tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66006470383699418312024-02-07T14:08:35.846-08:00The Travelling Culinary Sideshowilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-23529616295320868512008-01-27T09:31:00.000-08:002008-01-27T09:36:24.745-08:00Meat<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?ex=1202101200&en=ae87f466b2f0f394&ei=5070">Rethinking the Meat Guzzler</a>, NYTimes 1/27/08<br /><br />This is just such a good article, I can't say anything more about it. <br /><br />Another issue, aside from the using-land-inefficiently-to-grow-corn/soy-for-livestock (and not for people) issue, is the one where land is now being used to harvest oils for biofuel, once again, displacing people's needs and forcing the price of cooking oil into the unaffordable for many.<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/29/world/asia/29indo.html?scp=2&sq=cost+of+cooking+oil+palm&st=nyt">Here</a>, and especially <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/business/worldbusiness/19palmoil.html?scp=1&sq=cooking+oil+palm&st=nyt">here</a>.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-9767393713940205272008-01-18T09:41:00.001-08:002008-01-18T09:42:25.809-08:00Looking Dinner in the Eye...<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/dining/16anim.html?scp=1&sq=Chicken+Out">Chef's New Goal: Looking Dinner in the Eye</a>. NYTimes, 1/16/08ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-6118462694946313572008-01-13T15:56:00.001-08:002008-01-13T15:59:25.359-08:00Immigrants and Jordanian FoodTwo interesting articles in the NYTimes, 1/13/08:<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/nyregion/thecity/13indi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">A Passage to India</a>, on immigrants and food culture.<br /><a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/travel/13choicetables.html">All the Foods of the Mideast at its Stable Center</a>, about restaurants in Amman, Jordan.<br /><br />In other news, I've been baking my own bread lately, exuberantly. Last time it was three loaves of whole wheat sweetened with maple syrup (thanks to Joy of Cooking), tonight I'm going to do the same except with flax and sunflower seeds. It's so wonderful that little things like this make me happy.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-39249320510954699832008-01-03T12:28:00.000-08:002008-01-03T13:09:29.068-08:00Wigilia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsHH4m9ITnClsCf_2xzKAy34av2S-jvoyLDwa4NeYMVFlEIHBpo3ZKgVjfnOxWAQo_vOy8t0djbeqsYmLpmOZUCh3U9HImvposFL9uu27X9dpi8t25lmOExmMtELjF0ueeFZW1SdyWwU/s1600-h/Xmas+020.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsHH4m9ITnClsCf_2xzKAy34av2S-jvoyLDwa4NeYMVFlEIHBpo3ZKgVjfnOxWAQo_vOy8t0djbeqsYmLpmOZUCh3U9HImvposFL9uu27X9dpi8t25lmOExmMtELjF0ueeFZW1SdyWwU/s320/Xmas+020.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5151360364248654530" border="0" /></a>Finally back from vacation and so much to write about, which always leaves me wanting to write nothing and wait for something new to happen. But I think it's necessary that I write about Wigilia, which is so totally awesome and won't come around until next Christmas Eve. I can hardly be called a Catholic, but I'm fascinated by Catholic culture, especially in its Mexican and Polish forms. I ascribe to the latter, particularly, since half of my family are Polish Catholics. My mother was born in Poland but raised in the United States, and has kept up with some of the major traditions. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigilia">Wigilia</a> (pronounced Vigilia) is our best holiday as far as I'm concerned, more important than Christmas day for Poles, who believe that what you do on Wigilia will predict the rest of your year. Here are some cool things I found out about Wigilia from <span style="font-style: italic;">Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore</span>, by Mary Knab:<br />Fir tree branches were placed over the door of houses and barns to dispel evil and sickness, or even placed in the cow poop to dispel wolves.<br />Everyone in the family would race to cut off the tip of the Christmas tree (a fir) and this tip would be hung pointing down over the dinner table.<br />The first person to enter the house on Wigilia was considered as an auger of things to come. If a man walked in first, the cows would have bulls and if a woman, heifers. "Subsequently, women were much in favor and sometimes great lengths were undertaken to assure the arrival of a woman." Keen.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB-2wHJhdgLfCqieKPeay1j70EHizSdd20boRT0Vzi7owasZMZKX0nrZ1S6PYiBRkTwfg4XkH0QeZP-4qKyoVrwdIiFIoa7w_DgdOAg6bMPvS5fKwojXRHVxXcvrCPk_0iFGVys47YiU/s1600-h/Xmas+027.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB-2wHJhdgLfCqieKPeay1j70EHizSdd20boRT0Vzi7owasZMZKX0nrZ1S6PYiBRkTwfg4XkH0QeZP-4qKyoVrwdIiFIoa7w_DgdOAg6bMPvS5fKwojXRHVxXcvrCPk_0iFGVys47YiU/s320/Xmas+027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5151359011333956258" border="0" /></a><br />We always eat oplatek (pronounced opwatek) before the meal, which we break into pieces and give to family members with a wish for the new year.<br /><br />The menu is pretty much the same all over Poland, with some variation, and it's always the same for us, give or take a plate of gravlax. In our household it was always pierogi (stuffed with potatoes and sauerkraut), the most incredible mushroom soup, sides of fish (usually smoked mackerel and herring in sauce), followed up by compote. In Poland this would be an eight course dinner, for us it's typically three.<br /><br />This year my mom came up to Pennsylvania to have Wigilia with Dan and his family, which was really lovely. We made pierogi together, me kneading and rolling the dough until my hands were red and barely motile, my mom saying "it's not thin enough! keep rolling!" (the trick is to roll it out, cut them into squares, then roll the damn squares until they're paper thin), then heated up all the comestibles she'd brought up.