Grain amaranth is an attractive plant with tender, edible leaves when young. It grows between 4 and 8 feet with red/maroon leaves with seed heads yielding many tiny seeds.

Amaranth seed is high in protein (15-16%) and contains essential amino acids that are not frequently found in grains. Amaranth contains three times as much fiber and five times as much iron as wheat, as well as twice the calcium of milk. Using amaranth in combination with wheat, corn or brown rice results in a high quality complete protein. Amaranth also contains a form of vitamin E, which lowers cholesterol. Cooked amaranth is easily digested, and has traditionally been given to those recovering from an illness or ending a fasting period.

The seeds of amaranth produce seedlings that are tiny and somewhat fragile in comparison to crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans. Amaranth seedlings can easily be blocked from emergence by a thin crust on the soil formed after a rain. Select soils that are lower in clay, and manage the seedbed to minimize chance of crusting. The optimum time for planting, is early June, but it can be planted with little yield difference from the second week in May until mid-June. After mid-June, yields start to drop off.

Wait to harvest until about a week after the first hard frost, letting the frost completely kill the plant and make the crop drier for harvesting. Amaranth seeds may start to shatter and fall to the ground if the crop is left standing too long, after a frost has occurred.

Real Seeds has a detailed photo essay on how to process amaranth.

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/amaranthprocessing.html

Hope gardeners consider growing a few plants when they get some seeds at Seedy Saturday.

Immunity supporting foods

Swine flu fears have fuelled a demand for immunity boosting products in many countries, and it is likely we could see ingredients like various antioxidants, beta-glucans and botanicals such as elderberry marketed on this premise in 2010.

Even though companies cannot talk about the flu virus when talking about their ingredients or products, the current global fear over the swine flu pandemic will boost interest in all ingredients and products touting immune-support properties. But if you are into good old fashioned nutrition then just eat onions,  garlic and shitake mushrooms for their immunity supporting benefits.

Natural sweeteners – stevia, agave, maple syrup

Stevia from South America is a zero calorie natural sweetener not yet licensed in the UK but on trial in France. It can currently be used for medicinal use in the UK. European wide approval is on the horizon.

Stevia tastes up to 300 times sweeter than sugar without providing calories and as an alternative to sugar it could help with weight management. We will also see an increasing demand for other alternative sweeteners extracted from sources such as apple, agave and maple syrup. These natural, healthier sweeteners will become much more mainstream as sugar alternatives.

Food simplicity – “back to basics”

The downturn is making people nostalgic for simpler times, and simpler foods. In 2010 we will see more food simplicity driven by the demand for natural and clean-label foods.

Consumers are reaching out for cleaner foods free from chemicals and unnatural ingredients. They want to know what’s in their food and they want cleaner food labels:  no artificial food colorings (some of which have been linked to hyperactivity in children), no chemical additives (such as MSG) and no chemical preservatives (such as BHA).  If they can’t pronounce it, consumers won’t want it.

Eco nutrition and conscious nutrition

As we approach 2010 another big trend to watch out for is `eco nutrition’. Health conscious consumers will continue to grow in numbers but will increasingly question the link between food, diet and the environment and combine their passion for food and nutrition with conscious consumerism. They will not only regularly seek out nutritious food as part of their daily buying behaviours, but these products mustn’t exploit the environment or the communities from which they came.  

For example a consumer may be searching for high a quality organic dark chocolate because of the touted health benefits, however their purchasing decision will also be influenced by how and where the cocoa in the chocolate was sourced i.e. its provenance, how the workers were treated, whether those farming communities benefited if at all and how much C02 was produced.  The food industry will continue to step up in this respect by using more responsibly sourced ingredients from communities which are treated responsibly and by reducing carbon emissions etc. We will see conscious consumerism for healthy, sustainable food products becoming an increasingly mainstream behaviour.

Ancient grains – modern market rediscoveries make a comeback

We will see more ancient grains like amaranth, buckwheat, spelt, quinoa, chia, and rye in 2010. Whole grains have received so much attention in the nutrition world for their heart-healthy benefits and this popularity is opening up doors to lesser known ancient grains which have been around for much longer but people forgot them.

  .

The use of less processed ancient grains addresses the concern that today’s foods are over processed and consumers do want fresh, natural unprocessed foods. Ancient grains also provide a great alternative to the growing numbers of consumers who are wheat intolerant.

• Amaranth -  has a malty taste and can be popped like corn. The pre-Colombian Indians believed it had supernatural powers. Its certainly very nutritious.
• Chia – high in protein and fibre, the Aztecs called it “running food” and used it for nourishment on long trecks .  Mila, the best of chia will be launched into the UK in 2010          
• Buckwheat -  an excellent alternative to rice or porridge, and its flour has a mild flavour good for buckwheat pancakes
• Spelt – a nutty flavour and dates back before even wheat. It can be used in many of the same ways as wheat, it has a broader spectrum of nutrients and it is a great substitute
• Rye - a rich flavour and a favourite for making bread. Rich in manganese, fibre, selenium, tryptophan, phosphorus, magnesium and protein
• Quinoa – a Peruvian grain once considered the “gold of the Incas” because its high protein content which gave warriors stamina

Healthy indulgence – raw chocolate

Raw chocolate is one of the world’s fastest growing health foods and provides a concentrated source of antioxidants. We will see more raw chocolate products hitting the shelves in 2010 as consumers indulge themselves with cheap, healthy treats they can afford in order to keep their spirits high. Raw chocolate is a health food and a great alternative to cheap, mass produced, low cocoa content chocolate. It’s full of magnesium which is nature’s tranquiliser. 

Local butchers make a comeback

The re-emergence of the local butcher will be another major trend in 2010 for the high street as well as within supermarkets.  This is because shoppers are more conscious about where their meat comes from and are choosier about selecting the best, healthiest, leanest cuts and have it ground on demand.  The popularity of the local butcher is also fuelled by our desire to supporting local enterprises vs. supermarket giants.

Dora Walsh

Head Nutritionist

www.nutriheal.net

I know, I know, the posting has slowed down here.  But in my own defense, it is the holiday season and things are a bit crazy here.  I am busy baking, but no new recipes yet.  However, I have tweaked a few of my older ones, so it might be worth a look if you’re planning on trying any of them this holiday season.

However, I did recently try this nifty little recipe for Gingerbread cookies.  I used to make the BEST gingerbread cookies (Cook’s magazine has the gold standard – if you eat butter, gluten, and sugar you simply must try their recipe).  Unfortunately, I can no longer eat them.  But, there’s no reason to give up; all is not lost, I am sure.

Since I don’t have a whole lot of time to experiment lately, I searched online for a recipe that I thought might work.  And I found one at The Vegan Chef.  The link to the webpage is on the sidebar to your right. 

