Redefining Christmas, Stretching Thanksgiving!

Friends:

As the month of December comes our way, I think of all the money that is spent in giving away gifts. Always a great gesture, but not always a necessary gesture. Especially since many have already way too much and yet so many, do not even have the bare necessities for dignified survival.

You can surprise those you love by making the choice, of where to give money in their names, or share with them your favorite charities, and ask them for theirs. The idea is to make Christmas more like Thanksgiving, and also in end, lighter on the pocket (you may get some tax deductions!). Here, I share some ideas that could be yours to use, or perhaps inspire you to create your own charitable gift-giving avenues. The smiles you will bring into lives with nothing, is enough to tide you through any rough times. You will also leave those in whose names you send gifts and yourself, feeling good about helping where you can and in a manner that was not too difficult or out of your means. You can give as little or as much as you want to and have slotted for any particular people in your gift list.

Even something as simple as giving a flock of chickens to a family, only $20, can provide an entire family with sustenance and income—and an education in animal husbandry.

Yes, it will eliminate some boxes from under the tree, some instant gratification on faces (as friends and family open their gifts), but on the other hand, these are gifts that never stop giving and inspiring. And they feed hope that life is magical and the world a small village, after all.

Best still, it will save you much stress, hours spent shopping, relieve you of crazy traffic and crowds, and reduce carbon emissions from driving.

Please consider charitable giving a gift option this year. Make it your new holiday tradition!

Not one to forget our need to splurge a little on ourselves and those we love, I have also added a sweet cookbook and a calendar to my list—neither are in the "non-profit" category, but are the beautiful creations of women I like and admire. These can be yours to give away, or to enjoy in your own home. (Or both!)

Shared below also are a couple of recipes, gifts from people I have loved and been loved by, now yours to share with family and friends.

These recipes, if you give them a try, could also become part of your family's holiday table, adding a new dish, a new spice or two, and of course the magic of masala to your life. Read more below.

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

"...when the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another Heaven and another Earth must pass before such a one can be again."
— William Beebe

Take the above sentence at face value and this season and give yourself and others an American Livestock Breeds Conservancy membership, that will help fight the odds that haunt over 150 breeds of livestock and poultry fighting for survival. Without our support today, our investment in their stock, these beautiful and useful historic breeds will be forever lost from our midst.

amfAR

Founded in 1985, amfAR is dedicated to ending the global AIDS epidemic through innovative research. With the freedom and flexibility to respond quickly to emerging areas of scientific promise, amfAR plays a catalytic role in accelerating the pace of HIV/AIDS research and achieving real breakthroughs. amfAR-funded research has increased our understanding of HIV and has helped lay the groundwork for major advances in the study and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Since 1985, amfAR has invested $260 million in its mission and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.

Citymeals-on-Wheels

Help deliver meals and warm comforting smiles to New York Cities homebound elderly. Your contribution to Citymeals-on-Wheels will help in the preparation and delivery of meals to the elderly. Not a penny will go towards anything else. What can be more satisfying than knowing that on holidays such as those many we will see pass us by this season, none of our elderly will be wanting. And if you want further investment in their lives, volunteer to even go deliver some of these meals, adding human contact and dignity to the lives of our aged neighbors. We will all be elderly one day. Remember that and donate generously, so future generations can do the same and help when we are in that stage of our lives.

Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders, USA awards grants for emergency and medical relief projects to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) affiliates for overseas operations. MSF is an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries. MSF was founded in 1971 to both provide emergency medical assistance and bear witness publicly to the plight of the people it assists. In emergencies and their aftermath, MSF provides health care, rehabilitates and runs hospitals and clinics, performs surgery, battles epidemics, carries out vaccination campaigns, operates feeding centers for malnourished children, and offers mental health care.

DonorsChoose.org

DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.

Farm Aid

Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp organized the first Farm   Aid concert in 1985 to raise awareness about the loss of family   farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. Farm Aid   has raised more than $29 million to promote a strong and resilient family   farm system of agriculture. Through public education, program activities   and grants, Farm Aid promotes food from family farms and sustainable agriculture,   fights factory farms, advocates for fair farm prices and provides disaster   assistance and credit counseling to farm families. By strengthening the   voices of family farmers themselves, Farm Aid stands up for the most resourceful, heroic Americans—the family farmers who work the land.