<br /><br />Like I said, I may not be the best Catholic (understatement!), or the best Pole (my grandmother asks me every time I visit her when I'm going to learn Polish...), but Wigilia will always be a fixture for me.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-43457719671200196022007-12-16T09:13:00.000-08:002007-12-16T09:15:42.994-08:00Chinese Fish"Environmental problems plaguing seafood would appear to be a bad omen for the industry. But with fish stocks in the oceans steadily declining and global demand for seafood soaring, farmed seafood, or aquaculture, is the future. And no country does more of it than China, which produced about 115 billion pounds of seafood last year."<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/world/asia/15fish.html?em&ex=1197954000&en=eb5a0cefa13eeddf&ei=5087%0A">In China, Farming Fish in Toxic Waters</a>, NYTimes, December 15th 2007</span>ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-33258073598192426252007-12-11T08:07:00.001-08:002007-12-11T08:14:11.238-08:00Red Lentils and Homemade SeitanI've been gone for a bit - last week there was an Anthropology <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_5oYx4PberHY/R162OsX2voI/AAAAAAAAACA/8eIT7CpxMYM/s1600-h/Xmas+NO+Style2+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_5oYx4PberHY/R162OsX2voI/AAAAAAAAACA/8eIT7CpxMYM/s200/Xmas+NO+Style2+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142748188049325698" border="0" /></a><br />conference in DC that I attended, and now it's finals - but seeing as my dad sent me a new camera as an early Xmas present, I have to post on last night's dinner. Red lentils, Indian style, over sticky rice with some <a href="http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=112">homemade seitan</a>, straight of Isa's Vegan With a Vengeance (and also on the Post Punk Kitchen website). The seitan was surprisingly easy, and considering that it was my first time, came out perfectly. The lentils were a breeze - cumin seeds cooked in hot earthbalance followed by half a red onion, minced hot pepper, clove of minced garlic, lentils, then add water, bring to a boil, add salt to taste plus any of the following: garam masala, more cumin, allspice, ginger, and a squeeze of lime. So good. So easy.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-90470511168951547012007-11-24T18:50:00.000-08:002007-11-24T21:11:36.125-08:00ThankysgivingAfter working a double with nary a good tip and suffering from a cat-allergy-induced cold for the past few days, including and perhaps at its apex during Thanksgiving dinner, I have been less than interested in doing anything other than lay in bed and wheeze. However, this has not been possible. Yesterday was spent getting out of town and touring historic Donaldsonville. Historic Donaldsonville! Home to America's first African-American mayor, <a href="http://gbgmchurches.gbgm-umc.org/stlandry/PLandry.htm">Pierre Landry</a>, and to America's first caesarean-section (performed on a slave, no mention of whether she survived or not...). Walking past an old grocers called "Shaheen's" I noticed a plaque written in both Arabic and English. My heart skipped a beat! Lebanese immigrants. Also, Donaldsonville had a considerable Jewish immigrant population, the synagogue now an Ace Hardware (does Hebrew still hum in the woodwork? Do the mice still squeak shalom?). Lunch at a so-called "African-Creole-Cajun" restaurant-gallery which turned out to be mostly 'Classy Cajun,' vegetarianism being something freakish, or so I was led to assume, and the gallery bit being a showcase for quaint glass crosses and paintings of dogs in gardens. We toured Laura Plantation afterwards, an old Creole place facing the Mississippi, lovely, gardens heavy with oranges, tangerines, satsumas and persimmons. They were selling all the citrus in the gift shop; I asked about the persimmons and the woman behind the counter had no idea what I was talking about. She said "help yourself" and so I did. I love the persimmons sweet permissiveness.<br /><br />Thanksgiving was the day before, and quite fine. We had a few friends over, no big deal, but invented a new tradition in which we stuff random objects into a ceramic unicorn bust with the hopes of removing them in the year to come. I invented the 'screwhound' for breakfast (though unlikely to have been the first to do so), vodka with grapefruit and orange juice. We played Star Wars monopoly (Dan besting both me and Beau) before cooking, once again missing the opening day at the track for the fifth, or is it sixth, year. On the menu:<br /><a href="http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1673037">Star anise and satsuma-cooked cornish hens</a>, or something like that.<br />Mushroom stuffing<br />Apple and onion stuffing brought by Steph<br />Red onion, cranberry, and tangerine salad, also by Steph<br />and the best thing she brought, <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_33780,00.html">lemon nut cookies</a> (ridiculous)<br />(and my additions) Mashed potatoes a la Joy of Cooking<br /><a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/240418">Roasted fennel with olives and garlic</a><br /><a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/240411">Brussel sprout hash with caramelized shallots</a><br /><a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/240423">Pumpkin and Marscapone Pie</a><br />and <a href="http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1622533">caramel cake</a> with coconut milk instead of dairy.<br /><br />As for the eats today: 1 sandwich and a persimmon for breakfast, Reginelli's breadsticks with artichoke hearts and green olives, and penne marinara and fake sausage, and a persimmon, for dinner.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-61389181036132812422007-11-21T20:39:00.000-08:002007-11-21T20:48:40.960-08:00Mashrubaat RuhheyyaThat is how you saw 'alcoholic beverages' in Arabic. And that is what this house is evidently full of.