in my inbox this morning

Good afternoon all. Please be aware that “Earth Hour” is happening again this Saturday night. In an effort to encourage involvement and assist with ensuring greatest affect it would be a good thing to turn off the lights before leaving on Friday night and also on Saturday if you happen to be in the building through the day. Please mention it to all in your respective areas, its’ a simple thing to do and it can have a huge collective impact for the better.

Mr X.
Facilities Manager
Contracted Company Y

*slaps forehead*

I hate Earth Hour.
My emailed response...Umm, why not do this EVERYDAY day?

Haiku Friday

you know it already.
umm, rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb
and rhubarb some more

onion post

Im not really a fan of The Onion- too much satire not enough politics. but this piece caught my fancy- enough tongue in cheek and real politik to make me happy.

'How Bad For The Environment Can Throwing Away One Plastic Bottle Be?' 30 Million People Wonder

WASHINGTON—Wishing to dispose of the empty plastic container, and failing to spot a recycling bin nearby, an estimated 30 million Americans asked themselves Monday how bad throwing away a single bottle of water could really be.

"It's fine, it's fine," thought Maine native Sheila Hodge, echoing the exact sentiments of Chicago-area resident Phillip Ragowski, recent Florida transplant Margaret Lowery, and Kansas City business owner Brian McMillan, as they tossed the polyethylene terephthalate object into an awaiting trash can. "It's just one bottle. And I'm usually pretty good about this sort of thing."
"Not a big deal," continued roughly one-tenth of the nation's population.

According to the inner monologue of millions upon millions of citizens, while not necessarily ideal, throwing away one empty bottle probably wouldn't make that much of a difference, and could even be forgiven, considering how long they had been carrying it around with them, the time that could be saved by just tossing it out right here, and the fact that they had bicycled to work once last July.
In addition, pretty much the entire states of Missouri and New Mexico calmly reassured themselves Monday that they definitely knew better than to do something like this, but admitted that hey, nobody is perfect, and at least they weren't still using those horrible aerosol cans, or just throwing garbage directly on the ground.
All agreed that disposing of what would eventually amount to 50 tons of thermoplastic polymer resin wasn't the end of the world.

"It's not like I don't care, because I do, and most of the time I don't even buy bottled water," thought Missouri school teacher Heather Delamere, the 450,000th caring and progressive individual to have done so that morning, and the 850,000th to have purchased the environmentally damaging vessel due to being thirsty, in a huge rush, and away from home. "It's really not worth beating myself up over."
"What's one little bottle in the grand scheme of things, you know?" added each and every single one of them.

Monday's plastic-bottle-related dilemma wasn't the only environmental quandary facing millions of citizens across the country. An estimated 20 million men and women wondered how wasteful leaving a single lightbulb on all night really was, while more than 40 million Americans asked themselves if anyone would actually notice if they just turned up the heat a few degrees instead of walking all the way downstairs and getting another blanket.

Likewise, had they not been so tired, and busy, and stressed, citizens making up the equivalent of three major metropolitan areas told reporters that they probably wouldn't have driven their minivans down to the corner store.
"Relax," thousands upon thousands of Americans quietly whispered to themselves as they tossed two articles of clothing into an empty washing machine and turned it on. "What are you so worried about?"

South Australia bans plastic bags

Sidesplitting and strangely euphoria inducing Tim Minchin in stereo.Turn up the volume. Im going to post this every day until it gets at least 10 views!

My thoughts and best wishes go out to all the shop assistants who will be enduring the wrath of many shoppers who forgot their canvas bags today, the first day of the ban.

ahhh chorizo

For this i do an extra half hour on my run. Its very very worth it, so bad its good. I cant even begin to think how to start calulting its caloric content...so i dont. Clock it up to a 'naughty' meal for that week and eat healtier meals around it.


encouraged by annuskas introduction and fostered by the absence of the vego kids... we had this again. Its sooo good and perfect in this weather. I used completely loca ingredients except the paprika; flinders ranges wild boar, localfree range heritage pork chorizo, local organic pancetta, home made shiraz, tomatoes, bean and onions. Delish. I did as haalo suggested and made extra to freeze...but it didnt make the freezer; after a day picking figs with veggie at olive and popeyes we had the leftovers for dinner again.

Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms

so delicious, you forget to take a pic for the blog.

Now im not a huge fan of the strict recipe (yes it gets me into trouble when im baking cakey things) so here goes, an attempt at a recreation of a recipe. Looking back, this is pretty much what i think i did!. Try it. Be brave. Its fantastic

1 mushroom per person - hand sized portabello or field mushroom (remove stems to make underside surface flat)

Stuffing
2 tabs almond meal per mushroom (cut back to one if adding cheese for non vegan stuffing)
1 clove garlic per mushroom
1 tablespoon olive oil per mushroom
1 slice bread per mushroom
2 small handfulls basil/parsley/kale/chard/green stuff per mushroom
(for a non vegan stuffing 1 tab parmesan cheese per mushroom)
1 removed mushroom stem per mushroom

Whizz all in a food processor until it resembles crumbs
Drizzle mushrooms with extra olive oil
Place stuffing mix onto mushroom undersides to cover
Place mushroom rounded side down on oiled baking tray/dish
Bake about 40 min at 180

Eat!

Right on the Mark - Seeds of Peace

This is my brother in law Mark, partner in The Good Earth Organic store in Marin County, California outside the store speaking about the politics of seeds. Mark comes from a family of organic farmers, vignerons and feminist writers. An enviable lineage. Its an interesting few minutes if you're interested in seeds, biodiversity and the role of multinationals in the food supply chain.

.

dulce de membrillo...

...a fancy name for Quince paste. Sounds better in Spanish dont ya think? In honour of the transformation of the last of the kitchen stash of quinces, i chose to break the pretty much standard loca food rule we have imposed in Chez Pan. It took at least a third passing of the Stinky Cheese shop in the market before my will weakend, and i relented and bought some imported Manchego cheese, a Spanish sheep milk cheese traditionally eaten with membrillo. Actually, i bought the cheese on Friday before I'd made the paste... in anticipation, as i knew it would be a great incentive to get the damn stuff done. The paste i made in between the 70 odd cupcakes i baked on saturday. Like i needed some more work?

Its slightly sweet which compliments the slighty salty and smooth; a little like a pecorino style hard cheese. This one i purchased young but at $78 per kilo for the 12yr old mature manchego, i figured id better cut my losses on the loca and just buy the 2 year old at half the kilo unit price.

The slightly gritty membrillo and the softly grainy manchego were the perfect foil for each other. The quince paste recipe i followed is this one. I cooked it both on the stove top and baked it in the oven for about twice as long for both before i was happy with the consistency and colour.

Cant afford a Hybrid vehicle?

Its OK. There are more effective ways to make an investment in the future. Planet Green suggests that the best way reduce your carbon footprint NOW is to switch to Green Energy. A Hybrid like the Prius can save you 5000 pounds of Co2 annually, but switching to Green Power (electricity generated by wind, solar) you can save nearly 3 times as much; 14,000 pounds of Co2 at only around a 20% increase in your bill (about $150-200 a year). Too Easy. Aternatively if youve already switched to green power and are thinking about the car but just cant manage the budget, then switching to a vegetarian diet will cover your carbon costs of driving for a vego diet will save you just a little more than the car AND if you make that a local vego diet, well, fantastic coz you just more than doubled the Prius savings at 8000 loca pounds of Co2. Now thats good news!
Alternatively, we can catch the bus!

nutty dinner

so you have eggs; lots of them from a bloger swap, a chunk of stale rye thats been driving you nuts and a whole heap of newly gathered walnuts from under, around and on the trampoline. A neglected walnut tree can be just as productive as a neglected quince tree. Tip: Dont peel walnuts from their green casing if you're about to go out anywhere special. The staining is so impressive it will rival a 20yr roll your own tobacco habit.

Also, there were people coming for dinner.

viola!
Pappardelle alla Pangrattato e Noci


Eye-tal-yan for pasta with crumbs and walnuts.
Delish.
I love this style of pasta - a definite lack of wet tomato or cream sauce, just oily, crunchy and very very tasty.


