Meatless Lemon Meringue Pie
The National Public Radio show, Morning Edition, recently aired a segment about Sid Lerner’s promotion of Meatless Mondays. Lerner is the advertising guru who created the “don’t squeeze the Charmin” campaign that succeeded in taking a very boring product and making it a household name. Now, at the age of 79 and supposedly “retired,” he is back in the news for promoting part-time vegetarianism.
Lerner promotes his idea by saying that Friday is payday, Saturday is play day, Sunday is pray day, which are all followed by Meatless Monday. Celebrity chefs, Wolfgang Puck and Mario Batali (who has recently lost over 40 pounds) have endorsed the concept, offering some Meatless Monday options. Former Beatle, Paul McCartney, has been promoting Meat-Free Monday in England. John Fraser, the chef/owner of Dovetail, a popular restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, enthusiastically supports the Meatless Monday movement by offering an entire meatless menu each Monday. It has become very popular and many non-vegetarian customers flock to the restaurant on Monday nights.
But Sid Lerner does not want Meatless Monday to only be a foodie fad. That is why he has teamed-up with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in reaching-out to institutional dining facilities from hospitals to school cafeterias from coast to coast to join the movement. People are becoming more conscientious about our health and the environment. The Meatless Monday campaign is backed by public health advocates, chefs, families, and friends who want to tackle the problems of cholesterol and heart disease. One risk factor for these chronic conditions is consuming too much saturated fat — the type of fat found in meat. Between 1950 and 2000, for example, Americans increased their meat consumption by 50%, and childhood obesity has been declared a very serious health problem in America.
The Book of Genesis declared us stewards of the Earth. That stewardship includes stewardship of the church and the environment, as well as our spiritual, emotional, and physical health. The Meatless Monday movement is good stewardship. Do you have a meatless entrée or appetizer recipe (either original or favorites from a book or a relative) that you would like to share? We are not doing another church cookbook (we already have one, for sale in the Reception Room) ~ but we will publish one recipe in each issue of the Light for the next few issues.
Thanks to the loving folks on the Fellowship & Outreach Board and the Prudential Board, we are having a Meatless Monday Potluck Supper on Monday, October 4th at 7PM. There will be a sign-up sheet in the Reception Room. This will be a “no beast, fish, or fowl” event. Put on your thinking caps, be creative, have fun, say grace, and let’s eat!!!
Blessings & Health,
Pastor Dwight
Due to an injury, I had to be taken by a North Patchogue Fire Department ambulance to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital before dawn on Sunday. The two EMS attendants were superior in their handling of the situation, not only medically, but including their calming influence on my son. The hospital personnel at Brookhaven, from the triage nurse to the doctors and the custodians were polite and professional and genuinely kind and caring. I am recovering at home quite nicely now, and doing most of my work here for a couple of days. I write to thank all of you for your help in the worship service which I was unable to attend. Kathy Ljungqvist read my mediocre sermon so well it apparently sounded brilliant. And Stephen Martin led the congregation in the deep and sincere prayer that the choir gets to hear each Sunday at rehearsal before worship. I also want to thank those of you who offered rides, since I am unable to drive; those who came to the hospital to help me get home, since I was without a car; and those who brought food and called just to check-in. I will not include a litany of names here. You know who you are. And I say without exaggeration that your loving thoughts, prayers, and self-less actions toward my son and myself will never be forgotten. As it says in Psalm 23, you restore my soul.
Bless,
Pastor Dwight.