I'll Have A Big Bowl of Sugar and Salt, Please!

NOTE: Great Granola recipe at the end of this post!

I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal (along with the weekly Memphis Democrat – what a contrast!). I get it mostly to keep up with the world; I will probably switch to the NY Times when this subscription runs out. Anyway, I usually skim the front section, skip over the investment section and read the “Personal Journal” front to back. Kind of my version of Wall Street Journal, Light. Which is just a long way of saying that while I read every single book review, author interview and play review, I miss a lot of other, more "serious" stuff.

On Sunday morning, taking a break from the nutritious, high-fiber oatmeal (organic thick rolled oats with apple chunks, sunflower seeds and raisins) I was frying up some bacon to go with our Sandhill eggs. I pulled a stack of newspaper from the recycling on which to drain the grease (no paper towels in this house) and had to find another page when, drippy bacon poised to land, I read the headline that I was about to obliterate: “Kids’ Cereals Saltier, Report Says.” I dumped the bacon on the Dow Jones report and read this:

“Cereal makers that reduce the amount of sugar in kids' cereals tend to ratchet up the salt content to improve flavor, says a report expected to be released Tuesday by Consumers International.

Cereal makers have been under pressure from consumer groups to reduce the sugar content of their kids' cereals, and Consumers International, in its report, "Cereal Offenses," says "manufacturers are likely to add salt to boost the flavor of the product, and may use salt to maintain customer appeal when sugar levels are reduced."

The London-based organization, an umbrella group representing 220 consumer groups globally, focused on products made by two of the world's largest makers of cereal for children, Nestlé SA of Vevey, Switzerland, and Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, Mich. The group defined children's cereals as those that feature cartoon characters on the packaging, are endorsed by celebrities popular with kids and are advertised on kids' television programming.

A sampling of 100 grams of Kellogg's Frosties Reduced Sugar cereal sold in various countries contains, on average, 25% sugar and 1.5% salt -- more salt than is normally found in potato chips.

Last year, after two advocacy groups -- the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood -- threatened to sue Kellogg for marketing sugary products to young children, Kellogg said it would reformulate certain products. For those products that it couldn't get to taste as good through reformulation, Kellogg said it would simply stop advertising to kids under the age of 12 as of 2009.

Kellogg so far has reformulated its Froot Loops, Corn Pops, Rice Krispies, Cocoa Krispies and Apple Jacks cereals. The new formulas began hitting store shelves in June.

The report also takes aim at the overall sugar content of cereals, saying that in many cases, children's cereals contain more than twice the amount considered high by the U.K.'s Food Standards Agency. Nesquik cereal, for example, is made up of 36% sugar, on average -- a higher level than what is found in an equivalent amount of ice cream, Consumers International claims.”

So let's review. When pressured to lessen the sugar content of cereal aimed at children, manufacturers (i.e. Kellogg's, who I just praised here the other day) simply added more salt, sometimes the equivelent to that in potato chips. Additionally, some cereals are as much as 36% sugar, the same amount that is found in ice cream. Who ARE these people? And why are we buying food from them?

Except for a general sense of horror, there is not much for me to add here. However, I am closing with my favorite recipe for home made granola. It is absolutely astounding. The original recipe called for brown sugar but I found that by substituting brown rice syrup I could lower the glycemic index. It might take awhile for kids to get used to the “less sweet” taste, but with dried fruit (raisins, cherries, pears) they might never miss it. Is it as sweet as Froot Loops? Nope. But it won’t make your teeth fall out either. Enjoy!

The BEST Granola EVER
Yield: about 8 cups

3 cups quick oats
2 cups oat flour (if you can't find oat flour you can easily make it yourself by grinding oats in a food processor)
3 cups coarsely chopped raw nuts and/or seeds (I usually use a mixture of almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and coconut, but use whatever tickles your fancy)
1 cup brown rice syrup or agave nectar (the original recipe called for packed brown sugar, which is delicious, but much higher on the glycemic index)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (for a vegan version, use Earth Balance Buttery Spread)
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Preheat the oven to 300F.

