Pumkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are one of my family's favorites. I made some last night and this is hands-down a top 10 recipe, especially during the fall season, so I think I should share. Don't you? Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins:

4 eggs
3 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
15 ounces of punpkin (make sure it's straight pumpkin, not the pie filling)
12 ounces of chocolate chips

Mix the eggs, sugar, and oil together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining dry ingredients. Combine the mixtures and add pumpkin and chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Bio-fuels

Bio-fuels seem to be a hot topic lately. People say we need an alternative to gasoline, and I would agree. But some major figures promote bio-fuels as a viable alternative - something to bridge the gap between the gasoline dependent lifestyle of today to the clean fuels of tomorrow. I have heard many people, from President Obama to the commercials on televsion, promote the use of biofuels to bridge this "gap."

Ever since I started learning about the environment, energy conservation, climate change, water consumption, and all of the other scary things out in the world, I have always been against the use and development of biofuels. The biggest reason for this is that all of the biofuels that I have heard of (up until today) are generally foods that people eat (mostly corn and soy - both products heavily grown in the U.S. and subsidized by the U.S. government). My first thought about this is, "How can we justify using food crops for transportation when other people around the world don't have enough food to eat?" Or, "Where will all of the land, nitrogen, and, most importantly, water come from to grow enough to run any society on biofuels?"

Cornfields Near Arles
Vincent Van Gogh

As far as I'm concerned, there are no positive answers to these questions. I think that if the U.S. government suddenly made the switch to subsidize the development of alternative, renewable, and clean energy sources (in my book that means wind and solar) the way the government subsidizes the corn, oil, and coal industries, then we would definitely be having a different conversation. But for now, since the U.S. has the infrastructure for a bio-fuel intensive alternative to gasoline and the people with the money are the people pushing the legislation which are also the people with "if it's not oil then it will be bio-fuel" agendas, I've been wondering what might be a possible alternative.

This morning when I was driving to work, a segment called Isle Earth Radio Series came on the radio, just like it does every morning. Every day they send out a quick segment about environmental things from energy issues to wildlife conservation. Today's was about bio-fuels. But this segment was about research involving coffee grounds as the bio-fuel, instead of the traditional ethanol (corn).

This research has to do with developing a bio-fuel based on coffee grounds. The benefits to this approach is that it is based on a medium that would otherwise be simply thrown away. There is already land, water, and soil devoted to the growing of coffee beans; the beans are already being transported from their growing places around the world, and they will be grown regardless of whether or not the grounds are used for bio-fuels.

I think this is a very interesting research development. According to the radio segment, coffee ground biodiesel could add about 340 million grounds of biodiesel. And this is a biodiesel market that is expected to hit about 300 billion gallons annually by 2010.

I would be interested to see what the effects of this approach would be, however. For instance, would this development cause a growing of coffee beans for bio-fuel exceeding the demand of global coffee drinkers? One great thing about this approach, regardless of other consequences, is that the end product apparently smells just like coffee. Yum!


Photo Credits:

Cornfields Near Arles
Wind Turbine
Coffee Beans

Take a Break - It's Friday

I originally posted this on my blog for work, but I decided it was applicable here, too. Especially since this blog serves mainly a different audience - an audience I've been neglecting!

I don't know about you, but this week has been a very busy one. We are in the full throes of our Annual Conference preparation, recovering from being gone all last week in Portland, and of course all of the other "life-as-usual" things here at USEE. Needless to say, I am very happy that it is Friday!

I thought it might be nice to write about something other than the usual this afternoon. Something easy, that doesn't require a lot of research, but still might be at least somewhat interesting to read. So how about weekend plans?


This weekend I have a mix of fun, productivity, and relaxation on my list. Tonight I am going to dinner with my family at my uncle's to see his new house. After that, my sister is coming home with me and she will be staying with me for the weekend as she takes a break from her regular life. She owns a photography business, so we are going to visit Andree' to take pictures of Little Olive and the family. Saturday night my sister and I are getting together with an old friend - maybe we will all watch the University of Utah football game together, or maybe we will just laugh the night away after going to dinner. Those plans haven't been completely solidified yet.

Other than that, the rest of my weekend is free to do as I please, other than the regular things like cleaning out my garden area, cleaning the house, and early-morning runs. I hope to get in a good bike ride, or maybe even a hike somewhere below the snowline on Sunday. I feel some studying at the local coffee shop is also on the horizon.

