Our group and our recipe collection -- both growing

Our circle is growing ---- George in Pennsylvania is starting a new effort in the Earth Holder Sangha to promote plant based eating and now we have three more Earth Holders joining us: Marge Wurgel in San Diego, Heather Mann in Charleston, South Carolina, and Joaquin Carral in Willimantic, Connecticut. I'm looking forward to learning what plans they have for inspiring more people to eat this way....Laura Raine in Vancouver decided to join us after coming to our recent potluck in Portland, and Joanne Barrett is joining us from New York City. Welcome, everyone! Do share your thoughts, your energy and your recipes for the good of all!

South Carolina and Connecticut are new states for us --- we are in 26 states now and 16 countries. All our locations are on our map, and I am happy to add names and links there if you would like to be better known --- just let me know. Here is our map ---if there is an asterisk by the city (in the list on the left) you can click and see who lives there. It's also fun to just click on the upside-down teardrops and see what you get: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1YKEMQpTscgu9Oh7xIkweQVrvTaM

Our potluck was the biggest yet -- 19 of us --- I'll attach a photo. We had a stimulating conversation: several had attended the Animal Rights Conference in Los Angeles and been encouraged and energized by the experience. They told us of several projects, including the Food Empowerment Project ( http://www.foodispower.org/ )that aims to prevent cruelty to farm workers as well as to animals, and The Compassion Project which is interviewing vegan and non-vegan leaders of the faith traditions and exploring what they might say to each other.

As we went around the circle, we heard about the stress of being vegan in a corporate culture that requires dinner meetings .... the quandary of returning to one's roots in Ireland and feeling odd and out of place in that meat-centric culture now .... the joy of finding others on the vegan path ("like finding long-lost cousins") .... the fun of offering a vegan dinner for 12 as an auction item for a church fundraiser and delighting the tastebuds of people who had never eaten this way before.

We learned of various resources: Donna gives away copies of the Vegan Fusion cookbook by Reinfeld and Rinaldi and especially recommends the tahini sauce on page 195 .... Susan is having a great time with Miyoko Schinner's latest book, The Homemade Vegan Pantry, and found the parmesan "amazing" .... Hilary created a website called How to Escape Heart Disease ( http://www.howtoescapeheartdisease.com/ ) after a vegan diet cured her husband's heart disease .... Linda is involved with Plant Pure Nation and suggests our group could have a page on their website that would allow us to talk with each other .... and Sigrid amused us with two veggie poems: Sigrid's potato and giraffe poems

Here are the first of our potluck recipes, Cathy's Lentil-Quinoa Stew with Lots of Kale: Lentil-Quinoa Stew with Lots of Kale

...and Sigrid's PotatoPlus, also known as Potato -Celery Root -Apple- Pineaapple Salad (to go with that funny potato poem mentioned above:-) Sigrid's PotatoPlus Salad (Potato-Celery Root-Apple-Pineapple Salad)

I heard from Ellen in Texas this week, who is rejoicing at the success of her watermelon patch!

I also heard from Christel in Germany who offered links to the presentations she heard in April at the VegMed Conference in Berlin:
Dr. Barnards lecture in Berlin, April 2016.
https://youtu.be/1-v6kS5Q3q0

...and Dr.Greger in Berlin : )
https://youtu.be/nfK29VANu_0

...once again Dr. Barnard : )
https://youtu.be/lLqINF26LSA

Donna sent a link to a petition to the White House asking President Obama to veto the DARK Act --- that's the Monsanto-backed bill that recently passed that actually prevents states from requiring labeling of GMO foods!
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/veto-dark-act-s764

GMOs worry me and I don't want to end with that DARK news. Fortunately, I have Thich Nhat Hanh's book, How to Eat at hand. I'll end with his words about taking a deep breath and coming back to the body:

"This body has been given to us by our parents and those before them. When this body was born, it was very light. As we grow we tend to get weighed down by worries and lose our freshness and beauty. Mindful eating helps us regain this freshness, nourishing our spirits as well as our bodies. Eating with appreciation of our own bodies, we eat with more relaxation and joy."

Wishing you freshness, and
Happy cooking,