Unexpected guests at Wimbledon

I teach First day school at Meeting for Worship which is Quaker speak for Sunday school at church. Early Quakers did not use the days of the week or months of the year because of their Pagan origins, preferring to say “First day” for Sunday and so on and “First month” for January etc. On the gravestones outside the Meeting House it tells you in this old fashioned language about the death date of the person buried underneath.  Just a bit of Quaker history for all those who don’t know. Back to the story.

 

Our class consists of four children whose identities I will protect because of their tender ages. We have (from oldest to youngest, although interestingly not tallest to smallest) C (aged 5), K (aged 4), A (aged 4) and I (aged 2).

 

Every week we choose someone in the congregation to write a little note to either wish them good health if they are ill or old or just say something we appreciate about them. I write the messages and the children draw some pictures and we deliver them after everyone shakes hands to say  Meeting has ended.

 

Today K and A made pictures for Nell who is 91. C asked to make a card for her elderly neighbour who recently had to go to hospital by ambulance. Because C is 5 years old she can write so with a bit of help she wrote a short letter to her neighbour who has heart trouble so there were lots of pictures of hearts with X’s in them for kisses to make her heart better. I wrote to Chris who spent  Saturday at Wimbledon. He was very keen because it was about tennis.

 

He drew carefully lots of (what looked like to us) big scribbles, with a zigzag in the middle. At the bottom there were a few circle shapes and one circle with a hotdog next to it.  He was very proud of it.

 After meeting he gave his picture to Chris and this was the conversation that ensued:

 

Chris: Thank you for the picture.

I: Dat’s a picture of nennis.

Chris: Oh that’s a picture of tennis.

I: (pointing to circle) Dat’s a nennis ball.

Chris: Oh yes, a tennis ball.

I: (pointing to circle with a hotdog) Dat’s a nennis wacket.

Chris: Oh of course a tennis racket.

I: (pointing to hotdog) Dat’s the handle.

Chris: Yes I can see that.

I: (pointing to zigzag) Dat’s a cwocodile.

 

We fell about laughing because you don’t often see one of those at Wimbledon. Or do you? Spiderman suggested maybe the crocodiles are there to steal all the strawberries.  

 

It was good fun and it is wonderful to hear the laughter of children’s voices in Meeting again. It just goes to show that little hearts can be filled with big love.

 

And cwocodiles.

Purple (potato) eater

I found these purple potatoes at Sainsbury --aren’t they gorgeous?

The packaging said they had higher levels of vitamin C and I can well believe it. I think they’d be a great way to get kids to eat their food. It certainly got me eating it. They had a sweeter, earthier flavour that was delicious. To be healthy we are told to “eat the rainbow”--this sure would help.

 

I made Peruvian purple potato soup from the cookbook Appetite for Reduction.

 

It tasted lovely and was the colour of amethyst!  It was like eating soup made in the Gillikin part of Oz (the northern country where everything is purple. Just like Munchkinland to the east is blue, Winkie country to the west is yellow and Quadling country down south is red)

 

We roasted the ones that didn’t go in the soup a few days later with some sweet potato and the colours of pink and purple together were very pleasing to the eye (and the mouth!)

 

When I brought leftovers to work, several people said the colour put them off, but not me.

 

Would you eat purple potatoes?

Don’t miss it pizza

Sometimes people ask me what I miss when it comes to food. They think being a vegan is a sad, deprived life where I suffer constantly thinking about all the things I CAN’T eat. Well, I CAN eat anything, but because I choose compassion as my guiding force I WON’T eat certain things if they cause animals to suffer.

 

But as I’ve said before, what makes animal products taste good? It is not the flesh itself, but the spices and sauces we slather on. Why not eat just the spices and sauces and save a life?

 

Last week I had a down and dirty, obsessive craving for sausage pizza. So I had one. On Friday I made up a batch of this excellent gluten free vegan sausage made from black eyed peas and mushrooms and all the smoky spices. http://theveeword.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/gluten-free-spicy-italian-sausage-part.html    On Saturday I made us a pizza.

