Environmentalism: A Catholic Perspective (Part 1)

A few days ago I was sitting at an anniversary party enjoying the sun and the interesting conversations around me. As I sipped from my plastic cup I started to feel increasingly guilty about having to eventually throw it away. In fact, I was noticing that I was starting to feel increasingly guilty about throwing away any trash - period. Hoping that I wasn't going crazy I turned to my father (who was also at the party) and started up a conversation about morality and environmentalism.

When I talk about environmental issues among my Catholic friends some get shifty and try to change the topic. Some say environmental issues are trivial compared to other issues. Is this true?

At the beginning of this year, for World Day of Peace (January 1st), Pope Benedict XVI gave a message entitled If you want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation. As I read it I felt glad that the Catholic church was teaching something about caring for the earth:

"The environment must be seen as God’s gift to all people, and the use we make of it entails a shared responsibility for all humanity, especially the poor and future generations."

As I read on I quickly realized that a similar message was given 20 years ago by Pope John Paul II in his message entitled: Peace With God the Creator, Peace With All of Creation. Even 40 years ago Pope Paul VI talked about envirionmental issues in his apostolic letter Octogesima Adveniens. How is it that I've never heard of this before now?

One thing I learned as I read these letters is that the ecological crisis cannot be solved simply by buying organic clothing, cleaning with eco-friendly products, hanging clothes to dry or using cloth diapers. These are important steps, don't get me wrong, but our ecological crisis is much more complex. It is related to how we develop and how we relate to one another and our environment. According to Pope Benny, at its heart the ecological crisis is a moral crisis. Whoa! Really? Really!

What do you think?

Things Break - But Sometimes That's a Good Thing!

It's life - things breaks. If you have little ones in your home a lot of things break. With some things you know it's just a matter of time, like that potted plant that was sitting on our piano (why did I put it there?) or those cheap and noisy plastic toys (I'm glad they're gone). Other things take you by surprise because you don't quite understand how they broke. How does an alarm clock break? Maybe it got hit too hard one morning. There are two important (?) things in our home that are broken: the alarm clock (it happened a while ago) and our clothes dryer. And the funny thing is, I'm not in any rush to replace either of them.

Let's look at the alarm clock: It's noisy and it's only function is to remind you that you aren't getting as much sleep as you'd like. When Monkey was little the first thing I did when he woke to feed at night was look at the alarm clock and think "Arg! I've barely slept two hours". Now that there isn't an alarm clock in our room I'm calmer when Sweetpea needs to feed and less stressed when Monkey decides to wake up at 7 am.

Now let's examine the dryer: Let's just say that it was coming. Every time there was laundry in that machine it sounded like it was trying to break loose and come upstairs (akk!). If it wasn't the rattling it was the squeaking, like nails on a chalkboard (so painful). It even attempted to eat socks and underwear. I had to forcefully remove items that got stuck between the drum and the door and I have a few chewed up items as proof. I must say that it timed it's death at a good time though. Hubby recently put up a clothes line outside and it's spring. Now that we have no dryer we hang our laundry outside. It's cheaper and the laundry smells so nice (as long as my neighbors aren't puffing away on their porch).

Homemade Yogurt

I finally did it! After two months I managed to get myself organized enough to make yogurt. My biggest excuse for waiting this long was the ongoing debate inside my head over whether to buy a yogurt maker. So many websites and books claim that you can make yogurt without one. I was skeptical. How do you maintain a steady temperature of 110 degree F to incubating the yogurt with no yogurt maker? Answer: a digital thermometer!

Alright, so how did I make the yogurt?

Step 1: Read a book or two or websites or blog on yogurt making
I also used the book The Home Creamery by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley to get me started.

Step 2: Assemble equipment
a large heavy bottom pot
a ladle
a wooden spoon
sterilized glass jars and lids (place them in boiling water for 15 minutes)
a picnic cooler
a few old towels
a digital thermometer
a few glass jars filled with hot (52 degrees C) water

Sterilizing jars

Step 3: Assemble ingredients
4 cups of milk (whole milk works best)
yogurt starter: 1/4 cup plain yogurt or freeze dried yogurt starter (I used freeze dried starter from our health food store)

Step 4: Make yogurt
1. Heat milk to 85 degrees C (185 F) in large heavy bottom pot.
2. Remove from heat and let cool to 40-46 degrees C (105-115 F). You can cool milk more quickly over an ice bath to prevent unwanted bacteria from growing in milk.
3. Pour some milk into a small bowl and add yogurt starter. Mix well and then add back into pot of milk.
4. Pour milk into sterilized jars and cover with sterilized lids.

