. . . Saturday, October 24th is a big day? It is the International Day of Climate Action, organized by 350.org. There are lots of great events going on in St. Louis, including a rally at The Arch at noon, a press conference at City Hall at 3pm, and a par-tay at 7pm.
For more details on those events, or to find an event in your area, click HERE.
Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend most of the StL events due to a wedding that starts at 12:30pm, with a reception starting at 6pm. I have a strange feeling that the food at the 350 party will be much more to my liking than the food served at the reception.
However, if all goes well, I will be biking to the wedding, my first wedding by bike foray. Stay tuned for details!
The weather last week was very dreary. Cool, misty, drizzly, foggy. Not fall weather, not winter weather, but something in between. Since the weather fit into neither season, I invented a new season that I call, “London.” No offense to the actual city or its inhabitants, but it seemed an apt descriptor.
I am happy to report that London has given way to fall, at least for a few days. A few days of biking in sunshine instead of gray drizzle, enjoying the colorful leaves while they last.
Monday night, on his way home from work, my husband was hit by a suburban assault vehicle sport utility vehicle. He was proceeding straight and had the right-of-way, and the oncoming driver turned into him. The man who could have killed my husband was talking on his cell phone at the time of the collision. Was the call really that important?
<Step onto soapbox>
The number of distracted drivers I observe on my daily bike commute alarms me. Distracted driving endangers ALL other users of the road — pedestrians, bicyclists, and others in cars. We overestimate our ability to engage in other activities while operating large, fast moving machines and in doing so damage or destroy other lives.
This past week, we cooked a few of our favorite staple recipes, including vegetable upside-down cake and garbanzo bean soup, using almost all local ingredients. We thought these dishes tasted good before, but you can really taste the freshness of the garden and locally grown veggies (or you could, if you were here eating with us).
Garbanzo bean soup
Someone needs to work on her food photography skills . . . .
If you’re wondering how to make this soup, today is your lucky day. In the past, I have been too lazy to post recipes here, but I submitted this recipe to my church cookbook, so it was typed and ready to go.
Garbanzo bean soup
4 ½ c. cooked garbanzo beans, divided (= 2 ¼ cups dry beans or 3 cans)
4 ½ c. vegetable broth or water, divided
1 T. olive oil
2 c. chopped onion
10 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 medium potatoes, diced
3 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 t. salt
1 bay leaf
2 t. dry mustard
2 t. ground cumin
1-2 threads of saffron (optional, but delicious)
½ c. frozen peas
3 T. red wine vinegar
1 c. chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
Ground pepper to taste
In a blender, puree 2 cups of the cooked garbanzos with 2 cups of the water or broth until almost smooth. Set aside.
In large soup pot, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add potatoes, carrot, and celery, and sauté 5 more minutes. Add pureed garbanzo beans and the rest of the broth, along with the salt, bay leaf, mustard, cumin, and saffron. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the remaining garbanzo beans, along with the frozen peas, red wine vinegar, and tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. Remove the bay leaf before serving. Serve with whole grain bread or muffins.
When I was five, we moved into a house with a dishwasher. A nonfunctional dishwasher. We used it to store snacks. My parents were not worried about this — from their viewpoint, they had three very functional dishwashers, or would, once some of them grew up a bit. I never minded this task much, but my youngest sister thought it was horrible. Once she reached functional dishwasher age, a “real dishwasher” occupied the top spot on her wish list for both Christmas and birthdays.
So, what’s the answer?
Because there are many factors, there may not be one right answer, so here are some things for you to consider.
To wash dishes efficiently, have a sink full. Washing a single dish or just a few dishes, whether by hand or machine, will always use more water, energy, and soap per dish than a full load.
If by hand:
Use a tub (or large pan or bowl) for rinse water instead of constantly running a stream of hot water.
Wash least dirty dishes first so the wash water stays clean longer.
If by machine:
If you are buying a dishwasher, look for one with the Energy Star rating.
Only run the dishwasher when you have a full load.
Most newer dishwashers are very powerful, so despite what you may have done in the past, you do not have to rinse dishes before washing; just scrape off excess food and load.
If you have an older dishwasher and need to pre-rinse the dishes, fill the sink or a pan or bowl with water to use for all of the dishes.
Do NOT use any of the extra settings, like high-temp wash or heated dry. These just waste energy.
When the cycle is finished, open the dishwasher and pull out the racks to let the dishes air dry. Open the dishwasher just as the cycle ends, when all of the dishes are still hot; they will air dry very quickly.
For either:
Look for environmentally friendly dish detergents.
Be lazy. Is your plate from lunch clean but for a few breadcrumbs? Brush them off and use the same plate for dinner — no washing required!
Her Green Life 