Eating In The Dark

I hope everyone out there took part in Earth Hour this weekend, regardless of whether or not their city was participating. If you weren't aware of it, Earth Hour was started last year in Sydney, Australia as a way of bringing awareness to climate change issues. Residents were merely asked to turn off all forms of electricity for an entire hour that night. This Saturday the initiative went global, and cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco participated on behalf of the United States. Although New York City was not an official participant, I'm never one to turn down the opportunity to lower my electric bill. So, after a few hours of stimulating the economy (hey, everyone needs one new spring outfit), my buddy Gloria and I retreated back to my apartment to make a quick and delicious meal.


After stir-frying up a delicious bunch of veggies including mushrooms, scallions and red peppers, we tossed them with some lovely and fragrant aromatics (ginger and garlic), then mixed the whole thing with some thin mei fun noodles. We sauced the stir-fry with soy sauce, fish sauce, kecap manis, shao hsing wine, malt vinegar, and lots of fresh lemon juice. Once we plated up the dish, it was lights outs for the hour between 8 and 9 pm. We covered the coffee table in candles, popped open a few Stella's and curled up on the couch cradling our Earth Hour meal.

As you can see from our experience, observing Earth Hour doesn't have to make you feel like you're back in the middle ages, or perhaps forgot to pay last month's electric bill. With pleasant company, great conversation and good food, it's possible that you may even have a better time making a statement by candlelight than you would while watching TV and typing on your laptop with a blackberry glued to your ear. Maybe we'd all sleep a little bit better at night if we took an hour disconnect from our electronics and reconnect with our family, our friends and ourselves. And you never know, we may just end up saving the world, one dark hour at a time.

-Laura