While shopping last week, I noticed some seville oranges in my local gourmet fruit shop. These are famous bitter oranges that lend themselves perfectly to authentic marmalade making. I purchased six.

The most marvellous thing about marmalade making is the amazingly large yield. I started with two seville oranges, that weighed 250 grams each. I first quartered the oranges and removed the pips. I chopped the oranges roughly and threw them in a food processor, along with one medium-sized de-pipped chopped lemon, shredding them all finely. I deposited this fruit pulp in a large bowl.

I took the remaining seville oranges that I had bought and juiced them. I added two cups of orange juice to the pulp, along with four cups of water. I placed all the orange and lemon pips into the soaking pulp also. I left the bowl sitting overnight, though the recipe did not specify doing that.

Next morning I poured this pulpy mass and all the liquid into a large saucepan, and placed it on full heat.

I brought the mixture to the boil, reduced it to a simmer and cooked it for one hour with a tightly-fitted lid. This is the first stage of marmalade making: softening the fruit. As it softens, the pectin content from the fruit pips is introduced into the mixture. This natural pectin is what will eventually set the jam.

After one hour, I checked the pulp; it was very soft. Now came the most important part. I added 1.5kg of sugar to the simmering softened pulp. I used raw sugar, which works very well.

I turned up the heat to full, stirred the sugar and pulp mixture as it returned to full boil, then left it boiling hard for 25 minutes on full heat, without stirring.

After 25 minutes the marmalade looked dark and jammy. To test whether it was ready, I took a teaspoonful of mixture and placed it on a small plate that had been chilling in the freezer. I popped it back in the freezer and left it for one minute.

This is a critical step. If the marmalade overcooks it will be very dense and firm. If it needs more cooking, the end result will be runny. At this stage you must decide whether to keep the marmalade on the heat for a little while longer, or remove it. It can be tricky to tell because it is still a molten liquid.

I took out the cold plate and pushed my finger gently through the marmalade sample. It left little wrinkles in its wake. This was a sign that the marmalade was done. Off the heat!

I had sterilized and heated some glass jars as well as their metal lids in the oven, and they were hot and ready.

After taking the marmalade off the heat, and allowing it to cool a little for 10 minutes, I poured it through a large funnel and filled my jars. Look how much marmalade I made from 2 oranges, 1 lemon, 2 cups of orange juice, 4 cups of water and 1.5kg sugar - 3.2kg of marmalade!! Those large jars weigh 1.2 kg, including the jar-weight.

And that's the marmalade above, after setting and cooling in the jars with tight lids for an hour or two. It has a wonderfully intense bitter/sweetness, and vastly better than any shop-bought product.

Jackie from Florida wrote:

"There are so many different types of sugar showing themselves in the bulk section: sucanat, evaporated cane juice, fructose, raw, etc. I'm confused. What is the difference? Are some better than others?"

I replied:

"Sucanat and evaporated cane juice are not commonly available in Australia, at least by those names, so I cannot exactly say what they are best for, and how they differ from raw sugar, my favourite. Allow me to hand this question to Devadeva, a very wise and kitchen-savvy fellow blogger who also lives in Florida."

I did in fact refer Jackie's question to Devadeva, who sent this excellent reply:

"Hare Krishna Jackie! Your question is really a good one. Basically, the darker the sugar, the more unprocessed it is and the better it is for you. it contains more of the natural molasses, and therefore is more nutritious. The darker sugars, in my opinion, are less addictive, more satisfying and more wholesome tasting. That being said, they do impart a certain earthy color to what you are making and have a distinctivd flavor which is more pronounced the darker you go.

Some people really do not enjoy the taste/results of natural sweeteners because they are so accustomed to life with white sugar. But as you can see with most dietary changes, there may be a slight adjustment period for the tongue; however the tongue is very adaptable and open to change. Especially if that change is towards whole foods. Your body will thank you for it.

So here is a brief run down on those sugars.:

Sucanat is a made up term which stands for SUgar CAne NATural. So basically this is your purest sugar, most closely resembling it's source of origin in nature: sugar cane. It is almost always sold under the brand Wholesome Sweeteners (as most natural sugars are in the US) and if you follow this link you can read about the good stuff retained by the minimal processing, which includes iron, calcium and other minerals and vitamins.

It is by far my favorite sweetener, although I don't use it for everything. I definitely use it whenever brown sugar is called for, such as peanut butter cookies gingersnaps and barbecue sauce. The granules are very large and round but it is a soft, moist feeling sugar.

