Meatless March

I made " Cheesy White Bean-Tomato Bake " last night (NYT Cooking) and it was as easy as the recipe promised. However, I got the notion to add a random unearmarked tomato that was sitting on my counter, which I threw into the skillet before starting in with the garlic. Unfortunately, that juicy tomato made a mess of splatters when I put it in the hot oil, so don't be me; don't add a tomato. But the rest of the recipe went off without a hitch. As you can see, I served this vegetarian and gluten-free dish with tortilla chips for scooping, and it was well-received by my backup dancers.  You may be aware that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came out with another soul-gutting report , ten days ago. If you knew this, you might still be cowering under your bedcovers. The IPCC always gives it to us straight, and it always crushes me. Remember when it crushed me in  2019 ? How about in  2022 ? Its 2021 report  particularly got to me , hoo boy. Bu...

For years, I have had a hankering to attend the Philadelphia Flower Show, which occurs on the cusp of spring and therefore promises to tide a winter-weary gardener through those final weeks of cold.  Tuesday. Bad. I suffer. This year, I learned of a group that had chartered a bus to attend the show, but they needed more people to buy seats to cover the costs. My moment had finally arrived. It was good fun, and exactly the colorful afternoon escape from winter that I'd hoped for. For dinner, we crossed the street to the Reading Terminal Market, and I was delighted to find a vegan deli .  Notice my photo-bomber backup dancer on the right I had a "turkey" sandwich, and while I will grant you that it did not taste too much like turkey, it did taste very good and I was happy. And I was tickled that the "meats" and "cheeses" at the deli actually looked like the real thing, sliced and stacked in a display case on the counter, but without the contribution to g...

You're doing your part to fight climate change by whipping up a meatless entree like " Coconut-Caramel Braised Tofu " (NYT Cooking; subscription required), but when you toss your green beans into your hot oil, it splatters onto your shirt, making a greasy stain that does not come out in the wash, even when you use stain remover.  Your shirt is ruined. Or is it? I'm a co-leader of the Green Team at my small backup dancer's elementary school, and we create opportunities for students to learn about their roles and responsibilities in addressing the ecological challenges facing our planet. Last year, we focused our messaging and activities around a theme of " food and the environment ," and this year, our theme is "sustainable clothing choices." We recently organized a "Visible Mending Workshop" for students, who learned how to apply artful stitching or patches over holes or stains in their clothes. By giving old clothes new life, we brea...