"The commonality that we all have...."

Our circle keeps growing ---- a warm welcome this week to Mindi Bender in Manzanita, Oregon, Jacqueline Silver in Seattle, Washington, and Andrea Baker in Clackamas, Oregon! You are joining a worldwide group and the map below serves as a sort of group picture of us. Have fun clicking around ----explore the map and see where we all are! Notice that some locations have names attached to them, making our map just a little more friendly. Manzanita, Seattle and Clackamas are on the map now and I would be glad to add your names if you are willing----this goes for everyone!

This week's new recipe is yet another vegan parmesan cheese. We already have a walnut parm and a sesame version. Linda put me onto this one which is made with cashews. She says it is good on mixed veggies and split pea soup and I've enjoyed it on pasta dishes: Cashew Parm

Also, I discovered that I hadn't entered the Key Lime Pie Justina sent in December. Here it is at last:
Key Lime Pie

In my last letter I sent An's photo and Vietnamese Lunar New Year greeting and reflected on the way our messages were circling the globe. But--- it turns out An was actually celebrating in Norway!
Dear Eve, Thank you so much for your kind email and Happy Vietnamese Lunar New Year again :) I had a great time making Vietnamese family dinner on the last day of year of the Horse....with some of my friends in Haugesund, Norway.

An asked me if I could put her in touch with Anna, our Norwegian member, so I checked first with Anna and then gave them each other's email address. Here is how that turned out:
Thank you for that email. We've connected with An on Sunday. It was such nice surprise for me to find beautiful person with the same interests through online community so grateful for your work! ...Enjoy your day! Anna

I'm so pleased that our little community is connecting in the real world as well as the virtual world----and I agree with the thought that came from Christel in Germany :
An looks so nice, it's a pity that we all can't meet in real for a world-potluck.
Happy New Year to all!
Christel

Cindy in Portland responded too, saying, Thank You Eve, I always look forward to your news and so appreciate that you "hold and bring us together"....The commonality that we all have, is being shared around the world.! It's so exciting, and I am grateful for every single contribution as we work...looking forward in great anticipation, to a VEGAN WORLD.

Terri in Florida appreciated my reflections on threads of connection---the global brain in cyberspace and the wisdom of the mycelial web in the soil:
Dear Eve, I am so pleased to be a part of the connecting threads that bind all of us mindful cooks, and those of us just interested in preserving this great earth. Thank you ...for reminding me with this wonderful website where you so beautifully convey these thoughts. Love, Terri

Speaking of the soil, Ellen, our Hawaiian Texan, is getting her hands in the dirt and celebrating all the wonders of spring growth:

Hi Eve, As spring peeks through the doldrums of winter here in Texas, my friend Kazuko and I are starting a veggie & flower garden in my backyard. Her backyard is full already and mine is empty so we decided to fill the space! We have one small section cleared and have planted onions, daikon, red radishes and turnips. Yesterday, I planted asparagus crowns...one of those things that will require lots of patience...but I am so excited that it is a perennial and will return year after year once established. I love asparagus! Later today, we'll be planting potatoes. Eventually, we will plant our flowers to attract butterflies and bees and leafy greens, tomatoes and peppers. Being a garden newby, I am thrilled beyond words to be in the dirt and communing with mother nature. I love listening to the birds talk to each other and have even re-connected with my neighbors who happen to come outside. Even my husband, who works so very hard, joined me one day after work (still in his uniform!) to weed and play in the dirt! I think it helped him wind down and relax. No chemicals, nothing wasted. I can't wait to start eating these wonderful veggies! Also, we'll be attending a water harvesting class when it starts in the spring. Texas is so dry and this will help keep our plants happy. I hope you and all our mindful cook friends have a very happy and fruitful spring and 2015! ...Aloha, ellen p.s. I will send pictures when we have something to show! :)

And an afterthought: I have not yet seen mycelia in the garden but I have seen it in my Easy Sprouter....is it something that is good or something I should be worried about? Isn't it something natural that goes with the territory? You see....I am REALLY A NEWBY! LOL! Mahalo! ellen

Does anybody have an answer re mycelia in the Easy Sprouter?

I also heard from Justina in Colorado who recently completed the Plant Based Nutrition Certificate program offered by eCornell. She says, "What an amazing amount of information in that class!" She promises to write about it for our Active Discussions.

I learned that her vegetarian group is watching cooking films:
We have added a periodic film night to our group. In January we showed McDougall Made Easy, and in early March we will show McDougall Made Irresistible. Both have similar formats – he talks a bit about nutrition, then she demos recipes in the kitchen – 14 segments like that. Each film is 2 hours, and the great thing is that the recipes are included on the DVD when put in the computer.

Portland people, what do you think----is this something our group might like to do? Justina sent some of the recipes----and they look very simple, which is just what so many of us hope for.

One last message: Betsy and Gunter in California learned that an article that appeared 5 years ago about their work with tempeh has been reposted on Huffington Post! Ellen Kanner, editor of the food column, wrote to them: And by the way, you're back by popular demand in Meatless Monday - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellen-kanner/meatless-monday-the-joy-t_1_b...

So much good stuff going on!

Happy cooking,
Eve