Quick and easy. well sort of...once everything is ready...ha! Make the pappardelle using a recipe that utilises lots of eggs, I always make pasta when i have a glut of eggs, and cut to thick ribbons and hang until ready to cook.
I use a Jamie Oliver recipe (500g '00 flour and 10 eggs makes enough pasta for 4) Mix until smooth and elastic. Cover and sit in cool place for 1 hour to let proteins do their thing before rolling out, I used a pasta machine. Hang pasta where you can (i use the clothes drying rack) or toss in semolina flour and keep moving it about so it doesnt squash itself and end up back in a solid. Here's a reality check if it all seems a bit too 'nice'...


Smash bread in manner to which you are accustomed until you have about 2 cups of chunky crumbs. Fry in about 4 tabs of olive oil until golden. Add 3 cloves sliced garlic, 3/4 cup chopped walnuts and cook for about 5 minutes more. Then add handfuls of chopped flat leaf parsley and about 1/3 cup grated parmasen cheese and salt and pepper. Toss through well drained pasta and add more olive oil to make mixing easy.

Olive oil, cheese , garlic and walnut heaven. Did you know that a straight from the tree, freshly shelled walnut is pale, soft and a little chewy?


We pigged our way through this and salad and white wine and then topped up the guts with scoops of Maggie Beer Burnt Fig Honeycomb and Caramel and a Vanilla and Elderflower ice cream . Earth Hour happenned in there somewhere.

Stuffed.

Leftovers were good too.

much ado about [milk]

i gave a presentation last night, i think i can call it that?? picture a moment where speed dating met a Powerpoint presentation. It was a Pecha Kucha style evening. Each invited speaker had 15 slides to present, 15 seconds per slide, each with auto transition (so no cheating possible) on the topic of Milk. It was the third in a series of 15x15 events hosted by Mulloway Studio and speakers came from all disciplines; an art historian, an events organiser, an actor, an installation artist, a philosopher, an interpretive artist, an architecht, a nanotehcnologist, me and even a milk protein scholar, all gathered together in the vast concrete space that is k2-02; the South Australian School of Art Gallery. Sounds good in theory right?

Somehow I managed to pack an overview of animal welfare, environmental and health consequences of our addiction to cows milk into 3 minutes 45 seconds and still came out somewhat comprehensible. I segued my way from bovine mastitis to nursing caries to greenhouse gasses to breastfeeding rates to maternity leave and around to plastic waste, across to salma hayek and back to unethical dairy farming practices, commercialisation and globalisation at a whirlwind rate. Im thinking that the designer audience probably werent quite expecting what i delivered, especially the tale about 'choco-loco fresh cow colostrum with added organic russian keffir grains'. I mean seriously, how first world greedy, unethical, indulgent and totally OTT is that?

However the take home message for the evening was definitely a questioning about how much dairy we consume, its impact and our complex and compromised relationship we have with the white stuff. It was a good night. Not a reference in sight (that nearly killed me as Im sooo well trained) and Im thinking that I might just take up the practice to have a glass of wine with crackers and cheese before every conference presentation; it certainly lubricated the 'have more fun' vibe, something every dental epidemiology conference can do with!

domestic microagriculture

could you...would you?
Need protein? want a source of meat thats low impact, low expenditure and low in use of water, kilojules, time,and effort? Its a free range, low impact, SLOW protein source we all have available and its incredibly underutilised; wasted even. Sounds great in theory. Just how green are you willing to be?

Folks, we're talking escargot.

Its simple. Gather 'stock'. Isolate for a week from its normal environment. Provide a daily feed stock of meal/bran and finish of with a salt bed to 'defoam' and 'viola' 7 days later you've got a lean, clean, primed and plumped, ready to go high protein source of ...rubber!

I may be writing about it but there is no way on earth im doing it. Yet. Gimme a bean anyday. For now, at least i know how.