I am definitely feeling the seasons change. Many of my friends have gotten really sick with the flu in the recent weather changes, I feel like I've missed fall completely since the snow fell in the mountains before the leaves had a chance to change, my house is very chilly, and I've pulled out the pumpkin candle, long-sleeved shirts, blankets, and hot tea. Part of me embraces the change. I look forward to the holidays and all of the festivities they entail, getting warm with hot cider under a blanket after cross-country skiing, and wearing slippers again. The other part of me is already nostalgic for late summer vegetables, long evenings on the porch, and flip-flops.

The transition from summer to fall is always a happy one for me, as fall is most definitely my favorite season. But when summer heads straight into winter, I find myself wishing it wouldn't all happen so fast. But don't get me wrong, I am excited to go skiing! And I plan on visiting the Black Diamond Gear swap tomorrow to see if I can get a good deal on some decent skis to justify buying a pre-season ski pass from Solitude. We'll see how that goes. For now, I'm going to try and enjoy the weather as best I can and hopefully I'll be able to get one more rock-climbing day in before the snow really starts to fly.

Jason (my boss) has informed me that he plans to do an 18 mile run tomorrow in preparation for the marathon he is running in a few months, followed by a short bare-foot relaxation run around the park on Sunday.

So what are you doing this weekend? Getting outside? Going for a run? Spending time with your family and friends? Enjoying life? I hope so!

Photos by Mallory Platt

Lake Blanche

Over Labor Day weekend I finally hiked to Lake Blanche. Lake Blanche is 3 miles up a side canyon up Big Cottonwood Canyon, just below the big S-curves. I regret to say that I have lived in Salt Lake City my entire life and this is the first time I have ventured here. I have been missing out! The trail is incredibly steep, which is part of the reason why I have shied away from it for so long, but it actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

The trail is absolutely beautiful and winds mostly through mixed pine and aspen trees. At the top there is steep red rock ridge that runs across the canyon. Lake Blanche is perched just over the ridge and Sundial peak (about another hour and a half to the top) looms above the lake. If you keep hiking west along the ridgeline, there are two smaller lakes beyond Lake Blanche. A small waterfall cascades from Lake Blanche into the first lake, and a slightly larger waterfall comes out of the last, and smallest, lake into the river that runs down the canyon.

As I was hiking up the trail, a few hundred yards from the top of the ridge, a friendly hiker informed me that there were some mountain goats on the cliffs past the smaller lakes. After resting up and eating my lunch, I set off to find them. After exploring for about an hour, I finally found them high on the cliffs above the lakes. Unfortunately, they were too small to see with my camera - so no pictures of them, but I enjoyed watching them bound up and down the cliffs with the greatest of ease - definitely a treat to see.

The trail switches back through many aspen groves.

First view of Lake Blanche

Lake Blanche with Sundial Peak high above.

The two smaller lakes west of Lake Blanche.

View down the canyon from the ridge line - the trail goes up this canyon.

Even though it took me way too long to get up there, I'm glad I finally did now rather than later. If you live in the Salt Lake Valley, or close by, I highly recommend this gorgeous excursion.

Washington State Prisons: Green Job Training and Sustainability

I came across this article in The Grist the today. (Washington State Prisons Pursue Sustainable Practices, Green Collar Job Training by Sarah van Schagen) Though they have a lot of interesting articles circulating about, this one I thought was particularly interesting. It's about a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Evergreen State University in Washington, and the Washington state prison system. It's called the Sustainable Prisons Project and it's changing the way Washington state prisons are training offenders for the workforce.

Jason Chandler plants Walla Walla Sweet Onions in the
organic garden at Stafford Creak Corrections Center
Photo: Sarah van Schagen

The Sustainable Prisons Project's website states their mission is "to reduce the environmental, economic and human costs of prisons by training offenders and correctional staff in sustainable practices. Equally important, we bring science into prisons by helping scientists conduct ecological research and conserve biodiversity through projects with offenders, college students and community partners." They achieve this by providing offenders with green job training. It is so far a win-win situation as "the scientists get cheap (and eager) labor, while the offenders get the opportunity to participate in meaningful work."

Offenders' task vary from tending the prison's organic garden (the produce is used in the prison's kitchen), separating recyclables from the prison's waste stream, beekeeping, and attending to composting worms. The offenders can also participate in a variety of conservation efforts as well. One project led by The Nature Conservancy involves planting native grass seeds as part of a federally funded prairie restoration project. Other offenders "are also helping breed endangered spotted Oregon frogs and “farm” mosses for the horticultural trade (which aids in preventing unsustainable harvesting from old-growth forests)."

