Reflections on the People's Climate March 9.21.14

On September 21st, Scott & I joined approximately 400,000 people in the People's Climate March, the largest climate march in history.



Neither of us had participated in a demonstration before, but I gave Bill McKibben's audiobook Oil & Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist to Scott as a Christmas present last year and we got really into his story and his efforts with 350.org.  When we learned that this march was happening right near my apartment on Central Park West, we had to check it out.



We jumped in around 84th Street, right where the big Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone happened to be.


We were excited to see Jerry Greenfield himself there. We didn't introduce ourselves but here he is in the background of this selfie.



 

and there he is with a backpack on.



There were so many people from around the country and the world advocating different types of environmental causes. A cause with one of the most visible presences (at least in our section) was the prevention of the Keystone XL pipeline, which is largely lead by McKibben. Organizations like Tar Sands Blockade were out in full force.





 

The march didn't start moving for what seemed like hours because the crowd was so big.






Even other species joined.



The most moving part was the moment of silence, followed by the powerful roar/cheer of hundreds of thousands of people that made it's way up the streets and reverberated through the city.  Here's a pic I took during the moment of silence:



 

Here's someone's YouTube video of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9mJSGKii8Y

 

 

Overall, really cool experience. I'm grateful I got to be part of this and would definitely participate again.

The Largest Climate March in History

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUUTB2vvIlY

This wasn't on my NYC Bucket List Challenge, but I just signed up to join the People's Climate March on Sunday, September 21st.

It will be my last Sunday living in NYC and the first protest I've ever participated in. Since the meeting place for the march is just a couple of blocks from my apartment, there is really no excuse not to join other than large crowds give me anxiety. Hopefully I can keep that in check.

 

Experiments in Spiralizing

After a few months of following food blogger Ali Maffucci's blog Inspiralized and Instagram account (@inspiralized) and admiring the photos of beautiful, vegetable-based dishes she makes, I guess you could say I was "inspiralized"  to buy a Paderno Spiralizer and try it out for myself.

Basically, a Spiralizer is a tool that turns vegetables into "noodles" very quickly and easily. Zucchini noodles aka "zoodles" seem to be the most popular vegetable to spiralize, but you can also make noodles out of beets, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and other veggies.

Here's a quick demo of how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3aKSoRxUwM

 

I tried out my Spiralizer for the first time last weekend on some zucchini & squash I got at the Columbus Avenue Greenmarket, a local farmer's market in my neighborhood.

[caption id="attachment_358" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Zucchini & Squash from Columbus Ave Greenmarket[/caption]

The tool comes with 3 different blades (A, B & C).   Blade A makes thick flat spirals that remind me of flower petals a little bit. Blade B (my favorite blade) makes well formed, rounded, long spiraling noodles. Blade C makes short, thin noodles that are more like shreds.




[caption id="attachment_356" align="aligncenter" width="300"] "Zoodles" from A, B and C.[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_357" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Blade A cut[/caption]

I took all the noodles I created and added them to this meat sauce recipe from Nerd Fitness, but substituted ground turkey for the ground beef.  I also used my red onions instead of a regular onion. (Sorry, I don't have a pic of the finished dish.)

I love this tool so far and plan on experimenting with it a lot more. Stay tuned for some detailed recipes!

If you're interested in trying a Spiralizer out too, you can get one on Amazon for <$40.