Turbinado, raw sugar and demerera sugar are essentially the same thing, with slight variations attributable to the place of origin and processing. These sugars are also minimally processed, although more so than sucanat. They retain molasses so are also more nutritious than white sugar. These sugars are have large, tannish brown crystals and can be used for all cooking and baking, although it may take a while for their crystals to dissolve.

Because of this, some people prefer not to use them in cakes, where creaming the butter and sugar together is an important process. These sugars also lend an earthier color to things and impart an ever so slight wholesome flavor. They are to be used measure for measure to substitute white sugar, although you will probably end up using less because the surface area of the crystals is greater with this natural sugar.

Evaporated cane juice is a natural sweetener which has been clarified and purified to give it a lighter color. It has not been chemically processed or bleached with animal bones. It does retain molasses and is the color and consistency of beach sand, however, it is the least nutritious of all the sugars mentioned. That being said, it is the most versatile. It behaves just like white sugar, except it is totally natural. It is great in baking, cooking, for preparing drinks or in jam making. It would adulterate the color of your final product and tastes just like sugar cane juice. How bad can that be!

Fructose is not good. Stay away from fructose. While although it has a low glycemic index, it is white white white and therefore should be avoided like cheddar cheese on pizza. Apparently it is metabolized differently than other sweeteners and studies with lab mice have found that fructose will make you fat (so lets subsidize it!!!). For lots of info on fructose, most of which you need a Phd in science to understand, visit this Wikipedia link.

Other sweeteners line the shelves of health food stores and even the natural foods section in chain supermarkets. Agave nectar is now being touted for its low glycemic index and is becoming very popular. It is able to boast a low glycemic index because it is 90% fructose.

There is a lot of info available online and what sweetener you choose to go with is really a personal decision based on what is important to you. And although buying from the bulk bins is cheaper than getting a small pre-packaged bag of Wholesome Sweetener sugar, it still is expensive. If you can special order a 50lb bag from your favorite shop, you will save a good amount on sugar and the stores usually give an additional 10% off quantity orders.

If you don't have the space to hoard a 50lb bag, you can always split it up with some friends. This is just my suggestion because in my house, even without jam making, we go through a lot of sugar. I personally like to have sucanat, evaporated cane juice and turbinado all on hand. Hope this is helpful. Devadeva dasi"

(A good answer, don't you think? Devadeva already published the letter on her blog, but she doesn't mind me reproducing it here, since I was the original refer-ee.)

Part 1 of 3 - seminar on the Nectar of Devotion.  Radha Krishna das is visiting from ISKCON Ludhiana.

Audio only.

Dallas, TX
2008-09-04

Download: 2008-09-04 - 1 - Radha Krishna das - Nectar of Devotion Seminar.mp3

Today was a cook day for me and I have to say, things turned out particularly well. My client requested minestrone with cannellini beans as well as risotto. To round out the meal, I also prepared for him roasted vegetables, spinach stuffed tofu with a spinach/tahini sauce and a kalamata olive/sundried tomato spread for him to use for in between meals cracker noshing.

I never made risotto before, and the recipe I had called for wine, shallots and garlic--none of which I cook with. I subbed a 1/2 cup of vinegar mixed with 1 cup of water for the 1 and a 1/2 cups of wine. I sauteed celery instead of shallots and used hing instead of garlic. Instead of aborrio rice, I used a short grain brown. Without any vegetable broth on hand, I mixed up some dried mustard powder, nutritional yeast, Braggs and water as a stand in.

As for the cooking, risotto takes a long time to prepare because of all the cup by cup adding and stirring. Or it doesn't if you just dump all the broth in the pot and boil. I started out following the directions, but honestly, it was taking so long due to the brown rice factor, that I just went for the dump. And to no ill consequence. The risotto was rich and creamy. And my client, who honestly told me he would compare it to the risotto he ate in Italy, called to say "Wow!" 15 minutes after I dropped off his meal.

He loved everything (whew!), especially the kalamata/sundried tomato spread, which is basically spreadable sodium (my client is a salt lover). And he appreciated the green-ness of the tofu. Usually he goes for a creamier minestrone, but said this may be his new favorite because it was "very light and good."

Some folks have been unable to access my blog for the past couple of days. It would load about half way and a little pop up error thing let you know that “Internet Explorer can not load this page.” Click “OK” and it takes you to a blank page.

I didn’t notice this since I use Firefox and sometimes Opera. The only way you’d see it is if you use Internet Explorer.