• In a large bowl, combine the oats, oat flour, nuts and seeds.
• In a microwave-safe bowl (or in a saucepan over medium heat), combine the brown rice syrup (or brown sugar), butter and water and heat just until the butter has melted and the mixture is bubbly.
• Stir everything together until smooth, then stir in the salt, vanilla and spices.
• Pour this mixture over the oats and nuts, stirring everything well to coat.
• Let stand for about ten minutes.
• Spread the mixture out on a large baking sheet, separating it into irregular clumps with your fingers, and allowing space between the clumps for the hot air to circulate.
• Slide into the middle of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and stir, gently breaking up the mixture into small-to-medium sized clumps.
• Return to the oven and bake another 15 minutes or so before stirring again.
• Repeat the bake-and-stir until the mixture is a uniform golden brown and completely dry; this usually takes 1-1 1/2 hours.
• Cool completely, then stir in any dried dried fruit you want to use.
• Store in a covered container at room temperature.

A few notes on this recipe: This recipe is a version of The Lip Lady's Granola, published on Melissa Kronenthal's marvelous blog The Traveler's Lunchbox. She had this to say about the ingredients: "Okay, so what exactly makes this granola different? I'm no kitchen scientist, but I can point out the things that seem to have the biggest impact. One thing is the addition of oat flour, which helps the grains and nuts stick together into those much-coveted clusters. Another is the use of sugar; as much I like liquid sweeteners like honey and maple syrup, they seem to produce a tougher, chewier granola. Finally, the right kind of oats are essential. For years I only baked with regular rolled ('old fashioned') oats because that's what recipes called for, but as soon as I switched to the smaller, thinner 'quick oats', the changes were remarkable - clusters formed, everything baked faster, and the texture became exquisitely light and crunchy. If you can't find quick oats where you live - and I have lived in a few places where oats come in one variety only - here's what I would do: pulse rolled oats in a food processor a few times to break them down to about half their original size. It won't be exactly the same but it will come close."

Farm Fresh Eggs, or, What Eggs Should Look Like!

Sunny side up at the Milkweeds'

Hooeeeee! Lookeee here at these eggs!

Fresh from our friends at Sandhill Farm, the deep orange yolks practically stand up and shout "Good Morning!!!" We pick up two dozen each Tuesday when we have our weekly potluck dinner with Sandhill and Red Earth Farms. At $3 a dozen they're a bargain at twice the price.

Photo credit: ScrapPile on Flickr

Michael, who is the chicken man at Sandhill, is very dear about the whole thing. He explained that one can pretty much tell what the weather has been the previous week by the color of the yolks. If they're deep orange, then the chickens have been outside, pecking in the soil and eating all kinds of little bugs and worms. If the yolks are pale and pasty (as most grocery store eggs are) the birds have been inside, or at least while outside have not able to penetrate the snow or frozen ground, and have been eating mostly grain. Another interesting thing about farm eggs is that the shells are really HARD - one has to really whack 'em to crack 'em. And if you're craving hard-cooked eggs (ummmm, deviled eggs, or egg salad), try and find some that are at least two weeks out of the chicken. Fresh eggs, when hard cooked, are nearly impossible to peel - the white sticks determinedly to the shell.

Can't wait 'til we can have our own chickens - hopefully in 2010 - first, we have to finish the Milkweed Mercantile and get it open. We wouldn't want to count our chickens before they hatch or anything!

Ya Gotta See This...

I'm a transplant to the Midwest. The transplanting has taken, mostly. My roots are starting to suck up nourishment from here in the middle instead of over on the left coast, although I will always lean to the left, just a little bit.

All this to say that sometimes I really miss the Bay Area.

I read a blog called I'm Mad and I Eat. The author, who is based in Marin County and married to one of my favorite San Francisco columnists, haunts all of the same food places I did, and grows things in her backyard that do not grow here in Missouri (Meyer Lemons, anyone?). She writes in the most beautifully succinct, spare-yet-elegant style and often has me shouting "right on, sister!" here in my chair because she despises George W. Bush as much as I do, and is fabulously snarky in just the right way. I only read it when I'm feeling strong, however, because the waves of homesickness wash over me like a great tsunami. When I checked in today, I laughed out loud. (NOTE: I was unable to link to the exact post, so scroll down to Tuesday, November 21st)

Enjoy!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Photo Credit Marika_te on Flickr

This morning when we woke up it was 11 degrees BELOW zero. Let me just say that again. ELEVEN BELOW. ZERO. That's cold, baby. Dash outside to bring in firewood and the moisture inside my nostrils froze. My lips froze. My fingers froze. And I was only out there for 30 seconds.

Our cat Fionn's water had frozen solid in the bowl. Inside the house. Granted, it was on a window sill in a drafty back room, but still.

