Blog Action Day 2008

This is my first time participating in Blog Action Day. This year's topic is poverty, and I decided to educate myself more on the issue of Fair Trade Products. I couldn't get this up yesterday because my internet was down, so a day late, here it is:
The major fair trade industry, in which the fair trade product is only a little more expensive than the conventional, is coffee. I don't drink coffee, so this has always been a nonissue for me.
Fair trade coffee supports local farming coops and helps eliminate the middleman. Fair trade other-products achieve the same thing (including in your cosmetics). Ultimately, you pay very little more and the people on the other end of the spectrum get a lot out of it.
So what are some of the most common products that you can buy fair trade?
Coffee, tea, sugar, honey, bananas, cocoa, wine, as well as cotton and handicrafts.
I try to eat organic, as well as local. Eating local is also very important for alleviating poverty, as well as helping the environment, because when farmers don't have to pay for shipping costs or try to expand their farms to compete with big midwest farms, they are able to live off their farms. But I think now I am going to start trying to eat/consume more fair-trade products.
So I'm wondering, what can I buy fair trade?
Sugar, for example, is something I don't buy frequently. And while the bone-white sugar at the local megamart is cheap, buying a bag of fair trade sugar elsewhere might cost only a little more, and only sting once.
My options for fair-trade bananas are limited, because Shoppers only carries one kind of banana. I buy wine local (Basignani Riesling - best wine ever.)
Fair Trade Certified, the organization that certifies fair trade, offers a list of helpful shopping locations. They also tell you the logo to look for on packaging that is fair trade certified.
Another important thing to consider is buying fair trade cosmetics. Body Shop cosmetics are purchased via "community trade" which is the same concept (as well as cruelty free), and while they are more than you probably currently spend on shampoo, they are still cheaper than buying organic cosmetics. (And buying organic does not mean it is fair-trade certified.) And again, will paying a couple dollars more for shampoo or coconut scented body lotion really hurt that much at the end of the month?
While there are many ways to use food to eliminate hunger, there aren't a lot of ways to eliminate poverty through food. So consider harnessing your consumer power and supporting people around the world. If you still can't get your head around paying a little more for products, consider it a charitable contribution to working individuals in the third world (or as John McCain would say, "countries that don't like us very much"). It may not be tax deductable, but instead of paying for the overhead and operating costs of a nonprofit with your $20 donation, you are paying for working families to be in their villages and not in exploitative garment factories. You are helping people to empower themselves. And yes, you are helping to end poverty.

PYOP - Pick Your Own Pumpkins

Yes, dear readers, it is That Time of Year - pumpkin patching time, that is!
This weekend, hopefully, I will be out picking pumpkins with the boyfriend and his family. I am also cautiously optimistic that we will be able to pick apples and butternut squash. Hopefully I will have my camera charged and assembled for this event, and then can take pictures.
I hope its just slightly cool so we have to wear jeans and ruggedly outdoorsy jackets and look like an L.L.Bean ad. Weather.com says rainy :-p and 58. But its only a few showers.
I am determined to try making a pumpkin pie from scratch this year. Mark, his family, and my family don't like pumpkin pie, so I'm not sure who is eating my pie.
I am debating whether I will tackle the crust of the pumpkin pie myself. I usually use store bought crusts, for a variety of reasons, the biggest one being that I can't handle rolling the crust dough myself. Also, the amount of butter I have to put in a crust makes me uncomfortable.
I'm considering experimenting with a graham cracker crust for both pumpkin and apple pies. Especially if I use those cinnamon-covered graham crackers...
What is your favorite kind of pie? (And if you don't like pie, what is your favorite thing to do with pumpkins and/or apples?)

Best. Thing. Ever.

I'm carbo loading for my half marathon next weekend, so this has led to the pantry being full of pasta and the fridge being full of bagels.
I picked up a box of pasta salad from target yesterday. It was their Archer Farms brand of "Tuscan Basil Pesto Pasta Salad." I normally stay away from pasta-salad-in-a-box because somebody puts mayo in it and mayo is gross. But you can make this with olive oil and it is fantastic. You can also make it with mayo, but why would you?
It says it makes 6 servings but we only got 4 out of it - probably because I used it as full meals and not a hearty side.
It's pretty much just ordinary pasta salad, except that it is fantastically delicious. And it was about $4 for a box - which is $1 for a meal. It's a little more than a PB & J, but its more gourmet than a PB&J as well. It's still way less than you would pay for pasta salad by the pound at a grocery store.

