Meatless March

Last week, Apple repaired my computer, after its left shift key stopped working. Apple did this repair for free. I want to contrast Apple with Breville, which offered to repair my stupid busted $240 food processor for $149, and they would then warranty it for six measly months. No thank you, I told them, I will put my $149 towards a new food processor, and it won't be a Breville. I find it environmentally irresponsible that Breville designed a food processor that didn't survive more than 2.5 years of light use, and then they offered a substantial financial disincentive to repair rather than replace it. I happily pay to repair things all the time, but $149 is excessive. So don't buy a Breville food processor, but I shared this cautionary tale because I also want you to consider that I was without my computer for the better part of a week. While I waited for it to return, I came up with A LOT TO SAY here, all of it pithy, I assure you, on topics ranging from Mocktoberfest to...

Home-grown vegetables are precious gifts . When a friend supplied me with kale this week, I was pleased to be able to substitute it for the spinach in a recipe for " Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Pasta " (The Colorful Kitchen) on Vegan Vednesday. I used this whole can of artichokes (drained), and about 10 ounces of dried pasta. This isn't a "wow" dish, but it is simple to make, and it is good. Yes, grated cheese would make it better, because cheese is delicious. But  The Guardian  reminds us that  animal agriculture accounts for 14.5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions . Once a week, at least, we can choose to set aside animal products for the sake of the planet, and it's not a hardship when you have solid recipes like this one at your fingertips.  Speaking of the planet, a lot of my environmental reading lately has focused on consumerism. I was raised on materialism; maybe you were, too. We're all targets of marketing. I grew up wanting to own stuff...

My mom lives in England, a country that persisted until a month ago in requiring even fully vaccinated people to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. When they finally lifted that requirement in August, I booked a flight for the first time since the Before Times, and this photo shows me me on Wednesday at 6:58pm, double-masked and full of excitement for the plane to take off from Newark Airport.  Well, the plane didn't take off. We had seen Tropical Depression Ida on the radar, heading slowly toward us after it hit Louisiana as a hurricane, days prior. Lightning started, we sat there on the plane for a while, then we were deplaned. The airport was mobbed with stranded passengers. In my mind, they all had COVID. The airport ceiling sprang leaks everywhere, and its ground floor flooded. Every so often, the intercom repeated the same prerecorded message that started with "Hello, and welcome to the friendly skies!", which made me want to barrel up and down the concourse, scre...