Good Works - Women for Women International

Women for Women International is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing opportunities to women in war-torn areas of the world.  Women are often the forgotten victims of war; they are usually not active participants, but their lives are disrupted in significant ways.  Their husbands are often killed or away fighting.  They become refugees when their villages and homes are destroyed.  They are brutalized by that most terrible of war tactics, rape.

Most of these women are responsible for the care of one or more children; usually their own, but often those of extended family or neighbors.  With war disrupting the local economy – and many of these regions already in dire economic straits – the usual means of supporting one’s family are gone.

Women for Women helps women in these areas through and sponsorships.  Sponsoring a woman gives her a little money each month to support herself and her children: to purchase food, to pay school tuition and hospital bills.  Another portion of the monthly sponsorship is set aside in a savings account that she receives at the end of the one-year program.  The remainder is used to provide educational programs in healthcare, basic rights, reading and math, and small business skills.  The goal is for the woman to have a more solid footing in life and a means of supporting herself and her family.

I have been sponsoring one woman each year for the past three years.  Women for Women works in Nigeria, Kosovo, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and I chose the Congo.  My current Congolese sister is Pascasie Shakuru Ntaganda.  I have just been matched with her and don’t know too much about her yet, other than she is married and is caring for three children.  Besides monthly monetary support, sponsors are encouraged to write to their sisters.  It is awkward at first, because you feel it is bragging to describe your vastly more comfortable life to a person who has so little, but W for W assures us that the women enjoy hearing about us and seeing photos.  Mostly, they want to know that someone out there is thinking about them and cares about them.

Please visit their website and consider sponsoring a woman in need.

Women for Women International

Recipe - Applesauce

Applesauce

Recently, Mom and I made applesauce. Homemade applesauce beats the store stuff hands down, as far as I’m concerned.    Making applesauce is incredibly easy, but I will outline the steps here for anyone who has not tried it before.

The Apples:

Start with the right apples.  You want an apple that will “cook down”; that is, will effectively disintegrate over heat.  If you buy your apples from a farm stand, ask the proprietor for suggestions.  We used MacIntosh, out of nostalgia – we made our applesauce from Macs for decades when we lived in New York, so to us it has the “right” flavor.  If you don’t mind a little extra work, you can certainly use seconds or drops for applesauce – you’ll just need to spend a little extra time trimming off any blemishes.

Prepping the Apples:

Pare and core the apples, cut into chunks and fill up a large soup pot.  Cutting the apples smaller means less cooking time for them to cook down, resulting in a “fresher” flavor.  Our pot held about 10 lbs of apples (weighed while they were still whole).

Cooking:

Add a little water to prevent scorching.  For our batch, I added about one cup.  Turn the heat to medium low and put the cover on.  Stir every 5 minutes or so, to move the top apple pieces down to the bottom.  Continue to cook until the applesauce reaches the consistency you like.  This year, we decided to make ours a little chunky, so we stopped cooking while there were still some visible pieces in the sauce.  I then used a potato masher to get the chunks to a more uniform size.

The Question of Additives:

Here is where personal taste comes in to play.  Some people like their applesauce a little sweet, so you can add sugar (white or brown) at any time in the cooking process.  Just be sure to put it in early enough so it has time to dissolve completely.  And some people like some spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, or cloves are good choices.  If you are using whole spices, tie them in a cheesecloth bag and put in the pot at the start of cooking; if you are using ground spices, stir them in at the end.  I am an applesauce purist, so I don’t add anything.

Then what?

If you’ve made a small batch, just put in containers and keep in the fridge.  If you’ve made a lot, you probably want to can it.  See my post on canning for how this works.  Process applesauce for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.  

Our 10 pounds of apples resulted in about 7 pints of applesauce.

Lifestyle - Canning

Canning

The canning process can seem intimidating at first, but once you’ve gone through it once or twice, it becomes pretty simple.  I have my friend Sherry to thank for walking me through it the first time.  Putting up jars of fruits, vegetables, jams, and sauces is a really satisfying endeavor, and it’s easy to get hooked!  They make great gifts and, depending on where you source your raw materials, can save you money as well.

Equipment

really big pot:        this is what you’ll boil the jars in; look for the speckled enamel ones    

canning funnel:     helps you get stuff into the jars without making a huge mess

jar lifter:               a specialized device for putting jars into boiling water and getting them out

Keep an eye out for kits that contain the above items – they can be a good deal.  Or you can find these things at garage sales or thrift shops.

small pot:               this is what you’ll sterilize the lids and rings in

small tongs:           to get the lids and rings out of the hot water and onto the jars

ladle/slotted spoon:       for getting the goods into the jars

jars:                         regular- or wide-mouth;  you can buy new or find at garage sales or thrift shops

lids and rings:        you can re-use the rings, but you’ll need new lids each time you can

Process

Prepare the yummy thing you are canning.  You’ll need to gauge at what point to start the next steps based on how long your yummy thing will take to be ready.  But the next three things can be kept “on hold” if they are ready before your yummy thing is, so I would start them earlier rather than later.

