6 Thorold Niagara News ? Wednesday, January 27, 2010

opinion page

The

Thorold Niagara News

www.thoroldedition.com 17 Queen Street ? St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 5G5 ? 905-688-4332 ? Fax 905-688-6313 TIM DUNDAS, Publisher 905-357-2440 ext. 304 tdundas@niagaracommunitynewspapers.com TOM WILKINSON, Editor 905-688-4332 newsroom@thoroldedition.com JAMIE MOWAT, Sales Manager 905-688-4332 ext. 29 jmowat@stcatharinesshoppingnews.com

our editorial

Haiti needs the help of generous Canadians

With tens of thousands of people dead in Haiti, Canada has been at the forefront of trying to provide assistance to this poor country and its people. Haiti needs your help. There are many fundraisers springing up to raise money to help this small nation. This is something where everyone needs to give according to their ability to give. Haiti is a neighbour in the world, just one we can?t see. When a local family experiences a loss due to a fire, the community is quick to respond. This time, Haiti is part of the ?international? family. The Why does someone who s trying to diet keep talking about food? Okay, so it occupies a fair amount of my thought process. I won?t comment on what else is going on up there in the old bean. Freud would get it. Some of you may recall my misadventures in the kitchen ? particularly trying to make chocolate Easter eggs last year. Single fathers have misadventures in the kitchen and they can be fun. At Christmas, I again took to the kitchen, making loads of goodies - things called blondies and fudge squares. They turned out very well. Then I tried these things called peanut butter balls, made with, surprise, peanut butter. The instructions clearly said, Do not allow to boil for more than two minutes and 30 seconds. I was sure I was under that time. I know I was! And yet, my peanut butter balls turned into peanut butter golf balls. They smelled good but could be used as projectiles! They re good dad, I heard my kids say, as they chewed, a painful expression upon their faces. We only had to nuke them for about a minute to soften them up need is dire and we must respond. Please, if you are able to spare some money to this important cause, then do so. The situation is not good in that country and the world must respond quickly and generously. We know that a lot of people are thinking they should be making a donation. Please set a goal that by the end of this week, you will have made that donation, and that you will encourage others to do so. Let the Haiti relief fund be a snowball that gathers momentum. Be a part of that momentum. Tom Wilkinson

Having vegetarian children provides a new culinary adventure

Tom Wilkinson

Write Here enough to be able to eat them. Okay, don?t boil longer than two minutes and 30 seconds. I get it! Where was the dentist?s number? Of my five children, two are vegetarians. One of those is a part-time vegetarian. He usually stays off meat, but enjoys it once in a while. So I have enjoyed making some vegetarian recipes. Early on, I began making veggie burgers, using black beans and some potato. They taste really good in a bun. Vegetarian meat loaf was another recipe I enjoyed. And, I have to tell you, I think you could feed that one to some meat eaters and they might not know it does-

Shipwrecks

by Skip Gillham The MANCHESTER FAME was abandoned by its crew after running aground.

MANCHESTER FAME Abandoned

The former MANCHESTER FAME, a Great Lakes visitor from 1960 to 1964 before coming inland as CAIRNGLEN in 1965-66, was arrested at Alexandria, Egypt, thirty years ago. Known then as PANAGIS K., the Panamanian flag freighter never sailed again. It remained idle, eventually went aground in the inner harbour, and was n't have any meat in it. We?ve been buying tofurkey at holiday meals and it is surprisingly good. I know you can get it at the superstore. If you?re having vegetarians to dinner, they would enjoy that. If you?ve never heard of tofurkey, it is vegetarian ?turkey? made out of tofu and other ingredients. At Thanksgiving this year, I decided to make my own tofurkey, from a recipe I?d googled. The recipe called for sesame oil, which I didn?t have, and I googled sesame oil substitute where I learned you could substitute other oils, but the taste would be different. So, I went to Sobeys, got the sesame oil, and made tofurkey. And it was great. My two vegetarian children loved it. I loved it. The roasted tofu takes on a consistency somewhat like turkey breast. This weekend, I tackled making falafels. I don?t get out much for ethnic cuisine (and I really have to change that) but, last year, the Family Shawerma opened in Beamsville and - for the first time - I tried a falafel. They are meatball looking things in a pita with other toppings. Yumm... they were good - and vegetarian. Making falafels involve mashing up chick peas with some flour and spices like coriander and cumin. Then you fry them. You re supposed to deep fry them, but I cheated a bit there and made them into patties and fried them in a bit of olive abandoned by the crew. The ship was visited by thieves and vandals who removed all usable parts. Finally, on October 12, 1985, it was auctioned off for scrap and eventually broken up. Photo: Ken Lowes Collection oil. You know, the idea of fried, mashed up chick peas may not sound very appealing to many of you, and it probably wouldn?t have to me either a few years ago. I doubt I would have tried any of these things unless I had vegetarian children. I have to tell you, though, that falafels are really, really good, and mine were great! Put them in a pita with some tahini or tzatziki sauce - or some other type of sauce you like - and add tomatoes, peppers, onions etc. and you have a fantastic treat. Yes, mashed up, fried chick peas. I know, it sounds awful, but try it! You can leave feedback for Tom at: twilkinson@westniagaranews.com

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