running on coffee

because that's how i roll

notable news: on ending FGM/C in senegal

From the Sunday NYT: 

Professor Mackie contended that genital cutting, unlike rape or wife beating, was a convention parents followed out of love for their daughters. He likened it to foot binding, which had disfigured Chinese girls over centuries.

A Western woman — Alicia Little, a British novelist — had played a catalytic role in ending foot binding in China, much like Ms. Melching was doing with genital cutting.

Mrs. Little had written literary depictions of Victorian mothers who raised their daughters to win wealthy husbands, and after moving to China in 1887, she researched foot binding and discovered that a congregation’s public pledge to end the practice had worked. Parents pledging neither to bind their daughters’ feet nor to allow their sons to marry women with bound feet ultimately ended the practice within a generation, Professor Mackie wrote.

 

 

first recipe post! cranberry almond butter granola

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i love oats and celebrate (aka. stuff my face with) them in many forms. i love oats like a fat kid loves cake, and like bubba loves shrimp.

anyways, like i was sayin, oats are like the ... uh... grain of super heros. you can bake it, boil it, microwave it, saute it (maybe). there's oat cookies, oat pies, oat bars, oat bread. pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried (?). there's cinnamon oats, coconut oats, banana oats, oats in a jar, oats in your yogurt...

unlike bubba's shrimps, i think this list can go on. here's a classic way to use oats: make granola!

(rando fact about me: forrest gump is my favorite movie, or at least in my top 3.)

 

cranberry almond butter granola

makes 1.5 cups, six 1/4 cup servings

  • 2 tbsp creamy almond butter
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon 
  • dash of salt if almond butter is unsalted
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries (or any other dried fruit)

directions:

  1. preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a medium-sized cookie sheet
  2. in a small bowl, mix almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt 
  3. melt mixture by heating in microwave for 20-30 seconds 
  4. in a larger bowl, mix oats and slivered almonds
  5. pour almond butter mix over oats and stir, using a spatula to make sure oats are evenly coated
  6. spread oats onto cookie sheet 
  7. bake for 15-20 minutes, giving them a shuffle around 10 minutes
  8. let cool on cookie sheet for a few and add cranberries 
  9. stuff your face enjoy!

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and because i'm a health nut, nutrition facts for this recipe (per 1/4 cup). pretty awesome specs, perfect for the super hero in you.

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inspired by: http://www.pbfingers.com/2011/06/14/peanut-butter-granola/.>

the real uncle tom

read this great op-ed piece in today's NYT: "Rescuing the Real Uncle Tom"

highly recommend both article and book, esp if you're in need of a summer read.

snapshot of my copy inherited from a book exchange shelf at some backpackers' hostel in ecuador, summer 2009. i love love love used paperbacks of old classics. makes me wonder about the individuals who read the copy before me.

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what's on your summer 2011 reading list? my list in a post to come.