This training allows the offenders to have the opportunity to get involved in science, develop their critical thinking skills, and develop needed skills that could help them in the job market after serving their time in prison. The program is also helping the state prison system money. At the Cedar Creek facility, "efficiency upgrades like low-flow toilets and showers and a rainwater catchment system helped save 250,000 gallons of water in the summer alone. And the gardening, composting, and recycling efforts are saving the facilities thousands of dollars every year."

The Sustainable Prisons Project is currently in practice at 3 state prisons in Washington. The project hopes to expand the program to all prisons in the state. Since correctional facilities as basically like small cities, they hope their example can be followed by other state prisons, summer camps, military bases, hospitals, and schools.

To find out more information about this project, I recommend reading the entire article.

Photo by Sarah van Schagen

"Sustainability Index"

Walmart announced last week that they will be launching a new "sustainability index," or in other words a database designed to "put information about how environmentally friendly suppliers, manufacturers, and their products are."

The index will be implemented in three phases: the first is to survey all of Walmart's suppliers about how the supplier opperates, where their products are made, and how. The second step would be to actually develop the database, and the third and final step would be to launch the index and have consumers using it.

I know that Walmart represents a lot of different feelings for many different people and I personally have difficulty shopping and supporting the mega-retailer. However, you have to give them credit here. I am not sure what this database will look like, how much it will really represent sustainable products, or if Walmart shoppers will use the database, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Will the index be something that shoppers use and access at the stores, or is it something that shoppers will research before coming in? How will different products be represented in the index? Does that mean Walmart will be selling locally grown or locally made products? Will there be a type of rating system or regulation/policy for the products and suppliers, or how will Walmart address the issues of greenwashing?

There are definitely some hard questions that need to be answered before something like this could be as successful as I think Walmart hopes it to be. In the mean time, I hope someone on the index development team raises these points.

I originally heard of this issue on The Grist and you can read the entire article here.

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Independence Day is a day of fun, families, friends, and food! Ever since I was young we had hamburgers and hot dogs, watermelon, potato salad, corn on the cob, and usually some type of fruit pie with homemade vanilla ice cream on the side. I find this to be traditional fare among many American families. But the 4th of July is special in my family for a different reason...


It's my birthday!

Having a birthday on the 4th is an interesting affair. When I was younger I couldn't imagine having it on any other day and when I would ask my mother if the fireworks were for me she would always reply, "Why yes of course!" I felt special...And I made sure my little sister heard this and was prompt to note that she never got fireworks on her birthday. Children can be so vindictive.

But being a Yankee-Doodle-Dandy isn't all it's fire-crackered up to be either. As I got older I wanted to have parties with my friends. But since they were all doing stuff with their families, I stuck close to home. When I was in college I spent most of my birthdays alone as my family started making their own Independence Day plans by going to the local minor league baseball game to eat hot dogs and watch the fireworks on the baseball diamond lawn. I didn't want to spend my birthday that way and they naturally assumed I'd be with my friends or roommates anyway.

Not so. My closest friends have amazing 4th of July traditions that are unwavering and every year it baffles me. Even though it's an important holiday for my family too, especially with it being my birthday, we never have that many plans or traditions. Maybe it's because of my birthday that we don't.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. It's just an interesting predicament that surprises me to this day. This year I've tried to get rid of my expectations and embrace the day for what it really is. It's about remembering hundreds of years of history, but I think more importantly, however, that it's about setting aside time for family, whatever that means for you. This year I am going to the baseball game with my family and on Sunday we are having a family/holiday/birthday dinner.

Now that I'm a vegetarian, the traditional 4th of July feast is altered a bit. Instead of burgers and hot dogs (much to some members of my family's chagrin) we will be having shrimp and veggie kabobs. We still have pie - I've never been a lover of cakes. This year my mom is making a wonderful cherry pie. We used to have peach, but the peaches around here aren't ripe yet, which means they come from California or somewhere farther. My mother has discovered a lovely farm about 45 minutes up the highway that grows cherries and freezes them over the winter to sell in the early spring at the farmer's market. These are what will be our pie.

In the mean time, I hope your holiday is full of sunny skies, parks, parades, fun runs, festivals, family, friends, fireworks, hot dogs/hamburgers/kabobs, and of course, cherry pie.


Photo Credits: Fireworks, Cherry Pie