I want points for all of this. I want you all to understand how noble and brave we are to be living in Missouri. How stoic and filled with pioneering spirit (this is about when Kurt would break in and say something like "...filled with BEANS, you mean").

When the Carleton's went to light a fire this morning their house filled with smoke. Come to find out that the chimney had iced over, and smoke could not get out. Plus their water pipes froze. None of our vehicles start.

What on earth do people in Duluth do? Or Alaska? I'm a big whiney baby at 11 below. What would I do if it were REALLY cold?

John Newstead - My Kind of Guy

John ("outstanding in his field") awaits walkers on the last day of the trip as we round the bend at Robin Hood's Bay. He is wearing one of the many hats given to him by admirers. This one was Australian and had a series of corks around the rim.

Every so often one comes across a person who just seems to light up the space around them, who always has a good word to say, who is truly genuine and who is an absolute delight to be around. John Newstead was one of these people.

Years ago, in my career as a volunteer Sierra Club trip leader I had to opportunity to be a trainee and then to lead England's Coast to Coast Walk. The Sierra Club does an abbreviated version of the 190 mile "walk" (oh, those Brits - what to us is a sweat-producing, muscle spasm- inducing, heart-palpitating hike is merely a stroll in the woods to them). Starting on the west coast in St. Bee's we hike a route designed by Lou Wilkinson. It includes the most beautiful 90 miles or so, skipping the sections taking walkers on highways, and cutting the 23-mile-days into shorter chunks. This was accomplished by having our own mini bus and driver. The driver would spend most of the two weeks with us, meeting us at the end of the day and delivering us to our B&B. He would also transport our luggage from one spot to another.

I suppose that anyone could have done the job, but John Newstead elevated it to a fine art, while teaching us all a lesson in the simple joys of living. John was no ordinary bus driver.

Theoretically retired, Lou had successfully lured John away from his comfy home and lovely wife Joan for six weeks each summer to share his native England with a bunch of Yanks. By the second day of each trip John would know the names of each (up to 15) trip member. By the second week he had running jokes going with all of them. There usually wasn't a working radio in the bus (pronounced "boos") but John kept himself (and us) entertained by singing and whistling, mostly showtunes. He made each one of us feel cared about and nurtured; more like welcome friends and less like strangers.

John taught me a lot of things. The phrase "spot on," for example. And he tried to teach me the basics of cricket ("you see, Alline," he'd say, as we leaned on a fence watching a game in Richmond "you have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out..."), although the intricacies of "leg before wicket" will forever remain a mystery to me. But mostly he taught me that it doesn't matter what one does as long as one does it with great care and love.

John (third from left) chatting with some of our 2004 group.

John died January 2, 2009. It seems impossible to me that someone so filled with life and joy and fun could be gone. I cannot imagine a Coast-to-Coast Walk without him. I suppose I expected him to live forever, to always be there waiting for us with a smile and yet another funny hat. This post in no way does him justice, but I can't seem to do any better. My heart goes out to his family and to the many people who loved him.

In closing I leave you with a poem that reminds me of John. He wasn't just a visitor - he ate life with gusto (and a nice glass of red wine), and we are all the better for it.

When Death Comes
by Mary Oliver

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox:

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

Recycle Your Christmas Cards!

Photo Credit NicolePerle on Flickr

Our friends at Petite Planet recently brought this fabulous recycling idea to my attention:

"Through February 28, 2009, you can mail your used, all-occasion greeting cards fronts to St. Jude's Ranch, and they will be made into new cards by children.

The kids attach a blank recycled paper back to the card, making them into new cards for buyers... and they get paid for their work! It's a win-win-win situation! Consumers buy green, kids learn about and earn green, and the earth is a little greener due to the recycling of the cards!If you have any other greeting cards collecting dust or taking space, send those in too!

And you can also order a set of 10 cards for $8, in the categories of:

General Christmas Cards,

Religious Christmas Cards,

Easter Cards,

Birthday Cards,

Thank You Cards,

All Occasion General Greeting Cards."

Send cards here:

St. Jude's Ranch for Children

Card Recycling Program

100 St. Jude's Street

Boulder City, NV 89005

Yay!

Making a Living, or Making a Life?

Hi readers.

