Meatless Monday: Joining Hands for a Better World: 12.9.13

Last Tuesday I set out on a pre-Christmas challenge — to post a tip a day we can collectively follow with the goal of making the world a better place. 

Today’s suggestion: Start with a Pumpkin. 

If you picked up a pumpkin or some winter squash to decorate your Thanksgiving table, now is the perfect time to cook it (or them—all of them) before it gets too old. You can always freeze what you do not use; it will make a tasty treat at winter’s end.

If you have a small pumpkin like this one, it’s a “sugar” pumpkin and you are in luck! These are great for making pumpkin pie. If you have a much larger pumpkin, its flesh will likely be too stringy for use in recipes. 

I halved this pumpkin, removed its seeds, oiled it slightly, and roasted it in a 350° oven until tender (about 50 minutes) the Monday night before Thanksgiving. I scooped out the pulp and stored it in a covered dish in the fridge. Tuesday night we warmed it up in the microwave to get it to room temperature, and my husband pushed it through a wire sieve. It yielded just over two cups, the amount we needed for a wonderful pumpkin pie.

The recipe came from James Beard’s classic cookbook, American Cookery. 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups cooked, strained pumpkin
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk or coffee cream (I used light cream)
• Unbaked pie shell for a deep 9 or 10 inch pie or for two 8 inch shells.

METHOD

• Preheat the over to 450°
• Break the eggs into a mixing bowl and beat until the yolks and whites are combined.
• Add the pumpkin, sugar, and spices. [I used the larger amount of the spices.]
• Blend well.
• Add the milk or cream and stir to combine thoroughly.
• Have the pastry shell(s) ready.
• This is rather a sloppy mixture to pour, and it is better to dip it from the bowl to the pastry.   
• Put the pie(s) in the oven. Bake a larger pie for 15 minutes (smaller pies for 10) and then turn the oven down to 300° and bake about 30 minutes longer. [I covered my pie crust edges with foil and removed it for the final 15 minutes.] 
• The pie is done when the filling appears set when the pie is shaken gently, except for about 2 inches in the center.
• Cool the pie on a rack and refrigerate once it is at room temperature.

My artisanal pumpkin pie. Don't judge by its appearance.

The night I started my pie project, I watched Martha Stewart tell David Letterman on late night TV that canned pumpkin was OK to use. But take it from a person who has often used pumpkin from a can in the past — this pie was the best. I’m not going back.

Just make sure that your pumpkin is a sugar pumpkin, not one for carving. If you only have acorn squash, that works OK, too. 

That’s it for today. “See you tomorrow.”

“All together now,” as the Beatles once sang. Let’s see how much good we can do over the next few weeks.

Joining Hands for a Better World: 12.8.13

Last Tuesday I set out on a pre-Christmas challenge — to post a tip a day we can collectively follow with the goal of making the world a better place.

Today’s Tip: Be Careful How You Decorate 

In a November 26 press release, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) asked Connecticut residents and decorators to consider alternatives to invasive plants such as Oriental bittersweet this holiday season. 

An invasive plant is not native to the place where it is found. According to the USDA an invasive plant “can thrive in areas beyond their natural range of dispersal. These plants are characteristically adaptable, aggressive, and have a high reproductive capacity. Their vigor combined with a lack of natural enemies often leads to outbreak populations.”

Photo by Nicole Gabelman, UConn Plant Science and Landscape Architecture

  

Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), with its distinctive bright red fruit, has sometimes been used in holiday decorations, including wreaths. This plant is a highly invasive, non-native vine that that can wrap around trees, damaging and sometimes killing them. The extra weight from Oriental bittersweet on limbs can also cause limb drop, contributing to damage and power outages. Use of the vines in decorations helps spread seeds of the plant to new locations. Additionally, improper disposal of the decorations, either outdoors or in compost after the holiday season, can contribute to the spread of bittersweet.

“There are many alternatives to invasive plants that may be used for holiday decorations” said Logan Senack, Invasive Plant Coordinator for Connecticut. “Often, local florist and greenhouse growers are able to provide attractive and interesting alternatives to bittersweet and other invasives. These include native plants that are not invasive, such as winterberry holly. [Be warned, however, that winterberry holly berries are poisonous to humans if eaten.] Selling or moving Oriental bittersweet is also prohibited by state law.”

The law, which went into effect in 2004, prohibits the moving, selling, purchasing, transplanting, cultivating or distributing of 80 invasive plant species, including Oriental bittersweet, in Connecticut. This prohibition extends to seeds, flowers, and other reproductive portions of the plants.  Fines for violations of the law are listed at $50 per plant.

Individuals who find invasive plants such as bittersweet for sale in Connecticut are asked to contact the DEEP or the Connecticut Invasive Plant Coordinator at 860-208-3900 (email: logan.senack@ct.gov). For more information about Oriental bittersweet and other invasive plants in Connecticut, visit the website of the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group, the source of the photo above.

The message is clear. Be very careful what you bring home from any walks in the woods. And if you see Oriental bittersweet or other invasives for sale, say something.

That’s it for today. “See you tomorrow.”

“All together now,” as the Beatles once sang. Let’s see how much good we can do over the next few weeks.

Joining Hands for a Better World: 12.7.13

Last Tuesday I set out on a pre-Christmas challenge — to post a tip a day we can collectively follow with the goal of making the world a better place.

Are you ready to make a commitment?

Today’s Tip: Take the New Haven Healthy City/Healthy Climate Challenge pledge.  

The premise behind the pledge is: Collectively we caused the percentage of carbon dioxide in our air to rise. Collectively we can work to bring it down.

Healthy New Haven/Healthy Climate Challenge is a collective effort of local organizations including the New Haven Bioregional Group,Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven,Common Ground, CT Fund for the Environment, Yale Office of Sustainability, and New Haven/Leon Sister City Project. 

To respond to the challenge of climate change and to improve the health of the New Haven community, the groups propose a challenge of their own — pledge to take action that will have immediate positive impacts on local quality of life, and will help mobilize local institutions to create more sustainable, efficient infrastructure.

The pledge requires a commitment to take five steps:

1. Two days of walking, biking, or public transit a month
2. Choosing the 100% renewable option on his/her electricity
3. Two meat-free days a week
4. Recycling all glass, cans, paper, and plastic and composting
5. Joining an environmental action alert list

The site suggests websites and other resources to help achieve these goals. 

The organizers urge everyone to “take a lead in creating a healthier lifestyle and community…be realistic, make a plan, and celebrate moving ahead.” They predict we'll all save some money and become healthier as we work to make the world a better place.

If for some reason you can’t do all five steps, I hope you’ll be inspired to take some of them. For example, if you can’t live without your car, at least pool your trips.

And by the way, you can take the pledge WHEREVER you live. A special shout out to my readers in Denmark!

That’s it for today. “See you tomorrow.” 

“All together now,” as the Beatles once sang.  Let’s see how much good we can do over the next few weeks.