<br /><br />Today I ate:<br />1. Breakfast consisted of a "Ham" and "mayonnaise" sandwich with spinach and some old tomatoes.<br />2. I had the same for lunch, sans tomatoes, they were gross. Then I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dessert.<br />3. For dinner we went to Kyoto for sushi, and I must say, that rocked my world.<br /><br />Post-dinner the other night, Dan and I were sitting on the couch watching the dogs lick peanut butter off the ends of their noses, he drinking a chocolate milk and me finishing some wine, and talking about how nice it is to be grown up. It's awesome, <span style="font-style: italic;">awesome,<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span>to be able to do whatever you want, and I think we lose sight of that. Maybe I will have another glass of wine! Maybe I WILL eat peanut butter and jelly on crackers! Maybe I will do all of these things, at the same time, laying in bed, watching He-Man on dvd! I won't list any of the other things that <span style="font-style: italic;">can</span> happen (so to keep this family friendly), but man, I'm thankful for all of it.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-26145098636130712812007-11-20T16:04:00.000-08:002007-11-21T20:48:25.594-08:00A New ProjectWhile planning my Thankgiving menu yesterday, I found the menu from last year's Thanksgiving. It seemed like a sort of artifact in the study of my own life. I felt inspired. I think that I'm going to start a new and interesting, well, hopefully interesting little project. I want to make a list of everything that I eat every day. I see bargraphs and pie charts in my future.<br /><br />So, today.<br />For breakfast I had a sandwich made of whole wheat bread, veganaise, Lightlife fake ham, and spinach. For what I guess I could call lunch I had a small cup of coffee (and I never, <em>ever</em>, drink coffee, I'm not sure what possessed me to buy it, aside from tremendous lethargy I suppose) and an oatmeal raisin cookie. I went home two hours later and ate delicioso Milagro corn tortilla chips (which were in actuality the tiny little crumbly remnants of much larger chips that had gone the way of the passenger pigeon days ago) with veganaise on them, then some rolled up fake ham, dipped in veganaise, sprinkled in chips.<br />In two hours I'm going over to my friend Casey's house for a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner, so I'll just have to update the rest of the list later.<br /><br />UPDATE: excellent spread! Broccoli and cheddar melt, green bean casserole, tofu in an apricot and balsamic vinaigrette glaze with sliced vegetables, mashed potatoes, stuffing (into which I suspect a piece of meat had been secreted), eggnog, rolls. And I even met a kid who had biked down here from Wisconsin and was sleeping on rooftops in frightening neighborhoods.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-50819282709512157392007-11-19T07:33:00.000-08:002007-11-19T07:44:41.103-08:00New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.poboyfest.com/files/images/PoboyFest_Logo_BW_th.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 147px; height: 165px;" src="http://www.poboyfest.com/files/images/PoboyFest_Logo_BW_th.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Yesterday was the first annual <a href="http://www.poboyfest.com/">New Orleans Po-Boy Fest</a> on Oak St., currently the site of some very interesting regenerative spirit. Upon arriving to find throngs, literally <span style="font-style: italic;">throngs</span> of people stuffing the streets, children getting lost and dogs being stepped on, we were somewhat terrified and had to temporarily abandon ship for a predictably-awesome lunch at Lebanon's.<br />Highlights - some guy's boxer yowled after getting a toe crunched. A woman walking by with her two little sons said "Oh dearie! Poor pup just got stepped on! Why dontcha' give him a little kiss!" Her son, about eye level with the dog, gave him a nice wet one on his rump. She says "There, now it's all better." That warmed the cockles of my heart, as did the 2nd line that erupted right before the Iguanas hit the stage. Standing there watching that red and white tassled umbrella fly up and down while cheeks ballooned behind brass instruments, and everyone dancing, young and old, black and white, face-tattooed and yuppie alike, I swear a goddamned tear came to my eye. A friend of mine is in town after moving away last January, and he's currently planning on moving back home. In some ways, I'm seeing the experience through his eyes, and in some ways it's me seeing the future, a reluctant but perhaps necessary return to Washington D.C., a real job, school and all of this behind me. I reassure myself by saying that inevitably I will come back, but I think the point is, how can I leave in the first place?ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-53150482082549531192007-11-19T06:55:00.000-08:002007-11-19T06:58:12.351-08:00Wish I Could Go To San-Fran<a href="http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/travel/18Choice.html">Expanding the Frontiers of the Vegetarian Plate</a>, NY Times, 11-18-07.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-40312489176329924982007-11-16T14:32:00.000-08:002007-11-16T14:36:38.517-08:00PETA kinda sucks.They did it again. <br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/x7E97PVM3u8&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/x7E97PVM3u8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br />Some of the black and white shots of her make her look like a corpse. Once again, PETA seems to miss the point; instead of a hamburger we're visually eating her body. Ho hum.