Community

I'm addicted to a show called Community. 

Oh man.

So good. 

Quick-witted.

Dry-humoured.

Like Flight of the Conchords

but not as Hipster. 

"Troy and Abed

are amazing." 

Stay-----> under cover

~Marley & Jimmy~

Halo

There is this super cheesy Beyonce song called "Halo" which, despite my best attempts to the contrary, always makes me weepy because it makes me think of Ric and how good he is to me and how he treats me better than anyone I've ever met and how god-dang lucky I am to have him in my life and to have him, so willingly, stick in my life. 

*I love you*   

Ahem. Okay. Enough of the soppy stuff. 

Anyway today I came across a music site called WRECKROOM which featured such an awesomely weird cover of the song that I had to share it.

*meet.my.balls*

I had been craving meatballs and pasta for ages but was convinced that there was no way that Fry's mince would stick together long enough to survive the oven bake, not to mention dishing up and serving. Then I realised that one's food processor is one's best friend. The other day I made fake-chicken and mayonnaise sandwiches by blitzing the Fry's chicken strips in the blender. It was a bit of a "duh" moment when I realised I could do the same to the Fry's mince in order to get the consistency that I desired for my non-meat balls. The balls were a major hit and they were sturdy enough to survive the bake, the dishing out and the serving. Success!

Ingredients:

• 2 packets Fry's mince (I used the spice sachets that accompany the packets as well)
• 1 or 2 tsp Brewer's yeast
• 1 tsp dried parsley (or 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley)
• 1 medium chopped onion 
• 1 or 2 tsp garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme 
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tbsn vegan Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce
• 1 tbsn tomato paste
• 1 tbsn water
• 1/4 cup olive oil 
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup bread crumbs (optional) 
• 1 can tomato puree
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar

Combine all of the ingredients (except the tomato puree) in the blender and blend until you have an almost smooth minced consistency (you may need to add a bit more oil or water in the event that the mixture is too dry to stick together). Set aside. 

Pre-heat the oven to about 180 degrees celcius.

Pour the tomato puree into an oven proof baking dish and mix in the apple cider vinegar and sugar (to counteract the acidity of the canned tomatoes). 

Take the mince mixture and begin rolling into ping-pong sized balls. The mixture should stick together without any great effort on your part. 

Place the balls into the tomato puree mixture and continue to do so until the oven dish is filled with your balls.  

Place in the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the balls begin to brown. 

Serve with your choice of pasta and ENJOY! 

This dog's life

~A.L.Lit~

This year Ric and I have become very involved with Beauty Without Cruelty South Africa, an organisation which you may know predominantly for its work pertaining to the cosmetics industry and its vetting of animal friendly products in South Africa. Although animal testing was the organisation's original focus it has, in recent years, extended its reach into many more aspects of the Animal Rights Movement which encompasses vivisection, factory farming, animal trading and performing animals, amongst others. 

During the course of this year the organisation started organising massively successful protests against pet shops selling animals (to date, there have been protests against City Pets, Paradise Pets, West Rand Bird and Pet Farm - the most despicable, inhumane and sick establishment of the lot- and PetMaster) as well as a silent protest against the infamous Brian Boswell Circus (not to be confused with the Boswell Wilkie circus which no longer uses animals in its shows)which was recently featured on Carte Blanche for the abuse of its elephants. 

Apart from the protests, which serve to raise public awareness, the organisation is partnering with animal rights' organisations, legal practitioners and other interested parties to effect concrete changes to the way that animals are (mis)treated in this country. 

The lady who heads up the Johannesburg branch of BWC is in the midst of compiling an amazing library of literature on the treatment of animals. 

What came as the biggest surprise to me was the (comparatively large) amount of kids' literature available on the treatment of animals. They are some of the most beautifully illustrated kids' books that I have ever seen (I've actually ordered myself copies of certain books). They educate the reader about abuse of and kindness towards animals in an unflinching but appropriate way. 

There is also a mass of adult literature out there (which is not quite as cushioned a read as the kids' stuff) which provides great insight into the history of as well as the current state of animal treatment across the world. 

In particular there is a book entitled Animal Rights in South Africa, written by Michele Pickover, which provides a meticulously researched analysis on the status of animal rights in our country(focusing on vivisection, trophy hunting, trade in wild animals and animals as food). This book is a great means to debate animal rights issues with those people who are of the steadfast opinion that literature written and/or statistics which originate in the US or UK cannot be transposed here.

David Bilchitz is also a major beacon of the animal rights movement in South Africa. He heads up the South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights & International Law (SAIFAC)and has written numerous publications which analyse, among others, the relationship between our Constitution and Animals as well as Transformative Constitutionalism and Animal Rights. 

Pimping Pumpkin Pie

When I think of Pumpkin Pie I think of America's deep South, and I picture a little old lady sitting on a swing chair on a porch in one of those "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" plantation houses...and then I get creeped-out because those houses are shit scary and there's probably some voodoo vibe going on under the stairs or in the attic and the little old lady sitting on the swing chair is probably a ghost, or someone possessed, or she eats children. And then she smiles and she has no teeth (but in that evil-cavernous-black-hole-mouth kind of way not in that endearing she-forgot-to-put-her-false-teeth-in kind of way). Okay, this post is going downhill so...let's cut to the recipe for the Pumpkin Pie and focus on the joy that is Pumpkin Pie, regardless of the context that the poor Pie finds itself in. 

Ingredients

For the Filling: 

• 1 packet tofu (I tend to use Earth Products' plain tofu which I buy at my local Spar)
• 450g cooked mashed pumpkin or butternut (I buy a packet of the frozen pumpkin or butternut cubes which are super easy to cook and mash)
• 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp agave syrup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil 

For the Base: 

• 2 and 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup pumpkin seed oil
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1/3 cup sweetened soya milk 

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. 

For the base combine the flour, cinnamon, pumpkin seed oil and peanut butter and then mix together with your fingers until is becomes crumb-like. Knead in the soya milk until it forms a ball of dough. 

Roll the dough out onto a flat non-stick surface (or sprinkle some flour on your work surface beforehand) and, using your fingers, press the dough into a round pie dish (20cm) and cut off any over-hanging edges. 

For the filling combine all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth in consistency. 

Pour the filling into the pie dish and bake in the oven for about 40-50 minutes (until it turn golden brown). 

Allow to cool and serve!

~YUM~