I went to the Canada side of Niagara Falls near the end of August to photograph the fireworks (schedule: ). The shots aren't fantastic but it was a kinda cool experience. The whole point of shooting the fireworks should be that there are both fireworks and falls in the best shots; I didn't get any. It was a very humid night and the firework smoke just hung in the gorge. Also, my location was not optimal. Maybe next time.

Contextual image:

Since we're posting recipes... this is a wonderful fall/Thanksgiving soup. I've been meaning to retype it because the directions I have are badly written, difficult and confusing... so enjoy!

Curried Apple and Sweet Potato Soup

1/4 c. dark raisins
1 12oz bottle of a light pilsner (most recently, some Blue that (e:Terry) left in my fridge!)

3-4 c. well flavored veggie stock
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, finely diced (~1/4" cubes). (Since A was shopping at Price Rite, we actually had real yams - they cooked up a little quicker than sweet potatoes.)
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 c. apple juice concentrate or more to taste (we used 1/2 c. + cider most recently)
1 t. tamari (or soy sauce) or more to taste

1/4 c. butter
1 onion, diced
2 tart apples, unpeeled, cored, diced
1 t. cumin *
1/2 t. ground mustard *
1 t. turmeric *
1 t. ground coriander *
1/2 t. cayenne *

• curry spices

2 T. unbleached flour

Salt & white pepper to taste (I never have white pepper so I use black.)
1 red-skinned apple, cored and cut into large julienne for garnish (I've never bothered with this)
Creme Fraiche (highly recommend!! but you can use sour cream or plain yogurt)
Thin lemon wedges

1. Put beer & raisins in a bowl to soak. (They need to soak at least 30 minutes but the rest of the stuff takes a while until you need them so it should come out about right.)
2. Chop the sweet potatoes.
3. Put the stock, cinnamon stick, apple juice concentrate and tamari on to boil in a stock pot. Add the sweet potatoes. Simmer partially covered until potatoes are tender (about 30 min)

While the stock is simmering...

4. Chop the apples & onions.
5. Compile the curry spices.
6. Melt the butter in a frying pan.
7. Saute onions in the butter until softened (3-4 min).
8. Add the apples and saute for a few more minutes until a bit soft (3-4 min).
9. Add the curry spices.
10. Turn down the heat to medium-low, cook apple mixture, stirring often. (8 min or so - the apples should be getting pretty soft by now).
11. Separate the beer & raisins, keeping both.
12. Sprinkle the flour over the apple mixture and cook over low heat, 1 min.
13. Gradually add the beer, stirring to smooth any lumps, and cook until hot, smooth, and free of a floury taste - 5-7 min.
14. Put all or most of the apple mixture, plus the raisins, in a food processor or blender. Buzz till smooth. (All or most - depends on how you want the texture.)
15. Fish the cinnamon stick out of the stock.
16. Stir the apple mixture (all of it) into the stock.
17. Season with salt & pepper. Add more tamari, apple juice concentrate, and/or cayenne to taste.
18. Simmer over low heat for several minutes to meld the flavors.

Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with julienned apple, top with generous dollop of creme fraiche. Pass the lemon wedges at the table; a squeeze sets off the soup nicely but also good without.

The original recipe calls for only 1 t. of "best-quality curry powder" which would seem really weak, I think. My version is intense. I find that I want some hearty bread with this soup.

Vegetarian Chili

1/3 c. olive oil
2 c. onions
several cloves of garlic
3/4 c. celery
1 c. green pepper
1 c. carrots
2 c. fresh mushrooms
2 c. tomatoes

1/4 t. cayenne pepper (not enough but a good place to start)
1 T. cumin
3/4 t. basil
3/4 t. oregano
2 T. chili powder
2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

2 c. tomato juice or spicy V-8
3/4 c. bulgur wheat
3 15oz cans of beans, drained/rinsed - we used 1 kidney, 1 pinto and 1 black most recently
1/2 t. Tabasco sauce (also not enough)
2 T. lemon juice
3 T. tomato paste
1 T. Worcestershire sauce (there are veggie versions - the regular Lea & Perrins has anchovies)
1/4 c. dry red or white wine

sour cream, cheddar cheese, fresh cilantro for toppings
brown rice or corn bread for underneath

1. Chop your veggies
2. Compile the dry spices
3. Lightly saute onions, garlic, celery, pepper, carrots in the oil.
4. Add dry spices and saute a couple minutes.
5. Add everything else.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes uncovered.

(original source: Frog Commissary Cookbook)

The bulgar gives it a wonderful meaty texture.

I haven't done the mail order process in forever. It's so satisfying and hopeful.

Furthur featuring Phil Lesh * Bob Weir *
Jeff Chimenti * John Kadlecik * Jay Lane * Joe Russo

Winter Tour 2010 ticket information:

[snip]

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, NY. Tickets are available via mail order for $60.50 Reserved. Tickets are available via credit card for $64.50 Reserved.