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-83309853035193350322007-11-16T07:36:00.000-08:002007-11-16T13:59:33.828-08:00Pumpkin Broth and Spaghetti SquashDan always tells me that I'm turning into his grandmother, Margaret. It's because I pick up cans and bottles on the street and bring them home from the restaurant to recycle, I'm obsessed with the notion of 'dumpster diving' (simply because I can't stand the idea that good food is just being <span style="font-style: italic;">thrown away</span>, uh, and I'm a poor student), and I've been known to do really odd frugal things, like save dental floss (in my defense, we were traveling and damn if I didn't know if I would need some dental floss) and bring home chicken carcasses from friend's dinners to turn into broth for someone else's meal. My most recent thing is that I've been collecting the pumpkins that silly people throw away, assuming that now Halloween has passed, their usefulness is exhausted. Not true! A pumpkin is tasty! It has lots of seeds that can be baked! Sure, it's a pain in the ass to process it, but sometimes I feel like lobotomizing and cooking a pumpkin.<br />I had no idea what I was doing last night but decided to go at the smallest one I had. Knife in hand, I attacked, but discovered that the outer shell was like pressed wood. By the time I had gotten about a quarter of it peeled and cubed, I decided that would be enough. Then I tossed it into a pot with some onions that I had carmelizing, plus some cumin, and waited for it to cook. A little bit of vegetable broth later, I started wondering what else I could do with it. How about some dried galangal and kaffir lime leaves? Tossed that in. A little bit of allspice, some salt, some sugar...<br /><br />It kind of looked gross. But it tasted okay. I let it cook a while longer, and in the meantime wanted to use up some leftover wonton wrappers on their last legs, so made stuffing out of a package of mixed mushrooms, a little soy sauce, minced garlic, and sausage (vegan, and quite spicy) squeezed out of the casing. Soup tasted better, but I didn't like the idea of eating all the solid stuff in there, so I decided to strain in, squeeze out the pumpkin mix, and use the pumpkin-broth as a base for egg-drop soup. Brilliant! I'm serious, this turned out to be one of those rare moments that I exhibit true and unwavering brilliance. It was so, so good. Plus, I added the pumpkin (sans galangal and lime leaves), to the wonton filling and hence pumpkin-mushroom wontons were born. What didn't get stuffed into the wee wrappers I mixed in with a spaghetti squash that I was baking, so then I had pumpkin-mushroom spaghetti.<br /><br />So, in conclusion, I take this as a positive development in my culinary evolution, and wanted to share. Also, I realized the other day that I don't think about sex anymore, I think about food.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-52300890622735030572007-11-07T11:36:00.001-08:002007-11-07T11:38:42.025-08:00Bento<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/478605744_f8f4050d75_m.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 204px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/478605744_f8f4050d75_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Okay, please go <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitsa_sakurako/sets/72157600857507834/">here</a>, now.<br /><br /></div>ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-55897924811044355292007-11-07T07:41:00.000-08:002007-11-07T11:39:33.594-08:00Tasty Lil' WontonsOkay, first thing's first. I got my birthday present from Dan yesterday (thankyou thankyou thankyou), Isa Chandra Moskovitz's book <a href="http://www.theppk.com/veganwithavengeance.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Vegan With a Vengeance</span></a> and her's and Terry Hope Romero's <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.theppk.com/nomicon.html">Veganomicon</a>.</span> Yah yah, I'm not exactly a vegan, but that doesn't mean that I'm not amazed by the creative ways that foods are tackled. Plus, I don't see anything wrong with eating vegan (except missing out on honey...that's messed up).<br /><br />Second thing: yum, I did real good last night. Reeeeal good. These wontons were easy, incredibly delicious, and smacked of a professionalism that I didn't realize I possessed.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tasty Lil' Wontons</span><br /><br />1 package of wonton wrappers (I used <a href="http://www.nasoya.com/nasoya/pasta_wonton.html">Nasoya</a>)<br />1 small onion, diced<br />3 cloves of garlic, diced<br />5-6 small shiitake mushrooms<br />1/2 of a large carrot, grated<br />tamari sauce<br />soy sauce<br />olive oil<br />vegetable oil<br /><br />for sauce:<br />1/4 cup soy sauce<br />2 Tbsp rice vinegar<br />1 tsp sugar<br />1 tsp sesame oil<br />sesame seeds<br />1 Tbsp finely chopped green onions<br />1 clove garlic, finely chopped<br /><br />1. Heat a tablespoon on olive oil in a medium size pan. Add the onion and garlic. Allow them to soften and become transparent, then add the carrots. Cook for another 5 minutes before adding the mushrooms. Mix in a teaspoon of tamari sauce, and let that puppy cook on low for about 20 minutes. Turn of flame and allow the mix to cool.<br /><br />2. Make your dipping sauce: add all ingredients together.<br /><br />3. Put a small amount, about 1 tsp, in the middle of the wonton wrapper. Spread it out a bit so that the wontons won't break while cooking. Run a wet finger around the edge and seal the wonton. Put it on a plate and cover, so that the dough doesn't dry out.<br /><br />4. Immerse the wontons in boiling salted water for no more than 20 seconds, then fry 'em up in about a tsp of vegetable oil.<br /><br />5. Eat.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-25411859016686283102007-11-05T07:31:00.000-08:002007-11-05T07:43:12.392-08:00Dia de los MuertosLast Friday we threw a Dia de los Muertos party over at what we affectionately refer t<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ2njNHdLfFoWE7pxMg5kLLEHOp62Yu3wYpStLwaTIFf1woMjHMVAzr3YC37WpC-mA2DMWY-ZGdlArz6N1LS1zXXqmuUDXOg3V8qdniHm7gtT2-XVuRy7ueoQZe-JMw5jJGY0x64WCZlE/s1600-h/n20402411_31154010_6441.