The flour mixture that this recipe uses is bang on.  It provides plenty of mouth-feel/texture, which I like, but doesn’t end up being overly grain-y or nutty.  It’s a perfect complement to the strong flavours of the cookie.

Since it is the holiday season, and I only make gingerbread for the holidays, I decided not to play around with the sugars in this recipe.  It calls for sucanat and molasses.

The sucanat is great, because it adds to the depth of flavour of the cookies.  It also helps to hold the cookie together, and make it puff up.  There’s only 1 1/2 cups of sucanat to 5 cups of flour, so, really, it’s not that terrible for you, once a year.

It is difficult to omit the molasses from gingerbread cookies.  Molasses is the key to depth of flavour and complexity.  There’s really not a lot of it in this recipe (only 1/3 cup).  There probably are ways to omit this, but it’s such a small amount that I wouldn’t recommend it.  And don’t, for the love of (whoever you want), use blackstrap molasses!  I made that mistake on another recipe earlier this year.  Blackstrap is very bitter, and basically useless for baking.  Use Fancy Molasses.  Save yourself the heartache and learn from my mistakes.

One way I find that these cookies are a little bit lacking is in the ginger department.  Adding a couple of teaspoons of freshly grated ginger should fix that right up!  You can also used freshly grated nutmeg, if you have it on hand.  I would recommend keeping the proportions the same, though.

When I make these next year, I will likely play around a bit with the flavours, as my goal will be to replicate the cookies that I made with the Cook’s Magazine recipe.

The cookies do seem to dry out rather quickly.  I know this is often a problem with gluten-free cookies.  My best advice is to keep them in the freezer, and simply take out as many as you think you might need each morning.  They don’t take long to thaw – the lack of dairy really helps in this regard.

Without further ado, here is the recipe from The Vegan Chef -

2 cups brown rice flour

1 1/2 cups arrowroot flour, plus extra for rolling out cookies

1 1/2 cups amaranth flour

2 tblsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tblsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 1/2 cups Sucanat, or brown sugar if you prefer

1/2 cup applesauce

1/3 cup safflower oil (Canola is fine, too)

1/3 cup molasses

2 tblsp vanilla

In a small bowl, stir together the brown rice flour, arrowroot, amaranth flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and cloves.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, place the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well to combine.

Cover the bowl, place in the refrigerator, and chill for 1 hour or more.

Oil cookie sheets (2 or more) and set aside.

Sprinkle a little arrowroot over a work surface (instead of the arrowroot, I worked on wax paper, and changed the paper after every second batch.  Parchment paper would work equally well, if not better. It’s a bit easier this way).

Divide the chilled dough into quarters.  Work with only one quarter of dough at a time.  Keep the remaining dough covered and chilled (this is an extremely important point; the warmer the dough becomes, the stickier and more difficult it is to work with – keep it cold!)

Working in batches, roll out the quarter of dough to 1/4 – 1/2 inch thickness.  (I find that 1/2 – 3/4 inch is better, especially if you intend to ice the cookies).  Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.

Carefully (very carefully – it`s easier to do if the dough is a bit on the thick side), transfer the cut cookies to the prepared cookie sheet. 

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 6 minutes.  The cookies will feel slightly soft to the touch when you remove them from the oven.  Allow the cookies to cool on racks for 3 minutes before you remove them from the cookie sheets (all baked goods continue to bake as long as they are left in their pan or on their tray).  After 3 minutes, remove from tray and place on rack directly to cool.

Repeat until all the dough is finished.

I am having my niece over on the weekend, and she is going to help me decorate the cookies.  I will be sure to take a photo of them for the blog!!

P.S. – it`s now possible to subscribe to this blog – visit the sidebar on the right to do so!

Hi All!  Ever since I had the amaranth pancakes at the now-defunct Vella Cafe in Bucktown, Chicago, I’d been meaning to attempt a version of my own.  Here’s what I came up with this morning.  They’re fairly simple, but with a distinct nuttiness, and a depth of flavor that run-of-the-mill flapjacks usually lack.  Plus, amaranth not only sounds cool (I think its up there with coelacanth), it’s pretty good for you!

This recipe serves 2 people, so if you’re planning on feeding any more than that, I’d at least double it!

A note about the amaranth flour:  I made my own, running amaranth through a flour mill a few times, but you can also find it at just about any specialty grocer.

The Ingredients:

A varietal of amaranth in its native habitat. Native to the Americas, it is now cultivated in Europe and Asia as well.

Wet:

1 cup whole milk

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon buckwheat honey (any variety of honey is fine)

1/4 Teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon oil (canola, walnut, etc.)

Dry:

1/2 Cup all purpose white flour

1/2 Cup amaranth flour

2 Teaspoons baking powder

A pinch of salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon allspice (depending on taste)

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

A pinch of nutmeg

The Method:

Combine all of the wet ingredients together and whisk in a mixing bowl to fully combine.  Do likewise with the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix just enough to get all the clumps out.  If you over-mix pancake batter the pancakes will get tough!  Let sit for 5 minutes or so while you heat up your pan or griddle.

Oil the griddle (extremely lightly!) and when hot start frying the pancakes.  Adjust the heat as necessary and continue until all the pancakes are done.  I know I mentioned this before, but this recipe makes only 6 or so, so double it if you’re feeding more than two people!

Cindy D from NIHM Farm, south of Powell River brought a big bag of ungleaned Amaranth to the recent 2009 pilot project meeting.

I have never grown Amaranth.
Will need to research how to grow and harvest the plant and save the seed. This has inspired me to make a series of posts in 2010, describing a little about saving vegetable/grain seeds from A(maranth………to Z(ucchini).

Invite you to share both your experiences and questions about the same vegetables, as the blog posts roll along.

Another source of seed-saving inspiration was the 15 gardeners who showed up at the meeting to process approximately 500 envelopes of locally grown seed.

Most of these envelopes have been stamped, with Seed Saving Project. That way, when you show up at Seedy Saturday on March 13th, you’ll be able to identify seeds grown for the Project by dedicated growers. That isn’t to say, that all these seed will necessarily grow well but it’s a start in that direction. Everyone involved, is committed to local sustainability and making personal efforts towards that end.

The Powell River Farmers’ Insitute has 1000 more envelopes but chances are: another 500 envelopes might get saved at the upcoming Kale Force seed packing bee on January 13th. Off to order more envelopes!

Sorry I’m late everyone. Morning shots of Jagermeister with the Duke and Duchess of York. You know how it goes. And let me tell you… those two throw down. Not at Ed Honcho levels, of course (which explains my coherence and their late-afternoon pass-out), but they hover around Mad Adam levels, for sure. So let’s see how the queue looks today… aggressive, disheveled, haughty, worse for wear… yup, that’s my queue!

