squash it good.

the third recipe from the same butternut squash was also prepared last night. turned out great. autumn baking with grace in europa gets two thumbs up.

SQUASH SPICE BREAD
Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 medium buttnerut squash, halved and seeded (1 1/2 lb.)
  
• 1 Tbs. maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. chopped walnuts, divided (optional)
  
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup plain (unsweetened) soymilk
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Place squash halves cut-side down on baking sheet. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until soft. Cool. Scoop flesh from skin, mash with maple syrup, and set aside.
2. Coat 8- x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine flour, sugar, walnuts, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt in large bowl. Lightly beat eggs in separate bowl. Whisk in oil, soymilk, and vanilla until smooth. Fold squash into liquid ingredients with spatula. Stir squash liquid mixture into flour mixture.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan, and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbs. walnuts. Bake 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes on wire rack, then unmold and cool completely.

all things anderson.

so i stumbled on this blog yesterday, and i couldn't resist sharing it.
i'm a big ac fan, but this tops everything.

http://www.allthingsandersoncooper.com/

still squashin'.

tonight grace and i made our second meal, from the same butternut squash, mentioned in the previous vegetarian cuisine post.

CURRY SQUASH SOUP

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. canola or olive oil
  
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 2 small or one large butternut squash, peeled and chopped
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2 tsp. curry powder
  
• 1 tsp. paprika powder
• 1 cup rice (totally optional)
  

Preparation:

In a large soup pot, sautee the onion and garlic in the oil until onions turn soft, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the carrots and celery and cook for another 3 to 5 miutes.

Add the squash and stir just to coat, then add the vegetable broth, curry, and paprika. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a slow simmer. Allow to cook for at least 25 minutes, or until squash is soft.

Cook rice separately. Once it is ready, add to soup.

Stir in the soy milk and season to taste.

taizé day in stuggart.

on 10 october, we took the baden-württemberg regional ticket (up to five travelers covered for € 28!) up to stuttgart for:

Prayer and meeting in Stuttgart:
The communion of the Church: going towards one another

we joined our voices with fellow brothers and sisters who had also made the pilgrimage for this gathering. the article linked above highlights all of the youth that came, but i really saw all ages present. making our song one. a beautiful picture of the Church in deutschland.

this prayer (from the most recent taizé newsletter) is being echoed by brothers and sisters on all continents. may we join too. in both word and deed:

Christ Jesus, seeking to follow you, we understand that you call us to forgive, again and again. And faithfulness to your Gospel can kindle in us such a passion for forgiveness.

squash season.

grace is visiting (yay!) and we wanted to cook seasonally, so last night we sawed into the butternut squash that has been adorning my kitchen table for weeks now. i picked it out from the squash stand on the side of the road to get me in the fall mood last month. it's a hefty squash and it'll make many a dish, but we started with this one:

BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO WITH PESTO
Serves 6; 30 minutes or fewer to prepare

Ingredients:

• 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  
• 1/4 cup prepared pesto, divided
• 1 cup chopped fresh onion
• 1 1/2 cups rice for risotto
• 3 cups cubed butternut squash
  

Preparation:

1. Bring broth and 2 cups water to a boil in large saucepan; turn off heat.
2. Heat 1 Tbs. pesto in saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 minutes. Stir in rice, followed by 1/2 cup hot broth. When rice has absorbed broth, add another 1/2 cup. Continue adding broth in this manner 5 minutes.
3. Stir in squash. Resume adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time until rice has absorbed all liquid. (This should take about 15 minutes.) Remove from heat, and stir in 1 Tbs. pesto. Spoon risotto into 6 bowls and top each with 1 tsp. pesto.

Tip: Add fresh garlic to the onions. Top finished dish with grated parmesan cheese and halved cherry tomatoes.

la posada.

While skyping it up with my sister last night, she reminded me of the beauty of La Posada ('The Inn'). Please read this short article.