What follows is the text from a column in the local (Memphis, MO) Democrat. Dancing Rabbit submits a column each week. It's about something I think about a lot - the following is rather brief, for two reasons:

1. It goes in the local rural Missouri newspaper, who's readers often think we're a bunch of freaks. We started the column years ago as a form of transparency - here is what we're doing, and why. Our column is often about what we're growing in our gardens, what we're canning, how we car share, our visitor program. Interesting, but safe. I'm a little bored with this, so am trying to gently stretch the boundaries.
2. The column is not my own personal sounding board - it is for Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage info. I figure I can expand on my ideas here, where it is all about ME.

The following appears in the January 8, 2009 edition of the Memphis Democrat:

This is Alline again, enjoying the opportunity to chat with you weekly (at least until the rest of the column writers return!).Thank you so much for your many thoughtful replies to last week’s inquiry about what you would like to see in future columns. I will share them with the other writers and we will address them in the coming weeks.

Now, however, I am facing what can only be called writer’s block. Except that I’m not exactly blocked – I’m overwhelmed. Writing as a representative of Dancing Rabbit is a bit, well, intimidating. I can only express my own views, and try my best to be as inoffensive as possible. And frankly, either you are interested in what we’re doing, or you’re not. But how to share the details of our lives without coming across as “greener than thou”? That’s the part I’m not clear on. So I can only plow ahead, give it my best shot, and hope for the best (and mix as many metaphors as possible).

A question that came up several times was how do we support ourselves, how much money do we need to live here, and what did we do for a living before we arrived at Dancing Rabbit? While I could easily list the numerous ways we all craft a living here, it seems more important to look at the big picture. By leaving the world of high rents/mortgages, 40-hour jobs, commuting and consuming we are able, for the most part, to live on smaller incomes. This does not mean that we do not work – I’ve never worked harder in my life! What it means is that our time, our energy are directed towards different priorities. We are working for ourselves, and our lives, instead of our “jobs.”

It is not a simple leap to make. None of us here at Dancing Rabbit will ever earn the salaries that we earned with “real” jobs. For that reason alone it is challenging for people with debt to move here. But by giving up our “big jobs” we get more time – time to nurture a garden and preserve the food at the end of the growing season, time to build our own homes, time to learn, and time with our partners and families. It is our way of embodying the over-used but still meaningful Gandhi quote “ Be the change that you want to see in the world.”

Because our disposable incomes are fairly low (we are all independent from one another financially, so this varies from person to person), we don’t have the coolest clothes, or the latest styles – in fact, if you were to mention the names Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik you would get blank stares (but mention Chacos, Birks or Muck Boots, well, we’re your people!). We are trying to find real value in our lives, find what is good and true, without buying in (literally) to what advertising, movies, magazines and TV say we should value.

We don’t have hot cars, either. We’re really excited when they run and aren’t covered in mud – to heck with fancy paint jobs, rims that twirl or spoilers. We share them, which is often inconvenient – but we each save thousands of dollars a year by working together.

Strawbale construction. Notice all of the reclaimed (i.e.: de-nailed, used) lumber.
Photos from the Milkweed Mercantile construction.

By building our homes using materials that are primarily reclaimed, reused or sustainably harvested/produced, our costs are significantly less than those incurred with conventional construction (although they often take more time to build). By cooking with whole foods (i.e.: dried beans, fresh vegetables, homemade pasta and bread, cakes from scratch) instead of buying packaged mixes and already-prepared ingredients we get to eat healthier and for less money. Yes, it takes more time. But that is one of the choices we’ve made. Many Rabbits belong to a food co-op, where each member only has to cook one day a week – the rest of the days a fabulous meal is waiting for you every evening at 6:30. Do you always like what has been prepared? Possibly not. But it’s that prioritizing thing again.

Do I miss central heat and air conditioning, with that oh-so-handy timer so that the house can be warm before I get up in the morning? You bet I do – especially when I’m carrying in firewood. But it’s one of a million little trade-offs that I’m willing to make.

In the end, though, it is really not about the money. While one can certainly live here inexpensively, Dancing Rabbit is not intended to be solely a place for cheap living – our mission is to live sustainably and to share what we are learning. In exchange for membership and the opportunity to live on the land trust at incredibly inexpensive rates, each member is expected to participate in our growing community, and to contribute time and skills enabling our village to function well. This is also a lot of work – it is much easier to move to a community where everything is already decided. But what is it worth to be able to design a village based on principles and values that are important to us as individuals and to the health of the planet? To misquote the MasterCard commercial: for us, it’s priceless.