Q: Let’s talk concussions. It’s pretty clear the NFL has reacted to the heat it’s been taking by mandating a one game layoff for anyone who suffers one. Are they overreacting?

- Sherwood Dobbins, Swampscott, Massachusetts

A: Of course they are, but what did you expect? Overreacting is part of the American psyche’, along with overconfidence, superiority, abbreviation, and the use of “fixin’ to”. Sure,  it’s roots lie in the polarizing opinions of our two most popular political parties, but it extends to the country at large (which, of course, accounts for the popularity of the two political parties). And it’s this penchant for 180 degree turns, championed by public opinion and a few, key supporters, that leads to things like tort reform, or healthcare reform, or George Bush Jr… basically, a one-way-or-the-other approach that most often leaves at least half the population unhappy. Moderation is a chord not often struck.

Now, I’m not trying to diminish the effects of concussions. Far from it. I think there should be a series of tests that one must pass to be able to play. But to mandate at least a week off? Doesn’t fit. Roethlisberger could have played this week, but he was clearly shut down by the league. And for a key division game that Pittsburgh lost. So my worry is this… what happens when Drew Brees, or Brett Favre gets a minor concussion (and yes, there are minor concussions… I’ve been working with them my whole life… which actually might explain a few things) the week before they square off for the NFC Championship Game? Does the league make an exception? How does Pittsburgh feel about this? And what if the league doesn’t make an exception? Clearly, without Brees, the Saints would probably lose, and the same could be said for the Vikings without Favre. And if they could have played? If they wanted to play? Controversy beckons.

Q: You gave a Honcho Award to a fire hydrant? I’ve got your inanimate object right here.

- Rudolph DaSilva, Amaranth, Delaware

A: Are you referring to your penis? Cuz, I don’t know, usually when someone says “I’ve got your ______ right here”, they’re referring to their penis, and in this case, Rudolph, I think you made a bad decision. Boasting about the lifelessness of your sex organ seems like a funny way to insult me, that’s all. So be aware, women (or men) of Amaranth, Delaware… Rudolph DaSilva has a lifeless penis.

Q: Love your writing. What do you think about the new Nike Combat Unis?

- Dinah Mallory, Houma, Louisiana

A: Ah, flattery. I am, in fact, quite vulnerable to it. Here at Ed Honcho HQ, I have an intern whose sole job is to fawn over my every word. Smithers, I call him, and his job description calls for him to use one of “exquisite, transcendent, ethereal, awesome, prodigous, eminent, illustrious, celebrated, notable, magnanimous, unmatched, divine, inspirational and uplifting” every seven minutes in describing me or my work. Does wonders for the confidence. As to your question… what was it again? (Smithers: “Inspirational, sir.”)

Q: So what do you think of Sepp Blatter’s 6+5 rule?

- Darwin Priskers, Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland

A: So how are the Buffs faring lately? I ask only because I find it challenging to imagine a more oxymoronic name for a prosperous football club. Unless, of course, it’s to be read (we)Kil(while)winning. Then I would certainly not want to mess with your lot.

As for the 6+5 rule… for those of you not familiar with it, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has proposed that all domestic clubs be required to start every match with at least 6 players that would qualify for the national team of that club’s home country. So, for instance, a club team in England, like Chelsea, must have at least 6 players starting a match for them that could play for the English National squad.

I feel like this rule is directed squarely at England. It would  probably improve the English National squad, but this wouldn’t be the case for most countries. The French team wouldn’t want their players forced to compete in their less-than-stellar domestic league. Same goes for the Dutch. The German, Spanish and Italian teams wouldn’t notice much of a difference, as most clubs from those countries already start at least 6 players eligible for the national side (moreso Spain and Italy than Germany). But there would be a sea change in England. As it stands, maybe 3 teams start enough players to qualify, and none of the Champion’s League teams. So what this would inevitably lead to is the cherry-picking of the best English talent by the teams in the Champion’s League spots (Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea) from the teams chasing the top pack (Aston Villa, Everton, Tottenham, Sunderland, Manchester City), rendering the gap between the top 4 and the rest of the league even wider, as those teams (particularly Aston Villa, Sunderland and Tottenham) do rely heavily on English talent. In essence, it would punish the teams that have been trying to do things the “right way” (at least according to Blatter), and reward, once again, the elite teams of English football. At least, that’s what I think.

Q: Isn’t it a little presumptious to think that anyone would care about a Honcho Award? I mean, do any of these people even know who you are?

- Wade Childers, Urbana, Illinois

A: What?! Do they know who I am? Really? Do they know who I am? I’m Ed Honcho! Of course they know who I am! And the Honcho Award already carries the cachet, and gravitas of an Oscar, or at the very least a Nobel Prize. Just listen to some of these testimonials:

• Vincent Steven Young has accepted your friend request.
• Thanks for your recognition of our accomplishments. Please accept this gift certificate good for 5% off a purchase of more than $500 at Lowe’s. Yours, The Jimmie Johnson team.
• We appreciate your interest in Real Salt Lake. When the dust settles and the MLS Cup is awarded, celebrate the new champion with the official Adidas MLS Cup 2009 T-Shirt!
• A Honcho! For real! There’s simply no way for me to appropriately express my gratitude, other than this… there’s no other honor I’d rather receive. Thank you. The Fire Hydrant.

So what do you think now, Mr. Childers, huh? And that’s just the first four in my inbox. Say what you will, but everyone… everyone… knows Ed Honcho. You know what, I don’t have to put up with this. This mailbag’s over, yo.

What better way to start out the day than with a little green?
We all know that I love my green polishes, but today’s franken is a bit more on the tame side. And the bonus is, that it’s pretty darn easy to make!

I used New York Summer Amaranth (please ignore the sad state of the bottle…it had a bit of an accident when I was moving) and OPI Dazzle Me.

I added 1/2 each into an empty bottle, added a few ballz, and shook.

I used 3 very thin coats, and it still had a bit of sheerness to it. Usually VNL’s (visible nail lines) bother the hell outta me, but I didn’t mind it so much with this one.

The perky green is a lovely eye-catching color, while the shimmer really softens it up!
I’ve been working on some really cool new polishes, as well as some holiday ones. They will be up very soon, and as always, feel free to email me any requests. Thanks for stopping by!

Grains are loaded with fiber and nutrients, such as selenium, potassium and magnesium.  High-fiber foods help you feel full longer and slow the body’s absorption of sugars which can help stabilize blood sugar levels.  High-fiber diets have also been linked to cardiovascular health.

Add grains to your diet by choosing whole grain pastas, breads and cereals.  Or, try one of these as a side dish or salad:  amaranth, barley, bulgar, buckwheat, kamut, quinoa, wheat berries, and brown and wild rice.  Find grains in the natural foods section of your market.