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ2njNHdLfFoWE7pxMg5kLLEHOp62Yu3wYpStLwaTIFf1woMjHMVAzr3YC37WpC-mA2DMWY-ZGdlArz6N1LS1zXXqmuUDXOg3V8qdniHm7gtT2-XVuRy7ueoQZe-JMw5jJGY0x64WCZlE/s200/n20402411_31154010_6441.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129381538474341218" border="0" /></a>o as 'Evangeline,' Evan's home in Pigeon Town off of South Carollton. It was an excuse to dress up like skeletons, and I badly wanted to make skull maracas. Of course, it was also a good reason to cook, and cook we did. I tried to approximate a bean and rice dish that my friend Casey had effortlessly whipped together for lunch a few days before (garlic rice, black beans, caramelized onions, minced garlic, corn, salt, avocado slices, would have liked to add some mole but the new Breaux Mart, R.I.P. Sav-a-Center, didn't carry<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhesAqQMrJ1ZbwH3M9cDDopB6JR5xWjHr4Wyb0r86azNzpfzk1SrjRqigqslHrOJdJr-Y3cd4EvARCbYALVswZ0O8TMd4HL8HLHo3IbJAuDzX836zAU3BfTCoPcmiLg-CXDdOa_C2S_9y0/s1600-h/n20405002_31154688_6392.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhesAqQMrJ1ZbwH3M9cDDopB6JR5xWjHr4Wyb0r86azNzpfzk1SrjRqigqslHrOJdJr-Y3cd4EvARCbYALVswZ0O8TMd4HL8HLHo3IbJAuDzX836zAU3BfTCoPcmiLg-CXDdOa_C2S_9y0/s200/n20405002_31154688_6392.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129379919271670594" border="0" /></a> it), and while it was good it wasn't quite the same as hers. I also made devil's food cupcakes, decorated with little skull faces, and Julie produced some lovely cookies for the altar (see photo) plus <a href="http://www.inside-mexico.com/cocina3.htm">anise bread</a>. All of that turned out well and good, but nothing topped our costumes. Obviously, they were quite brilliant, augmented by E-Ray's <a href="http://www.erayphoto.com/">amazing photography</a>. Toss in a little cerveza and some sangria, and damn, you get quite a good party.<a href="http://www.erayphoto.com/"></a>ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-63209914846004676162007-10-14T08:11:00.000-07:002007-10-14T12:07:33.367-07:00BerfdayIt's been a while since I've posted, due to the incomprehensible school workload I've been dealt, but it's Sunday morning and I have all day to read...one of the books is related to food, so I can mention that. For a course on Islam, we were assigned Rebecca Popenoe's <a href="http://www.aaanet.org/aes/bkreviews/result_details.cfm?bk_id=3366"><span style="font-style: italic;">Feeding Desire: Fatness, Beauty, and Sexuality Among a Saharan People</span></a>. It's a fascinating account of a North African desert Arab culture whose ideal of beauty is a corpulent woman, where stretch marks are a thing to aspire to, and from the age a little girl loses her milk teeth, her life becomes an attempt to attain the standard that will bring her a good husband. Aside from that, everything else is theory and statistics, blergh.<br /><br />My birthday was last Monday and I had family in town. We ate particularly well: oysters at <a href="http://www.casamentosrestaurant.com/main/main.html">Casamento's</a>, po-boys at <a href="http://www.parasols.com/">Parasol's</a>, drinks at Bacchanal's followed by a paella dinner and sangria at Lola's, then my birthday dinner at Iris, where I had another of the chef's amazing impromptu vegetarian plates while everyone else chowed down on duck and braised beef shortribs. One of the best orders was my dad's appetizer of Ricotta Gnudi (meaning 'nude' in Italian). Very similar to gnocchi, but instead of potatoes they're made with ricotta, so that they end up extremely light. The drinks there also attain a brilliance that should be mentioned. I had a galangal and banana martini while Dan, currently fascinated by <a href="http://www.hendricksgin.com/">Hendrick's gin</a> (which is infused with cucumber and rose petals), had a parsley gin martini.<br /><br />Last night I came home from work to find that he had orchestrated a lovely surprise party for me, complete with a massive accompanying meal. He even went so far as to print out little menus! They listed 'cremini mushrooms marinated in olive oil and fresh herbs,' 'roasted red pepper and goat cheese crostini,' 'tomato, mozzarella, and eggplant salad with a homemade vinaigrette,' 'Italian pasta salad with yellow squash, zucchini, and Bella di Cerignola olives,' and my favorite, 'Italian style "meat" balls.' My friend Claire also brought over a fantastic chickpea and red onion salad which deserves mention.<br /><br />Anyways, I must include here the recipe that he used to make the meatballs, because they were definitely on par with the vegan meatballs from Whole Foods, which, if you've had them, are divine.<br /><br />He didn't use egg at all, used fresh garlic and onions instead of powder, and used freshly grated parmesan instead of the fake stuff.<br /><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.ivu.org/recipes/italian/sandys.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sandy's Italian Tofu Balls</span></a> (from Vegetarian Recipes Around the World, www.ivu.org)</span> </p> <center> </center> <p> About the ingredients:<br /> Tofu: Don't use tofu in a box, even if it says firm, and don't use anything but firm or extra firm (or a block of each), fresh tofu. It should be possible to hold one end of the block without it breaking in half immediately. Rinse it and squeeze as much of the water as you can out of it right before you start. </p><p> Bread crumbs: I make my own from toasted Berlin Bakeries spelt bread, but any crumbs should work. Some people like chunks of bread in the mix, and that works ok. Pre-season the crumbs with a little salt (vegetable salt is nice), basil, (considerably less) oregano, granulated garlic or garlic powder, and pepper. The amount of bread crumbs required will greatly depend on the texture and wetness