Brie and Pear Sandwich

I went to costco yesterday. This means today, I have too much of everything. I bought a full round of brie, and a case of pears.
So for lunch? Pear and brie sandwich.
I'm not gonna bother with a full recipe, because if you know how to use the internet, you should know how to make a sandwich.
Slice a pair thinly. Take some bread. Spread some brie on the bread. I put about four pieces of brie on each piece of bread, then melted them in the toaster oven. Once melted, the brie spreads easily. Layer sliced pears between bread and toast for another minute.

Yummy!

What is your favorite thing to do with brie? I have 9/10ths of a round left!

Baked Salmon with Coconut or Chile Crust

Last night I was looking for a new thing to do with salmon. So I hunted on Allrecipes and came up with a recipe for baked salmon with coconut crust. I love coconut, but somebody I live with doesn't. So I changed the recipe.
Coconut Crust Ingredients:

• 1 6oz. salmon fillet (I buy them frozen from costco or trader joes, but fresh is probably fine too)
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/8cup dried coconut flakes
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• Cooking oil spray
  

Chile Crust Ingredients:

• 1 6oz salmon fillet
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• chile powder, cayenne pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• Cooking oil spray

Equipment

• shallow pan
• nonstick cooking pan
• Oven at 400

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   
2. Combine bread crumbs, salt, pepper and dried coconut flakes or chili mix into a shallow container (I use a lid of a tupperware, a plate or something will work.)
3. Brush salmon with juice
4. Dredge salmon in crumb mixture to coat both sides. Place on pan. Pat extra crumb mixture over top of salmon. (Really stick it on there.)
5. Cook for 12-15 minutes until delicious.
   

Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers With Garlic and Cilantro Drizzle

I found this recipe in my Fitness Magazine and got so excited I almost fell off the elliptical.
Ingredients:

• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
• 1/2 pineapple, peeled, halved, cored and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 24 pieces)
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and ribs removed, cut into 1-inch squares (about 24 pcs)
• 6 tbs extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
• 1 1/2 tbs fresh lime juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tbs minced fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Equipment:

• Grill (medium-hot fire)
  
• 8 skewers - if wood, soak in water for 15 minutes, then drain
• small bowl
• Baking sheet
  

Procedure:

1. Thread shrimp, pepper, and pineapple onto skewers. Lay on baking sheet.
   
2. Brush with olive oil (I'm going to try using spray).
   
3. Combine olive oil, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, salt, sugar, and pepper, set aside.
   
4. Grill kebabs (the recipe suggests creating a foil strip and putting the skewers with the exposed end over the foil strip, to prevent them from lighting on fire), approx. 3 min on each side
   

Dream Kitchen

By the way, I'm sometimes struck by bouts of insomnia. Tonight, obviously, is one of those nights.
Anytime we move, I decide we need new stuff. I think its pretty natural. New place = shiny new things. I am a law student living on a fixed income, and the boyfriend is a poor roller coaster engineer, therefore we don't spend a lot of money on well, anything. We spent today painting our Gorm shelves from Ikea so they looked less like knotty pine and more like something people would use inside their apartment instead of in the garage.
Sometimes we spring for things we really want or need, and spend the money on them. So far, there is nothing that I've spent real money (more than $15) on for my kitchen that I regret.
My miniature food processor? Definitely a good purchase.
Our wok? Could not have made nearly as many delicious stir-frys without it.
Crockpot? Combined total of $22 for the mini and the huge, definitely worth it.

That may very well be the list of things in the kitchen that cost more than $15 that we spent money on. Some things were gifts - some we use, some we don't.
My favorites include the two we got last Christmas. A "Vidalia Chop Wizard" from my boyfriend's parents, and a crepe pan from his aunt. (If you never thought a crepe pan was necessary, by the way, you are wrong. Buy a pan, and a thing of crepe mix, and I promise, you won't regret it.) My mom also gave me a flexible silicone-coated spatula that I love.