[snip]

Doors and Showtimes are TBA

The first mail in/send in date for these performances is Monday, November 30, 2009. Please do not send in before Monday as your order may be canceled. All orders mailed/emailed/faxed on November 30th will be equally considered.

Please check our website for mail order instructions and credit card form.

GDTS TOO will hold yet another fabulous envelope contest for this tour.
The winner will receive 2 free tickets to the show of their choice.

Those of you who get the co-op newsletter probably already saw this, but because it's come up in our discussions about health care and obesity, I thought I'd post it.

To put it more bluntly, the government is putting itself in the uncomfortable position of subsidizing both the costs of treating Type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup.

Breaking Down Abortion Language In Health Bill

(background: Hyde Amendment )

When Congress Sells Out Women


Democrats face backlash over House abortion limits (they'd better!)


As if this legislation isn't a big enough give-away to insurance corporations, we have to have a give-away to the Catholic Church??

The pin:

As I've been working on compiling my Halloween costume, I've tried several hats and haven't been happy with them. I went to a party at the North Street Nickel City coop house Saturday night and some lovely woman let me borrow her adorable black velvet hat with rose detail but of course wanted it back as the she left. I wasn't quick enough to ask if I could rent it from her for this weekend's festivities. I had found a cute little half-hat at Patricia's, the crazy over-stuffed store next to East End Salon on Allen but I couldn't get it to sit right with my too-big head and too-thick hair. I highly recommend Patricia's for accessories. Adorable black velvet bag, elbow-length gloves... she even had white kid-leather elbow length gloves with the buttons at the wrist - they were gorgeous! They're something I've only read about. I feel like a bull in a china shop - the pathways are so narrow and everything is piled so high - so I just tell her what I need and she scurries around, digging deep into piles of furs, hats, suits, accessories, shoes, and random household items until she finds the perfect item. It's like a combination grandmother's attic, thrift store, and Claire's.

Anyway, so I checked out House of Randolph, 70 Allen St., hoping the cute fancy dresses in the window would be accompanied by hats. Irma, the owner, said she doesn't carry hats but did show me her gorgeous clothes "for us voluptuous women... the clothes are not for sticks." Really beautiful stuff and next time I need a fancy outfit, I'm going to try there first. As funky & cool as Allen Street Dress Shop is, they rarely have anything that fits me.

So I used the google machine to find "hats buffalo ny"... and I found Flashy Toppers over on Jefferson Ave. Stunning hats!!! They've got men's and women's hats, flashy and subdued. Very fun, great service. They've got a coupon in the Buffalo First coupon book, too. My hat has sequins, lace, and rhinestones and even came with a big huge proper hat box! Can't wait to wear it!

I just had dinner with my Tioga County friend Liz (her activist blog: and her store website: ) and her gf Hannah at Falafel Bar as they were on their way home from a wedding in Denver. Two hours of intense brain sharing about everything from crazy friends to natural gas well drilling to the proposed closing of North Penn High School.

I guess I need to get some of my brain energy out before I can focus again...

The Southern Tioga school board is going to choose whether to renovate or close the high school I (and my parents, aunts & uncle) graduated from. Closing the high school would mean busing kids in grades 9-12 to the schools 10 miles north and south and renovating the elementary school into a pre-k to 8th grade facility. It's a $17M vs. $27M project according to the feasibility study, but it looks like there's a lot of waste/unnecessary stuff in the high school renovation part that is inflating the cost. I created a facebook fan page five days ago for "Save North Penn High School!" and already have 440 fans and my dad and few friends have asked me to create an ad in the free weekly classifieds paper to promote the cause. I don't have access to the feasibility study these proposals are based on, which prevents me from having solid substantive arguments. The best I've got so far is "closing NPHS will negatively impact educational outcomes for students" and "closing NP means the death of Bloss." It'll be interesting.

Liz has been focused on the impacts of natural gas well drilling that's happening all across PA. There was a massive fish kill a few weeks ago in a formerly healthy stream on the West Virginia-PA border caused by dumping of untreated hydraulic fracturing waste water into an abandoned deep coal mining hole. The West Virginia DEP-equivalent says that it caused by a naturally occurring golden algae bloom - exactly the same cause proposed by the responsible company - but the PA DEP says it's from the waste water and wants the company's US EPA permit revoked. NY has halted all drilling - smarties! She's set up an information session with our county planner (possibly retired - i forget) for tomorrow night. I'm hoping a lot of people will show up and learn about the environmental devastation that's happening elsewhere so that we can be on guard in Tioga County. Companies are already drilling and spilling the frac water - we're getting reports from the local DEP office - 8,000 gallons of this toxic stuff. I'm so frustrated that so many people haven't learned from the devastation of the mines - the Tioga River, which runs through Bloss, is a dead river because of acid mine drainage.

And now I must return to the grey and gloomy world of law school... someday I'll get paid for the analysis work and the resulting legal actions, right?