifts to our bodies, mind and spirit.
Enjoy!
Have you tried any new fruits or veggies lately?
Do you love perusing food markets when you travel like I do? What have been your favs?
What’s the weather like where you are? It’s quite warm here, temps reaching 80 F today!
All Love,
Juliane
Thank you for visiting!
Please Like, Comment, Subscribe & Share!
https://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.png00Juliane Porterhttps://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.pngJuliane Porter2014-04-11 15:10:572025-09-24 15:50:38How to eat a Dragon Fruit
"Summer Pedals" Nantucket, Mass. 16" x 20" Oil on Canvas by Juliane Porter
Please click image for a better, larger view.
Today's officially the last day of Summer! Perfect timing to pay tribute with my latest oil painting, "Summer Pedals". This bike reminds me of the one my sister rode as a pre-teen, which was then passed down to me for many additional miles of transportation and fun around my beautiful hometown. Fond memories:)
Please enjoy!
All Love,
Juliane
What color was your first/favorite childhood bicycle?
Did you live in a town where you were able to independently ride your bike anywhere you wanted to go?
"Happy Days on the James" by Juliane Porter (48″ × 36″ Oil on Archival, Museum Grade, Belgian Linen Canvas)
(Please click image for a better, larger view)
"Happy Days on the James" is my most recent commissioned oil painting, capturing an incredibly beautiful, fun loving family. They adore spending a fine summer afternoon splashing about under the sun on the gorgeous James River, which winds about their historic city like a strand of jewels. What a treat and honor it was to capture this fond memory for them in a stately 4 foot oil painting. Thank you, my dear friends, for the opportunity to be a part of your very special love.
https://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.png00Juliane Porterhttps://stylenectar.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/stylenectar.pngJuliane Porter2012-06-08 16:42:082012-06-08 16:42:08Happy Days on the James
