Microwave Popcorn

Use regular popping corn, don't buy pricey microwave popcorn. Involves a paper bag, stapler, olive oil and salt... Link

Only 5 campaigns

The Garden Organic organisation sent me a leaflet, and a letter. The letter asked for donations. If anything comes in an envelope they usually want money. Back to the leaflet. Five Threats to our partnership with the land. Let's you in gently to big global issues. 1) Garden Grab - gardens being redeveloped as appartments. A lot of that goes on around here. 2) Terminator seeds threat to biodiversity. Had to look up this up but it's GM seeds that will produce crops and sterile seeds. Link 3) GM Seed contamination. Big issue, history shows you can't isolate plants. They get out, pollinate and spread. 4) Global Warming. It's possibly too late already. You can do a bit of marching and rallying like the I-Count are organising. 5) Organic has become just another marketing term robbing it of meaning. Thoroughly depressed at the end of this. Not by the issues but by the action suggested. This amounted to "Lobby the Government", "Spread the Word", "Raise Awareness"...

Observer Food Monthly

Billed as their "biggest food issue ever". Well it got me to buy a Sunday newspaper. A whole 108 pages - but 40% of that is adverts. I don't mind adverts but i do mind big profit making corporations telling me how eco-friendly they are - when their business practises are otherwise. October Edition online One good article on the scandal of organic farmed salmon which shames the Soil Association which put its name to this cruelty. Lady Balfour would have been outraged. I've been hearing stories about the lowering of standards for the big producers of food so they can get an organic premium. They've lost all credibility with me. Why organic salmon is causing a nasty smell? The rest of the magazine read like the 21st Century version of the 1700's. There are Celebrities who live in London, dress up and know about good food. Then there are the peasants who do the work of fishing, farming and making marvelous cheese and cakes. They live in the sticks, earn very little and never go to London. You are invited to glimpse into these two worlds. When none of it speaks about your life, it's time to move on or have a revolution.

Pizza Syracusa

Why not invent your own pizza topping? Well it could all turn out to be big mistake and unfit to eat...However this one was a success and I've named it Pizza Syracusa after my favourite city in Sicily. Base : 100g Strong white flour, fresh yeast, water, pinch of salt Topping : 355g of spinach, fried with 60g of onions. That's way too much spinach. Also squeeze some of the water from the cooked spinach, which I didn't do. It prevented the base from really going crispy. On top of that are 33g of olives, 12g of capers, 12g pinenuts, 12g raisins. I don't normally measure things but this is suppose to be some sort of recipe. Bake : 12 mins at around 225 degrees C. Using all organic ingredients, it cost just under 2.00 GBP to make not including electricity.

Slow Food Nation

I'm reading the wrong blogs. Only just found this - published September 9th 2006. Edited by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse on Alternet it makes good reading, and long thinking "Food is destiny, every decision we make about food has personal and global repercussions". Right down to the aisles of the supermarkets. We now rely on just eight crops to provide 75 percent of the world's food. A frightening monoculture. Intrigued ? Link