More reports of ill health and increased stress levels coming from Amaranth and Melancthon in Ontario (near Orangeville, north and west of Toronto).

What is it going to take for someone to come along and study these people?

From a recent edition of The Orangeville Banner:

“I think when you look at people and the chronologies they’ve put together in terms of when they’re being affected by the noise … the physical evidence is there. I don’t doubt them, don’t doubt them for a minute,” Amaranth Mayor Don MacIver says of health complaints from some of the turbine’s neighbours.

MacIver is an atmospheric scientist with Environment Canada — he does not speak on behalf of his employer — and recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize for his participation in the team of scientists who contributed to the climate change documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

“There’s no direct linkage in terms of ‘all the turbines are turning at full power and therefore they get the maximum exposure.’ … It’s so intermittent, that it’s driving them nuts,” the mayor says. “It’s not as if it’s a continuous hum from a refrigerator and you get used to it, or a water pump. It’s intermittent spiking that is causing them tremendous disruption in their lives and their sleep patterns.”

Amaranth is home to 22 industrial wind turbines — part of Canadian Hydro Development’s (CHD) Melancthon EcoPower Centre, which has 133 turbines in all. The rest are in Melancthon.

…

To join the North Gower Wind Action Group, get in touch with them directly at chubbsworth@yahoo.com, by fax at 613-489-3868, or by mail at PO Box 485, North Gower ON K0A 2T0

Why grow amaranth? I had several related reasons. First, amaranth bread rocks my world. It’s spongy and light, but somehow really satisfying, too. Second, the seeds have a high protein content and no gluten, which is probably why I like the bread so much. Third, it’s a seed crop. I wanted to try out the process of threshing and winnowing at a very small scale. You can also harvest the young leaves, which I did in late July for salads and sandwiches. The raw leaves tasted sweet and mild, though maybe a little hairier than I like my greens. That’s ok. They became available when lettuce and arugula had bolted, so I ate them up happily. So, two harvests off one plant? Yes, please.

Another reason amaranth interested me was I had read it was hardy and easy to grow. I read that the word amaranth is derived from the Greek word amarantos, meaning ‘the one that does not wither.’ Amaranthaceae can refer to a family of plants also known as the goosefoot, Chenapodiaceae, or pigweed family. (I don’t think those terms are synonymous but they’re all closely related). In this family are crops like beets, chard, and spinach as well as weeds like lambs quarter and pigweed. If you’ve weeded vegetables in an Oregon summer, you’ve likely encountered the pigweed and the lambs quarter. These two somehow stay green and vigorous in the heat of July and August, when the sun dries down other feral plants, then they make lots and lots of seed.  You can eat pigweed and lambs quarter leaves, though the quality hardly compares to the amaranth leaves I grew on purpose. As mentioned previously, I had trouble maintaining a moist seedbed for my amaranth seedlings due to the heat. After the first month, the plants were mature enough to find the water deep in the soil and grew vigorously. They did not get inputs of water. They did not wither.

I want to see whether amaranth can be grown as a salad-like/grain-like super plant that can thrive in the city and produce nutrient-dense calories without fancy, scarce inputs. One of my main motivations to grow food in the city is to identify small scale methods of feeding people in Portland year round while economizing on scarce inputs like land, water, or nitrogen. I want to find those ways to economize now so we can trouble-shoot over iterations and get to a place that’s synched up with the patterns in our maritime climate. One thing I have enough of, at least right now, is time. I don’t have kids or a crazy stressful schedule. So I have time to watch how the amaranth dries down in my basement, time to figure out how to separate the seed from the chaff with the materials I have available. I want to really get back to the craft of domestic vegetable production. My view is this set of skills will serve us all well once the oil prices go back up and the economy really tanks.

To sum up, amaranth appealed to me because it’s a high-protein, high-yield, drought-tolerant, dual-purpose crop with the potential to produce lots of food. For the home garden, amaranth’s good for following spring greens like lettuce or arugula. It a different plant family, which is good for crop rotation, and likes the summertime heat that causes spring greens to bolt.

And it’s pretty.

Amaranth getting tall, producing seedheads. Photo from Wild Garden Seed

Back in July, I planted maybe 10 square feet of amaranth at my old garden. It’s my first attempt to grow something grain-like. The seed I used? A mix of four varieties from Wild Garden Seed. It was challenging to establish the amaranth. Because I gave amaranth the sunniest spot, the seedbed dried out quickly. It took three tries over as many weeks to get even germination across the plot. I watered and thinned for a month, struggling to keep the seedlings alive. In August, when most plants had four to six true leaves, I moved out. I haven’t done anything for that amaranth plot since.

Curious to see if there was anything to harvest, I visited the garden last Wednesday, expecting to see a stand of sad, neglected amaranth plants. Surprisingly, the stand seemed fine – very alive, many plants over six feet tall, with vibrant hues of burgundy leaves. A few of the seed heads on the larger plants were dried down but most were not.

Knowing weeklong storm was in the forecast, I decided to harvest and let the plants dry down at home. I yanked the plants out by the roots, lay them in a pile where the roots all pointed the same way (what’s the word for that?), and wrapped that pile in bungie cord-secured plastic. How to get home? I could have rented a truck or something, but I’m too cheap. So I walked the twenty-odd blocks back to my new house with an eight foot long amaranth-plastic roll balanced on my bicycle.

Once home, I unrolled the amaranth on the porch. Seeds and chaff fell out of the drier seed heads and accumulated on the plastic as I used twine to bunch the plants so I could hang them in the basement to dry. I settled on 3-4 plants a bunch, depending on size. It didn’t occur to me right away to cut off the roots, but I would say that’s the thing to do since the dirt clinging to the roots will mix with the falling seed. I guess another way would be to lay the plants flat but I don’t feel I have the room.

I re-wrapped the bunched amaranth and moved it from the porch downstairs to the basement. With the plastic spread out beneath a window (for ventilation), I hung the bunches from pipes and beams. It took up maybe 15 square feet.

I’m not sure what to expect next, but here are some pictures:

http://www.wildgardenseed.com/images/PolishAmaranth.jpg

Happy weekend!  Sorry if the post title throws you off a little bit.  There’s no cans.  I just felt like throwing in a little Beck, for no apparent reason!

The last few days have been busy, which is fabulous for me.  I’ve been going to swim practices and doing a lot of networking.  The job situation still sucks, but I’m feeling more and more positive.  I secretly think I should just open a bakery.  What do you guys think?

Anyway, a while ago the amazing people over at Divine Foods sent me such a generous package full of their Boomi Bars and Prana Bars.  Divine Foods is a family owned company, that sells health bars, and is based in California.  Their bars are completely free of preservatives, additives and artificial sweeteners, which I love!  Their bars are raw, organic, gluten free, soy free and vegan!

I decided to try a Boomi Bar first, for an afternoon snack.  Here’s what was in it:

Cashews, Apricots, Honey, Dates, Crisp Rice, Amaranth, Apple, Natural Apricot Flavor, Salt.

Not too shabby, huh?  I’ve never had anything with amaranth before and didn’t really notice it one way or the other, which is probably not a terrible thing.  Amaranth is high in protein, fiber, calcium, iron, potassium and Vitamins A and C.

I loved the flavor, but only ate half in one serving.  At 190 calories, that’s a lot for a small afternoon snack but it was a delicious snack.  I also tried the maple pecan, which tasted like fall to me (as cheesy as that sounds!).  These are great for a more filling snack.

I can’t wait to try the other flavors, I’m thinking Pistachio Pineapple next!

I also tried one of the Prana bars on the long ride down to Pittsburgh.  By long I mean an hour and a half.  I’m such a baby.

This had:

Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Agave Nectar,Organic Date Paste, Organic Almond Butter, Organic Dried Apricots, Organic Puffed Amaranth, Sea Salt

The prana bar was unlike any other bar I’ve ever had.  It was surprisingly filling for a bar, and I loved all of the real, fresh pumpkin seeds sprinkled on the top.  The flavor combos were surprisingly good too!  They are a little high in fat, but filling, so I’m not overly concerned!

Thank you again Divine Foods for your generosity.  I really like these bars, and am looking forward to trying them all!

I’m heading out today to a friend’s house for the Penn State/OSU game.  I know NOTHING about football, so this should be interesting.  Tonight we are going to a play at the school, and then tomorrow we are relaxing ALL DAY!!!

Wait, did you think I forgot?  Nope, the winner of the Blender Bottle (chosen by Random.org) is

Julie from Savvy Eats!

Congrats!  Send me an email with your address and I’ll get it out to you this week

Also, Julie is hosting Blogger Secret Ingredient.  The ingredient this week is maple syrup!  Head over there and enter a recipe.  I need to do that myself, eek!

Don’t forget to stay tuned, I have at least 2 more giveaways in the works!  So excited!

What are you up to this weekend?

What’s your favorite kind of bar?

Don’t forget to click here to do a chocolate-covered good deed!

Davichi é uma dupla de KPop formada em 2008, composto por  Lee Hae-ri [이해리] e Kang Min-Kyung [강민경].

Com vozes potentes [que lembram muito certa cantora italiana] e ritmo dançante, essas garotas dominam as boates sul-coreanas!

~DISCOGRAFIA~

[OST] My Fair Laidy [아가씨를 부탁해]

Lançamento: 19 de Agosto de 2009 | Tamanho do arquivo:

TRACKLIST:

1. Hot Stuff

DOWNLOAD AQUI!

[Mini-Álbum] Davichi in Wonderland

Lançamento: 27 de Fevereiro de 2009 | Tamanho do arquivo:

TRACKLIST:

1. 8282

2. 사고쳤어요

3. My Man

4. 사랑이 우습니

5. 오르골

6. Crazy Woman – Seeya [김연지], 다비치 [이해리], 이정민

DOWNLOAD AQUI!

[DIGITAL SINGLE] Happy Together [Park Ji Heon & Kang Min-Kyung]

Lançamento: 27 de Novembro de 2011 | Tamanho do arquivo:

TRACKLIST:

1. Happy Together

2. Happy Together [inst.]

DOWNLOAD AQUI!

[DIGITAL SINGLE] Go to the Hospital [병원에 가다]

Lançamento: 17 de Outubro de 2008 | Tamanho do arquivo:

TRACKLIST:

1. 병원에 가다 [이별..]

DOWNLOAD AQUI!

[OST] East of Eden

Lançamento: 27 de Agosto de 2009 | Tamanho do arquivo:

TRACKLIST:

2. Crazy Woman [김연지, 이해리, 이정민]

4. 홍두Ⅰ[이해리]

6. 물병 [다비치]

DOWNLOAD AQUI!

[ALBUM] Volume 1.5 – Vivid Summer Edition [Amaranth Reckpage]

Lançamento: 02 de Julho de 2008 | Tamanho do arquivo:

TRACKLIST:

1. 물병

2. 사랑과 전쟁 [Narr. 하하]

3. 슬픈 다짐 [Remix]

4. 외사랑

5. 미워도 사랑하니까

6. 별이 빛나는 밤

7. 나쁘고 아픈 나

8. 그런거니

9. 립스틱 짙게 바르고

10. 슬픈 사랑의 노래

11. 겨우겨우

12. 이별의 반대 말

13. 슬픈 다짐 [Original]

DOWNLOAD AQUI!

[DIGITAL SINGLE] COLOR PINK [Black Pearl, Davichi & SeeYa]

Lançamento: 29 de Maio de 2008 | Tamanho do arquivo:

TRACKLIST:

1. Blue Moon

2. Blue Moon [inst.]

DOWNLOAD AQUI!

[ALBUM] Volume 1 – Amaranth [1집 미워도 사랑하니까]

Lançamento: 28 de Janeiro de 2008 | Tamanho do arquivo:

TRACKLIST:

1. 미워도 사랑하니까

2. 립스틱 짙게 바르고

3. 나쁘고 아픈 나

4. 슬픈 다짐

5. 외사랑

6. 슬픈 사랑의 노래

7. 별이 빛나는 밤

8. 그런거니

9. 겨우 겨우

10. 이별의 반대 말

DOWNLOAD AQUI!

Se eu colocasse as capas, a página ficaria pesada, então pus apenas as informações necessários, pois, dentro de cada arquivo .rar, existe uma imagem da capa.

AVISO: os arquivos com [OST] na frente contêm apenas as músicas cantadas pelo Davichi.

Caso haja links quebrados, arquivos corrompidos, falta de algum single ou se você simplesmente é uma pessoa educada e agradecida, deixe um comentário… Porque comentários são amor!

CREDITS: Nazakawa Sadako @ WordPress

NÃO RETIRAR SEM OS DEVIDOS CRÉDITOS!

Hello Cancun! So far our adventure has been going great. Thanks to Robin’s lucky green shirt, we got through customs without hassle – We got the green light! I was really happy about it because I didn’t know how much of the food I had brought would make it over, even though I declared it. In the end, I was able to bring organic red quinoa, brown rice pasta, Ryvita sesame rye crackers, natural almonds, organic cocoa powder, organic raisins, dates, foodbars and larabars. I wish I could have brought hemp hearts and nut butters but those are no-nos. Had I known that I can’t get just straight up salt here, I would have brought my iodized sea salt.

You would think that after getting to Cancun, I would head for the beach. But you all know where I went =P. I visited Chedraui, Wal-Mart, and Soriana. Wal-Mart has a nice big selection of produce, Chedraui is okay from the one I saw, and Soriana has a good produce section too but also has some organic and whole-grain products. I also visited the Costco and it has a nice selection of food too. The beach will come – I gotta feed myself first, right? =P

Alright! Onto the stuff I wasn’t able to find so far, after visiting about 5 supermarkets (I haven’t gone to any farmers markets yet, will soon)! No luck with dill weed or natural peanut butter, but it’s not like it’s hard to find unroasted and unsalted nuts. I’m sad to see that there doesn’t seem to be such a thing as canned beans – That haven’t been refried, heavily processed and loaded with all kinds of ingredients. So I have to stick with dry beans, which are plentiful. I’ll probably stick with lentils mostly since they cook fast. Rice? Sad to say, but most of it is white. I was ecstatic when I found some brown rice (organic too) – It’s the stuff that takes 45 minutes to cook, but honestly it’s the best rice I’ve eaten so far. I didn’t spend lots of time looking, but wasn’t able to find any unsalted tomato sauce.

Robin found some non-gmo corn chips that are made with partially whole grain corn, calcium hydroxide, tocopherol,and a pinch of sea salt, oven baked. The company is Sanissimo. So far they’re the best chips we’ve seen. We also found some salsa without anything ”bad” in it, but all they had to warn people of it’s extreme spiciness was a picture of a green chili, with a mark half way up it. Hot!

Okay, onto the grains! For oats, all I’ve found is the same one thing – Thick rolled oats (and I have to say, they smell and taste a bit different from those back home). Besides wheat and oats, that’s pretty much it… plus amaranth! Yes, amaranth is native to this part, and I was able to find some puffed amaranth. I’m sure I’ll be able to find whole uncooked grains of it too. Extra virgin olive oil is easy to come by too. For being a country that’s known for its cocoa, I haven’t found any yet.

Now, what about the prices? Oh my garlic! I thought bananas were pretty cheap at 9 cents each until I saw a banana sale at 2.70 Pesos / Kg. That’s about 10 cents / lb by our standards. Lots of things are very cheap compared to what we’re used to, and some stuff is about the same as home. Here’s a small list of prices I saw that I converted into Canadian dollars (12 Pesos = 1 Canadian dollar):
1 kg rolled oats: 1.40$
250ml extra virgin olive oil glass jar: 3.04$
500g dry chickpeas: 1.08$
little 5g packet of cinnamon: .25$
3kg frozen mango chunks: 9.80$
1.3kg natural walnuts: 14$
750g organic brown rice: 1.27$
250g organic shredded coconut: 2.42$
plastic tub pack of crimini mushrooms: 1.25$
250g baked non gmo corn tortillas: 1.79$
1 avocado: .19$

So now I have one (school-sized) backpack and one lunch/grocery bag of food to carry around with me. I’ve been eating pretty simple since I got here, mostly oatmeal (rolled oats, cinnamon, raisins) for breakfast after having a fruit, avocado banana chocolate pudding, frozen mango (since they aren’t in season anymore – I’m very sad about it), chickpeas or brown rice with green lentils and onions & garlic, nuts / granola bars, and rice pasta with tomato sauce, broccoli and crimini mushrooms.

My tropical granola bars (rolled oats, banana, mango, coconut, walnuts).

This is an editorial from the Orangeville Citizen, dated October 8th of this year, which is pretty balanced in our view. Remember, these are the people who are at “ground zero” for the Shelburne/Melancthon/Amaranth developments, where a number of people are reporting poor health as a result of exposure to wind turbines, and where some families have been bought out.

Here’s the editorial.

Wind energy remains merely part of the solution
THE MIND BOGGLES at the prospect of building a single wind power project in Lake Erie that’s more than 30 times the 132- megawatt capacity of the Melancthon Wind Farm, currently Ontario’s largest such project. Yet that’s what the Dufferin project’s owner, Canadian Hydro Developers Inc., now plans to accomplish.

Canada’s largest independent developer of wind-energy projects is acquiring rights to the 4,400-megawatt “offshore wind prospect” from Utah-based Wasatch Wind Inc. The nearly 900 wind turbines to be erected in the shallowest of the Great Lakes would produce enough power at peak to meet the current needs of about 2 million homes.

Although the prospect might be welcome news at Queen’s Park, where the governing Liberals have been pushing hard to have more wind farms built in the province, it raises some serious questions as to how best to meet Ontario’s long-term electricity needs.

At present, the provincial government stands committed to phase out all coal-fired power production within the next five years and at present has no plan to invest in any new nuclear power plants. And it will be at least 2014 before the first stage of the Lake Erie project would be on stream.

Although it’s clearly a “green” form of energy production, wind power has serious drawbacks in the area of predictability.

Historically, predictability was a problem for Ontario only when it came to predicting long-term needs. A failure to predict the surge in power demands after the Second World War led to a severe power shortage, and in the 1970s the failure of demand to meet expectations led to just as serious an over-supply of generating capacity and the need to cancel some projects and slow the construction of others.

With wind power, the real problem is the inability to predict a project’s output beyond a few days because of the vagaries of meteorology. And even the largest wind project will produce little or no power on a hot, humid day when the demand for electricity peaks but there’s nothing more than a slight breeze.

In the circumstances, there should be no doubt that Ontario’s long-term power needs should be met by a sophisticated combination of base-load and peaking generators.

As we see it, any viable plan should include at least two new nuclear projects, conversion of the remaining coalfired plants to use natural gas, and the strengthening of inter-provincial grids to permit large-scale imports of power produced in Manitoba, Quebec and Labrador.

Instead of carrying out its plan to close the 4,000-megawatt Nanticoke Generating Station on Like Erie, the McGuinty government ought to set in motion the progressive conversion of its eight units to natural gas.

Although a few years ago such a conversion would not have made much sense economically, natural gas being so expensive and supplies being deemed so limited, that situation has changed dramatically with the discovery of huge untapped resources in shale deposits, not to mention the proven deposits in the Canadian Arctic.

And it just so happens that a lot of natural gas can be stored naturally in the Lake Erie basin.

Since the Hydro One transmission grid already provides for 4,000 megawatts of output from Nanticoke, it would seem fairly logical that the combination of the Lake Erie wind farm and conversion of Nanticoke to gas would leave the province with a new type of base-load capacity that would shift from wind to natural gas depending on the wind velocity.

The argument for two new nuclear plants would be based in part on the economic benefits to Canada of being able to prove anew the superiority of Candu technology in terms of safety as well as reliability.

However, any twinning of the 3,600- megawatt Darlington nuclear plant and addition of a new-generation Candu plant at the Bruce Generating Station would clearly require a risk-sharing agreement between the federal and provincial governments similar to those involved in the pioneering Douglas Point and Pickering A stations. (Such agreements would limit consumers’ exposure to cost overruns and poor performance.)

As for the interprovincial transmission grids, there should be little doubt that over the long haul the best means of keeping Ontario’s retail electricity prices competitive with those of other jurisdictions would lie in long-term contracts for power from new hydroelectric projects in Labrador and Northern Manitoba. But the challenge will be to get that power to Ontario consumers safely and economically through use of the latest transmission technology.

Of course, the one big unknown is the future level of demand for electricity, given the uncertainty relating to the provincial economy and the conflicting impacts of power-saving technologies and breakthroughs in battery technology that would confirm the future of electric vehicles.

Clearly, wind and solar will have a role to play, but both have their limits.

E adesso tocca a un altro dei miei gruppi preferiti. Loro vengono direttamente dalla fredda Finlandia. Questa canzone è il secondo singolo tratto dall’album Dark Passion Play, del 2007. In questa canzone è già presente la nuova cantante del gruppo, Anette Olzon.
Sto parlando dei Nightwish, e la prossima canzone si intitola Amaranth!
Siete su RadioBlog 235 (e intanto io gioco ancora un po’ a puzzle bubble )

El mes pasado, el plantío de amaranto de la localidad indígena Zapoteca de Mazaltepec, comenzó a crecer más alto que sus habitantes – ¡estaba claro que era hora de la recolección! Mientras que muchas de las comunidades de Puente se sitúan en altas regiones montañosas de Oaxaca, Mazaltepec está en el Valle Central, lo que significa que el clima es más calido y el período de desarrollo para que el amaranto crezca, es más corto.

Éste es el primer año que Puente ha trabajado con la comunidad de Mazaltepec, y trece agricultores decidieron cultivar un acre en el terreno de la entidad, adonde aprenderían las técnicas básicas para plantar el amaranto en equipo. Desde marzo de este año, los agricultores han aprendido a hacer fertilizantes orgánicos y a plantar amaranto de una manera sostenible, a través de los siete talleres agrícolas de Puente donde se puede ser partícipe.

El día de la recolección fue un acontecimiento alegre. Los agricultores participantes llevaron a sus familias a las parcelas demostrativas de la comunidad, para ayudar con la labor y gozar del fruto de una cosecha exitosa. En las parcelas demostrativas se cosecharon cerca de 500 kilos de amaranto – suficiente para alimentar por entero a todas sus familias durante un año, y para almacenar suficiente germen y trasplantarlo la próxima estación. De hecho, los agricultores están muy entusiasmados por la manera en que se efectuó la cosecha, que el próximo año lo ansían cosechar y decidieron hacerlo en sus propias parcelas.

La población de Mazaltepec es típica de muchas comunidades indígenas de Oaxaca, donde la economía depende en gran parte de remesas de los Estados Unidos y de otras partes de México. En un futuro, los agricultores desean producir suficiente amaranto, no sólo para alimentar a sus familias y combatir la desnutrición en sus comunidades, sino además venderlo y generar ingresos localmente.

Las cosechas en las 17 comunidades restantes que trabajan este año con Puente, se llevarán acabo entre mediados de octubre y finales de noviembre.

—–

Para más información: puente.org

CULTURES – ART – HISTORY – TRAVEL – FASHION – CUISINE – POLITICS & more…

Art of Words’ blog is dedicated to promote the LOVE for languages.

Traducción como labor voluntaria: Art of Words © MMIX

Amaranth is a really interesting plant. It is native to the Americas and was a staple of the Aztecs. When the Spanish came to conquer they wouldn’t let people eat their pagan grain. They did the same thing to the Incas with quinoa. So many atrocities were committed against the people here but not letting them eat the food that grows all around them in favor of the more godly plants seems particularly sadistic. Especially when you consider that amaranth grain, like quinoa, has large amounts of protein and essential amino acids and can grow easily in all sorts of difficult environments. You can also eat the mild leaves which are similar to spinach. It was a vital plant to the region that kept people from starving. They had to grow it in secret.  The Aztecs celebrated Amaranth on the feast of Huauquiltamalcualitztli which I think we should revive as soon as possible. I am always excited for a new celebratory feast.

I got the greens when I worked in at the farm over the weekend. I really wanted to make something Jamaican since that is where this particular strain came from but I couldn’t find half the stuff that I needed to make Callaloo and so I started thumbing through World Vegetarian and I found this risotto recipe that used spinach and sounded very easy.

I am so glad I tried it! We both really liked it and the recipe was very simple and used ingredients that I normally have on hand. The last step was to add Parmesan cheese and butter which I switched to nutritional yeast and earth balance. I was a little worried it would have that noochy taste which wasn’t what I was looking for but it actually came out perfect. It made the risotto really creamy and rich tasting so if you try the recipe be sure to add it in at the end. The raisins got so big while cooking in this dish and I thought they really added a lot of flavor and I upped the cinnamon a little bit too from the original and I thought that was better as well but you might want to start with 1/4 teaspoon. The key to risotto is never stop stirring so make sure you have something to read or entertain you or it can get ruined.

Simmer
4 cups stock
separately Fry in Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Pine Nuts
Remove when golden and add
2 large shallots, chopped fine
Once golden add
1 Tablespoon raisins
after 1 minute add
10oz Amaranth, cut into ribbons or other mild green (like Spinach or Chard)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
after a couple minutes add
1 Cup Arborio Rice
fry for another minute and then add a ladle full  of stock. Stir until the liquid is mostly gone and then add another ladle full. Keep repeating this process until the rice is cooked, the stock is gone, and the liquid has been soaked into the rice.

Add
1/4 cup Nooch
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance

Season with salt and Enjoy!

Quinoa and Amaranth

A little botany…

These ancient North American staple crops have fascinated me for many years and finally I had the space to try growing them. I will follow up on this posting with more photos of the Amaranth harvest. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is an ancient staple food of the Incan people and I’m interested in looking more into the history.  Neither Amaranth nor Quinoa are not actually grains as they are not members of the grass family (Poaceae).  Quinoa belongs to the Goosefoot family (Chenopodiacae) a subsection of the Amaranth Family (Amaranthaceae). They are in fact both related to some of our common  “weeds”.  Amaranth is a relative of pigweed and Quinoa a relative of Lambs Quarters. Some of Quinoa’s more respectable relatives include beets, spinach and swiss chard. The leaves can also be eaten like spinach. Like Amaranth, Quinoa seeds are quite high in protein and is a very complete protein — that is it supplies all the essential amino acids in ideal balance.  Nutrition info

It is said Quinoa can thrive in a variety of conditions but likes cool, arid, high elevation climates…a little like Calgary don’t you think?

