Judith Broder: 2009 Purpose Prize Winner

That’s cool. That is a lot of crosses that they are still adding to… This Judith Broder is a true heroine.

Below is a bit about the organization according to the organization. :] It seems to be a pretty fresh site for a niche market.

-Cara

About The Purpose Prize [According to encore.org]

Launched in 2006 as the first Baby Boomers turned 60, The Purpose Prize is a major initiative investing in a new generation of social innovators – individuals in the second half of life who are marshaling their accumulated experience to tackle some of America’s most pressing problems.

Unlike any other major national award or fellowship, The Purpose Prize challenges prevailing perceptions by investing significantly in accomplished social innovators over the age of 60. Each year, up to six people who have demonstrated uncommon vision, determination and entrepreneurialism in addressing community, national and international problems win $100,000 each. A second group of innovators wins $10,000 each, and dozens more are named Purpose Prize Fellows.

All are making extraordinary contributions to society in their encore careers. Nominations for the 2009 Purpose Prize are open through March 5, 2009. For more information or to nominate someone (including yourself), go to purposeprize.org.

Encore.org is published by Civic Ventures, a nonprofit think tank that is leading the call to engage millions of experienced individuals in becoming a force for social change. Civic Ventures focuses on creating pathways to encore careers that provide continued income doing work that is personally fulfilling and helps address some of society’s biggest challenges.

Who’s the Original Maverick?

The Original Mavericks are mad…

Understandably.

-Cara

Wednesday Will Now Have A Theme As Well

Wednesday is hump day, the day that separates where your work week starts from when you work week ends. I thought what a perfect day to take a break and do something quick and easy that will make a positive difference. This day will be reserved for petitions and causes.

Our first lucky “Hump Day” winner is ONE. I first heard of these guys reading Ben and Jerry’s email newsletter. They have partnered with the organization to gain more exposer for their cause. What ONE does is raise public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in the world’s poorest countries.

In their own words, “ONE believes that allocating more of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world’s poorest countries.

ONE is nonpartisan; there’s only one side in the fight against global AIDS and extreme poverty. Working on the ground in communities, colleges and churches across the United States, ONE members both educate and ask America’s leaders to increase efforts to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty, from the U.S. budget and presidential elections to specific legislation on debt cancellation, increasing effective international assistance, making trade fair, and fighting corruption.”

They have a lot on their plate and much work to do, so what you can do to help is click on this link and sign the ONE Declaration and have you voice heard. It is super easy. If you want to do more you can visit ONE’s “Take Action” page and spread the word, volunteer, shop to support the cause, etc.

One person can make a difference, so do.

-Cara

Reason 89 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

Handling livestock these days is risky business, not the least because humans are increasingly contracting diseases from the animals: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Nipah virus, bird flu, and SARS are a few examples. “Exotic,” and often endangered, animal cuisine provides the conduit for a global pandemic. In China, wet markets display caged and invariably sickly creatures, such as cobras, civet cats, and anteaters, for consumers who want that “taste of the wild.” In Africa, the bushmeat trade is blamed for the spread of Ebola and AIDS.

Stop Hatin’ On Tofu

Let’s talk about tofu today. What you put into your body is super serious and if you want to be the best you can be, fuel my friends is très important! Tofu is one of these super foods, even so, a lot of people seem to have issues with it. Maybe it was due to a horrendous first experience or maybe you just hate it on spec. Look, I can accept people not liking tofu, like people who hate strawberries or beans, but hating it after trying it once…well…that is just not acceptable. It may have been that the preparation was not to your liking that first time, but tofu only tastes like how you season it. The texture as well is up to the chef. I mean it is not only super fresh for your brain, body and soul, but extremely versatile. You must love it!!!

Let’s see what wiki has to say on the subject of tofu…

Tofu, also toufu (the Japanese Romaji spelling), doufu (the Chinese Pinyin spelling often used in Chinese recipes) or bean curd (the literal translation), is a food of Chinese origin made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu that has been processed in some way. Tofu has very little flavor or smell on its own, so it can be used either in savory or sweet dishes, and is often seasoned or marinated to suit the dish.

The production of tofu from soy milk is similar to the production of cheese from milk (fermentation), although some tofu is made by processing non-soy products, such as almonds or black beans. Two major byproducts of the process are tofu skin and soy pulp.

Tofu originated in ancient China, but little else is known about the origins of tofu and its method of production. The origin is the source of some speculation and legend, but there is insufficient historical information to support such speculations. Tofu and its production technique were subsequently introduced into Japan in the Nara period (late eighth century) as well as other parts of East Asia. This spread likely coincided with the spread of Buddhism as it is an important source of proteins in the religion’s vegetarian diet.

Tofu is low in calories, contains beneficial amounts of iron (especially important for women of child bearing age) and has no cholesterol. Depending on the coagulant used in manufacturing, the tofu may also be high in calcium (important for bone development and maintenance), and magnesium (especially important for athletes).  

One cool thing I learned about cooking tofu is if you want the texture of tofu to be like chicken, buy the extra firm, freeze it for 24 hours, let it defrost, cook it however. You’re welcome. :P There are a million recipes online. I don’t want to give any here because i don’t know what you like, if you like chicken nuggets search for fried tofu recipes, if you like steak teriyaki, search for tofu teriyaki…you get the point.

Plus, tofu is just fun!

Wanna make your own tofu?

150g Dried Soy Beans

2g Calcium Sulfate (aka Gypsum, used for wine/beer making) water

Soak beans in water overnight.

Place the beans in a blender, adding water until they’re covered (about 1″ above the bean level). Blend for two minutes until it’s a smooth liquid.

Using a sack made from two pieces of cotton cloth, squeeze out the soy juice.

Bring the juice to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally to avoid burning. Reduce flame to low and simmer for two to four minutes or so.

While the mixture continues to boil, prepare a small dish and dissolve Calcium Sulfate into two to three tablespoons of water.

Using a food thermometer, bring the temperature of the boiling mixture to 176F.

Pour all of the mixture into a dish with the Calcium Sulfate while mixing briskly for three seconds and stop. Wait 10 minutes for the tofu to set. Serve hot right away, chill or squeeze more water with a cotton cloth while it’s still hot for harder tofu.

Good luck.

-Cara