Step 5: Incubate in cooler
1. Line cooler with an old towel.
2. Place three large jars on bottom and fill with hot (52 degree C) water.
3. Place yogurt jars on bottom.
4. Put the probe end of the digital thermometer near yogurt jars.
5. Cover with an old towel and close lid. Monitor temperature and adjust accordingly (I never had to).
6. Incubate yogurt for 4-6 hours, depending on how firm and tart you like your yogurt.

Step 6: Refrigerate yogurt
The yogurt will keep in fridge for 2-3 weeks.

Step 7: Eat yogurt!

Jim Lahey's No Knead Bread

Last week I made the basic bread recipe from Jim Lahey's no-knead bread book. It was delicious - we ate the whole loaf with our lentil soup - and it's so simple to make! If you don't believe me give it a try.

The Basic No-Knead Bread Recipe

From the book My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method by Jim Lahey.  

Ingredients
3 cups (400 g) bread flour
1 1/4 tsp. (8 g) salt
1/4 tsp (1 g) instant or other active dry yeast
1 1/3 cup (300 g) cool (55 to 65 degrees F) water
wheat bran, cornmeal, or additional flour for dusting

Equipment: a 4 1/2 to 5 1/2/ quart heavy pot

1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt and yeast. Add water and mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Make sure its really sticky to touch; if it's not, mix in another Tbsp or two of water. Cover bowl and let sit at room temperature, about 72 degrees F, out of direct sunlight, until the surface is dotted with bubbles and dough has doubled in size, 12-18 hours.

2. When first fermentation is complete, dust work surface with flour. Scrap the dough onto the work surface in one piece. Use lightly floured hands to lift the edges of the dough in to3wards the center. Nudge and tuckl the edges of the dough to make it round.

3. Place a cotton (not terry) tea towel on work surface and generously dust with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour. Use hands and gently lift dough onto towel, so it is seam side down. Dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal of flour. Fold the ends of the towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft free spot to rise for 1-2 hours. The dough is ready when doubled. If you gently pole it with your finger, making an indentation about 1.4 inch deep, it should hold the impression . If it doesn't, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third position, and place a covered 4 1/2 to 5 1/2/ quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

5. Using pot holders, remove heated pot. Unfold tea towel, lightly dust dough with flour or bran, lift the dough, and quickly but gently invert into the pot, seam side up. Cover pot and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove lid and bake until bread is deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15-30 minutes more. When done, carefully lift the bread out and place on a rack to cool thoroughly, at least an hour.

*For whole wheat bread replace flour in original recipe with 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and 2 1/4 cups bread flour and increase yeast to 1/2 tsp (2 g).

Pentecost

Today we celebrated the feast of Pentecost.

Emil Nolde (1867 - 1956 )

"Pentecost (Pfingsten)", 1909

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2: 1-4

In honour of this important feast, which is the birthday of the Church, we bought a special bottle of wine and Hubby read aloud the Blessing Prayer for Pentecostal wine from the book Prayers for the Domestic Church: A Handbook for worship in the Home by Edward Hays.

Lord, Creator of the good and beautiful.

hear our prayer as we celebrate

the great fiery feast of Pentecost.

On this day, nearly two thousand years ago,

the apostles were enflames by Your Holy Spirit,

and their great zeal was mistaken

for an overindulgence in other spirits.

Send forth, Lord, as we celebrate,

Your Sacred Spirit over these creatures of Yours,

the spirits of wine

so that they might be filled overflowing

with Your joy and healing.

May this blessed wine of Pentecost

be for us a sacred sipping sign

of Your delicious and delightful Presence

among us, Your people.

May this blessed wine

bring friends closer to friends

and transform the stranger into a friend.

May all who share this sacrament - in moderation -

be release from the toil of daily work,

healed of any dullness of heart

and have their feet set a-dancing.

May these spirits of wine

be the toast of our celebration

and the taste of the Holy Spirit amoung us

as we bless them now

in You name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Amen

Honey-Soy Grilled Pork Chops with Crunchy Bok Choy

I made this last week and we all really enjoyed it so I thought I'd share the recipe. Enjoy!