Fill the big pot with water, deep enough to cover your jars.  Keep in mind that the jars will displace some of the water, so you don’t have to go overboard.  Start the pot heating, as this can take quite a while.

Put your jars in the dishwasher and run a hot rinse/dry cycle to sterilize them.  Leave them in there till you’re ready to fill them.

Put the rings and lids into the small pot and cover with water.  Put on low heat and bring them to not quite a simmer.  Keep warm over a low flame.

Retrieve jars from the dishwasher, being careful not to touch the inside surfaces. I put them on a folded towel, both to catch drips and protect my countertop from hot jars.

Using the funnel and ladle/slotted spoon, fill the jars with your yummy thing, leaving about 1/2” room at the top.  Wipe off any drips that get on the top edge.

Using the small tongs, place a lid on each jar.  Then a ring.  Tighten the ring, but don’t crank down on it.

Using the jar lifter, place the jars into the big pot at a full boil. Set a timer for the required processing time. How long you need to process depends on what you are canning.  Your recipe should tell you, or you can find lots of resources online.

When the timer goes off, pull the jars out.  I place them on another folded towel to cool.  You’ll likely hear many of the lids “pop” as they seal.  Give them about 10 minutes or so, and check that they have sealed: if the top does not depress when you press on it, you have a good seal.

Label and place in the larder.  Congratulations!

 

Recipe - Garlic Shrimp

Garlic Shrimp

Jim is out of town, and those of you who know me know what that means: Garlic Shrimp! Since this is a solo event, I'll be describing the recipe for one.  Two, if you're feeling generous.

1/4 - 1/3 lb fresh shrimp
   Use whatever size you prefer.  Peel the shrimp and toss with a little olive oil and red pepper flakes.  Set aside.

5 - 6 cloves garlic, peeled
   Place in a foil packet with a little olive oil.  Seal the packet, poke a hole in the top, and roast in the oven at 325 for about 45 minutes  The garlic should be lightly browned and soft.  Mash with a fork.

1/4 cup dried tomatoes
1/2 a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped coarsely, together with 1/2 the marinade
   Let sit in a small bowl until ready to use.

Cook the shrimp quickly in olive oil until done and slightly browned.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add garlic, dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts to pan and heat through.

Medium-sweet white wine (like a moscato or pinot grigio)
   Deglaze the pan with the wine. 

Plain dry bread crumbs.
   (This is where it gets weird, but stick with me)
   Add bread crumbs and white wine to the pan alternately, stirring well, until you have the amount of sauce you want.
 
   Add the shrimp back into the sauce.

Cooked pasta
Shredded parmesan cheese
Toasted pine nuts
   Put pasta in a serving dish.  Top with sauce and shrimp. 
   Garnish with parmesan and pine nuts.

   Enjoy with what's left of the wine!

Lifestyle - grocery shopping

Cooking is one of my favorite activities, and I will spend hours in the kitchen putting dishes and meal together. Some of the more mundane tasks that lead up to cooking, however, simply beg to be simplified and streamlined. Here is how I tackle one of them:

The Grocery List

I am not one to scour the ads and run to several stores all over town. I have figured out which store in my area has the lowest prices overall and go there every week. Since I am familiar with the layout of the aisles, it is easy for me to write my grocery list in order of how I walk through the store. This eliminates doubling-back to get things, or missing something altogether. Most weeks I do walk through all the aisles, doing a quick check for specials; but if I’m in a hurry, my list tells me exactly which aisles I need to hit and which ones I can skip.

A few years ago I inherited a hand-held electronic device from my husband. There was a “Notes” app on there and it turned out to be the perfect thing for my grocery list. Because it is electronic, I can insert items as I add them, keeping my list in store-aisle order. Saves paper, too!

Of course, the application of Murphy’s Law has resulted in my grocery store undergoing a remodel, and they are in the process of moving everything . . . LOL!

Recent Read - Half The Sky

Half The Sky   by Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn

Nicholas Kristof and  Sheryl WuDunn are a husband-and-wife journalist team who have travelled the world extensively.   Along the way, they have come face-to-face with many examples of women’s oppression.  Far beyond the gender discrimination experienced by women in some sectors of the developed world, the stories Kristof & WuDunn heard in their travels were horrific and, in many cases, life-threatening.