Heifer International

Heifer International is a non-profit charitable foundation that dedicates itself to fighting global hunger, and in doing so, provides gifts of animals, which bring hope, comfort and livelihood and most often new self-respect for those giving and of course dignity and nourishment for those receiving. Give the gift of livestock and plants, education and agriculture and to yourself, give something ordinary gifts cannot afford you–a gift that feeds another at many levels.

The United States Fund for UNICEF

Since 1947, the United States Fund for UNICEF has supported the work of the United Nations Children's Fund by raising support for its programs and increasing public awareness of the challenges facing the world's children. As the oldest of 37 national committees for UNICEF worldwide, the U.S. Fund is part of a global effort to advance humanity with health, education, equality and protection for every child. U.S. Fund for UNICEF improves children's daily lives in the 155 countries and territories where UNICEF works—not just with food, water and medicine but with safety, peace and hope. In support of UNICEF's work, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF focuses on five major priorities: education, emergencies, HIV/AIDS, immunization, and malnutrition.

Personal Gifts

2008 Farmers Market Calendar

Photographs by Tana Butler of www.iheartfarms.com weblog

Beautiful photographs—food porn, actually—from my own dear friend and web designer, Tana Butler, make this calendar a gift that shall give smiles and exclamations bound to brighten each month and every moment spent eyeing the beauty of the produce of her local California farms.

Besides putting money in Tana's gas tank—so she can travel and photograph new farms, telling their stories on her weblog—a portion of the sales of each calendar support two of her favorite organizations:

LocalHarvest.org, where you simply plug in a zip code and find your own local farms, farmers markets, restaurants, and more LOCAL FOOD. (This is Tana's most-recommended link.)

University of Santa Cruz's Farm & Garden Project, also known as CASFS, which has been producing organic farmers for 40 years now, at one of the most beautiful campuses on earth. The graduates of this esteemed program are around the world, sowing good projects.

Desserts by the Yard: From Brooklyn to Beverly Hills: Recipes from the Sweetest Life Ever
by Sherry Yard

This is a sweet gift to give. And one that will ensure that you are given some wonderful desserts by those you give this to. Sherry Yard, a veteran chef and perhaps one of the most talented pastry chefs ever, has done it again, shared with us another tome of delicious excess, that brings to those that work with it sweet recipes that are bound to impress just about anyone that eats anything made from its pages. Her directions make great sense, the recipes are often familiar, and when not so, never too tedious or difficult. Here is a dessert book that will enrich the foundations of your sweet kitchen and bring rapturous endings to any meal you serve.

• • • • • • •

My life as a teacher and as a chef has never gotten in the way of entertaining at home. I adore having friends over for brunches, dinners and holidays, and love to surprise them with dishes from their own cultural heritages—be it a Lebanese-style lentil soup or all-American macaroni and cheese.

To me, American cuisine represents a culture of food that blends spices, techniques and ingredients from different parts of the globe to become something fresh and exciting yet comforting and homey. It is a melting pot of fast-paced and slow-cooked, of convenience and tradition. It is about being free to play with new flavors and ideas.

Just as there is a sense of inherent freedom that comes from being an American, I find an innate awareness in the freedom that comes from being Indian. Having grown up in a country that is as old as time, as old as history yet still as young and fearless as a forward-moving nation can be, has given me a unique perspective on life. I never take anything for granted, or base my opinion solely on science or solely on theory. This is to live without masala. Sometimes it’s evident as an underlying note—perhaps the soft spice of black pepper in a fruit cobbler. Sometimes it’s as powerful as adding saffron to leg of lamb. And sometimes it’s as simple as gently warming rosemary and thyme in olive oil before adding to a sauce to coax out the herbs’ dormant underlying notes.

Recipes

Cranberry Chutney
Makes 9 cups

I was first enchanted by Mother Burd’s cranberry salad at Thanksgiving. The fresh flavors are so pure and sweet that you may never make a traditional cranberry sauce again. Dried fruits lend a nice texture while pineapple offers a lovely tanginess. Though this chutney is American through and through, its spirit reminds me of the fruit chutneys that I have eaten in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, where fruits are used in a variety of savory preparations.

1 bag fresh or frozen cranberries
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and quartered
3 blood oranges or navel oranges, quartered and any seeds removed
1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into large chunks
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried strawberries
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Place all of the ingredients into a food processor (if your food processor is not large enough to hold all of the ingredients, then make the chutney in two batches) and pulse to combine a few times until everything is very finely chopped. Refrigerate overnight and serve the next day. Cranberry Chutney can be made up to two days in advance.

Honey-Glazed Pork Roast with Vegetable Confit
Serves 8

This is a holiday centerpiece roast if there ever was one. I often prepare this roast the day before and let it marinate overnight before cooking. Fresh herbs are nice if you have them already, but don’t feel ashamed to use dried—I often do. With a built-in vegetable side dish, this is two for the effort of one. It’s amazing with Cornbread and Pear Chutney.

You'll need a 6-pound bone-in center-cut pork loin roast (about 11 to 12 ribs), sliced 1-1/2 inches deep between top and bottom of each rib.

For the spice paste
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tablespoon dried thyme)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon cracked peppercorns
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

For the vegetables
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons cracked peppercorns
4 large red potatoes, thickly chopped
2 large red onions, halved, thickly sliced and chopped crosswise
1 green pepper, seeded, thickly sliced and chopped crosswise
2 red peppers, seeded, thickly sliced and chopped crosswise

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap and place the pork roast on top. Whisk the spice paste ingredients together in a medium bowl and rub into pork roast, making sure to get in between the bones and meat. Cover the roast with plastic wrap and marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Heat your oven to 450°F and grease a sturdy roasting pan and roasting rack with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. In a large bowl whisk together the remaining olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chopped vegetables and toss to coat.

Remove the roast from the refrigerator and stuff the slits with some of the peppers and onions. Place the pork roast on the rack and roast it for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and remove the roasting pan from the oven.

Drain all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the roasting pan and add the vegetables to the pan. Stir to coat with fat and place the rack with the roast over the vegetables. Place the pan back in the oven and roast for an additional 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours, or until a meaty part of the roast reaches 155°F.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and cover it with aluminum foil. Let the roast rest for 15 minutes (the pork’s internal temperature will increase to 160 to 165°F). Carve and serve with the vegetables on the side.

• • • • • • •

Thank you, as ever, for visiting.

Comments

[Srivalli]

Wonderful thoughts Suvir..nice way to share our love for our family and friends. I esp. liked your chutney..it looks so yum!

btw, I had sent you a mail, not sure if it reached you or your spam box. Can you please check and get back. Would be so nice!

thanks for your time,

[Suvir Saran]

Never got the email.
not in spam either.
can you please send again!

Glad you like the chutney. Hope you enjoy making it and tasting it.

Made it at Berkeley today, it seemed to have gotten a warm reception and brought smiles to many faces.

[bee]

happy holidays to you and yours, suvir. may 2008 bring peace and joy to you.

[Kaykat]

Thanks for the post, Suvir. Happy Holidays to you!

That cranberry chutney looks delightful.

[Srivalli]

Hi suvir..have forwarded it again to chef@suvir.com...

[Andrea from Broederey de WeydeGansch in The Netherlands]

Hello Suvir,

My compliments on your web-log!
I was "googling" on American Buff geese as we breed them ourselves and as we're also very intersted in other Buff lovers and breeders.
I love your pictures from the geese. They are beautiful!
I read other pages of your web-log and especially this page I like very much as we did a sort like thing with Christmas. It's good to see others think the same.
Well from The Netherlands thank you for sharing this with us!
I defenitely going to try a recipe.

Best regards,
Andrea

[Suvir Saran]

Hi Andrea!
Thanks for the post. And for your kind words.

Please tell me more about your experience with American Buff Geese. Charlie my partner and I LOVE them. They are so very beautiful. And their temperament is also very gentle. Is that your experience too? They are skittish when you try to catch them, but once you have them in your grip, they become very comfortable and are so gentle. And of course they feel amazingly soft and cozy. Wish I could have one comfortable and relaxed and at my side always. They are just amazing.

We would love to know more about breeding geese as well. Ours are free range geese. They have full freedom to go anywhere, anytime. What we love most is seeing them and the Tufted Roman Geese in our pond. They are like ballerinas. And I can watch them for hours on end. And every time you see them, you find some new reason to be in love with them.

Did you cook any of the recipes?

Wish you well with the geese and the breeding. And please keep in touch.

[Andrea from Broederey de WeydeGansch in The Netherlands]

Hi Suvir,

Yes ours are very gentle too although they can be a little bit difficult during the breeding season. That's normal! Ours are comedians too which also love to play in a pond. If you really would like one always along your side contact Nancy the goosemother in the US. www.thegoosesmother.com Tell Nancy I send you...but realise such geese can't be on his own for more that three hours or so.

Our breeding couples are in different pens so that we know which egg is from which goose. We don't want to sell related couples as we are the only ones in Europe with the tufted buff. American buff are also in the UK.
You should buy some tufted buffs too! They originate from the American buff and Tufted Romans.
Our eggs hatch in the incubator and we raise the goslings ourselves for two to three weeks inside the house...until we can't stand the smell anymore. Then they go ouside to stay with (foster geese) parents to learn all the stuff we can't learn them. Like this we get the most tame geese as possible. People like to have pets.

If we ever get to the US we will contact and visit you and if you ever come to The Netherlands do come and visit us too!

Also thanks for the compliments. I'll try to do my best for the birds and their keepers. A pity my books about geese are only in Dutch.

Yes I will keep in touch!
Andrea

[Andrea from Broederey de WeydeGansch in The Netherlands]

Forgot to mention. We didn't get the time yet to try the recipes.
Maybe this weekend as it's eastern and hopefully not that busy as the last three months....puff

But we going to try them! Promised and I'll let you know.
Just have to print them so we won't forget. Have written it down...

We bought a Rayburn cooker last year from the UK. (Like an Aga) So great to cook on (and in) it!

Andrea

[Suvir Saran]

Many thanks for your kind note Andrea!

Please email me at chef@suvir.com with a mailing address for you. I would love to send you my cookbooks as a gift.

Our geese are now laying eggs, and not sure if they are docile, silly, kind and generous or all, but they allow us to pick them up without any drama. In fact when we go out, one is on the nest, and it gets up and walks away, we take the eggs, feed them and that is it.

They are adorably docile. But unlike yours, they are not into following us around or coming to take food from our hands. That ended after a few weeks of us getting them.

I know one of our geese couples is that of a Tufted Roman and American Buff. Do you think we can take the eggs we are getting and try to incubate them? Will we need to candle them as one does with Chicken eggs? We have not done that either.. but I know one can buy stuff for that.

How does one know a male from a female?

It is funny that we live in a farming community, but many of our full time farmer friends are very afraid and not into geese at all. In fact now, after seeing ours, some are opening their minds and hearts to geese and finally melting some and contemplating getting them.

I will go to your firend Nancy's site. It sounds great. And if Charlie gives me permission, maybe even get one of these geese you are talking about. I LOVE friendly animals.

We have a puppy Aasha, who is like that. SHE NEEDS ATTENTION every awake moment. Not just every three hours.

Hope you had a nice Easter and hope you get to cook some of the dishes.

Wish you great times with the geese and in general.

Suvir

[Andrea from The WeydeGansch Hatchery, The Netherlands]

Hi Suvir,

I'm so sorry but I lost your weblog address and just found it back. pc problems...
I haven't read your last post until now.
Yes we did cook some of the dishes and they are GREAT! We cook them often in our Rayburn woodstove.

I'm going to answer some of your questions although it's a bit late and you might have the answers yet:

Diffence between male and female geese. You can't see it normally but a male might be a bit larger. You can hear it from their voices. A female has a lower voice than a male. Just the opposite as humans... Just before the breeding season it's not difficult to see. The ganders are very protective to their females.

Incubating geese eggs isn't that simple as chickens eggs. You do need to candle them and personally I find it easier to do than an egg from a chicken. At 7 days you can see clearly if it's fertile as long as the shell isn't to dirty.
Humidity and temperature are very important in hatching goose eggs but it's a great experience when a gosling hatches and sees you for the first time. Also a few days before hatching our eggs respond to my voice and they start to move. It's fun seeing those eggs moving and just before they make a small hole in the shell they already talk to you.

I'm very curious if you started to breed with your geese. We only had one gosling this year. An American buff and luckily for us a friend who breeds Toulouse geese also had one gosling. So now a little Toulouse is staying over here. It's fun and we learn a lot from it as we only have American buff and tufted buff geese. Just take a look at our website for photos from those two.
http://www.buffganzen.nl/html_nl/vreemdegans01.html

I don't know if you contacted Nancy last year but I received a terrible e-mail last april that Nancy had died. It's awful and she was such a great person and very nice for 'geese' and 'geese' lovers.

Yes I know a lot of people are afraid of geese, farmers too. We often have people over to visit the geese who can't believe their eyes when they see how friendly ours are.

Maybe a tip to get your geese to start eating again out of you hand. Try pieces of apple. Have patience as it may take some time before they dare to.

Thank you so much that you want to give your cookbooks to me as a gift. I'm very honored!
I'll e-mail you my address. Please save my e-mail address incase my laptop breaks down again. Then you can contact me if it takes too long for me to react on your post!

Thanks a lot and I hope you and your loved ones are fine. Aasha isn't a puppy anaymore I guess...

Again sorry for the late response and if you ever have questions about your geese don't hesitate to e-mail me. I would love to help you!

Andrea

[suvir]

Hi Andrea!

Thanks for the detailed comment.
You are most generous of your time.

Now, I am ready to try and put some of the goose eggs in an incubator.

Our geese had a tragic year with goslings last year. Only two survived. The rest of the 20 plus goslings were eaten by a couple of Ravens. Same for the ducklings.

This coming spring, I have decided that we will collect the babies, and the parents, and protect them in one of the barns. Not sure that is a humane thing to do.... or that I steal the eggs, and incubate them. Your thoughts?

How is the Toulouse gosling, surely an adult, doing now? How is their temperament in comparison to the very friendly and docile American Buff and Tufted Geese?

Never got your email with your address. Can you send again please? chef@suvir.com

I did not know about the passing of Nancy. Hope she is in peace wherever it is she now dwells. Yes, she did amazing stuff for geese and animals in general. I loved seeing her site and seeing how freely she and the geese lived. It was shocking, charming, odd and wonderful all at once. I only wish I could get Charlie and all our family and friend members to allow me to have a couple of geese live inside the house.. hehe

Aasha is an adult. She has come of age. Has become so sweet. Less rambunctious and testy. One can see how she has matured and how she now actually wants to please and make people happy. But yet, she also is on the edge of still being a puppy, and sometimes does not know what role to play. And is happy to be puppy to those that have no desire to see a disciplined puppy. You know some dog lovers love a full-of-energy and testing-the-limits doggie.. and Aasha is happy to give them a puppy that is just that. Sebastian our grand ole mutt (a lab and great dane mix) is so calm, well mannered, gentlemanly and sage. He is getting older each day, and I know we have to come to grips with his getting up in years.

And I hope you are well and enjoying your life.

[Andrea]

Hi Survir,

Sorry again.
Is there a possibility I can get an email when there's a new post? Some blogs have that and I don't know if yours has it too.

So sorry to hear about your goslings and ducklings. It's no problem to get them inside a barn next spring as long if they have plenty of space. Do give them plenty of water to wash also. Our goslings stay inside our house for the first two weeks and then go outside with their parents. I can't teach them the goose stuff....
Advance of our way is that they see us first when they hatch and stay with us for two weeks so they are very tame and stay tame. It's fun having those little ones inside. We hatch our eggs in an incubator as the geese losse so much weight when they are broody. I didn't like that and now our ladies know they get the little ones back so they don't mins anymore. They are very clever birds!
Hatching the eggs in the incubator is a beautiful experience and you should try it at least once.

Good to hear Aasha has fully grown and still is very puppylike.

Our Toulouse gosling has become a very, very beautiful lady. And big! Take a look at: http://www.buffganzen.nl/html_nl/Toulousejerry.html
Never could imagine Dewlap Toulouses could be such fun. They are a bit more careful than the buffs and maybe not that playful but as Jerry only has buffs arround she very active for a Toulouse. She loves Peter and everywhere he goes she goes. She has to nibble at his coat every morning when he let's them out of the barn. (They stay inside during the night over here because we have foxes). If he doesn't allow that she's upset. I don't think those big Toulouses should be in a large field with no shelter. They aren't very quickly because they are very heavy and it's better to keep themm inside during the night when it rains. They have a bit loose feather compared to the buffs. Dewlap Toulouses are best kept I think near your house so you can keep an eye on them.
You also have buff Toulouses in the US and very nice ones. Would love to have a couple. Who knows maybe one day.

I'll sent you an email.

For now I wish you and your loved ones all the best for 2010!
May it be a wonderfull, healty, and happy year!

Regards,
Andrea