Citizens of Earth

September 12, 2015

“Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it.  Because cynics don’t learn anything.  Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.  Cynics always say no.  But saying ‘yes’ begins things.  Saying ‘yes’ is how things grow.  Saying ‘yes’ leads to knowledge.”
~ Stephen Colbert

From the atlas Harmonia Macrocosmica, 1660

 

Stephen Colbert is back on TV and all is right with the world.

Stephen Colbert’s first episode of The Late Show aired earlier this week.  Shortly after David Letterman announced his retirement in April 2014, Stephen, then host of The Colbert Report, became his designated successor.  In December of that same year, Colbert ended his Comedy Central show to begin preparing to take over for Dave.

During the 9 months of preparation for the new Late Show, Stephen and his staff kept up their comedy chops by putting up videos, podcasts and other content on the new show’s website and YouTube channel.  A few weeks ago, Stephen posted a video announcing that he would be one of the hosts for the 2015 Global Citizen Festival, along with Kerry Washington, Hugh Jackman, Selma Hayak, Pearl Jam, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay.

Stephen went on to say that the Global Citizen Festival is different from the usual concert in that “To gain entry, you must earn your way in by taking selfless action to help humanity.”

The goal of the festival is to encourage people to take action to end extreme poverty.  To win a ticket, would-be concert goers can go to the globalcitizen.org website, open an account and then take various actions like calling their Senator or member of Congress, tweeting the Prime Minister of Italy, or signing a petition telling the G7 members to make financial commitments to lift 500 million people out of hunger.

The concert takes place on September 26, in Central Park, NYC.  Even if you can’t make it to New York on that day (or you’re just not that into Coldplay), the idea of humanitarian action as currency is an interesting one.

Why not create a local event in your neighborhood that requires selfless action, instead of cash, to gain admission?  Maybe organize a pop-up restaurant, a concert with local musicians or a day of beauty at a spa.

Ask prospective attendees to do more than tweet.  Suggest donating to a food bank, volunteering to help animals, working a shift at a soup kitchen, donating blood, helping clean up trash around town or reaching out to a neighbor in need with a ride or help around the house.

If you have kids, this can be a great way to teach them the joy of service to others.  Ask your adult friends to help put together a fun event for kids that requires acts of sharing and kindness for admission.

It’s a big world and you are only one citizen of Earth, but you can make a difference and help others to do the same.  All it takes is a little imagination, a little action and a willingness to say, “yes”.

~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy the last bounty of summer by making a Watermelon Cream Pie.

Watermelon Cream Pie
This delicately flavored summer pie is both creamy and refreshing.  Because the melon gives most of the flavor to this pie, it is important to use a ripe, flavorful one.  You can also try cantaloupe or mango as variation.

For the crust:
1 & 1/2 cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs
6 tablespoons of butter, melted
A pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter

For the filling:
2 cups watermelon purée (from a small, ripe, seedless watermelon – see instructions below)
1/3 cup organic raw sugar (plus more, to taste)
1/4 cup cold water
1 envelope unflavored gelatine (I used Knox)
2 cups organic vanilla-flavored whole milk Greek-style yogurt

Optional, for garnish:
Fresh mint sprigs

 

To make the crust:
Using a rolling pin, crush the cookies between two pieces of plastic wrap or inside of a large zip bag.  Combine the melted butter with the crushed cookie crumbs and salt (if using) in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork.  Press mixture evenly into the bottom and partially up the sides of an 8-inch springform pan or a 9 x 2-inch deep dish pie pan.  Refrigerate until set (about 1 hour).

Note: If your melon has been in the fridge, you will want to leave it at room temperature for a short time before you make the pie.  You don’t want the watermelon purée to be too cold when you add the gelatin mixture.

Make the filling:
Cut the watermelon in half, then quarters, then cut flesh into small chunks.  Discard rind (or save to make pickles).  Even in seedless watermelon, there are usually a few soft, white seeds, so remove these by scraping with a fork.  Blend watermelon chunks in a blender until puréed.  You will need 2 cups of purée to make the pie (I needed less than half of a small melon).

Place 1/4 cup of cold water in a small bowl.  Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over surface of the water – do not stir.  Set the bowl aside for a few minutes; it will swell and absorb the liquid (this is called “blooming”).

Meanwhile, add the sugar to the watermelon purée in the blender and blend to dissolve the sugar.  Taste and blend in more sugar, if needed (I didn’t).  Pour this into a medium bowl.

In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup of the sweetened watermelon purée over low heat.  Add the bloomed gelatin and stir until completely dissolved.  Turn off heat.

Gradually stir the gelatin mixture into the bowl with the remaining sweetened watermelon purée.

In a large bowl, add the yogurt.  Using a fork, gradually stir the watermelon mixture into the yogurt until smooth.

Remove crust from fridge.

Pour filling over crust.  Cover surface of pie with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

To serve:
If you using a springform pan, release the sides and remove.  Cut pie into slices, garnish with mint, if desired, and serve.  If you are not using a springform pan, the first slice might fall apart a bit getting it out of the pan, but subsequent slices should be fine.  No matter, this pie is so yummy it won’t stay on the plate very long!

Serves 6

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