A Hobbit’s Choice: Saruman or Sam | EnergyBulletin.net | Energy and Peak Oil News

A Hobbit’s Choice: Saruman or Sam | EnergyBulletin.net | Energy and Peak Oil News

For those of you who have been living under a rock these last few years, Lord of the Rings is an epic story by English don J.R.R. Tolkien; it is set in an imaginary world peopled by fairy-tale beings and beset by demonic evil. At least once a year I re-read it, enchanted by the tautly-told tale of small, stout-hearted people who, though perpetually on the brink of disaster, manage to snatch an improbable victory in the face of overwhelming odds though courage, loyalty, stealth and guile. By no means the least of their strengths is that they inhabit a higher moral plane than their terrible enemy. Thus when I learned of Peak Oil a few months ago, it was all very familiar.

An interesting article looking at the Lord of the Rings as a metaphor for the future.

Path to Freedom: GREEN STEPS

Path to Freedom: GREEN STEPS

Now about biodiesel: We are not advocates who believe that biodiesel is THE answer to our ceaseless consumption of petroleum. Just because we have a car that runs on biodiesel doesn’t mean that we drive more than before. (In fact, we are trying to drive less). The only ‘answer’ is that we consume too much energy and we need to reduce or eliminate our consumption. The fact of the matter is this: There is nowhere near enough vegetable oil in this country, new or used, to substitute for our ever growing petroleum addiction. Such solutions like biodiesel, solar panels, hybrid cars are what Jules likes to refer to as “band-aid” solutions (only temporary). For example, is it green and sustainable to have a biodiesel powered HUMMER? Defeats the purpose….. How about an electric can opener, microwave (or even this pc!) powered by some sort of green energy? We need to look beyond these temporary solutions. As the world faces ever increasing danger based on its dysfunctional systems, there is a critical need to look ahead with a new vision which set eyes on forging a new path beyond permaculture, alternative fuels/energy and other so-called “green” trails.

This is a very good point. We also fuel our car with biodiesel – but you can’t expect to drive the way people in this country drive. There’s no way that much vegetable oil could ever be produced. We need to drive less often, shorter distances, and use more efficient vehicles.

James Howard Kunstler: Natural Gas

Clusterfuck Nation by James Howard Kunstler

The serious public conversation of our energy predicament has not begun, and when it does it will be too late. In the background of all this, an economy based on suburban sprawl and easy motoring is going to absolutely fall on its ass, and that means a much quicker end to the housing bubble than we might have expected a month ago. It might also lead to both the demise of the airline industry and the nationalization of what remains of it. It will certainly quash any remaining faith that such an economy can produce wealth, which is what the financial markets are based on, so look out below on Wall Street.

According to Kunstler Katrina and Rita are going to have a big impact on our natural gas situation. Worth taking a look. Even if things aren’t as bad as he says we’re bound to see some impacts.

So many tomatoes, so little menu ideas…

We have a pile of tomatoes to use. We have Sungold cherry tomatoes from the CSA, and a similar (if not the same) type from Ryan’s parent’s garden, small red tomatoes from Ryan’s parents, big yellow Orange Blossom tomatoes from the CSA, and our first harvest of Thai Pink Egg tomatoes from our patio garden. Tomato overload!

We’ve already used quite a few cherry tomatoes in salads, we’ve had soft tacos which used some of the red tomatoes, and last night I made Eggplant Parmesan Plus. I used the eggplant parmesan recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

I’ve made this recipe several times and we both really enjoy it. The “Plus” this time is I added zucchini, yellow squash (the kind that looks like a flying saucer), and sliced red and yellow tomatoes. It was a little bit more liquidy than normal but still quite yummy.

Eggplant Parmesan "Plus"

Of course our very first tomato meal of the season was BLT’s. Okay, BLT for Ryan who likes fresh tomatoes. I had a BLA– Bacon, Lettuce, and Avocado sandwich. Yum! Poppy Seed and McCoy sure thought it smelled yummy as Ryan cooked the bacon. They were making pests of themselves so I crated them. After awhile I noticed that Poppy looked weird, her legs were odd so I got a closer look.

Poppy’s Chair

She sat right on McCoy! There is plenty of room in that crate for both of them, they usually sit one in back and one in front. I guess the lure of bacon meant neither wanted to scoot to the back.

Patient McCoy

What a very patient McCoy. All this cuteness still did not get them any bacon. Though they did get sourdough bread and tomatoes.

So, does anyone have any menu suggestions to use up tomatoes? Ryan likes them raw or cooked, I only like them cooked. I’m thinking I’ll end up making them into tomato sauce. Unfortunately tomatoes are like chard, you have this huge amount but it cooks down to nothing!

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