Haiku Friday

Life. it ebbs, it flows.
suspended in time. breathing.
walking out the door

Image: Pinky girl

Happy Anniversary 17.02.07

We've been married two years today. It was, i have to say, the best wedding I've ever been too! LOL. Warm weather, friends and family, great food, great fizz, great music and great lighting; our garden looked like magic. It was a really wonderful night. By all accounts it was a 'responsible' wedding; electronic invites, loca vore catering, no waste, no flowers, homemade clothing or at least reusable, charitable donations for a well in Africa, wedding rings from recycled jewellery (and teeth- eek! weird)but the best part was the love and the fun on the night. Yesterday when we were preparing dinner and talking about the time that had passed, Simon said "its been a fun couple of years" and i had to agree, its been bloody wonderful. It was interesting though as my first reaction was to balk and says to the ever present guilt monkey on my back "hey, you're not supposed to think life is fun like that, you're a mum, you're a professional, you're your mothers daughter, fun doesnt enter into it". But i have learnt in the last few years that IT BLOODY WELL DOES! and here's cheers to a lifetime more of it.
Thanks for always reminding me Si that life may be full of necessary things but there is always room for fun. So yesterday i made a gift for my lovely man, a declaration of love filled with symbols from our past together. It was so enjoyable to spend part of the day being creative; getting out of my head and into my heart and fishing around the house for bits and pieces to use. I hope he loves it. Happy Anniversary Moo.

cutting the crap

I was telling Kale for Sale last week that i had begun fishing through the rubbish bins at work. Yikes. Ive become a bin lady. Seeing the stuff that gets tossed; food scraps, tuna tins, pot o soup bowls and tetra milk cartons is getting my knickers quite twisted but it wasnt until Thurdsay that i started really fishing around in there. Enough was enough. My duds had seriously twisted and then caught fire! It reminded me of when i was a kid, travelling in a car on the Sydney Harbour Bridge with my best friend and her parents and they stopped to pick up a discarded Coke can. Stopping on the bridge is no mean feat but this was a full on recycling mum who rode around on a bike with a roof slate and chalk tied to the handlebars of her bike for her shopping list! I was pretty embarrassed then but I think Ive been affected.

While i was on leave i had been thinking about the problem of lack of recycling at work and how to manage it, but being part time coupled with the local politics ( admin vs academic staff) i felt there was not alot i could do that would be effective. Trying to organise and managing a recycling system would not go down too well with the already maligned administrative staff who seem to take matters of the kitchen as their crucible. One slip up by me; forgetting to take it home if I had organised it would be a akin to murder in the first degree and i dont think there woud be many willing to cover. 'Forgetful' (imperfect) academic staff aren't forgiven easly. Oouch. So i had comitted to just doing it quietly; sort through it at the end of the days when im at work and just take it home as my own business. Until I read Mels post on normative behaviours, which pretty much just spelled out the doubts Id had about my 'system' (or lack thereof). Quietly taking home other peoples waste wont change how people view tossing their rubbish in the bin but if they know Im taking responsibility for their s/crap and taking it home to recycle or compost maybe they'll start taking responsibility for it themselves or will they just get pissed off with me for sticking my nose in 'their' business?

So in the process of writing this post Ive become at least clear that i need to have a discussion and that the relatively informal atmosphere of morning tea is just the place to start. I just cant believe that a 'Group of 8' university, which advertises itself as a leader, innovative and responsble, doesnt have more than a paper recycling system in place. Somethings gotta give. If a then middle aged millionaire could ride around with a slate tied to her bike and take the time to stop and pick up a can someone has discarded on a busy freeway, surely we can all take responsibility for our lunchtime tuna tin, or at least let me?

Raw Cashew Butter

I returned from California with a new love. Organic raw cashew butter. But, I cant find raw style butter here, every brand i have seen always uses toasted nuts but in my opinion the raw cashew butter tastes much smoother and silkier. Since then I have been buying various nut butters from our local organic store at quite a hefty price and Im realising it doesnt bloody last long. We use it every day; stirred into the boybeans rice porridge, on toast or bread and in smoothies. Its luxe. So after buying just one too many jars of the stuff (the cashew, brazil and almond mixed butter is grreat too), I was inspired to make some.

I got as far as the cashew bin with bag in hand before i realised i had a serious problem. How to transform it from a nut to something paste like? We have a food processor, but lets just say, a Cuisinart its not. I bought it for 20 bucks and it chops the bottom 1 cm of the load. Thats it. Lots of poking with a wooden spoon required. Useful. Not. Bugger. For a foodie it was a serious error made on the run, I wasnt in the mood for spending money and fooled myself into thinking it would do the job. Damn. Now Im stuck with a half arsed machine that i cant bear to replace.