The problem came from embedding a couple of YouTube videos. This shouldn’t be a big deal, but for some reason Internet Explorer couldn’t handle it and couldn’t load the page.

Well, I’m letting everyone know that it’s back up and running. Now, about 50% of you didn’t notice because you use Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc. But for some reason, 50% of you are still using Internet Explorer. What gives? It’s an awful browser.

Now, normally, I wouldn’t care how you access my site, I’m just glad you do. But if IE can’t load it when I post a YouTube video, it’s time for me to pay attention.

I personally use Firefox 3. I highly suggest you get it. I have mine all tricked out so that I don’t even see ads. No pop ups either. It’s great. I’ve not seen an internet ad for years. And that’s great for Myspace.

Funny story about that. A few years ago I was staying in the ashrama at New Vrndavana. At that time there were six or seven (maybe more) brahmacaris (celibate monks) living there. There was one public computer for the ashrama. They used Firefox, but didn’t have an adblocker.

Most of the devotees used MySpace, which had a bunch of ads for something called Tru. And whatever Tru was advertising involved many girls who were *this* close to being nude. Since it was mostly celibate monks using this computer, I asked one of the female residents, a friend of mine, if I could install an adblocker on Firefox so that the brahmacaris didn’t have to look at mostly-nude women.

Her reply: “Oh you can’t do that! Why do you think they’re on the computer so much!”

Oh funny girl. But I bet it’s true.

Anyway, this Firefox thing is a much better browser. And yeah, sometimes you need IE, so keep it, but I strongly recommend you change to Firefox (or anything aside from IE) for your web browsing needs.

Hare Krsna All,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

I pray this message finds you all in the best of spirit, mind and body. I
have truly missed corresponding with you all and certainly look forward to
doing so again in the future.

The past 30 days since I returned to Iraq have been busy and challenging in
so many ways. My unit has sent detachments to over 5 cities in the province.
I’m leading one team in the provincial capital where we have had to almost
start from scratch in tems of setting up our stations. All this was occuring
before and now during the Holy month of Ramadaan. Some of our camps had
sufficient standoff from the cities or populated areas but now I can look
directly at the neighborhoods that surround us. It is truly a beautiful
sight seeing the mosques of the city lit with green and gold lights at
night. As the sun sets, the calls to prayer echo across our camp. When the
fasts are broken, celebratory gunfire is heard which hightens everyone’s
senses because we don’t know if it’s aimed at us. Our means of communication
back home are fewer and less reliable than before. Ten Marines huddle in a
musty room waiting turns to use a phone that’s one dial tone away from
death. They whisper a quick “Hello”, “I love you too” and “Goodbye” before
handing off to someone else and making a 20 minute walk back to their tents.
Their resilience and creativity motivates me as they come up with new ways
to run cables and build furniture from discarded palettes and ammo crates.
Everyday there is a new discovery, a new sight, a new sound, a new item
discarded by the previous units that were lessening their loads, just trying
to get home. In a few months, we will be amongst those as well.

I’ve also been researching how to have Krsna Consciousness or ISKCON
recognized by the Department of Defense as a faith organization. So far, no
one has provided me any real answers. I have a letter to the Armed Forces
Chaplains Board with no response. I will be reengaging again once things
slow down.

I look forward to returning fully to my routine of japa, study and prayer. I
have come to find increased enjoyment chanting at night here. There are
various vacant buildings here with nice high concrete ceilings that nicely
reverberate the Holy names. I’ve also scouted a few spots are prime for
distribuiting books once I get settled in. I continue to think about the
time spent at the temple between San Diego, Laguna Beach and LA. I look
forward to hearing more about the festivals and pujas and perhaps seeing the
pictures as well. I thank you for your thoughts and prayers. You are in mine
as well.

In your service,

Antony

September 5 2008 

 Prabhupada almost always traveled with a secretary and a personal servant.  Devotees are naturally fascinated by what went on in the privacy of Srila Prabhupada’s rooms and how these devotees carried out their services.

 On 17-May-08 I got this question from Ilya Zaharov in Russia:

“I would like to ask about Shrila Prabhupada’s personal servants and secretaries: what exactly was their service and functions? How did they serve Shrila Prabhupada?

