Month: October 2011

Witch’s Fingers And Night Of The Living Duck

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Who says climate hawks don’t have any fun?

For years I have made “Witch’s Fingers” with my daughters and their friends for Halloween. Now both are university students living away from home, but each of them recently sent home pictures of how their dastardly digits, made without mom, turned out. It’s wonderful to see a family tradition emerging, no matter how silly! Here are the pictures and the recipe (although you can also use your favourite sugar cookie recipe, just shape as described below):

Witch’s Fingers

1 cup butter

1 cup icing sugar

1 egg

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ¾ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Whole almonds

Red gel icing, or raspberry jam

Mix together wet ingredients. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then beat into wet ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Working with one quarter of the dough at a time and keep remaining dough refrigerated, roll heaping teaspoonful of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press almond firmly into 1 end for nail. Squeeze in centre to create knuckle shape; using paring knife, make slashes in several places to form knuckle.

Place on lightly greased baking sheets; bake in 325 degrees F over for 20 – 25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes. Lift up almonds, squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back in place, so gel oozes out from underneath.  Let cool on racks, repeat with remaining dough.

And for your Halloween viewing pleasure, here’s a 1988 WB Daffy Duck cartoon Night Of the Living Duck, directed by Terry Lennon and Greg Ford and released as a part of “Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters”:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_m80RmphXM&feature=player_embedded]

Happy Halloween everyone!

More links:

The Real Class Warfare: Law Firm Representing Banks And Mortgage Services Mock Homeless At Halloween Party

What The Costumes Reveal.NY Times

Save Our Climate Act Introduced in U.S. Congress

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It’s been an interesting few weeks on the climate front in North America. With the backdrop of the “Occupy” movement, there were some small changes introduced that hopefully signal the start of an all-out campaign by our elected officials to tackle this issue head-on. First we had the formation of an all-party Climate Caucus in Ottawa, closely followed by the introduction of a bill in the U.S Congress that would place a fee on carbon. Here’s the response of Citizens Climate Lobby, a group dedicated to creating the political will for a sustainable climate, to the latest news out of Washington:

Citizens Climate Lobby Welcomes The Introduction of U.S. Save Our Climate Act

CORONADO, CALIF. – As the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions grows more evident each week, Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) welcomed the introduction of Rep. Pete Stark’s (D-CA) Save Our Climate Act as a critical step in efforts to stop the worst effects of climate change.

“We’re running out of time to wean our nation off the fossil fuels that are heating up the planet,” said CCL’s Executive Director Mark Reynolds. “We need to put a price on carbon that shifts energy usage to clean sources, and that’s what Congressman Stark’s bill does.”

The Save Our Climate Act, H.R. 3242, would tax coal, oil and gas based on the amount of carbon dioxide these fuels would emit when burned. Starting at $10 per ton of CO2, the tax would increase by $10 each year until CO2 emissions fall to 20 percent of 1990 levels. Most of the revenue from the Save Our Climate Act – an estimated $2.6 trillion in the first 10 years – would be returned to U.S. citizens as an annual rebate to offset higher energy costs. A portion of that revenue — $490 billion – would go toward deficit reduction.

“This is a revenue-neutral approach that Republicans should be able to embrace, as it will not increase the size of government,” said Reynolds. “What it WILL do is move massive amounts of investment money toward clean energy, expanding a sector of the economy that shows the most promise for producing the jobs Americans need.”

News of Stark’s legislation was warmly received in Canada. “We applaud Congressman Stark’s leadership on putting a price on carbon to transition the U.S. to a clean energy economy,” says Cathy Orlando, Project Manager for Citizens Climate Lobby Canada. “If successful they will join Australia and British Columbia on taking effective action on climate change and economic development. It’s time that Canada’s federal government also take similar action.”

The controversy surrounding the bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra has eroded U.S. support for government programs that subsidize clean energy. The Citizens Climate Lobby believes that a clear, predictable price signal on carbon will send private investors to wind, solar and other alternative technologies, reducing the need for government funding for emerging companies.

“When it comes to clean energy, we don’t want to kill the goose that’s laying the golden eggs in our economy. But perhaps somebody besides the federal government can feed the goose, and that’s what we’ll accomplish with a price on carbon,” said Reynolds.

More links:

BUILDING A GREEN ECONOMY: The Economics of Carbon Pricing Carbon & the Transition to Clean, Renewable Fuels

Citizens Climate Lobby, U.S.

Citizens Climate Lobby, Canada

Finally, Some Good News Out Of Ottawa: All-Party Climate Caucus Formed

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Thanks in large part to the hard work of Dr. Kirsty Duncan, Liberal MP for Etobicoke North and IPCC scientist, a new House of Commons “climate change” caucus has been formed. Duncan, who championed this initiative, said

“I am delighted that my colleagues have joined me to build this caucus over the last four months. I absolutely believe that climate change is our most pressing environmental issue, perhaps the defining issue of our generation, and it requires both moral responsibility and intergenerational responsibility.”