of the tofu. </p><p> Granulated garlic: If you've never had it, you're missing a great seasoning. look for it in natural foods stores. </p><p> Dried onion flakes: You can substitute fresh minced onion, but you should probably partially cook it in the microwave or in a saucepan, if you do. Ditto minced garlic, if you use it. </p><p> Dry egg replacer: Ener-G makes one; you can probably substitute arrowroot flour or cornstarch. I've used cornstarch. </p><p> Tamari: Yes, you can use soy sauce. If you use soy sauce or regular tamari, use a bit less. </p><p> Nutritional Yeast: Adds vitamins, micronutrients and a mild "cheesy" flavor. Don't use brewer's yeast, which is bitter. </p><p> * Means optional<br /> ** Means optional but strongly suggested for best results. </p><p> (makes about 22 1 1/2" balls): </p><ul><li>2 x 16oz blocks of firm or extra firm tofu (or one of each) </li><li>Roughly 1 1/2 cups of preseasoned bread crumbs </li><li>* 1 heaping tablespoon powdered egg replacer </li><li>About 1 1/2 tablespoons (six to ten shakes) low sodium tamari </li><li>Vegetable or sea salt to taste. ( or potassium salt substitute) </li><li>Pepper to taste. </li><li>* About 2 tablespoons dry flaked onion. </li><li>* Soymage Parmesan Substitute to taste. </li><li>Roughly 1 teaspoon basil. </li><li>Roughly 1/4 teaspoon oregano. </li><li>Granulated garlic, minced garlic or garlic powder to taste. </li><li>* 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast. </li><li>** 1 1/2 quarts pasta sauce. </li></ul> 1. Lightly oil a full-size baking sheet, and begin preheating oven to 350. <p> 2. Rinse, drain, and squeeze dry the tofu, crumble it into a large mixing bowl, then mash it into an even - but not extremely fine - consistency, using a sturdy fork.<br /> Sprinkle on the tamari, and mix it in with the fork.<br /> Add the other seasonings and the yeast, while continuing to mix the tofu without mashing it further.<br /> Taste it several times; you want it to taste mildly salty, and for the flavor of the seasonings to be present, but not overwhelming. </p><p> 3. Stir in the flaked or minced onion, and the egg replacer.<br /> Then add about 2/3 of the bread crumbs, first mixing them in with the fork, then with your (slightly moistened) hands.<br /> First squeeze it through your fingers repeatedly, then press the mixture firmly into the bottom of the bowl with your knuckles.<br /> While doing this, add enough bread crumbs to make the mixture form readily into firm balls, without being wet or doughlike.<br /> If you add too much bread and it gets dry and crumbly, sprinkle in a little water.<br /> If it's still a little wet and you are out of bread, add a little more egg replacer or some cornstarch or potato starch. </p><p> 4. Form the mixture into balls. They can be small (about 1") or medium size (about 1 1/2"). Larger ones are possible, but are likelier to end up underdone in the middle.<br /> Place them on the baking sheet. They can be close together, but not touching. </p><p> 5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes (small) to 1 hour (medium).<br /> The tofu balls should be well browned, especially if you are omitting the last two steps, but not burned looking.<br /> You can turn them after 1/2 hour, but it isn't absolutely necessary. </p><p> **6. Let the balls cool for about 20 minutes, them place them in a large *covered* frying pan that has been coated with canola oil, olive oil, or a mix of the two, and preheated.<br /> Gently saute them for about 15 minutes, turning them frequently. </p><p> **7 Add enough tomato sauce to completely cover the balls, then cover and simmer them for one hour, gently stirring them occasionally.<br /> They are ready to eat at this point, but for the best flavor, let them sit in the sauce, in a glass bowl or steel pan, in the refrigerator overnight. They freeze fairly well. </p><p> Note: for lowfat tofu balls, try omitting step #6, but not step #7. </p>ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-50870960494773598942007-09-29T12:54:00.000-07:002007-09-29T12:58:23.231-07:00Tasty BitsLolo over at Vegan Yum Yum might be brilliant. I've made her <a href="http://veganyumyum.com/2007/03/crispy-sweet-and-sour-seitan/">crispy sweet and sour seitan</a> twice now, and both times it turned out perfect. It's just like when I was in middle school hanging out at the food court in the mall and getting the sweet and sour chicken from Panda Express, except there's no chicken in it. So, aside from being nostalgiac, it's one of those meals that comes together <span style="font-style: italic;">fast</span>, which is always good. Point is, go check it out for yourself.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-16446882708948887012007-09-24T18:36:00.000-07:002007-09-24T18:42:55.254-07:00Um....dumb.I want to say for the record that I think PETA's new ad featuring Alicia Silverstone (who, as an actress, is pretty obsolete anyways) naked in a swimming pool talking about how life-transforming it is to be vegetarian, is pretty retarded. Okay, so, she's putting herself out there as the 'meat' instead? I don't get how vegetarianism and nudity are linked, other than trying to create the image that a meat-free lifestyle is a sexy one. I guess these days they're giving up trying to appeal to reason and are going for penises.<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.peta.org/feat/alicia_psa/swf/alicia_veg.swf" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" height="255" width="335"></embed><br />Alicia Silverstone’s Sexy Veggie PSA<br />Order a FREE vegetarian starter kit at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.goveg.com/order.asp?c=gvaliciavsk">GoVeg.com</a>ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-33009014961037909132007-09-24T17:47:00.000-07:002007-09-24T18:43:09.784-07:00Lentil Soup<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.najmiehskitchen.com/nk_cookbooks.html"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 131px; height: 193px;" src="http://www.najmiehskitchen.com/images/src_150w.