I am extremely lucky to already own a set of anodized aluminum pots. They were a housewarming gift from my Dad when I went off to college. He also gave me a stand mixer for Christmas three years ago, but two years ago, I gave it back to him for Christmas. I had extremely limited kitchen space, and my roommate already had a hand mixer. I then bought a hand mixer as well, to keep at the boyfriend's until we moved in together.

But if I was outfitting my apartment kitchen, with my dream supplies, what would I buy, right now? Our kitchen is big, with a lot of counter and cabinet space, and a single basin sink.
I would love to get a giant magnetic strip that we mount behind the stove, for the purpose of sticking magnetic spice jars to - something like this -but not freestanding. Our current spiceracks take up too much space. However, eventually I will have a house with my own spice emporium or something, and therefore something like this doesn't make sense for the long term.

I would also very much like a cookbook holder. Especially one with a sheild. The only reason we don't own one of these is that there aren't any that will hold the Joy of Cooking. And if you know me at all, you know that is The One Ring of cookbooks, and a cookbook holder that does not fit that makes no sense.
I also really want one of these - I just think they must be extremely handy, and save valuable counter space. We got my sister one as a wedding gift. She says its useful. I think it might not be as handy once we no longer have a single basin sink. We may eventually have either a double basin or dual sinks - one on the island and one by the dishwasher. The island rinse sinks are much smaller, which would make this impractical.
Additionally, I would like to buy a tortilla warmer. (This is actually on the list of things I can afford, and also I think I saw one at goodwill.) I do wonder - am I supposed to microwave the tortillas in it? Or just put the warm tortillas I just finished making in it? (FYI - making your own tortillas? Not worth it.) I never thought of it as a pancake warmer before - now that it is no longer a total unitasker, I think I could justify the $8. (Probably $2 down at the Lot Store in College Park.)

I'm making do with the hand mixer I have for now, because it works perfectly well. It has some flaws, and I definitely should not have bought the cheapest hand mixer available at Target. Unlike the much nicer, and only $5 more model, the Oster $12 mixer does not come with its own storage case, and it only came with two sets of beaters. Eventually I would like to get a nice stand mixer, preferably the Hamilton Beach Eclectrics Stand Mixer, because I hate KitchenAid and their overpriced behemoth mixers. (Oh, but they look so good. Oh, but they are the best. No, no they are not. You are stupid. And ugly. And clearly, you never had a SunBeam Mixmaster. Which they don't make like they used to. And Hamilton Beach will probably stop making these by the time I get married, and I will have to register for a stupid KitchenAid. Whatever. I'm taking the label off and covering it in flames, ala Alton Brown.) This makes the next sentence hysterical. As a hand mixer, because I firmly believe that you can own, and use, both, I like the KitchenAid 9 Speed. Mostly, I want the slow start, and a lot of speeds. As is KitchenAid's trademark, the product is probably about 20% better than the competitor's and yet 3x as much.
I do believe the hand mixer by KitchenAid is a better product than their stand mixer. Here is why I hate the stand mixer - the single beater. You can't scrape around it. It's huge. It takes up the whole bowl. You have to beat everything, and then scrape at the end. Plus, the bowls do not stack as nicely as the SunBeam Mixmaster Bowls, and they are not nearly as universal. How am I supposed to stack the bowls with the handles?? WTF! Plus, the base is so narrow!
The Hamilton Beach does not actually solve any of these problems. But you pay a lower price to have to deal with them, and with the $130+ (depending on whether I felt the need to buy the "display but never use" artisan series with a 325 watt motor or the "Pro 5 series" with a 450 watt motor; the HB has a 400 watt motor) I would save, there would be enough money to buy some extra mixing bowls, some super-narrow spatulas, and also, pretty much everything else that is up on my list of dream kitchen materials.
Also, KitchenAids are heavy. Because they are meant to be out all the time on the counter as a display of your affluence, culinary expertise, and ability to color-coordinate your lime green mixer with your matching curtains.

This has gone in a rant-heavy direction, clearly fueled by not enough sleep. I will finish this post later.