 All Saturday during the day I kept finding myself smiling inwardly or giggling as I pictured how good the pizza was going to taste. Spiderman finally stopped asking me. He would just say, “Thinking about the pizza again, huh?” and I would grin like a possum and bob up and down like a cork (my usual indicators of extreme joy).

 

I caramelised an onion and a pepper and browned the sausage whilst I made the crust. I topped it with tomato sauce with a few Tablespoons smoky BBQ sauce stirred in. I spooned on the onion, pepper and sausage and drizzled with tangy vegan cheddar cheese made from cashews and  nutritional yeast.

 Doesn’t that look amazing?

 Here it is up close.

 It was, without a doubt, the best pizza I’ve had in a long time. We used the new pizza pan since the old pan is behind the digital radio to give us better reception. It was smoky, spicy, tangy and crispy.

 We had enough sausages left to make another dish the next day and then I froze one for when the next sausage pizza craving comes over me again. 

 

I called it Don’t miss it pizza because that is what it is.

 I don’t miss sausage and cheese  because I know they cause suffering.

 I sometimes miss the tastes of those animal parts, but I don’t have to miss the flavour because I can make a delicious, healthy, vegan, gluten free substitutes.

 I don’t miss it at all.   

Little Poem, who made thee?

Check your facts was one of the three rules my father said to me every day when I was growing up, sandwiched between know that I love you and stand up for what you believe in. My beloved husband and partner in crime hereafter refered to as The Amazing Spiderman has been doing a bit of research on what happens when you take something you read on the internet as gospel without checking your facts.

There is poem, found in countless online lesson plans for teachers, used in countless schools which claims to be written by that old master William Blake. It is in fact written by contemporary author Nancy Willard in her Newberry award winning book A Visit to William Blake's Inn.

The Amazing Spiderman with his spidey sense and excellent reference librarian skills has uncovered this fact and was featured in the news today.

 

** School librarian finds fake Blake **
A school librarian has discovered that a poem widely attributed to William Blake, including in official reading lists, was not really written by him.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/education-22971225 >

I am so proud of him I could burst! He's been fielding calls from the media all day (a rather shy and retiring flower, is my Spiderman) so that hasn't been easy. But I am so pleased for him.

You can see his blog here to read the whole tale. http://thelibraryspider.blogspot.co.uk/

happy reading...oh and check your facts!

edited to add: The next day he had a small one paragraph article in the Telegraph (which always makes me think of that sexist joke--How do you spread the news? Telephone, Telegraph, tell a woman) and a longer one in the Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/school-librarian-puts-the-world-straight-on-fake-william-blake-poem-8667575.html

I love how they said that he "modestly refused to answer and queries"--I told you he was shy!

Copycat

Do you ever dream about food? I’m talking about food you ate more than a decade ago? Maybe it’s just me.

 Recently, I had a dream about a sandwich that we used to buy in Louisiana at Quiznos (which for some reason that was no doubt hilarious at the time we used to call Kinkos) before our eyes were opened to compassionate eating.

 

 It consisted of the following:

 Parmesan rosemary bread

Melted mozzarella and cheddar cheese

Thinly sliced angus beef

Caramelised onion and mushrooms

Honey bourbon mustard

Grille sauce which was, as I recall like a cross between BBQ and teriyaki

 

It was amazing. But my favourite bits by far were the caramelised onions and mushrooms in that boozy, sticky sauce. In 2002 when I because a vegetarian we went back and after some wrangling with the young confused  cashier I managed to get the sandwich without the meat--just the cheese, onions and mushrooms and sauce and it was *just* as good.

 

These days our eyes are completely open and we don’t consume meat or cheese or honey. Sadly, my digestive track doesn’t fancy wheat either so I was a bit stuck for ideas to recreate it. Until I found this at Sainsbury.


It was boozy from the Jack Daniels,  sticky sweet with orange juice and raisin puree and tangy from tamarind paste--plus it was labelled suitable for vegans and celiacs! I knew what I had to do.

