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Hello and welcome to the:
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New beginnings issue!
I'm writing this month's newsletter from the banks of the Connecticut River - which runs along the border between Vermont and New Hampshire!
New beginnings happen when we are river-like - able to leave the past behind and move towards the future. When we can accept the fluidity of life.
You should be receiving this on the day of the September 2015 new moon, the weekend of a solar eclipse. At sundown, Rosh Hashanah begins and with it the promise of a fresh start, a new year.
Okay, so Rosh Hashanah is a Jewish holiday, but I have always felt that anyone should feel welcome to begin again in any area of their life on this special day. Or any day really.
That is what I encourage you to do this fall.
And, heck, with a new moon, solar eclipse and Jewish New Year all together, what better time!
Take off and see someplace new - far away or in your own backyard. Talk to strangers (use good judgement) and soon they will be a part of your life's story.
So.... in this issue:
Honey and apples are tradition for the Jewish New Year, but really anyone can enjoy Alicia's apple honey cake recipe!
Fresh starts.
70s musician-advocates - How the likes of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Kris Kristofferson and others inspired me and my work.
And more...
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Honey Apple
Cake!
by
Alicia Ghio
I love how food allows us a glimpse into different cultures and religions around the world. Why we eat what we do and how we eat it is so closely tied to where we come from and what we believe. And what better way to share ourselves with one another than over a meal?
And that brings me to this issue's recipe, which just so happens to come out the same day that Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins at sundown. Honey and apple are two foods closely affiliated with the holiday. It's thought that to eat them will bring sweetness or good luck in the new year. In addition to the tradition of dipping apple slices in honey, it is also common to end a Rosh Hashanah feast with a honey cake.
This simple recipe yields an amazingly moist and flavorful cake. It's sweet but not overly so. It's delightful as dessert but can just as easily be savored with your morning cup of coffee.
Even if you have a different belief system, I think we could all use a little sweetness and good luck in our lives.
One thing to note: I use butter in the recipe. For those of you who want a substitute for the butter, use neutral tasting oil, such as canola.
Honey Apple Cake
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
- 1 cup thinly sliced apple (about 5oz by weight)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup melted butter
- 1 cup honey
- 4 eggs
- Butter to grease the pan
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit into the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan. Grease the paper and sides of the cake pan with a pat of butter.
- Sprinkle on the cinnamon and tablespoon of sugar.
- On top of the cinnamon and sugar, lay in the apple slices, overlapping every so slightly so there are no gaps.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another large mixing bowl beat the eggs. Then slowly whisk in the melted butter and honey.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir to combine into a smooth mixture.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a cooling rack. The apples should be lightly caramelized and the cake a golden brown.
(Photos by Renato Ghio)
Alicia Ghio is a passionate home cook on a mission to inspire people to know where their food comes from, to know what's in it and to savor the flavors of fresh ingredients. She is founder and editor of the multimedia blog, Local Food Rocks (
localfoodrocks.com), and has appeared on network television as an expert on local food.
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 Travel your way to a new perspective
I took this photo at Hogback Mountain on Rt. 9 in southern Vermont. It is such a beautiful place to pull over and look out at endless sky and trees and hills.
When we travel we are reminded that there is more to the world than what we get stuck in and limited by during the course of routine living.
Why should life be rote anyway? Doesn't it go against our nature? Isn't ordinary and repetitious living contrary to the natural world?
In Vermont, I always notice that people are happy. It takes me by surprise a bit each time. Oh right. Look, it's happy people, I tell myself. Everything is slower in the Green Mountain state. Usually that bugs me at first. Then, I find myself mellowing and slowing down myself. It's relaxing.
Once I get back on I-91, though, returning home to "civilization" I find my energy speeding up again.
But we need to have the times when we look at life differently, I think. It connects us to humanity. It reminds us that variety is a part of life. We all crave it innately, I think. And it shows us a bit more about ourselves as we respond and adapt.
