Many years ago, beef tenderloin became the entree of choice for my family’s Christmas dinner celebration. For the most part, we’ve used a recipe given to my mom by a long-time friend and caterer. I’ve adapted it, and it’s now one of my favorite “fancy” dishes to serve.
Ingredients
beef tenderloin – I’m typically cooking a 5-6 lb loin
Marinade
1/2 c. olive oil
2/3 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
4-5 garlic cloves
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary (~5 inches long)
salt & fresh ground pepper
Directions
Make sure the beef is trimmed of most of the fat …

October is Fair Trade month!
When I posted about justice earlier this year, I said that one of the points made to me was, if you want to work for justice, find ways to incorporate it into your current life. Justice feels like such a big issue, that big action is necessary. This isn’t possible for me right now, but small actions are.
So, I’m celebrating the small actions.
For me, this has meant incorporating Fair Trade products into my life when and where I can. Fair Trade means that the farmers and workers …

Many of you have been asking, but it is hard to know where to begin. My thoughts on Go Set a Watchman.
Does Watchman change the way we will or should read To Kill a Mockingbird?
This is the question at the heart of every reader who has paused before picking up Watchman. And my answer is, yes, it will forever change TKM. But it isn’t a bad thing or for the worse. Ultimately, Watchman provides a rounder, more fully developed understanding of TKM.
In high school and college classrooms across the country …

Years before I heard Beth Cossin talk about human trafficking and the prevalence of it in nail salons, I contemplated the business viability of my favorite local nail salon. Here’s my question: I pay $20 for a manicure with gel nails and about $25 for a pedicure. Each service takes about an hour. When you consider deducting expenses, does this allow a sustainable margin? Is the salon making enough to adequately pay the person doing my nails?
Earlier this month New York Times published two pieces on the topic here and here. The journalist …

This is it! Below are the books my book club will be reading June 2015 – May 2016!
Go Set the Watchman by Harper Lee
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink
Dead Wake by Eric Larson
The Great Santini by Pat Conroy
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Violent Bear it Away by Flannery O’Connor
Run with the Horseman by Ferrol Sams
In addition, we’ve selected The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah as a companion book …