 I make caramelised onion and mushroom all the time so that was no problem. Letting them simmer in the BBQ sauce after they had turned all lovely and golden brown would be a piece of cake.

I make an excellent cheese sauce that has the sharpness of cheddar made from cashews and nutritional yeast and mustard. That sorted the melted cheese bit.

I decided to forgo the beef bit--but maybe the next time I get some tempeh I’ll try it. But as I recalled from all those years ago--it was just as good without the meat.

 

Now the bread might be an issue. I found a couple recipes on line for gluten free garlic rosemary yeast bread and thought I’d try one. Well, let’s just say the attempt was a bit like eating the sole of your shoe. Being gluten free it flattened down and was hard as rock--it is difficult to get gluten free bread to rise and it spreads as it bakes unless you have something to keep it in the right shape. I put the bread out for the birds and tried again with my tried and true recipe for buns that uses soya yoghurt and baking powder that gives them a nice sourdough flavour. I added garlic and rosemary and some nutritional yeast for that cheesy flavour. I baked them in Yorkshire pudding tins so they keep their shape. I had wanted long, slipper shaped bread to match the original, but hey ho. My little round buns will do nicely, thank you very much.

 

 Since I had also made a batch of bean and buckwheat smoky “bacon” strips recently I decided to fry up a few to put on the sandwich. Here’s the recipe in case you were wondering. http://spidergrrlvstheworld.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/are-you-achin-yup-yup-for-some-bacon.html

 

So here's the finished concoction.

I served it with oven chips.

 

It was really tasty--maybe not exactly like the one at Quiznos --but hey, it’s been more than 10 years since I’ve had one, so who knows. It had all the flavours I was looking for--pungent (rosemary), boozy, sweet and tangy (JD BBQ sauce) sharp and creamy (cashew cheese), smoky (bean and buckwheat “bacon“). It was also *extremely* messy. Not the sort to eat in front of company, if ya know what I mean.

 

Spiderman and I have both found we don’t really miss eating animals because often those bits were fairly flavourless and it was sauces and marinades that made them taste great. Why not just eat the sauces and marinades and save lives--an animal’s life and your own. Eating animals and their high fat secretions have been shown time and again to contribute to diseases like obesity,  heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and some cancers--just to name a few. If you don’t believe me--read The China Study.

 

I had lots of fun recreating this sammich from memory. Bon appetit!

 

 

 

 

 

  

How will they wipe their bum now?

Have you read about this? The government in Venezuela has declared a state of emergency  because they are running out of toilet paper. They’ve had to pay money to ship in 36 million loo rolls because of panic buying and people hoarding the few rolls of lavatory paper that are still available. There is even an app that if you sign up for that will alert the user to the nearest shop currently stocking toilet paper so they can rush and go buy some before everyone else does then sell them (illegally) for high prices.

 Is there anyone else who sees a problem with this?  I already have issues with toilet paper. That’s a huge amount of trees (often virgin timber in the case of companies like Kimberly Clark) that is heavily bleached with harsh (and potentially toxic) chemicals to make it whiter than white that we just use once and throw away. That’s flushing away money and the environment. Literally.

 

Those who read the blog know I have been “personally paper product free” for about 2 years. We don’t use paper towels or napkins in the kitchen--we use washable cloth ones. We don’t use boxes of tissues for the snuffles--I use a handkerchief  just like my dear old dad. I don’t use cotton balls, I use washable squares of fleece.  Before the horrible hysterectomy I used washable cloth menstrual pads. Lastly, I don’t use toilet paper unless I am out in a public lav or on holiday. Spiderman still does and that’s ok with me. “And even if it wasn’t I’d still do it” I hear his voice echo in my head. That’s fine. He can do his thing as long as I can do mine.