As we begin to look towards the approaching Christian New Year, which begins with the season of Advent, may we also remember this annual gathering of brothers and sisters. May we too be sowers of peace... even, or maybe especially, in the face of messages that don't speak of love. And may we love there too... where it is perhaps most difficult to love.

amen and amen.

laura veirs is my new favorite, favorite, favorite.

obsessed. i'm obsessed with laura veirs' new album, 'july flame'. it's not out yet (coming january 2010). but she's so cool to offer two free tracks. and they are so good. like i can't get enough of them, i play them on repeat all day, so good. i think this will be one of the best albums of the year. you have to hear for yourself. please download. and then leave a comment if this post was helpful to you. because i'm really sharing some love here. after all, music is for sharing. and this, here, is an honest form of sharing. so go.for.it!
this album is too.wonderful.for.words, yes?
this is what good music is supposed to do to you.
it does something to me.
bah-rilliant.

why go veggie?, dos.

vegetariantimes.com has a wonderful and compelling list that responds to the question, 'why go veg?' all good reasons; you should read the full list. but here are my main motivations:

• You’ll help reduce famine. About 70 percent of all grain produced in the United States is fed to animals raised for slaughter. The 7 billion livestock animals in the United States consume five times as much grain as is consumed directly by the American population. “If all the grain currently fed to livestock were consumed directly by people, the number of people who could be fed would be nearly 800 million,” says David Pimentel, professor of ecology at Cornell University. If the grain were exported, it would boost the US trade balance by $80 billion a year.

• You’ll save money. Meat accounts for 10 percent of Americans’ food spending. Eating vegetables, grains and fruits in place of the 200 pounds of beef, chicken and fish each nonvegetarian eats annually would cut individual food bills by an average of $4,000 a year.

• You’ll help reduce pollution. Some people become vegetarians after realizing the devastation that the meat industry is having on the environment. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), chemical and animal waste runoff from factory farms is responsible for more than 173,000 miles of polluted rivers and streams. Runoff from farmlands is one of the greatest threats to water quality today. Agricultural activities that cause pollution include confined animal facilities, plowing, pesticide spraying, irrigation, fertilizing and harvesting.

really it's about solidarity. and it's about not contributing to these systems. one happy veg at a time. : )

wisdom.

i've loved this song for about six years now. which is some time to let it really settle in and take root in my prayers. it speaks time and time again. i'm reading about wisdom again these days. with a proverb a day. also soaking-in some nouwen [here and now: living in the spirit] to accompany this song. grateful for reflection. and grateful for the pursuit. of making wisdom the first step and the last thought when the day's done.

Humble yourself before the Almighty
That’s where you find true wisdom
Make it your first step, make it your last thought
Lying in bed when the day’s done

Hear it calling out your name
In the busy streets, in the center of town
Who will turn their face to truth and then live it out

Wisdom is greater than any fleeting
Pleasure that money brings you
Answers will come to those who pursue
The pathway to life that few choose

Hear it calling out your name
In the busy streets, in the center of town
Who will turn their face to truth and then live it out

Knowledge awaits you filling your arms
With more than they ever could grasp
Blessed are you who hunger for truth
And keep your eyes fixed on what lasts

Hear it calling out your name
In the busy streets, in the center of town
Who will turn their face to truth and then live it out

love of an orchestra.

this song is making me particularly happy today.
it's new from 'noah and the whale'.
check it, yo.

i especially like these lines:

i know i'll never be lonely
i've got songs in my blood
i'm carrying all the love of an orchestra
gimme the love of an orchestra...

although, i must say, i find it difficult to understand why they're releasing a new album titled 'the first days of spring' right as the thrust of autumn is taking shape. it messes with my season mo-jo.

fresh produce for all!

this is great. always happy to see the growing support for local, farmers' markets. but to see this pilot project developing makes me extra excited.

from npr:

The Obama administration wants Americans to buy more locally grown food. Problem is, the way we grow food today means that local is sometimes more expensive, so farmers markets can be cost-prohibitive for lower income families.

But the White House farmers market and a handful of others around the country are part of a pilot project. This market accepts food stamps — and those stamps are worth twice as much here as they would be elsewhere....

cool, yeah? no more 7-11 diets for those in inner-city areas! fresh produce should not be reserved for only the wealthy. let's rally to see more farmers markets accepting food stamps. it only makes sense.

full story linked below:

Farmers Markets: Fresh, Local, Government-Approved

by Guy Raz

no strangers anymore.

while updating my couchsurfing [cs] profile this week (elle & i are trying to score a place to stay in prague in two weeks time!), i decided to fill in the cs field that asked:
'personal philosophy: what is your personal philosophy? why do you live your life? feelings? thoughts?'

whew. i could write a novel. we all could. but this patty griffin lyric came to mind instead. it says so much. in so few words.

...and we'll grow kindness in our hearts
for all of the strangers among us
'till there are no strangers anymore...

-- Patty Griffin
(song: 'No Bad News' from the album 'Children Running Through')


so for now. that is my philosophy.
on life.
on community and humanity.
on sharing and travel.
on hospitality and embodying a spirit of 'welcome'.
on listening and learning from one another.
on movement and growth.
on love in action.
and on and on...