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I've been hungering for lentil soup ever since Cat posted about it on her <a href="http://moscowfoodies.blogspot.com/2007/09/lentil-soup.html">blog</a> and was fortunate enough to receive a cookbook in the mail which more than answered my prayers. The book in question is Iranian Najmieh Batmanglij's lovely <span style="font-style: italic;">Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey</span>. Flipping through this glossy tome covering food from China all the way to Sicily (and many unknown places in between), I can sort of drown out the sound of my schizophrenic neighbor's shrieking and dream instead about places with names like Kermanshah and Tabriz. Recipes aside, I love the book for its billions of photos and reliance on history, culture, and geography to illuminate and inform. Plus, she throws in some Rumi every now and then.<br /><br />I made the <span style="font-style: italic;">Balkh Brown Lentil Soup</span>, but seeing as I lacked brown lentils, butternut squash, rice flour, and angelica powder, modified it for what I did have, namely a 4 year old can of pumpkin, red lentils, regular flour, and ground coriander. Oh, and I threw in some dried chickpeas. Whatever changes I made, it still turned out incredible and very, very different.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">(Austerlitz) Red Lentil Soup</span><br /><br />3 Tbsp vegetable oil<br />1 tsp cumin seeds<br />1 large onion, thinly sliced<br />4 cloves garlic, minced<br />1 can pumpkin<br />1/2 cup dried chickpeas<br />1 Tbsp salt<br />1/2 tsp pepper<br />1 tsp coriander powder<br />1 1/2 cups red lentils<br />2 Tbsp flour (diluted into a 1/2 cup water)<br />1/4 tsp cayenne pepper<br />1/2 cup orange juice<br />2 Tbsp lime juice<br /><br />1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and stir fry for 20 seconds. Be sure to have the lid on hand as they will spatter. Add the onions, garlic, and pumpkin and stir fry for 10 minutes.<br /><br />2. Add the water, salt, pepper, lentils, and boil. Cover and simmer over medium heat until the lentils are tender, stirring occasionally (about 50 minutes).<br /><br />3. Add flour, chili powder, and orange juice and boil. Simmer for another 40 minutes. If too thick, add warm water and boil.<br /><br />Najmieh's website: <a href="http://www.najmiehskitchen.com/index.html">http://www.najmiehskitchen.com/index.html</a><br /><h2><span class="bodytext"><br /></span></h2>ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-27541397676782903482007-09-19T07:46:00.001-07:002007-09-19T07:49:13.163-07:00Alice Waters<span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/dining/19wate.html?em&ex=1190347200&en=c58565a4608aea4a&ei=5087%0A">Lunch With Alice Waters, Food Revolutionary</a>, </span>NY Times Sept. 19, an interview and cooking date with the chef of Chez Panisse, and her lovely, simple <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/dining/193wrex.html?ref=dining">aioli </a>recipe.<br />More on her <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/alice_waters/index.html">here</a>.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-30912584396489191132007-09-18T18:04:00.001-07:002007-09-18T18:19:33.035-07:00Comfort Food<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.veganyumyum.com"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/183/416699258_7a27db5a8f.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I know it's not Middle Eastern, but damn it, I'm sick, and I want PIE. Our fridge is sadly quite empty right now, and one of our car's tires is compleeeeetely flat, so there's no way that I'm going to make it to the grocery store anytime in the near future. So I was looking at the pantry and the freezer, trying to figure out what I could make with what I had (after laying in bed all day I decided enough was enough and that I should at least cook something). Turns out, I had exactly what I needed to make the <a href="http://veganyumyum.com/2007/03/blueberry-hand-pies/">blueberry hand pies</a> from Vegan YumYum. I have to say (now that I've had two utterly successful baking experiences), baking with earthbalance is awesome. The crust of these pies tastes so light and buttery, but with low cholesterol and no carbohydrates or transfatty acids. The wee pies were easy enough to make, although I couldn't get my dough as thin as she did in the picture. The dough tastes so good that it doesn't really matter, and of course the fillings are what makes it great anyways.<br /><br />I made some with blueberries, some with blueberries and ricotta, and then the one last straggler piece (made up of all those bits of leftover dough) with Bonne Maman jam. Hand pies rock my world.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-75310166483953652502007-09-11T21:04:00.000-07:002007-09-13T06:39:03.686-07:00Ramadan Kareem!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.ezsoftech.com/ramadan/i/karim.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.ezsoftech.com/ramadan/i/karim.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Thursday begins the ninth and most holy month for Muslims around the world, Ramadan; a month of abstention, spiritual reflection, and some intense celebration as well. It is believed that the Qur'an was revealed during Ramadan, the most important night being <span style="font-style: italic;">laylat al-qadr</span> (around the 27th day) when the first verses were revealed to the Prophet. The etymological roots of the word Ramadan relate it to heat, so the ninth was probably the hottest month out of the year, and in pre-Islamic times was known as a month of truce. It is required of every Muslim able to withstand the rigors of fasting to participate in the ritual denial of food, liquids, cigarettes, and sex from dawn till dusk - fasting, or <span style="font-style: italic;">sawm</span> in Arabic, is one of Islam's five pillars. Those who can fast but don't are expected to provide meals for thirty people throughout the month as penance.