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This is probably the easiest way to use zucchini from your garden, and if you're growing herbs, it's an excuse to use those, too. It's also one of those dishes that takes just about anything you like in pasta. I'm keeping it very simple, so as not to drown out the zucchini. I use brown rice pasta. I originally tried it when we thought one of us was celiac, then it became habit. It's delicious and very healthy, but it does need the extra step of rinsing the cooked pasta. If you don't do that, the pasta will all stick together in a one big gluey mess... something I discovered painfully on my own.  Also, if you use brown rice pasta, it's easier to use a "cut" pasta, like penne, rotini, or ditalini. Long pasta like spaghetti or linguini is more difficult to rinse properly.  Pasta with Zucchini and Fresh Herbs 1/2 package of penne pasta  1 large zucchini a variety of fresh herbs, washed and shredded (I used basil, thyme, and cilantro) 2 cloves of garlic...

The conversation was simple enough. Teenage girl: "Where is the nonfiction?" Me: "Nonfiction is upstairs, but it's organized according to subject. There should be some nonfiction books on the Bingo display." Teen: "I think they're all gone." Me: "OK, we'll find you something. What would you like to read about?" Teen: "So far I've read one nonfiction book. It was about a man who left the war in Iraq. It was called The Deserter's Tale . I loved it." !!!!!!!!!!! Why did this make me so unreasonably happy? 1. War resisters! Teens reading about moral choices! Teens reading about conscientious objection to war! I always include Joshua Key's The Deserter's Tale in my youth nonfiction displays. But I've never gotten feedback on it before! And she didn't just read it, she loved it! 2. One of my missions at the library is to offer nonfiction to teen readers. There is no special youth nonfiction section, and I...

The conversation around the movie " Obvious Child " has prompted me to re-visit a long-standing interest of mine, one I share with many other reproductive rights activists: the portrayal of abortion in the mainstream media. I haven't seen "Obvious Child" (I wait for DVD or Netflix, as always), but I've heard that it includes a rarity: an honest and positive portrayal of the choice to terminate a pregnancy. Considering how many women do have abortions - and considering that the choice is usually met with relief and happiness - this shouldn't be exceptional. Yet it is. On fictional TV shows and movies, when women are faced with unwanted pregnancies, certain outcomes are almost predictable. Sometimes abortion is never mentioned as an option, as if it simply does not exist. More often, abortion is mentioned briefly, contemplated with horror, and cast aside. In soaps, a spontaneous abortion (usually known by the antiquated term miscarriage ) often settles the...

Apparently if you grow zucchini, you have too much of it. Being new gardeners, we didn't know how prolific our one zucchini plant would be, or the insane quantities - and size! - of the vegetables it would produce. And those leaves! They're gigantic and there's so many of them! It's been a source of wonder and amusement. We've cut back the leaves several times, as they're crowding out the herbs and the eggplant. And of course cutting back just makes the plant produce even more. I remember that much from my indoor planting days. There's no shortage of recipes online offering ideas and advice on how to use your surplus zucchini, including several suggestions of leaving some on a neighbour's porch. So although there's no need, I'm going to add mine to the pile. My recipes are all adapted from what I've found online, usually a combination of ideas I find in two or three places, tweaked to our own tastes and cooking style. Zucchini Fritters 1 huge...

This year's garden-ette is completely out of control! In a very good way. Here's June. And here's today. No idea what I'm going to do with all the zucchini. Neither of us bakes, so zucchini bread and muffins are not an option. Guess I'd better start Googling... This eggplant is tiny right now, but I suppose soon I'll need those recipes, too. Random Diego pic. And because you're never too old to be a puppy, Tala recently fell in love with an empty peanut butter jar. No idea why.

This month - July 11, 2014 - I have been blogging for 10 years. Ten years! I clearly remember telling Allan I was considering beginning a blog about emigrating to Canada. He thought it was a great idea. July 11, 2004. I was working weekends at my (incredibly easy, wildly overpaid) job at Most Evil Corporate Law Firm. Our applications had been submitted , and we were waiting . August 30, 2015 will be the 10-year anniversary of our move to Canada, but I felt the 10-year anniversary of wmtc was worth a mention. Thanks for being part of what I love * about blogging. * Or hate, in some cases

I've been trying to write about Israel's latest slaughter of Palestinian people ever since the hideous spectacle began, without results. I post little bits of horror and disgust on Facebook, but can't sustain anything worth posting here. Because... what is there to say? A mighty military power unleashes deadly force against a civilian population. Some people within that population have dared to use violence to resist their own oppression. Therefore the entire population must be terrorized, hundreds murdered, thousands maimed, lives destroyed. Another great military power and a second-tier military wannabe *  rush to the defense of the military power, and anyone who speaks out against it is accused of bigotry. People who normally would recoil at such warmongering are silent, or, incredibly, call the slaughter defense . It's a topsy-turvy world. In the US, if you don't blindly support, without question, every single military action perpetrated by the government, you a...