From October 20th press release:

As governments prepare for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Durban (28 November to 09 December 2011), Members of Parliament from all political parties have joined forces to create the first-ever, climate change caucus on Parliament Hill.  The all party caucus consists of Michael Chong, Conservative MP, Denise Savoie, New Democratic Party MP, Kirsty Duncan Liberal MP, Maria Mourani Bloc Quebecois MP, and Elizabeth May, Green Party MP.

 Denise Savoie, MP, Victoria, and Deputy Speaker, reported,  “The climate change all-party caucus provides a space for meaningful discussion on the defining issue of our generation- in a forum without talking points or media!”

 Maria Mourani, MP for Ahuntsic, Bloc Québécois Environment Critic, said “Climate change will have serious consequences for our health, environment, economy and infrastructure over the short, medium and long terms. It is essential to deal with this problem now in order to limit its impact on future generations. Setting greenhouse gas reduction targets and creating a carbon exchange are just some of the steps we must take. That is why I am pleased to join with my colleagues from the all-party climate change caucus to promote innovative and effective solutions to fight climate change. For the sake of our children, we must be more responsible!”

 The climate change caucus is planning a number of events to bring more information to Members of Parliament regarding the climate crisis: some of these events include, climate change and faith; the lead-up to Durban; extreme events and disaster preparedness; and the economic impacts of climate change and clean technology.


More links:

Tory Chong joins all-party “climate” caucus

Kirsty Duncan, MP

The Occupy Movement: A Puny Little “Ant” That’s Messing With The Corporations’ Way Of Life

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“You let one ant stand up to us, then they ALL might stand up to us. Those puny little ants outnumber us a hundred to one. And if they ever figure that out, there goes our way of life.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLbWnJGlyMU&feature=related]

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Rabble.ca: Occupy Canada Weekly News

A Bushel And A Peck of Tomatoes

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We’re still enjoying the bounty of our summer garden in the form of plenty of fresh tomatoes. I’ve been looking for  creative ways to eat/cook with them – even tomato sandwiches, which I love, can become tiresome. I’m not a huge fan of tomato soup generally, but I found a recipe on the Food Network, tweaked it a bit, and really like it. I’ve made it twice in the last week, and am looking forward to having a bowl of leftovers for lunch today.

The secret is to brown the tomatoes before hand. This adds a lovely roasted flavour to the soup. To view the original recipe click here; here is my lower-fat version:

October Tomato Soup

3 lbs tomatoes, halved lengthwise (I used various sizes, from cherry, plum and regular tomatoes. I decreased the grilling time by half for the cherry tomatoes)

4 T olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

pinch of sugar

1 T butter & 2 T Olive oil

4 shallots, chopped

2 T tomato paste

4 cups chicken stock (I used  vegetarian bouillon cubes)

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 cup milk

3 T basil leaves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange tomatoes, flesh side up, on 2 wire racks set on sheet trays (I put parchment paper on the cookie sheets the second time, as it was difficult to clean up the first time). Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil, making sure they are well covered. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar.

Roast tomatoes in the middle rack of the oven until tomatoes are brown and tender, about 1 hour (less for smaller tomatoes, as noted above).  Cool slightly.

Melt butter in 4-quart saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil. Saute the shallots for 2 minutes, then mix in tomato paste for a few more minutes (I used some of my homemade tomato sauce rather than tomato paste). Add stock and cayenne.

Mix yogurt and milk in medium bowl, then add some of soup base and mix together. Add this mixture to the rest of the mixture in the pot, stir well. (It may appear slightly “curdled” because of the yogurt, but this will disappear when the tomatoes are blended in).  Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the roasted tomatoes to the pan. Puree with an immersion blender (unfortunately mine broke the first time I tried to blend the soup, so I mixed it in a blender. This didn’t work as well with the doubled recipe I made last night, and some soup ended up sprayed around the kitchen out of the top of the blender – very messy!)

Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into serving bowls and garnish generously with fresh basil (don’t miss this step, it really makes the soup special). I used fresh thai basil that we have growing in a pot in our kitchen – deeelicious!

Take Time To Renew Your Spirit

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My frustration with religion is people who think it’s about four walls: You go in and are righteous and leave church and it doesn’t go with you. I love the great theologian who said, “Everywhere I go I preach the gospel, but only sometimes do I use words.” Or, “Before you tell me about your religion, show me how you treat other people.”

My simple point is that I judge a person’s faith by how they live their life, not by the tenets of their religion. I’ve watched the holiest of people walk past somebody in need or treat their staff mean. To me, the beauty of faith is only seen when people live it consistently or struggle to do so.

~Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey