February's Give plus two things I like

This month I've decided to give my monthly donation to the Women Under Forty Political Action Committee. On their website they state that their mission is to:

• To help elect more young women to elected office so that young women have an equal voice in shaping public policy.
• To build the seniority of women in Congress by electing women at a young age.

They also have a sister organization called "Running Start." Check out the info under the "Young Women" tab on their website, which includes a map of where young women are running for office, what they bring to the table, and links to other resources about young women and politics.

Also, if you're sick of all the election coverage and need something to do, please checkout the Philadelphia Free Library Podcast, which broadcasts (podcasts? streams?) the author lectures that have taken place recently at the library. I have particularly enjoyed Micheal Pollen and Robert Kamenetz's lectures. Also, via Feministing, I came across the Library of Congress's photostream on Flickr, which is absolutely amazing.

Give to the Charlottesville Free Clinic

In order to honor my New Year's resolution to "Give More" each month this year, I plan on selecting a different organization and giving them a $30 donation. This month, I will donate to the Charlottesville Free Clinic which provides health care to the "working uninsured." You can read their most recent (at least from what's online) newsletter here.

When I was a teenager, my family moved to the U.K. While we were house hunting, I fell down a flight of stair, bouncing the whole way down on my tail-bone. It was really embarrassing to take that fall in front of my family, the home owner, and two relators, but even more embarrassing when I passed out trying to get out the front door so I could cry from the pain in privacy. After I passed out a second time, trying to get up from my prone position, an ambulance was called and I was carted off to the emergency room. By the time I saw a doctor I had completely recovered. One of the main things I remember from the whole thing (besides the embarrassment and being offered a plastic donut to cushion my bruised butt), was that my parents were really surprised when it turned out that we didn't owe the hospital anything because the UK has the NHS.

I believe in the Charlottesville Free Clinic mission to provide “high-quality health care to the working uninsured,” because I believe that every human being deserves access to adequate healthcare. I also believe that it is our government's job to ensure that every citizen, but especially every child, has access to adequate healthcare. However, until the government steps up into this role, there's a desperate need for free clinics in our country. I hope you will join me in giving what you can this month to the Charlottesville Free Clinic or your own local free clinic.

Check out this interesting article by Laurence J. Kotlikoff, author of The Healthcare Fix, Universal Insurance for All Americans, on a voucher system for health insurance.

Happy New Year!

Last night, I celebrated the end of 2007 with good food and drink. For dinner I used a recipe from the Better Homes and Garden Vegetarian Cookbook to make "Miniature Mexican Frittatas."

Ingredients:
1 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 C cottage cheese, drained
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese (2 oz)
4 eggs
1/4 C milk
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp pepper
2 TBS snipped cilantro or parsley
Salsa, warmed
Sour cream (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium bowl stir together the spinach, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, and cheddar cheese. In another bowl stir together the eggs, milk, cumin, pepper, and cilantro. Combine the two bowls. Spoon the mixture into 12 lightly greased 2.5-in muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 min or until eggs are set. Cool for five minutes. Top with salsa and sour cream.

Here's what the finished product looked like:














While I was on my lunch break yesterday, I stopped at the Market Street Wine Shop to pick up some fancy-smancy beer. I love that store so much. I am a bread-fiend and their bread always looks so amazing. I've heard that on Mondays you can get bread-ends there for free, but I have yet to try it. Here (minus the champagne, which my parents gave me) is some of what I picked up:









For dessert, I broke out the muffin tins again to make cupcakes (from the box). Those suckers were really tricky to frost. I have too many of them on my hands now:

I did make a resolution for the New Year, which I am planning on writing more about later today or tomorrow. I generally make specific, goal-oriented resolutions like "go the the gym everyday" or "start writing fiction again," but this year I've decided to do something different. My resolution for the new year is embodied in the word "Give." I want to give more. I'm not sure how yet and I don't plan on settling on one specific way to give more. I'd rather just focus the idea of giving and see where it takes me. I already have one idea of something I would like to do with this, but that's for another post.