Haikus for a Greener World

April 27th, 2007

The awesome Better World Travel Club (a green alternative to AAA) inspired these great green Haikus. Here one I like:

Leftover meatloaf
keeps cool and safe in my fridge,
but it heats the world*.

[*NOTE: The refrigerator heats the world, not the meatloaf]

- Erik N.
Portland, OR

However, I would beg to differ on his note that meatloaf does not heat the world. The meat industry is one of largest pollution industries in the world, growing larger every day as 3rd World people find more money to spend on meat.

Here’s a vegetarian Haiku:

Green leaves taste good

eating like a cow

instead of eating one

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The Importance of Naps

April 24th, 2007

I’ve always been a fan of naps. I love hammocks, beach towels, and porch swings. I love couches in libraries and college student unions. Growing up, I especially loved to nap on long car rides, listening to my parents in the front seat; their words blending into pleasant background noise lulling me to sleep along with the sound of the wheels and the car motor.

Today, I appreciate being at home with a child who takes three-hour naps. On most days, I get to lie down for at least ten minutes and not always sleep, but at least I close my eyes.

Naps are important not just for babies and their parents, but for those without kids as well. In my previous career as a minister I found time for naps — even when I was in the office all day. One advantage of working in a church or synagogue is the presence of rooms with couches.

This afternoon while trying to nap, I found myself thinking about naps rather than sleeping. On a whim I googled “adult naps” and discovered some interesting information. According to “The Benefit of Naps” by Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs, July 27, 2004:

Several lines of evidence, including the universal tendency of toddlers and the elderly to nap in the afternoon and the afternoon nap of siesta cultures, have led sleep researchers to the same conclusion: nature intended that we take a nap in the middle of the day. This biological readiness to fall asleep in the mid-afternoon coincides with a slight drop in body temperature and occurs regardless of whether we eat lunch. It is present even in good sleepers who are well rested. Sleep researchers have also discovered that the afternoon dip in mood and alertness is associated with poorer performance, particularly after a night of sleep loss, and a simultaneous increase in sleepiness-related accidents. In fact, deaths from all causes show a secondary peak in the afternoon after a nocturnal peak, presumably from sleepiness-related accidents.

He goes on to say:

Research on napping suggests that an afternoon nap as short as ten minutes can enhance alertness, mood, and mental performance, especially after a night of poor sleep.

I also discovered some other Boston nappers who have written books on the subject. Bill and Camille Anthony wrote the following books, available on Amazon: The Art of Napping and The Art of Napping at Work. They both look like a lot of fun to read!

Now that I’ve written my piece, I feel tired enough to try to nap again. My daughter woke me up at 5:30 this morning. She has 1/2 hour left on her nap. I’ll see if I can catch a few zzz’s myself.

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Women and Food

April 6th, 2007

I’m continually surprised by the strong connection I feel to women — both my ancestors as well as most women in the world today — whenever I’m in the midst of cooking, really cooking. On most nights I throw together some protein, carbs, fiber and call it a dinner. But today, being my daughter’s birthday and the middle of Passover, I’ve been cooking for the past five hours and I still have probably five hours to go. I made Passover granola and strawberry shortcake. I made a tofu salad for tomorrow’s birthday party and  am in the midst of making a cold potato and spinach soup and this incredible Italian mushroom, asparagus, potato dish for tonight’s dinner. And in the freezer is a homemade vegan passover ice cream pie all ready for the whipped cream before serving tomorrow.

My husband has been listening to me complain about the difficulty of the passover dishes and heard me scream when I burn myself on the granola. I had to send him out for wine for the mushroom dish and now he’s down in the basement riding the exercise bike. He has no apparent interest in helping me cook, though I haven’t asked and don’t really need his help. He would probably suggest we order out and take a nice walk.

The reality is that often to eat good food, which I love to do, means cooking it yourself.  The mushrooms (portobella, shitake and porcini) simmering in wine and thyme smell divine. As a vegetarian family at Passover, we wouldn’t find anything like we’re eating this weekend at a restaurant. The convenience of not cooking has it advantages, but so does cooking from scratch. Knowing that millions (if not billions) of women around the world are doing the same thing right now makes me smile. I do only hope they’re able to savor the smells as much as I am.

Posted in Feminism, My Life | 1 Comment »

Looking forward to Parking Meters

March 25th, 2007

I never thought I would say such a thing, but living in the fabulous neighborhood of Roslindale, I have to say a few parking meters would improve the square tremendously. Today, as on most days, the municipal parking lot was almost empty while the square was packed with cars, some of them illegally parked in clearly marked No Parking areas and one car parked in a crosswalk. There is even rumors that the “lack of parking” that some people feel in Roslindale is directly related to the fact that business owners in the square park right outside their own businesses!

According to the minutes of the February 13th BRA Advisory Group meeting in Roslindale, the suggestion of parking meters was received favorably. I would welcome those meters with open arms. There is no lack of parking in Roslindale, but there may be a lack of turnover. If you can walk to the square, like I do, it’s the nicest way to visit this very pedestrian-friendly Village. Parking in the municipal lot behind the Roslindale Medical and Dental Center is the next best thing. For everyone else who wants to park in the square on South Street, Birch, Corinth, Belgrade or Poplar there should be meters.