We return to our homes changed from experiences out of town. Which is good. It really is the ultimate fresh start.
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What about the food when you travel?
I'm really not sure on what continent this constitutes a healthy breakfast! >>>
Yuck!!
Still, it's called Continental Breakfast.
I know that my standards are different than many other people so I adapt by finding my own way to the first - and most important - meal of the day.
During this trip, I am lucky because my hotel room has a good-sized refrigerator. And Brattleboro, VT has a store called, The Brattleboro Food Co-op, that has all sorts of healthy food offerings.
Not too long ago, a friend of mine got me addicted to kombucha. I am going to have to do a blog story or write more in a subsequent newsletter. This stuff is  awesome! It took me a couple of times to get used to the flavor. It also stirred things up in my belly. But, now I feel so good drinking this succulent beverage.
<<<< Here it is.
The food Co-op carries local, organic kombucha.
I am now totally spoiled. Ruined for the regular stuff I get back home!
They sell the local organic stuff in bulk at the co-op. So, you can bring your own bottle, tell them the weight of your bottle and they will deduct that from the total weight when you fill your bottle (or even a jug).
Better than coffee, more satisfying than a bagel. Yeah, I said that.
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How 70s musicians saved my career...
Okay, so I'm thinking this should perhaps be a photo of 70s musicians or something representative of the time they lived in. But, I really wanted to get one more photo of a beautiful Vermont vista in here.
There is a correlation though. I took this photo when the temperature was in the 70s! Ah-ha, there ya go.
Let's start a wavy image to indicate a flashback. To me a couple of years ago.... wearing jammies and seated in front of my computer watching youtube videos.
I was at a crossroads and badly wanted to commit to speaking out against corporate control of our food system and for a renewal of the basics of our food system into everyday life.
But, I wasn't entirely comfortable.
So, what did I do? I watched some of the great 70s social advocates perform music and stand and be counted for what they believe.
Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, John Denver, Kris Kristofferson, Neil Young... the list goes on and on. They used their gifts - their music, their voices raised in song and reform - to speak their truth.
And they inspired me.
I listened over and over to the songs and interviews that sparked me the most. I wanted their messages to sink in. For it to become one with me - this ease they seemed to have conveying truths of why we are here.
I was using them to help me reprogram the messages I had in my brain about what I should and should not do. I was trying to recognize what it was in me that was the same as what in them could commit to causes regardless of the consequences.
Then I saw it. I was already doing it. I was just looking for permission.
That's what happens when we do things. We give others permission to do the same.
I hope that someday someone looks at what I have done as inspiration to go for something that helps heal the planet - and one another. Or even to follow their heart in some other way.
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Way to go Vermont!
While Connecticut was puffing out its chest and claiming bragging rights to the country's first GMO labeling bill, Vermont was rolling their eyes.
"Triggers," they mocked.... "haha, we will show you how it's done."
And with that, they passed and signed into law the nation's first no-strings-attached GMO labeling bill - which is due to go into effect in 2016.
Vermont is being sued now, natch, by the Grocery Manufacturer's Association and other groups.
Connecticut's Governor Malloy wanted the triggers included to make sure nearby states already had labeling before our bill would go into affect to avoid Connecticut facing lawsuits alone. Or, some argue, the triggers came about as a way to appease an industry (biotech) that Malloy has been wooing to the state.
Whatever the case, ironically, some of the same corporations involved in suing Vermont are also creating GMO-free products to meet demands of consumers.
Playing both sides? Go right ahead, as long as you are getting rid of the GMOs.
And Connecticut, yeah, ya know, my state will label when it is totally safe to come out from behind our triggers.
(The triggers are certain standards that will need to happen before Connecticut's GMO labeling bill will go into affect, including neighboring states also labeling.)
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Thank you for helping heal the natural world - and the people who depend on it... that's us!
The future of our planet is in your hands.
Laura Modlin
Founder and Publisher
A Return to Simple
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