The problem with "it"

We're having an extended heat wave here in Portland, and I know we're not the only ones. It reminds me of the importance of what we're doing as we strive to change our ways and save our planet. I'll share my reflections on that in a moment, but I always like to start with a recipe and these days I'm only doing cool, refreshing salads. Here is what I'm making tonight, a quinoa salad you've seen before but with some new additions---- fennel, cucumber, and cannellini beans (they are added as a comment after the recipe): Sunny's Kale and Quinoa Salad

While we're on the subject of Cool and Refreshing, here is a note from Christel in Germany about her strawberry popsicles:
Here is a simple ice-cream recipe for the hot season, born from not having all equipment at hand:
I wanted to fill my popsicle-moulds with some fruit-juice and noticed that 2 of the popsicle-sticks for these
special moulds were missing.
The juice was very thin, so no spoon etc, could find stability in it. I took some bamboo-sticks and picked up
some strawberries and put them in the popsicle-moulds. The strawberries touched the walls of the moulds,
so the sticks were stable. Then I could fill up with juice.
It's nice to have all necessary material, ingredients, equipment etc.at hand, but sometimes and often mostly life is
a matter of improvising.
: ) Christel

Christel also sent an invitation to us to join her in taking a cooking class from Chad Sarno:
Hi Eve,
here is an opportunity to receive precious instructions by some of the leading figures in plant-based nutrition.
With warmth
Christel
Chad Sarno, 60-day cooking class starts July 15, special price:
https://plantrician.rouxbe.com/

Thanks for the popsicles, Christel, and the information on the class. I hope you will tell us what you learn!

John in Texas sent an idea for last week's guacamole, which I have added as a comment after that recipe:
Nice edition, Eve. Here’s an idea for sprucing up the guacamole: stir in 1 tablespoon of toasted pumpkin seeds. Simple, but you’d be surprised what a great combo it makes. John Snyder
I tried it and liked it! Here it is, with comment: Guacamole

Justina in Colorado was looking forward to her VegFest when she wrote. How did that go, Justina? She was also on her way to an exhibit ... of Buddhist Relics tomorrow in Boulder. The calendar shows that it is in Portland in July – 24, 25 & 26 July 2015 Portland, Oregon, USA.....The url for more dates and more information is: http://www.maitreyarelictour.com/calendar/ You’ll see that there are dates in Europe as well as North America (Canada and US at this point). I thought you might want to share it with your readers. ---- Justina

Now for my reflections in the midst of the heat wave. Walking around the garden, seeing cracked soil, withered flowers, and curling leaves, I recalled an article I read recently about the problem with the pronoun "it". When we refer to plants, animals and even our whole living planet as "it", we blind ourselves to our true relationship with them. They become just "things" that we can use for our own purposes. The author is exploring her Native American roots and discovering how different it is without that pronoun:
...in Anishinaabe and many other indigenous languages, it’s impossible to speak of Sugar Maple as “it.” We use the same words to address all living beings as we do our family. Because they are our family.

What would it feel like to be part of a family that includes birches and beavers and butterflies? We’d be less lonely. We’d feel like we belonged. We’d be smarter.

She suggests a new pronoun, "ki", the last syllable in a long Anishinaabe word for "beings of the living earth". The plural would be "kin". This feels so right. When I walk around the garden I know I am with kin. It feels so comfortable to think of all the plants and animals this way. Just imagine how fast the world would change if we just changed that one pronoun....

Here is the whole article: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/together-with-earth/alternative-gramma...

With best wishes for our human family becoming smarter and less lonely---

Happy cooking,
Eve