Blog Action Day: Poverty

This past winter, I attended a speech by Colin Powell at Miami University, where at one point he emphasized the importance of donating to worthy causes "when you get out of school and make your first million," he told students "make sure you donate." He then went on to make a joke about the midlife-crisis Corvette that he bought himself. The message that I fear many people might take away from statements like those is that "giving back" a bit here and there is all we need to do to forget about other people and go back to enjoying our cushy lives. Go ahead, buy that new car, after all you donated last week.

And if you can afford a nice new car, certainly you may have donated a large sum of money. The wealthiest people in the world probably donate more to charity than the rest of us combined, but are they giving in proportion to what they receive? My guess is no. Not long after the Colin Powell speech, I was preparing taxes for a low-income client, and elderly man living on a fixed income of no more than 12,000 a year. One of the standard questions that we have to ask everyone is "did you donate any money to charity in the last year?" This man replied "yes, but not much, no more than a couple thousand." Further probing revealed that he donated a set percentage of his income as tithing in church (as many churches request their parishioners to do). Several other people that I prepared taxes for (all living close to or below the poverty line) reported donating significant sums to their church as tithing.

I do not belong to any church, but this experience got me interested in the idea of tithing. The idea behind it, as I understand, is that members of a community (in this case,the congregation) all give according to their means for the good of the entire community. People often turn to their church when they need help on a electric bill or buying food for the week. The donations of parishioners who can afford to contribute help them to meet these needs.

The existence of so many micro communities that operate in this manner (many of which, but not all, are faith communities) puts a dent in our cultural belief as Americans that the free market will sort everything out and that all we need to do is look out for ourselves to get by. We need to be able to rely on other people when we cannot do everything ourselves. Some members of a congregation may benefit from charitable programs when their families experience financial crisis. Others may remain stable financially but will experience the support of that community through friendship in difficult emotional times. I think we need to expand this idea beyond the boundaries of a specific faith or a specific congregation and see ourselves as part of a community where we both give and receive.

Here is a simple practical step for those of you who, like me, are just out of college and getting into the working world. Pick a percentage of your take-home pay and set that amount aside every week to donate. Don't rush to spend it every week, but find organizations that you know will use it well. Go to your local food pantry or homeless shelter and find out what items they need, and then go out and spend your money on those supplies, that way you know your donation is directly helping their clients. If you volunteer, pay yourself the same hourly wage you make now and deduct that from what you donate. The idea is that we will hopefully become more financially comfortable as we get older so starting now will make giving away money less painful later. And, when you are making more money and own your own home, you can deduct the money you've donated from your taxable income. And what's better than giving less money to a government that doesn't always spend the way you'd like, and giving it instead to organizations that you feel make a difference?

It's the Great Pumpkin Harvest, Charlie Brown

Fall seems to be coming early in Oxford in a number of ways. First of all, it's been unseasonably cool, with the weather barely getting in the mid-80s for most of the month (last year, we had 20 days above 90 in August!). Secondly, in the last two days I've harvested most of the pumpkins and butternut squash from my garden, and went apple picking. These are both activities that I associate with September and October so I was surprised that the pumpkins were actually ripe, and that the apples that are in season (Paula Reds) are so tasty. I think I may be thrown off because the growing season is slightly longer here than in waaaay Upstate NY where I'm from.

I was a little disappointed in my "New England Pie Pumpkins." While I think a bigger pumpkin might not have made it in my little garden, and would have taken longer to ripen, the pie pumpkins didn't seem less stringy than regular pumpkins. On the other hand, they did produce a lot of pulp for such small pumpkins.



They seemed to be a bit dry (maybe still a bit under ripe, or dried out from the stove?) so once I roasted the pumpkin and scooped out the flesh, I pureed it with some water in the blender. Other pumpkins that I've used have enough juice that water isn't necessary, but adding the water didn't seem to hurt the quality of the puree. It's a bit strenuous, but it's really satisfying to eat pumpkin bread made with pumpkins from your backyard.




The bread above was made from a recipe I got from my mother, with a few health-conscious modifications:

Pumpkin Bread

Wet Ingredients
2 c pumpkin puree
3 c sugar (I lowered this to 2 1/4 and it still was sweet)
1 c water
1 c veg oil
4 eggs

Dry Ingredients

3 1/3 c flour (I use a least half whole wheat flour)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp cloves

Preheat oven to 350. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl, mix dry ingredients in another large bowl. Add dry to wet (wet bowl should be very large!) and pour into two oiled and floured bread pans. Bake for 60-70 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

I also found a recipe in Preserving Summer's Bounty that allows for more local ingredients to be used: just substitute 2 c honey for sugar, decrease water to 2/3 c and increase flour to 3 1/2 c.

Southwest Ohio is Doing its Best to Make Me Fat

I am one of those obnoxious people who are simply unable to gain weight. However, I was warned at my old job at a Community Action Agency, that "this place will make you fat." It certainly was impossible to avoid eating a lot, with lots of food events (birthdays, holidays, etc.) and over 20 co-workers who are amazingly talented cooks. My favorite foods were the more southern-style dishes which have crept into SW Ohio along with a slightly twangy accent. Mac and cheese, greens cooked with bacon and sweet potato crunch...mmm!