So i left the idea (too hard basket) until i read Naturewitches' post about her new machine. I was inspired all over again and just kind of casually said to Simon, "Hey, do we have anything we can make nut butter with? I want to make some cashew butter but the blender's just going to burn its motor if i use that?" Hmm, maybe i should burn out the motor.


"Sure, we have a manual stone mill for flour and nuts in the pantry"

"We do?"

We do.

Blimey

Cohabiting with someone who lived through Glastonbury and Woodstock has its advantages!



So i got it out, worked it out, and set to work outside in the cool of the morning turning the handle until all the nuts resembled a fine greasy meal.


I decided against adding more oil to combine it into a wetter, sloppier consistency, I just pressed the meal into the jar as it wasnt grainy at all. The texture is firm but silky smooth and spreadable.

So in half an hour yesterday morning, a kilo of raw organic cashews got turned (literally) into this. It tastes divine, so fresh.

Too Easy.

i have a dream

I grew up in a pretty special place on Sydney harbour and spent my childhood at the beach, watching boats come and go and fantasising about the waterborne gypsy lifestyle i saw so many living. I love the sound of rigging clinking on the mast, the salt water and feel of the spray, the sound of waves glugging against pilons. So when my neighbours sold up and left for a 3 year, round the world voyage on a boat, taking my 10 yo friend and her brother, i was pretty much green with envy; the closeness with your parents that it affords, the outdoor adventures and cultural wonders to be experienced, the sea, the beach, the sun.

So when i first met my husband and found out he had spent 4 years sailing the world as a single man, being both crew and captain on ocean crossing voyages, i knew he was the man for me. I grew up sailing but not like that; trailer sailers and moths on beach hikes was as exciting as it got. So, when i told him of my fantsay to sail around the world with my family and homeschool aboard a boat i was totally gobsmacked to find that it had been a lifelong dream of his too. SHAZAM! Its the perfect way to travel; low impact, no hotel costs, the best views in the world and SLOW! LOL

We now have a 7 year plan. To buy a second/third/fourth (read affordable) hand Catamaran and say goodbye for 3-4 years to circumnavigate the world. The girls will both have finished school and can choose to join us if, when and where they wish and the boy will be a 7/8 yo bean, a perfect age to leave behind daily land life and go to sea to expereince the adventure that is ocean cruising.

Do you have a long term goal or plan that fills you with so much excitement that you're just bursting?

2009 True Food Guide

We have very limited labelling laws in this country for identifying those foods containing genetically engineered (GE) ingredients, making it difficult for us to avoid GE foods if we wish to do so. Products which dont use GE help out a little by oftentimes labelling as 'GE Free' but these tend to be specialist product. That's where the True Food Guides comes in handy, to help you shop for everyday food items which are GE free.

From baby food to beverages, pastra to poultry, the guide rates brands and products as Green (GE-free) or Red (may contain GE). The guide is available online and in a convenient pocket-sized form to keep in your wallet.

The guide gives a simple method for identifying and selecting foods using as stop/go green and red identifying system. Easy!
You can also check out the True Food Network. The True Food Network is a is "a growing community of everyday Australians, chefs, food experts, farmers and community groups uniting to protect our food from genetic engineering (GE)"

Joining the true food network provides you with updates on companies, products and brands going GE-free, info on events and opportunities for taking action in your local area and the chance to share ideas on how to build a GE-free future.

So, click the link and order your pocket size 2009 True Food Guide or download either the full size or pocket size pdf to print off yourself and join the network!.

GE. Its more that just canola!

the poo bar

well, that's a post title to make your eyes water (or your stomach turn).

Ive 'been there done that' soo many times over the years, trying to go 'no poo'. The first time would be, ohh god, nearly 20 years ago (@#%!) ...young feminist hits university, majors in third world political economy and womens studies, the intellect gets sharpened, the politics heightened and the legs grow a forest, the pits too. Permaculture gets explored, passive solar makes it into my vocab and i start saving seeds and homesteading in the back garden... so, ive been at it a while. But nothing to this day has made me give up 'the poo' long term. I just like that clean, stripped bare to the roots but silky kinda feeling. Im with Crunchy all the way; that chalky saline soloution and cold vinegar rinse just dont make me feel like getting out of bed in the morning and as for the thought of trying to put a comb through the resulting nest. Staus quo remains.