Posted in Roslindale Issues | 6 Comments »

A Plug for Yelp

March 25th, 2007

I never really knew much about Yelp.com but, but in writing my last post, I wanted links for the stores I mentions but could not find a website for any of them. The first link for Village Market was the Yelp review, and when I looked through the reviews for the other business, the yelp reviews seemed accurate enough to use them as links too.

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Village Market — Not For Jews

March 25th, 2007

A number of months ago, I emailed Village Market in Roslindale asking if they would carry Cheryl Ann’s Challah on Fridays. I never got a response. This past Friday I went there hoping for some matzah meal to make Matzah Ball soup, but they had none. In fact, with only one week until Passover, I could not find a single Passover item. When I asked an employee where the Passover foods were, he had no idea what I was talking about. He called someone on the phone and then took me to a section that had sugar free and some some other diet foods — definitely NOT Passover food. I said I would be sending in a complaint email to the store and he told me he was the owner and would try to get some Passover foods. (He’s the young guy with bright red hair.)

If he really is the owner, he needs to learn something about a segment of his customer base that I believe is growing in Roslindale. I’ve noticed that Village Market is doing it’s best to compete with HI-LO in Jamaica Plain, but as for us Jews, we’ll need to keep driving outside the square to get OUR ethnic foods.

Posted in Roslindale Issues | 1 Comment »

Salute’s New Menu: From Excellent to Run-of-the-Mill

March 11th, 2007

Before they changed the menu, I considered Salute was one of the great new Roslindale restaurants. The prices were less than Delfino’s and the pizza was better than Sophia’s Grotto. A number of months ago, we enjoyed the Mozzarella e Pomodoro pizza, a crisp traditional crust with big chunks of fresh mozzerella and a sauce that took me back to my four-month sojourn in Italy over 10 years ago. The lasagne special I enjoyed that night was made with handmade noodles served in a bowl with just the right amount of cheese and sauce — delicious! I commented then how great it was and said they should put it on the regular menu. They told me they were changing their menu and that the lasagne would be on it.

Tonight we couldn’t have been more disappointed. The bread was cold, the pizza crust was now a soft, perfectly round, plate size pizza with American style sauce and cheese. (We could have done better at Romano’s down the street). And the lasagne, despite our previous server’s promise, was not the same one. It was an American style lasagne that anyone could have made at home. (I would have made sure it was cooked all the way through as well.)
To their credit, the salad was excellent, and our server took the lasagne off the bill since I wasn’t happy with it.

Rumor has it that they may be moving to a third chef (and menu?). If so, I’d say, bring back the old pizzas and that fabulous lasagne. And while you’re at it, add some more vegetarian pastas. There are many more vegetarians in Roslindale than most restauranteers would like to believe. Meat may sell, but a good vegetarian restaurant will garner a tremendously loyal following.

Posted in Restaurants, Roslindale Issues | 3 Comments »

Falling short of goals

March 2nd, 2007

Before I comment, I want to point out that I’m one of the very lucky at-home parents with a daughter who takes three-hour naps every day, like clockwork. However, within that three hour period I try to do the following: update my blog, take an hour long stationary bike ride, prep for dinner, write in my journal, read, catch up on email, prepare for one of the meetings or classes I chair or teach, and (if there’s still time) nap. Today I’ve prepped for dinner and had lunch. I have one hour left. I haven’t written in my journal in days and the bike is calling, but so is the couch for a nice nap. The rain is falling hard outside the window and I think the couch has won. ZZZZZZZZZZ……

Posted in Motherhood | 1 Comment »

Just Keeping Up

February 13th, 2007

Staying home with a 22 month old feels like a constant job of catch up. I try to catch up with the dishes, catch up with email (and THIS BLOG!), catch up with folding laundry, catch up with small projects like recycling, gluing broken china, changing light bulbs, and of course there’s the constant catch up with cleaning up after my child. Although she loves the “clean up” song* and will do a pretty good job of cleaning up her stuff, she makes messes faster than she cleans them. Having a bi-weekly house cleaner ensures that the dust doesn’t pile up for longer than two weeks and forces me to make sure the entire house is clutter free before they get here. But as soon as they’re gone out come the crayons, chalk, books, and wooden blocks that create the ongoing obstacle course that is my house.

*Clean up Song: It turns out (from googling the song in hopes of finding a clip) that the one we know is the BARNEY clean up song! I thought by never having TV we’d avoid Barney — but no such luck. It’s a great song though, and it works!

Posted in Motherhood | 1 Comment »

Domestic Goddess, I am not!

December 18th, 2006

Somehow my mother was able to raise four children, cook home cooked meals every night, fresh cookies when we came home from school, sew our clothes, make dolls to sell, and cook ten types of Christmas cookies, plus cakes, pies, and turkey with all the fixings. I always said I never wanted her life — but the thought of eating frozen dinners and store bought cookies depresses me.

For Hannukah I’ve made latkes, tabouleh, my mom’s special coffee cake, two types of cookies, (along with some other in- between meals) and already I’m exhausted. I haven’t written in my blog for months as we’ve painted the family room, ripped out and replaced carpet, and put the garden to bed for the winter. And our 20 month old daughter is enthusiastically into everything and couldn’t be more fun — but I could use more sleep.

We recently decided to pay for house cleaning. As I stare at the pile of dirty dishesn from the cookies I made today, I think I could use a “scullery maid” of sorts as well, (no derision intended). And while I’m at it, maybe a vegan personal chef!

Posted in Feminism, My Life | No Comments »

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