Lately I have been obsessed with Southern cooking which continually amazes me with its delicious flavors and innate ability to drain our household butter supply. As a health-conscious vegetarian for many years, I experimented with cooking iron-rich greens like kale and collards. It wasn't until I tried some greens at an office cook-in that I realized what those bitter-flavored veggies needed was a little meat! Actually, kale sauteed with garlic is pretty tasty, but for a different flavor I use Mr. Wiley's greens seasoning. I've also experimented with a mac and cheese recipe from the Food Network site, which I often modify to include veggies that are in season. Buttermilk biscuits are another favorite (I make the cream from our herdshare milk into butter and use the buttermilk from that, but you can also purchase buttermilk at the store.)

One of my favorite food experiences in Southwest Ohio is Waffle House. The restaurant that I can think to compare it to is Denny's, but it is oh so much cheaper and more delicious. Its a great meal to catch on the way back from the airport and an excellent destination after a night of drinking.

Me taking a picture of my favorite Waffle House meal: eggs with american cheese, hash browns and raisin toast with apple butter.

Garlic Scape Pesto

I've recently been discovering many delicious variations on standard basil pesto. Garlic Scape Pesto is a great way to use garlic scapes and can be easily frozen. This and similar recipes can be found all over the internet - this one comes from maryjanesfarm.org.

Garlic Scape Pesto

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp. fresh lime or lemon juice
1/4 lb. scapes
1/2-cup olive oil
Salt to taste

Puree scapes and olive oil in a food processor until smooth. Stir in Parmesan and lime or lemon juice and season to taste. Serve on bread, crackers or pasta.

I substituted Romano cheese for Parmesan and also added a few tablespoons of finely chopped fresh basil. Since I was making the pesto in a blender, not a food processor, I substituted some of the oil out for water, which makes the mixture easier to blend. I don't know yet how this will affect the frozen pesto, but it does use up less of your oil!

Busy, Busy

I've been terrible about posting because I've been too busy doing the things I said I was going to write about! It's June and HOT here in SW Ohio and I've been spending a lot of time in the last few weeks getting my garden all planted and cooking with all the new produce that's becoming available. I am hoping my garden comes through and provides us with some food, assuming the woodchucks and baby bunnies that live in our yard don't get to it first.

I've also started to look into some projects that have happened and are happening in the area to get fresh local food to food pantries. Everyone is feeling the pinch with rising prices this summer, and many people in Butler County were struggling to feed themselves and their families before prices started to rise. Last month ended my old job at the Community Action Agency and I'm now working on an organic farm. I'm hoping that this kind of project can keep me in touch with the type of work that I was doing before. I don't really know where things are going at this point, only that there are some people in the area working on these projects and I hope to find some way to get involved.

Some projects that I've been busy with around the house include making garlic scape pesto, putting saucers of cheap beer around the garden to drown slugs and breaking lots of jars trying to find an efficient way to pasteurize milk. Pasteurization is going better, and the plants seem to be winning over the slugs, although I am half expecting to find college kids slithering across the yard in search of beer. Expect pictures to come of the garden experiment in all it's glory!

Easiest Cheese Recipe EVER

I discovered this idea online maybe a year ago, but I don't remember what website it was from. It's really easy to make a spreadable yogurt cheese which you can eat with pita and a little olive oil (like Lebne, the Middle Eastern dish) or use as a substitute for cream cheese.

All you have to do is take your desired amount of yogurt (store bought or homemade) and strain it through a cheesecloth overnight in the refrigerator. Keep in mind you will end up with half or a little less cheese than the yogurt you put in.

If you want a Lebne-type cheese I recommend using yogurt that has a strong tangy flavor (your homemade yogurt gets tangier the longer you let it sit).


Or you can use a less strongly flavored yogurt and experiment with flavoring for a sweet spread.

It Does A Body Good

For those of you who don't know, I grew up in a county with twice as many cows as people, where the nearest town to my home boasts a 12 FOOT COW STATUE. My senior thesis in college was 112 pages of fascinating dairy farming trivia. Therefore, my new obsession with creating dairy products at home should come as a logical progression in my life.

I started with yogurt and have moved on to ice cream as well. My goal is to also make a little butter each week and eventually mozzarella cheese using the recipe from Animal Vegetable Miracle.

My partner and I get a gallon of milk a week from a herd share program. This is a legal loophole where we have technically bought a share in a cow and are therefore NOT illegally purchasing unpasteurized milk in the state of Ohio.

I do however pasteurize our milk at home. It took me a while to find a reliable source for pasteurization info because when you type "milk pasteurization" into Google you will mostly pull up message boards with comments about how pasteurization is an unnecessary gimmick and Louis Pasteur was Satan incarnate. Having spent nearly 24 hours in an emergency room as a result of drinking raw milk, I figure if The Man doesn't want me to get stomach viruses, that is fine with me. In all fairness, the milk I drank was not intended to be distributed raw, and the farm we now get our milk at appears very clean and sanitary. I just feel it's necessary to point out that while the risk with raw milk from a trusted producer may be minimal, it is a serious risk.

Stay tuned for more fascinating details of dairy production...