Sunday, October 29, 2006

what did i do this weekend? read read read, about 200 pages from various anthropology text books. i guess it could have been worse, but i would really rather be hanging out and helping around papiers du sahel as they set up for
SIAO (http://bethinburkina.blogspot.com/).

i did have some time to go to the market and do some good cooking. i got 2 huge butternut squash for 50 cents each! and then made butternut squash soup with leeks and white wine. it was scruptous with my second grilled cheese and sprout sandwhich this week!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Best Lunch of the Week Award goes to...
drum roll please! dubdadadumdum...

Grilled Cheese and Organic Alfalfa Sprout Sandwich!!!
-2 slices of Ezekial sprouted whole grain bread, available at most natural good stores
-mozeralla cheese (from free range organic fed happy cows of course)
-fresh, jar sprouted alfalfa (add after grilling)
-dip in roommate's home made ketchup

wish i'd taken a pic, i'll have to make another one soon so i can get one :)

Thursday, October 12, 2006

today we had a blustery snow storm. really sticky wet snow that was coming so hard from one side that one pant leg would be completely white, the other untouched and dry.
i miss senegal. sunshine warmth water waves sand.

the beach in dakar, senegal

a curious young boy- what a great smile!

Friday, October 06, 2006

tonight i made: Pumpkin Bread
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 55 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
Yields: 36 servings

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
1 cup canned pumpkin
4 eggs
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 - 1 pound coffee cans.
2. Sift together the dry ingredients .
3. Combine the vegetable oil, water, canned pumpkin and eggs. Slowly add dry ingredients to egg mixture and mix until blended
4. Evenly distribute the batter between the coffee cans. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and top of bread is browned. Cool bread in coffee cans on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from cans by running a knife around the inside and turning can upside down to dislodge bread (should slide right out!). Cool completely.

i forgot to grease the pans, i recommend not leaving out that detail....but i did make the brillant move of adding a cup of dark chocolate chips, pecans, and pumpkin seeds. mmmmm
perfect for canadian thanksgiving! i'm bringing a loaf for emma's fam when i go to Toroto tomorrow.
Photogram
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: A photogram is a photographic image made (without a camera) by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The result is a silhouetted image varying in darkness based on the transparency of the objects used, with areas of the paper that have not received any light appearing light and those that have appearing dark, according to the laws of photosensitivity. The image obtained is hence a negative and the effect is often quite similar to an X-Ray. This method of imaging is perhaps most prominently attributed to Man Ray and his exploration of rayographs. Others who have experimented with the technique include László Moholy-Nagy, Christian Schad (who called them "Schadographs"), Imogen Cunningham and even Pablo Picasso.

I really love this Adam Fuss photogram, he had a really huge enlarger, brought a bunch of doves in set them down, and when the light went on the freaked and flew up everywhere. brilliant and beautiful.

We're doing photograms in my "Photography for Fine Artists" class. i loved the assignment. can you tell what i used? (i appologize for the photo, don't have a scanner- the flash kind of messes thigns up but you get my idea.)



wine glasses, i really love the way the light reflects around them...
Erin's Puréed Butternut Squash Soup



i've never been much of a squash fan...until i tried this soup! it's incredible! the squash is just like a sweet creamy ride for the ginger. like maybe a gold vintage mercedes with soft leather interior.

2 T butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 piece of ginger (like 2-3 T chopped)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 3/4 lbs butternut squash, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4-1/2 C fresh orange juice
1.5 t salt

melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. cook onion until gragrant (2 min). add ginger, garlic, squash. cook stiring occasionally (6-8 min). stir in 4 C water. bring to boil and then reduce heat. simmer until squash is tender (20 min).
puree soup then stir in OJ and salt.
Serve hot, sprinkle with pumplin seeds or a spoonfull or sour cream if desired.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Leena Miller
PACS 202
October 1, 2006

Enrichment Report #2
I feel deeply privileged to have heard
  • Stephen Lewis
  • speak Saturday evening, September 30, 2006. Mr. Lewis spoke at Hagey Hall. The UW Alumni Homecoming and the UW Diversity Campaign jointly sponsored the event.
    Mr. Lewis began his speech by reminding the audience about the atrocious genocide in Rwanda in 1994 were 800,000 were killed. He then went on to speak about Darfur, Sudan lamenting the genocide there. Why is this happening? Why is life so expendable? He cried, “I do not understand how it is possible to find millions of people expendable.” Lewis went on to most eloquently address these questions.
    Lewis believes that to show solidarity throughout the world is to embrace our diversity. One year after the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, where so many promises were made, little has progressed in terms of debt relief, economic and trade reforms, AIDS treatment, education reforms. Why? According to Lewis, it is the refusal of our International bodies to embrace diversity. The most passionate part of Lewis’s speech delved into the topic of gender inequality. He stated, “Recognizing the struggle for gender equality is most important.” Diversity must include embracing gender equality.
    Although it is easy for us in the West to think that we have gender equality when we hear stories of women in the Middle East who are not allowed to leave their homes unaccompanied by a man, we only have relative gender equality. Lewis stated, “Not a single country has embraced gender equality.” This is evident in a fact Lewis cited: Canadian women make 73 cents for every dollar that Canadian men make in the same position. Gender inequality is even more evident in our international governing bodies. Under the UN umbrella there are important and powerful organizations to deal with children’s needs, health, food, and the environment. However, as Lewis emphasized, there has been no UN body to represent the needs of 52% of the world’s population: women. Lewis explained that a UN Women’s organization is finally in the works, but the proposed budget is one tenth that of UNICEF.
    In this same part of the speech Lewis fiercely addressed the gross sexual violence that has terrorized the lives of so many women. Sexual violence is most severe in conflicts such that of Darfur or Northern Uganda. But as I addressed in my first reflection paper on Take Back the Night, sexual violence is also very present in our own community. The KW Sexual Assault Support Centre estimates that everyday 10 women in the KW region are victims of sexual violence. Addressing sexual violence, both in areas of war and in our own communities, is crucial in the fight for gender equality.
    Lewis talked extensively about how women are especially vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. This vulnerability can be seen as a form of structural violence against women. It is structural violence because women are being sexually exploited and then contract HIV. “Addressing this deadly reality of gender inequality” is a priority of Lewis and his foundation. Lewis claimed that the reluctance of men to give up power coupled with predatory male sexual behaviour is driving the AIDS epidemic.
    As was explained in our first class, in the presence of structural peace, decision-making power in the production, allocation and utilization of economic, political, and cultural resources would be equitably distributed between women and men. The Lewis Foundation is working to make this a reality. They believe that this work is most effectively done through grassroots organizations that empower women, support small income-generation projects, provide basic necessities such as sleeping mats, soap and nutritious food, and offer strategies for coping and reducing and risk of infection.
    I applaud Lewis and the
  • the Stephen Lewis Foundation
  • Stephen Lewis Foundation for taking on issues of gender inequity with such seriousness. Recognizing the connection between structural violence against women and the high HIV/AIDS rates among women are crucial to reducing the plight of AIDS. I appreciate way in which Lewis framed gender equality in the context of diversity. It has expanded the way that I think about gender issues. I commend the Lewis Foundation’s work to better the lives of African women living with HIV/AIDS, and make the future healthier and safer for women by challenging gender inequalities and embracing diversity.