Cut too 2009 and many attempts at' no poo' later and the plastic bottles in the shower are really starting to piss me off; that shelf is the last frontier in this household. Now i know I could get a haircut and i think the day is getting closer but 'the problem' is a teenage girl in the house with hair dramas (well, make that daily crises); only a mercenary could remove the Pantene. We have tried many, M.A.N.Y herbal, biodynamic, vegan, paraben free, SLS free concoctions but nothing cuts it with the very picky and very vocal teen "im going to die if you dont buy the shampoo mum" or "that is social suicide dont you know and Im not willing to try it" and a mum with particular fussies about the feel. Until now.

Yesterday, I finally bit my eco-pride bullet and came home tentatively sporting a *hand over the mouth in hushed tones* Lush shampoo bar. Ive never been into a Lush store before; you can smell them a mile away and quite frankly, to my senses, they stink. But the shop in town was well ventilated with double doors in the wedge shaped shop and seemed quite approachable on the orrofice front and the enourmous wheels of earthy looking solids had my inner aesthete drooling. And I had a mission. No bottle!

The chunk looks soo at home, happy, sitting on the wooden shelf in the shower. The most incredible thing is, we all LOVE IT!!!!! Its soft, creamy, silky and probably non-biodegradable, but...no plastic bottles. Its given me the impetus to make my own. Anyone got a creamy olive oil recipe they swear by?

**Addendum: lush also do a solid conditioner which i will try out this week.

in my inbox this morning

In my inbox this morning, an invitation for the Festival of Ideas to hear Peter Singer talking about his new book The Life You Can Save : Acting Now to End World Poverty . Ive been a fan of his for 20 years since my university days. Ive posted about tithing before and Peters ideas but I have never attend a lecture of his. Im definitely going. Heres an excerpt from the invitation

According to the World Bank, 1.4 billion people live on less than US $1.25 a day,. this entails a vast amount of suffering and avoidable loss of life. The Life You Can Save : Acting Now to End World Poverty offers a solution to world poverty. If enough of us can be moved to act—to make some moderate sacrifices in our lives—huge numbers of people could be saved from death and suffering. And if the world’s wealthiest 10 per cent of people were to donate a fraction of their income, extreme poverty on a large scale could be eliminated altogether. With his trademark clarity, logic and intellectual flair, world renowned philosopher Peter Singer shows us not only that this solution is possible, but also that we have a moral obligation to be part of it.
‘Peter Singer may be the most controversial philosopher alive; he is certainly amonghe most influential'

It was the jolt i needed to do some research i had been meaning to do all week. I have just bought some new spectacles; being back at work was a shock to my eyes and i was experiencing eye strain and nausea like never before. A clever colleague suggested an eye test (this bright spark hadn't thought of THAT). So i emerged with a set of graduated lenses (bi-focals in the old language...that sounds a little over rthe hill). I keep my last pair always as a back up at work in case i forget my current ones. Now the old back up pair is not needed any longer. I had a friend who every year would trek with her optometrist husband in Nepal to reach far off villages where they would perform free eye tests and provide those that needed them, with spectacles which had been donated in Australia. It sounded like such a good idea but my researcher brain kicked in and first i wanted to know if i did donate my spectacles, was it really a good idea? Looks like there are problems but the conclusion, little research and sometimes the spectacles are not distributed correctly or efficiently but the Optometry Association of Australia supports the practce and sends glasses to nations along with an optometrist. So for now, i decided i will donate.Its easy.

Now donating my old specs isnt going to end world poverty, but it was a timely reminder to do the research on the impact of my giving and that in this current international climate of fiscal uncertainty for many in the developed/first/affluent (whatever you want to name it) world, people contract in fear and stop giving, sharing. "if world’s wealthiest 10 per cent of people were to donate a fraction of their income, extreme poverty on a large scale could be eliminated altogether" Thats US!, the worlds wealthiest 10%. Despite feeling the pinch a little with food prices and growing children, we are still donating around 15% of our income. It shocked us a little that it was this high, but when we sat down and actually worked it out, thats what we came up with. Now for any of you thinking we're rich and are therefore better placed to afford it, we are rich by many standards, but we certainly bring in well under 100,000 annually and support 5 people in the family. So 15% is alot, but it doesnt have to be that high. Be inspired, do the math, choose a cause.