Honey-Soy Grilled Pork Chops with Crunchy Bok Choy Serve 4

Ingredients
1 cup rice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon soy sauce (I added at least 1 Tbps.)
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
4 (8-10 oz each) bone-in-pork rib chops
4 heads baby bok bhoy, halved lenghtwise
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Heat grill (or fry pan with oil) to high. Cook rice. When rice is cooked stir in vinegar  and red pepper flakes with a fork season with salt. Cover and set aside.

Make glaze: combine honey, soy sauce, and ginger in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper (I put the glaze in the microwave for 35 seconds to melt the honey).

Season pork chops with salt and pepper. Grill until opaque throughout, 5-7 minutes per side. Brush pork with glaze, and grill 30 seconds more per side. Transfer pork to a plate to rest. (We don't have a BBQ so I browned the pork chops in a frying pan, added the glaze and then finished them off in a 350F oven).

In a bowl, drizzle bok Choy with sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Grill until lightly charred on both sides, 1-3 minutes (I sauteed the bok choy with some garlic). Transfer to plate with chops. Serve pork and bok choy with rice alongside.

Recipe from Everyday food: fresh flavorful fast: 250 easy, delicious recipes for any time of day by Martha Stewart.

Weekly Menu

Now that it's spring my weekly routine is experiencing some serious hiccups. I'm trying to shuffle things around by doing our grocery shopping on Friday instead of Saturday morning.

Also, I'm finding that I switch up my menu items throughout the week so instead of attaching each meal to a day I'll just list them out instead. That way if you come over you can't be disappointed if you end up getting lentil soup instead of pork lo mein :)

Meal 1: Lentil soup and "No-Knead Bread" from My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method.
Meal 2: Corn and black bean quesadillas.
Meal 3: Chorizo-tomato pasta and baked asparagus.
Meal 4: Pork lo mein from Cooks Illustrated magazine.
Meal 5: Cottage pie and steamed broccoli.
Meal 6: Hot and Sweet drumsticks, rice and raw veggies.

From the garden.

Siblings

I'm proud of Monkey. For a two year old he's been a pretty nice older brother. He occasionally steps on Sweetpea, stuffs toys in her mouth and imitates her cries but the he also taps her head gently and give her her sucky when she's upset. Here are a few pictures of Monkey and Sweetpea from the last few days - enjoy!

Monkey copying Sweetpea.

Helping me garden with his little wheel barrel. 

Monkey telling me to take pictures of something besides him.

Ice Cream

I recently became the happy owner of a KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment. I've been hinting to get one of these for a while and Hubby finally broke down and bought me one - thanks Handsome!

True to my word, I've been using it to make, yes you guessed it - ice cream!

I made the first batch of ice cream on our wedding anniversary. It was a chocolate ice cream and it turned out absolutely delicious. When we ate it all you heard was the smacking of lips and the occasional "mmmm" sound.

Spurred on by my ice cream success, I churned out a maple walnut ice cream last night. I've included the recipe below for those of you that want to give it a try.

Maple Walnut Ice Cream
1 1/4 cups maple syrup
6 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 3/4 cups heavy (whipping) cream
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted

In a medium, heavy saucepan, reduce the maple syrup to 3/4 cup (my maple syrup wasn't reducing much and was turning into candy, I'm not sure if this was because my heat was too high or because of the grade of maple syrup).

In a medium bowl whisk the egg yolks, salt and cooled reduced maple syrup.

Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant plastic or wooden spatula, until custard reaches 175 degree Fahrenheit and lightly coats spatula. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and let cool over an ice bath to room temperature (I just let it cool on the stove top but apparently cooling it over an ice bath improves the texture of the ice cream). Refrigerate for 4 hours or up to overnight.

Church ice cream in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. Place ice cream in bowl and freeze until firm (2 plus hours).

Recipe from A Passion for Ice Cream by Emily Luchetti.

Egg Rolls

Last week our Korean student had an international lunch at school and we had to make something for her to bring along. I've never made Korean food before so we picked out something really easy: Gye ran mal yee: 계란 말이 (aka Egg Rolls). I used the recipe from here.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
½ ts salt (1/4 tsp for a less salty roll)
a pinch of sugar
½ chopped medium size onion (1/4 onion makes the omelette easier to roll)
ground pepper
vegetable oil

Crack eggs into bowl. Add salt, sugar, ground pepper and onion. Mix. Heat up a non-stick frying pan (we tried cast iron but non stick worked better) over medium heat and add a couple teaspoons of vegetable oil. Pour 1/3 of the egg mixture on the pan and spread it thinly by tilting the pan. When it’s cooked, lift the left side edge of the omelette and roll it with a spatula from left to right. Push roll to the left and add more egg, spread it, cook it and flip (see video). Repeat this until the egg mixture runs out. When the omelette cools down, cut it into bite size pieces.

