Canadian grandmothers are taking action in support of their African counterparts.
Grandmothers to Grandmothers is a campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation that seeks to build solidarity, raise awareness and mobilize support in Canada for Africa’s grandmothers.
AIDS has orphaned as many as 13 million African children in 15 countries in sub-Sahara Africa. It is the grandmothers, who are in their 50s, 60s and 70s, who are burying their children and then parenting their grandchildren.
These grandmothers struggle to feed, clothe, shelter, educate and comfort this younger generation.
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The Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign, which was launched March 7, 2006, now has more than 220 groups of Canadian grandmothers who have raised more than $4 million for African grandmothers and the children they are caring for.
Twelve members of Parliament presented a petition in the House of Commons March 6 and 9 on behalf of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign.
Containing more than 32,500 signatures, it called for the government to fulfill foreign aid commitments and to allocate an adequate amount of funding for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria efforts.
It also called for legislative change to allow Canadian pharmaceutical companies to export generic versions of drugs to treat these three diseases.
When MP Paul Dewar presented his portion of the petition, he said it was “one of the most successful petition efforts in the history of this country.”
The Courier-Islander newspaper reported that during a visit to Courtenay, B.C., last June, Lewis told a crowd that “grandmothers in large numbers are very scary. They have an infinite amount of energy, time, inclination, knowledge, life experience and they have themselves raised several million dollars in the course of 15 or 16 months. It takes one aback, since it tends to be raised in small amounts in a vast array of projects, and shows the indomitable spirit of grandmothers …. The grandmothers of Africa were simply not being attended to ….. No one (was) taking them seriously and no one responding to the needs. Now it has become a kind of international social movement.”
For more information, e-mail campaign@stephenlewisfoundation.org or telephone 416-533-9292 ext. 230.
Crochet ideas
Crocheting Easy Blankets, Throws & Wraps is one of the new Company’s Coming craft books.
Its beautiful colour photographs and easy to follow diagrams and instructions will make learning easy. I have done crocheting in the past and the instruction in this book is the most understandable and best illustrated that I have seen.
Each project has a skill level rating: beginner, easy, intermediate and experienced. There is at least one full colour photograph of each finished project.
A handy reference chart and corresponding symbols with each pattern will help determine the type of yarn needed for each project. You will find patterns for a variety of afghans and blankets as well as capes and wraps.
There is also a beautiful selection of baby blankets. Whether you are a beginner or experienced in the art of crochet, I am sure there is a project or two in this book that you would enjoy making.
All of the Company’s Coming books are available from www.companyscoming.com or at some retail stores.
Cleaning out the freezer
When I was digging around in my deep freeze lately, I discovered several containers of apples and apple sauce that need to be used up. Here are two new apple recipes I tried.
Updated apple crisp
The crisp topping has increased fibre with the addition of bran cereal and ground flax. For the filling, you could use a variety of frozen mixed berries, plums and/or apples.
Topping
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats 250 mL
1/2 cup whole wheat flour 125 mL
1/3 cup 100% bran high 75 mL
fibre cereal
1 tablespoon milled or ground 15 mL
flax seed
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 125 mL
1/3 cup butter, melted 75 mL
Filling
8 cups apples, cored and diced 2 L
or 2 cups apples 500 mL
and 6 cups mixed frozen fruit 1.5 mL
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons flour 30 mL
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 2 mL
Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C).
Combine the oats, flour, bran, flax and sugar in a bowl. Mix well and then add melted butter, stirring with a fork until well moistened and clumpy. Set aside.
For the filling: Toss together all ingredientsin an eight inch (2 L) square baking dish.
Cover with topping.
Bake in the centre of preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes or until fruit is tender and bubbling and topping is golden.
Adapted from Mixed Fruit Crisp in the Robin Hood Baking is Back recipe booklet.
Apple sauce snack cakes
This recipe was adapted from Eat Well Live Well, The Canadian Dietetic Association’s Guide to Healthy Eating. The original was submitted by Elaine Durst of Westbank, B.C.
1/2 cup butter or margarine 125 mL
or 1/3 cup canola oil 75 mL
11/2 cups granulated or 375 mL
brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla 5 mL
2 cups all-purpose flour or 500 mL
whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder 15 mL
1 teaspoon baking soda 5 mL
11/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 7 mL
1 teaspoon ground allspice 5 mL
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 2 mL
2 cups unsweetened apple 500 mL
sauce
1 apple cut into 16 pieces
Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C).
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Add to creamed mixture alternately with apple sauce. Use a large spoon to mix after each addition.
Spoon into paper-lined or well greased muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. For added fibre, place a wedge of unpeeled apple into the top of each muffin before baking. Bake for about 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Makes 16 muffins.
Pickled garlic
Dear TEAM: I would like a recipe for pickled garlic. I have tried different recipes, but the garlic usually turns purple. Any suggestions? S.Z., Andrew, Alta.
Dear S.Z.: “Some varieties and/or growing conditions produce garlic that has an excess of natural blue/green pigmentations,” according to the Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving.
There is nothing you can do about the change of colour, but it is still OK to eat.
The book Prairie Garlic Cookery: An Orgy of Olfaction, edited by Beverly Pain, has an interesting pickled garlic recipe titled Dilled Stinking Rosebuds that was submitted by Karin Melberg-Schwier.
She has a novel solution for the change of colour: “Don’t worry if they turn blue. Just get matching table linens.”
This recipe also has an editorial note that states: “According to Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard in their book Put a Lid on It: Small-batch Preserving for Every Season, “garlic may turn blue or green in the jar. Nothing to be alarmed about, it is only the effect of the acid on the natural pigments in the garlic.”
Dilled stinking rosebuds
12 cups water 3 L
4 cups vinegar 1 L
1 cup pickling salt 250 mL
25 cups garlic cloves 6 L
pieces of fresh dill
Combine water, vinegar and salt to make brine. Bring to a boil. Fill sterilized canning jars with lots of garlic cloves. Add a piece of dill to each jar. Fill with boiling brine, to about 1/2 inch (one cm) from the top.
Current food safety practices require that these jars be processed in a boiling water canner. The following is the process recommended in The Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving.
Using a nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe the jar rim, removing any brine. Centre a snap lid and apply screw band securely and firmly until fingertip tight. Place jar in canner of boiling water.
Repeat with remaining jars.
Cover canner; bringing water to a boil. At altitudes up to 1,000 feet (305 metres), process 10 minutes. Remove jars without tilting. Cool upright, undisturbed for 24 hours. Do not retighten screw bands. After cooling, the sealed lids should curve downward. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place.
Chill before serving.
Tips for growing garlic
Garlic can grow in any soil that is suited to other vegetable crops. It requires little fertilizer and is relatively insect- and disease-free.
Do not plant where you have had garlic or other onion family plants growing in the last two years. Choose an area that is in full sun, well-drained and weed free.
Be sure to plant the cloves with the pointy end up and as straight as possible. For easy cultivation, place them three inches (7.5 cm) apart and two inches (5 cm) deep in rows 18 inches (45 cm) apart. They can be planted in mini-patches in small gardens.
Garlic requires weeding and adequate moisture during growing. As well, bulbing is sensitive to moisture stress. For most soil, this would mean one inch (2.5 cm) of water per week. It is best to water in the morning or mid-afternoon to allow the foliage to dry before night. Stop watering in the fall before harvest.
– Source: From Prairie Garlic Cookery: An Orgy of Olfaction
Betty Ann Deobald is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