I found plenty of useful information at this website:  http://www.saltspringseeds.com/scoop/powerfood.htm

My R158 Amaranth and Temuco Quinoa seeds were ordered from Prairie Garden Seeds

Sunny Bed -- Early October

Quinoa Harvest

Quinoa before harvesting

Amaranth and Quinoa seed heads

rolling seed heads to remove grains, best after having dried inside a night or so but not more than a week. If too dry or too fresh the seeds wouldn't separate well.

After rolling seed heads in hands - Thanks Carin for your help!

Straining dry seeds -- I had to push the seeds through

After dry straining

Washing Quinoa to remove saponin

Straining wet Quinoa

Air drying Quinoa on cookie sheets

My final seed harvest - left to right: Amaranth, Quinoa, Sunflower seed

I don’t really have enough seed this year to eat, so I plan to give it away for seed and keep some for next years crop. Quinoa is not a difficult crop to harvest by hand on a small backyard scale but I am quite interested in learning more about how large quantities are processed and how viable farming it in Alberta would be.

I did take a small handful to sprout for a healthy little snack.

More to come soon on the Amaranth harvest…

Eu poderia colocar a música inteira aqui, mas a única coisa que tem a ver é:

“You receive, but what you give?”

(Você recebe, mas o que você dá?)

- Amaranth – (Nightwish – Dark Passion Play)

Pra quem quiser ver o vídeo:

O ser humano tem o péssimo hábito de gostar de receber as coisas, mas não estar disposto a dar nada em troca. É nesse contexto que os relacionamentos ficam extagnados e se acabam (e nem estou falando apenas de Romance).

Tudo bem que não podemos fazer as coisas pelos outros simplesmente na esperança de sermos recompensados, seria egoísmo demais. Mas, quando temos um relacionamento (de qualquer nível que seja), as coisas são feitas através de trocas. Assim como você espera por algo vindo daquela pessoa, ela espera o mesmo de você.

E aí que está o tal “X” da questão. Estamos tão acostumados a esperar e cobrar atitudes dos outros que podemos esquecer de fazer a nossa parte. Não se pode esperar que o outro não queira nada de nós!

E nem precisa ser muita coisa, na realidade…

Pequenos gestos fazem muito mais efeito do que atos grandiosos (gostei disso 8]). Você não precisa chamar a atenção de todo mundo pra dizer que ama alguém, que aprecia sua amizade. Só a pessoa tem que saber disso. Pode ser até que precise de verdade.

Não se pode dar margem a esse tipo de dúvida. Você não pode se dar ao luxo de perder alguém importante na vida porque não soube ou não teve coragem de se doar.

Hoje em dia fica cada vez mais difícil de encontrar pessoas com quem podemos compartilhar a nossa vida. É natural serntir medo, manter uma certa reserva antes de confiar em alguém. Mas, ao mesmo tempo, quem se guarda demais não aproveita nenhum momento bom que aparece.

Não temos o direito de esperar que todos sejam como queremos se não podemos (ou queremos) ser como eles precisam…

Oo Notinha oO

Eu ando escrevendo posts menores devido às constantes reclamações de alguns leitores que se assustam bastante com o tamanho dos meus ‘artigos’ ¬¬ O que eu gostaria de saber é se isto está funcionando pra todo mundo, como eu espero que esteja!

#bejomedivulga!!!

Dinner!

I originally intended to make stuffed squash but for something new I deconstructed it..

Ingredients

• Delicata Squash
• Spinach Leaves, roughly chopped
• Wild Rice, 1 C
• Yellow Split Peas, 1/2 C
• Amaranth, 1/4 C
• Slivered Almonds, 1/2 C roughly chopped
• Dried Cherries, 1/4 C roughly chopped
• Celery, 1 stalk diced
• Garlic, 2 cloves minced
• Onion, chopped
• Parsley, 1/4 C chopped
• Apple, peeled and cubed
• Bread, 2 slices cubed small
• Olive Oil
• Thyme
• Joshua’s Salt Seasoning (garlic salt, turmeric, powdered oregano)
• Paprika
• S & P

1. Heat the oven to 350° and bake halved squash until just tender.

2. While the squash is baking start cooking the grains.  Cook amaranth until just tender, drain and set aside.  The amaranth is used for the topping.  Cook the wild rice and yellow split peas together, they will take around 45 minutes.  Once finished drain.

3. While the grains cooked heat some olive oil over medium heat and add the onion and garlic once hot.  After ~5 minutes add the celery, spinach, and apple.  Cook until spinach is just wilted.

Sautéd Onion, Garlic, Spinach, Celery, & Apple

4. Once the squash have completed baking and are cooled, scoop out flesh and puree in a blender or food processor.  These squash were fresh from the farmers market and sweet enough to not need any seasoning!

Pureed Squash

5. Mix all ingredients for the ’stuffing’ or really the bottom layer of the casserole; spinach sauté, wild rice & yellow split peas, slivered almonds, dried cherries, bread, S&P, Joshua’s seasoning, paprika, and thyme.

'Stuffing'

6. Assemble the casserole.  Oil dish being used and place rice/spinach mixture in the dish first; pack it down densely.  Spread the squash mixture on top in an even layer.  For topping sprinkle the cooked amaranth.  Bake in the oven for another 30 minutes until heated through and the top lightly browned.

Ready to Bake

While the casserole baked I cooked a side of brussel sprouts…

Brussel Sprouts

I washed, cut them in half, and mixed them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl.  In a skillet I heated some olive oil and once hot placed all the brussel sprouts in face down.  I covered the skillet and cooked over medium heat for 10 minutes until the faces were browned and carmelized.  I then flipped them over and continued to cook uncovered until fully tender.  I sprinkled them with pecorino romano before serving.

Carmelized Brussel Sprouts

Delicious

]]> http://thehappyemo.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/nightwish-escapist-lyrics/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:24:55 +0000 Gianluca http://thehappyemo.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/nightwish-escapist-lyrics/

For all you other Nightwish fans out there who know the Bye Bye Beautiful B-side, Escapist, you should know something about the lyrics. First of all the stupid people at lyrics websites and stuff are wrong in the first verse. They write “My search will go on. Playboy, voyage without a name.” That is incorrect! Don’t listen to it because I got da right shit here. It’s: “CLAYBORN voyage without an END!” Playboy? WTF!!!! It’s Nightwish – not All Time Low or Cobra Spaceship or like Brittany Spheres. Okay Tuomas is not so random that he’d say playboy in the song Escapist. It’s completely irrelevant. UGHH!!!!!! It really pisses me off how people mishear the lyrics like that. But then again some of those misheard lyrics videos are hilarious – such as Wishmaster, Sahara, Amaranth etc. Okay but I’ve proved my point so goodbye.