Basically, make an omelette and roll it up. The tricky part is getting it into the rectangular shape but the video on the website helps. Our student was really happy with the egg roll and claimed that they turned out better than her mom's!

From the Rabbitry

We've finally picked out a name for our rabbitry: Abbot's Rabbits. St. Anthony Abbot is the patron saint of domestic animals so that's how we chose the name.

Sofia kits are being weaned now. The kits are only 6 weeks old but Sofia will be having another litter in two weeks so we want to give her some time to regain her energy for the next litter. Odette also successfully (finally!) has a litter last week - yay!

We spent some time checking over Sofia's kits. Each one weighs around 1000g. We tried to figure out the sex of her kits but they all looked like females. Is it possible that she had seven females?

Feeling Sick

Feeling ill is never fun. I admit to being somewhat anal-retentive about cleanliness and hygiene (I blame my nursing degree) so I'm always a little annoyed when I get sick. I obsess about how or where I would have been expose to this ridiculous illness that I now have to deal with. Sometimes it's unavoidable, like the cold I caught a week ago from my brother. We didn't know he was sick before he blew all those germies on his birthday cake and then we all partook in the propagation of his cold (sounds like something off Stargate).

Anyways, just as I was recovering from this cold I was bombarded by more germs - an infection! I haven't had a fever in over a decade and I forgot how it just knocks you off your feet. Thank goodness for acetaminophen and antibiotics!

Here's a picture of me yesterday (my birthday) looking not-so-hot (note the crooked glasses) but burning up inside. So goes life at least I think I'm on the mend now :)

Victor the Giraffe

Yesterday, I dusted off my sewing machine and thumbed through a new book I borrowed from the library: More Softies Only a Mother Could Love: 22 Hapless but Lovable Friends to Sew and Crochet.

The third project in this book is Victor giraffe. A perfectly simple project to start off this years sewing. I haven't sewn much because our big fabric store closed down. It's a challenge to find affordable fabric these days. Happily though I was given a bag of clothing for Sweetpea (Thanks Esther!). I kept a good portion of it but some items were wearing through so I decided to recycle the fabric for my project. And Voila!

Isn't he cute! Sweetpea seems to like him too :)

Book Reviews

Lately I've been reading parenting books. Why? No reason really. I just want to know what people are saying these days. And what are they saying? Well that's what this post is about so read on.

NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children

Using science this book challenges the way the we North Americans are parenting children. Chapter 1: The Inverse Power of Praise gives you a good idea of what the book is about. Did you know that praising a child's success instead specifically their effort to achieve may actually low their self-confidence? Apparently this is what research is showing. Anyways, each chapter covers a specific topic: The Lost Hour (the importance of sleep for children), Why White Parents Don’t Talk about Race, The Sibling Effect etc. When reading this book some things made so much sense I found myself jumping up and down yelling "yes yes!". Other parts made me put the book down and stop reading it. My opinion is that there are part worth remembering and parts worth forgetting. While this was an interesting book to read I wouldn't go out and buy it.

Instinctive Parenting: Trusting Ourselves to Raise Good Kids

This is a great book! Ada Calhoun takes a down-to-earth middle-of-the-road approach to some of the most controversial parenting issues out there: breastfeeding vs. bottle feeding, sleep-training, vaccinating, circumcision, junk food, working outside the home etc. Each chapter is short and sweet and full of personal anecdotes. I found myself laughing out loud and really relating to her stories. I didn't necessarily "agree" with everything she wrote but I think that was the point:) I would definitely recommend this book for expecting moms and moms with younger kids.

Read an excerpt of her book here.

What are you reading these days?

Weekly Menu

Sniffle sniffle... I think I'm coming down with my brother's cold. A few days ago was his 18th birthday and he never mentioned that he was getting sick. He blew out all the candles on his cake and we all ate the delicious chocolate germ covered cake - yum!

Saturday: Dinner out - we're giving a talk to engaged couples.
Sunday: Dinner at Hubby's family.
Monday: Glico curry and rice.
Tuesday: Grilled vegetable quesadilla with salsa and sour cream.
Wednesday: Penne with Roast Tomato Sauce.
Thursday: Hot & sweet drumsticks, rice and asparagus.
Friday: Dinner with family - my Papa's birthday!