Friends Don't Let Friends Eat One Another

Some really good Vegan Recipes I've recently stumbled across:
Cinnamon Rolls
Mock Tuna Salad
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

Hopeing to make the Mock Tuna Salad for my 6-year old niece (and have her like it)!  I will report my findings later!

The Berry Patch

This past Saturday my husband and I went berry picking. This was my first trip to a berry farm. My past berry picking occasions were usually spotting berries on a wood line or while hiking and gathering up the usually-tiny berries the forest creatures hadn’t yet reached. Finding free food in nature is a very primal feeling. This experience was not as exhilarating as a discovery on the trail, but it was equally as succulent. There was an abundant mix of ripe berries and ones still maturing.

There is nothing more lovely or simplistic than eating a blackberry warmed from the summer sun. And it is a welcomed and beautiful sight to see bugs crawling on the leaves of those berries. One of life’s ambiguities: Why should we eat it if the bugs won’t? There weren’t many bugs (the few spiders helped with that); just enough to reassure you that you were outside and your food was genuinely growing from the earth.
It was so much fun to hunt for those perfectly swollen berries! It reminded me of hunting for eggs at Easter. It’s strange how the most mundane task can fill you with such enjoyment. It’s a shame we’re always so rushed: Work, social events, phone calls, e-mail and somebody’s gotta do the grocery shopping! It is so refreshing to just go pick a berry – berry by berry until your pail is full. Unsophisticated and simple.

I can’t wait to share this experience with my nieces, I know they’ll love it. Being a part of a child’s fondest memories is like tasting that first warm berry: Utterly priceless.

The Fruit and Berry Patch is located in Halls, TN  |  Website


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Herbal Infusion

I must admit, I'm having a bit of a love affair with my African Red Bush tea.  Like every gal, I go through my phases of likes and dislikes.  This may be more of an obsession.  It's caffeine-free, but my cravings for it make it feel caffenated, minus those pesky jitters. It’s fruity without being too sweet, yet still has a distinctive tea flavor. Apparently the hibiscus is what gives this yummy tea a slight tart finish. Add a squeeze of agave nectar or honey and you’ve got yourself quite a delightful brew.

Tazo is a Fare Trade company; all workers receive a fair wage, education, maternity leave, health and safety and housing rights.
In 2002, Tazo and Starbucks teamed up to launch CHAI (Collaboration for Hope and Advancement in India). This program helps to improve living conditions and create opportunities for those living & working in the villages of the tea producing regions in Darjeeling, India (Darjeeling is also a lovely tea!).

The project also improves water quality, provides vocational and leadership training for youth, trains community health workers and supports social development projects chosen by the community. The CHAI program is currently involved with 24 villages. Go here to find out more about this project.

At around $4.20 per box, you’re looking at only $0.21 per cup. Steep an extra 10 minutes for a larger cup (a little tip from an addict). *wink*

See what the day holds for you: Have your tea leaves read today!

Greige

I learned a new word today.  Greige.  Apparently it's a cross between two very exciting colors: grey and beige. I know, I can hardly contain myself.  All these years of wanting more from grey and beige. Here it is.
I did a Google image search because I was thinking, "Jeez, what a depressing color, how exactly would you use it?"
Turns out, a nail polish purchase is in my future!

Not crazy about it for fingers, but it would look really great on toes!

FYI: essie, OPI and Revlon are a few companies that do not test on animals.  Go here for a full list!
I'm gonna go get my greige on............

Drill Me Running

Here we are at day 44 of the oil spill – A nauseating disaster for humans and non-humans alike.
But, who is to blame? We’ll start with the obvious choice, BP. They will, no doubt, be made an example of – criminal investigations are already in place. The instant the oil hit the water, multiple environment acts and treaties were broken. If specific people are held liable, they could face jail time up to 25 years. Sadly, like numerous animal cruelty cases, it will never result in the maximum sentence. Humans can purify oil out of their water, animals cannot.
There's also this little tidbit on Transocean.

The spill is already disrupting the reproductive season for many native animals including the Louisiana state bird, the Brown Pelican. Just one year off the endangered species list and one of nature’s most successful comeback stories is in jeopardy again.

In May, 80 Louisiana State prisoners were trained on how to clean birds. Regrettably, there are no plans in place to put this new [free] resource to use.

To date, BP has spent $1.2 billion on this cleanup. The total estimated cleanup is around $40 billion. This must mean they care about the already 200 lifeless sea turtles, 29 perished dolphins and countless dead fish. Surely innocent lives come before corporate profit…

Last year, prior to drilling the Deepwater Horizon rig, BP issued a 582-page Oil Spill Response Plan. They also issued a 52-page site-specific report for the rig itself. Both these reports were approved by the federal government. Both reports were riddled with errors.

Here are a few of my favorite rectally-derived claims from the report:
• Professor Lutz, listed as an environmental expert, left Miami 20 years ago & passed away in 2005.
• Names & phone numbers of specialists are incorrect.
• The number for the marine mammal stranding network offices in LA & FL is disconnected.
• The website BP listed for Marine Spill Response Corp. (supplies cleanup equipment) links to an invalid
   Japanese-language page.
• BP claimed they could round up enough boats to scoop up all oil before it hit the shoreline.
• The plans don’t even contain references on how to clean birds. The spill scenarios actually claim that fish,
   marine mammals & birds will escape serious harm; beaches will remain pristine; water quality is only a
   temporary problem.
• BP asserts they could skim, suck up or otherwise remove 20 million gallons of oil each day from the
   water – approximately how much has leaked in the past six weeks.
• These are all based on projections for an oil spill was ten times worse than the current situation.

The fact is we’re all to blame. This is the other side to the story inconveniently called reality.
As a society we have to ask ourselves: What the hell are we doing? If these pictures don’t stir a reaction or a need to change, well, you’re probably an oil executive.

I have stressed the subject of meat-eating in relation to global warming (stop eating it & save resources!). I’ll also be the first to say, I drive an SUV. I’m lucky if I get 17 miles per gallon out of it! And like many Americans, I’m addicted. And I like it. I feel like a junkie waiting for a fix in line at the pump. There’s an RV next to me and an Escalade in front of me. We’re all doing it! We might as well freebase gasoline right off the hoods of our cars.

But it’s time we all do something. Pick your poison, or lack thereof: eat less (or no) meat, drive less, stop using plastic bags. Every little bit will help. If we all do a little, it adds up to a lot.

I think someone famous [pun intended] once said, “There is nothing hidden that will not someday be revealed.”

Mankind, this is the 45th day of your wake-up call. Are we awake yet?

That was pretty harsh, so I’ll leave you with a laugh:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - P.R.-mageddon
www.colbertnation.com
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The First Entry

At the suggestion of some of my friends and co-workers, I have finally started my own blog! It's exciting, but I'm also hesitant since I tend to not stick with long-term writing projects. I perfer the ease of Facebook status updates & link posts; I'm hoping to mearly expand on those thoughts and ideas here.
Side note: Please feel free to give me a swift kick should I have more than six bloggless days!

It is empowering to finally find comfort in who you are and in what you believe. I know many topics will be met with strong critiques and disapproval which is fine. As I see it, if you aren't stirring things up a little, what's the point in speaking at all? I look forward to hearing everyones' opinions and thoughts.

Let the fun begin!

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
- Albert Einstein