<br /><br />I experienced Ramadan in Egypt, and fasted for a day to see what it was like. Of course, I didn't wake up before dawn for prayers and a little meal, so I was starving by mid-afternoon. I also didn't get to experience the spiritual aspects. Everywhere you looked people were reading their pocket-Qur'ans and focusing on what was happening inside as opposed to out (I received nary a sleazy comment nor dirty look that month, making it my favorite).<br /><br />My university classes had been reshuffled so that they either fell early in the morning or late in the afternoon, which gave people the time to go home in midday and sleep. I'd get out of classes near dusk, and the streets would be quiet and empty. People are either in their homes, or at large outdoor gatherings located near a mosque, such as the <a href="http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/architecture/sayidnaalhusseinmosque.html">Husayn Mosque</a> in Khan al-Khalili. Every spot at the long tables set up outside is taken. Following the dusk prayer, known as <span style="font-style: italic;">maghrib </span>(which refers to the sun setting in the west), the <span style="font-style: italic;">Iftar</span> (breaking of the fast) feast begins. Food is distributed and people heartily devour it, spending a long time at the table and lingering afterwards late into the night over <span style="font-style: italic;">ahwa</span>, coffee. People visit one another in their homes, bringing food and especially sweets like ba'lawa (you might know it as baklava - I became addicted to this stuff after moving to Egypt).<br /><br />So, this next month I'll focus primarily on foods of the Muslim world, and hey, maybe I'll throw my own Iftar.<br /><br />For some more info, here's the <a href="http://www.routledge-ny.com/ref/religionandsociety/rites/ramadan.pdf">article</a> on Ramadan from the Routledge <span style="font-style: italic;">Religion and Society Encyclopedia</span>.ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-23902288541901080802007-09-09T11:37:00.000-07:002007-09-09T11:41:29.862-07:00Ideas in FoodHere's a really interesting <a href="http://ideasinfood.typepad.com/">blog</a> by two chefs, Aki Kamozawa and H.A. Talbot, where they ruminate on their kitchen experimentations. The latest entry is on overcooked cock's combs, and I especially enjoyed the bits on tomato terrine and hot dog stock (with toppings). It was mentioned in a New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/dining/05curi.html?ref=dining">article</a> on consommes, and how right now you can make one out of basically anything provided that you have some gelatin and a fridge. Hmmm...cake essence? Essence of grass? Could be fun.<br /><h2 id="banner-description"><br /></h2>ilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6600647038369941831.post-23560184860138567112007-09-06T14:03:00.000-07:002007-09-07T13:22:32.524-07:00Load up the Hummer, Ma, we're going to Washington.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.atrulyinconvenienttruth.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7RqIX37uii3VloWouysnbGgZrRVTEzeroscm6xILuON-eQenMh_ffS_nYBFYZOvflyO7z2esua0hE2psQX58QREa_uR-zbsnl77nbKJ4jzMtb9ZyQn2whpVLaiYTgO-XLlvsS5QnB40/s200/ATIT150x224.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5107199943197562754" border="0" /></a>Studies now show that dietary changes can drastically impact greenhouse gas buildup, and that the practice of raising meat (not to mention transporting it, and of course the massive amount of space and energy it takes to grow feed corn, the environmental damages caused by erosion, or by nitrogen pollution leading to giant anaerobic 'dead zones' in bodies of water, say, like the Gulf of Mexico...), is the biggest contributor to global warming in the United States. An <a href="http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F50911FD35580C7A8EDDA10894DF404482">article</a> in the NYTimes recently discussed the more active roles being taken by various animal rights groups in highlighting the connection between diet and environment. Their goal is to point out that people can go on and on about cars, and changing their lifestyles, but that to truly make effective differences one <span style="font-style: italic;">really </span>must change their lifestyle.<br /><br />I'm a vegetarian not because I don't like to eat meat, or because I think it's intrinsically wrong to do so (and I probably would eat meat under particular conditions), but because as a person who considers themselves fairly 'aware' of what's going on in our world, I don't think it's ethical to do so. While I at times think the more orthodox vegans can be obnoxious in the way only 'fundamentalists' can be, the call for self-control implied in the major changes in lifestyle necessitated by a transformed and transforming world highlights most people's bottom-line unwillingness to do more than pay environmental lip-service. Our culture of self-indulgence (where a sense of entitlement seems to be the ugly step-sibling of the American dream), <del> needs to be shaken like a baby</del> will be seriously challenged in the years to come, and people absolutely will be forced to make changes in their lives beyond using long-lasting lightbulbs.<br /><br />Here's the University of Chicago report by Eshel and Martin (2006), <a href="http://geosci.uchicago.edu/%7Egidon/papers/nutri/nutriEI.pdf"><span style="font-style: italic;">Diet, Energy, and Global Warming</span></a> where much of the data comes from.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/jul/19/climatechange.climatechange">Meat Production 'Beefs Up Emissions'</a> </span>September 7th, The Guardianilmgirlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15231792078464829924noreply@blogger.com0