The book visits many countries on several continents, and includes first-hand accounts of abuse, neglect, torture, slavery, rape, and other atrocities in searing detail.    As you read, you feel you have come to know each woman intimately.  The pain of each story is balanced to a degree by examples of what is being done in each instance to make things better.  There aren’t always happy endings, but there are some; and it is clear that some slow progress is being made to improve the plight of women who have so little hope.  The people spearheading these efforts are truly heroes.

In 2010, there was a one-night-only special event in theaters across the country.  On-screen, a panel of experts discussed women’s oppression, and there was a short documentary film by Marisa Tomei depicting one of the stories from the book.  It was very powerful.  Just this week a two-part Half The Sky documentary aired on Public Broadcasting, with Kristof visiting six countries to highlight a form of oppression in each, and talk with people about what was being done to change it.

This is truly an eye-opening, inspiring book -- one I highly recommend.

www.halftheskymovement.org

Lifestyle - Menus

Cooking is one of my favorite activities, and I will spend hours in the kitchen putting dishes and meal together.  Some of the more mundane tasks that lead up to cooking, however, simply beg to be simplified and streamlined.  Here is how I tackle one of them:

The Menu

I start with a menu.  Not just for a meal, but for the week.  I focus on the main meal for each day, as the others are fairly routine at our house.  Creating a menu offers several advantages:

1)      I don’t have to spend time every day pondering what I am going to make.

 

2)      Since I shop weekly, I can make sure I have everything I need for the dishes I am going to prepare, which virtually eliminates extra trips to the market.

3)      I can prepare meals – or parts of meals – ahead, which saves time on the day they’re being served.

4)      I can ensure that our menu is fairly balanced and that we are eating a good variety of foods throughout the week.

Some people may feel this would thwart their creative instincts.  I have found this not to be the case.  It simply means the creative part is taking place at a different time than the cooking part.  When I am making up the menu, I have my recipe binder, cookbooks, and file of un-tried recipes at my fingertips.

This month I am testing the idea of creating a menu for the whole month.  I got the idea from one of the women’s magazines you see at the supermarket checkout.  Stay tuned for an evaluation of how it worked out!

 

 

Travel - Hood River Fruit Loop

Today my Mom and I drove up the Columbia River Gorge and "did" the Hood River Valley Fruit Loop.  It was a beautiful fall day for it, too! 

The Hood River Valley is the fruit basket of Oregon, and the Loop is a mapped drive designed to showcase its bounty.  The Valley is chock-full of farms, orchards and wineries, and the air is tinged with the scent of ripening fruit.  As you drive south out of the city of Hood River, Mt Hood looms over the valley.  Driving north on the return trip, Mt Adams pokes its head up behind the hills across the Columbia River.  Fall colors are starting to show, especially on a bright sunny day like today.

We visited four farms and one country store.  Along the way we purchased squash, indian corn, pears, grapes and apples.  I have finally found MacIntosh apples that taste like the ones I grew up eating in Upstate New York!

The Loop completed, we had a great lunch at Horsefeathers BrewPub.  We earned it, too, climbing all the stairs to get there!  We had a window table with a great view over the river.  Sadly, no wind-surfers out today. 

If you live anywhere near Hood River, visit the Hood River Fruit Loop this fall.  We're going again in a couple of weeks!

Click here:
Hood River Fruit Loop

Recent Read - Infidel

        Infidel  by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

 Infidel is the autobiographical account of Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s life from Somalian refugee to member of Dutch Parliament.  You may remember her – though perhaps not her name – as being associated with the tragic murder of film-maker Theo van Gogh: it was after van Gogh and Hirsi Ali collaborated on a film depicting her view of Islam that a Moroccan immigrant killed van Gogh.

I was completely enthralled with Ayaan’s story.  She describes in vivid detail growing up first in Somalia, then in Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Kenya.  Major factors shaping her childhood were both the strict tenets of Islam, as practiced in that region, and the ties of clan or tribe.  In both cases, girls and women were clearly second-class citizens, carefully controlled by men.

 In adulthood, as a refuge in Holland, Ayaan continued her questioning of Islam as she had experienced it.  Her conclusion is that living according to rules that discourage critical thinking, minimize the importance of education, insist that government be a theocracy, and discount one half of the population altogether is bad for society as a whole.   I found it compelling that she did not condemn Islam as a whole; rather, the way it is being put into practice in many parts of the world.  She drew an interesting comparison, stating that Christianity had also had its dark period but then had an enlightenment, and that Islam needed an enlightenment as well.