 

Yes, I use what is known in crunchy granola circles as family cloth. It is not nearly as freaky as it sounds. If you want to read about it go here and read this post:

http://spidergrrlvstheworld.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/personally-paper-product-free-part-two.html

 

I find cloth to be so much more comfortable for wiping --cloth is softer than the softest paper and lacks those annoying balls of lint that get stuck to your naughty bits like when you use paper. I find it more hygienic as you rinse really well with warm water (many Asian cultures have done this for centuries) so there is nothing to wipe away. You wash and reuse them just like cloth nappies (diapers to my American peeps). I don’t see what the big deal is. If you are sceptical then just try it for urine. You will be *shocked* at how much toilet paper you are using and how long a roll lasts after you convert to cloth.

 

I worry about countries like Venezuela who would spend huge amounts of money to import something to wipe people’s bums with. What about poverty? What about hunger? What about education? Surely these issues are a better way of investing money?

 

Maybe I’m just talking out of my ass.

Cue the circus music

I have just gotten my tenth tattoo which should qualify me as a permanent member of Barnum and Bailey if I didn’t boycott circuses because of their cruelty to animals.

 

For the last 13 years, since I was thirty years old, I have gotten tattoos with spiritual or historical significance to my life. My life is inked on my body like a roadmap. You can read my history by looking at my skin.

 

I have been thinking for a while about this design. I wanted this design somewhere on my skin because of the breadth of its meaning. The symbol I chose is a triskellion.

 

It is a symbol used by the ancient Celts to represent the three sacred realms--the Land--the Sea--and the Sky. I liked that because I like to think of the natural world, God’s world, as sacred. I am a huge environmentalist and recycling makes me giddy with joy.

 

It was adopted by early Christians as a symbol for the Trinity. I liked that as well because my spiritual life is really important to me and I wanted a constant reminder to stay focussed on God, which will help me stay focussed on Good.

 

Because a triskellion is in 3 parts I thought of all the wonderful things that come in threes.

 

The Past--the Present--the Future

Faith--Hope--Charity

The Heart--the Brain--the Body

(to quote from School House Rock’s Three Is A Magic Number)

 

Of course, how could I forget Douglas Adams’ Life--the Universe--and Everything.

 

But I still wasn’t convinced. I was waiting for a sign that this was right symbol for me--after all it is forever. Then it came.

 

I was reading an interesting novel called PopCo by Scarlett Thomas. Spoiler alert--look away now if you don’t want to know the plot.

 

It’s about a woman who works for a major toy manufacturer who is recruited into a counter organisation that “doesn’t officially exist” that tries to bring down evil, unethical corporations from the inside. She is on the verge of quitting because of the pressure to lie to people, particularly children, and convince them to buy their products--toys produced in sweatshops by children--when she is recruited. Every major corporation has a counter organisation inside who do their job badly to secretly stop you from buying their unethical product.  Ever see an ad campaign and you think, “What the hell were they thinking? I would never buy that now.” That’s the counter organisation at work. Same for adverts where you can’t figure out what they are selling.

 

Anyway--nearly everyone in the organisation is vegan (because it really is the most ethical choice when it comes to the environment, countering world hunger as well as the only choice for compassionate eating. Everything else-- even “free range” this “happy” that-- ends in suffering and death). The organisation has three mottos:

Do no harm.

Stop others doing harm.

Do what you can.

This was the sign I was waiting for. That is who I want to be. I want to be the joyful vegan who spreads compassion and kindness and love. This is why I went to the March Against the Badger Cull last week.   This was it.

 

So I stopped by local Tattoo Shop and made an appointment with Tom “the quiet man” Johnson my beloved tattoo artist who has done my last two tattoos. I’m really pleased with the results and it is healing nicely. I like that it is on my left hand--where I can see it every time I reach for anything (I’m a leftie) and be reminded of the Christ of Compassion whose life I try to emulate. 

 

Wanna see it? Take a squinty. If you look carefully you can see I’m wearing my Spiderman shirt. Thanks Mum!

 

I love that it is a revolving shape--it never ends--it turns like the wheel of the year. I love that it has meaning for me and will always keep me close to the one who fills the Darkness with Light.