Answer:  Here are five of us in this photo taken on June 11, 1976 on Prabhupada’s arrival at the airport in Detroit:

              

On the left is former servant/secretary Satsvarupa Das Goswami; with dark hair wearing white is longest-serving servant, Sruta Kirti prabhu; immediately behind Prabhupada and partly obscurred is personal security man Raksana prabhu; carrying danda is secretary Pusta Krsna Swami; and that’s me on the far right. Its a big topic and here’s a very brief overview:

The servant looked after all Srila Prabhupada’s personal needs, such as giving his massages, preparing his bathing, cooking, shaving his head, making sure everything was cleaned everyday, such as rooms and clothing, packing his suitcase, carrying his personal paraphernalia and being on hand whenever he rang his bell. The servant was always the one who was expected to answer the bell, not the secretary.  The servant would also help Srila Prabhupada put his shoes and coat on and off (doesn’t sound much but it was one of the more blissful items!). 

 When Srila Prabhupada traveled by airplane it was generally the servant who sat next to him. On international trips temples would supply first class tickets for Prabhupada and servant, and the rest of the party would travel ecomony.

Because I couldn’t cook, there was a host of devotees who did that service during the 16 months I traveled with Prabhupada. Harikesa prabhu was the cook when I first joined the party in November 1975, and again briefly when he came back on as secretary in July of 1976. In America and again in India in late 1976 it was mainly Palika dasi, but also Srutirupa dasi and sometimes Arundhati dasi. Nandarani dasi,  Yamuna dasi, Parijata dasi, Kaushalya dasi, Kishori dasi all cooked, as did Bhanu das brahmacari and Sukadeva dasa.  

Prabhupada described the function of the secretary in a nutshell to Hansaduta Swami in Hyderabad in December 1976 as ‘one who keeps the secrets’.

The secretary took care of all correspondence, travel arrangements, appointments for visitors and liasons with local temple presidents and GBCs. Secretaries were, by Prabhupada’s preference, nearly always GBC men and he had a system that any GBC could join him for a month on his travels, as a visiting GBC secretary.

 Although it was generally the secretary who took charge of recording the daily classes, walks and conversations, due to pressure of work Pusta Krsna Swami handed that service over to me in May 1976, a service I did till I left the party in March 1977. I loved doing that service because it kept me constantly hearing Srila Prabhupada throughout the day and gave me the perfect reason to always be in his company as we traveled:

Apart from servant and secretary there were occasions when additional members traveled. Sanskrit editor Pradyumna prabhu re-joined the party in May of 1976 and stayed on until Prabhupada’s disappearance in November 1977. Pradyumna was probably the longest serving personal assistant to travel with Prabhupada. Pradyumna’s wife Arundhati also joined the party in June 1976 to transcribe Srila Prabhupada’s nightly SB dictations. Their six-years-old son Aniruddha was our traveling mascot.

Other members included Raksana dasa, personal body guard while Prabhupada was in America, and Aksaya dasa, Prabhupada’s door guard in India from August 1976 - March 1977.

For a typical day in Srila Prabhupada’s schedule please read the entry from December 5 1975 in the first volume of Transcendental Diary.

Your humble servant,

Hari-sauri dasa

Materially speaking, Alachua is very similar to Vrindavan. There is humidity, mosquitos and sand. Spiritually speaking, there is a beautiful temple housing Sri Sri Radha Syamasundar, melodious kirtans and devotees just about everywhere you go.

Today as I was out for a run, I came across a street sign, which made me simultaneously laugh out loud and remember that Alachua is very, very far from Vrindavan.

Here is a picture of the graffiti in Vrindavan. I think this picture was taken by Akincana Prabhu. Radhe! Radhe!



Here is a picture of the street sign I saw today. It says "Hoe" with an arrow pointing to the name "Sita."  

Recently I received a letter asking about different sugars available in the bulk aisle. Here's the question:

"There are so many different types of sugar showing themselves in the bulk
section: succanant, evaporated cane juice, fructose, raw, etc. I'm confused.
What is the difference?? Are some better than others?"



Here's my very long answer (I really like sugar):

Basically, the darker the sugar, the more unprocessed it is and the better it is for you. it contains more of the natural molasses, and therefore is more nutritious. The darker sugars, in my opinion, are less addictive, more satisfying and more wholesome tasting. That being said, they do impart a certain earthy color to what you are making and have a distinctivd flavor which is more pronounced the darker you go.

Some people really do not enjoy the taste/results of natural sweeteners because they are so accustomed to life with white sugar. But as you can see with most dietary changes, there may be a slight adjustment period for the tongue--however the tongue is very adaptable and open to change. Especially if that change is towards whole foods--your body will thank you for it.

So here is a brief run down on sugars.

Sucanat is a made up term which stands for SUgar CAne NATural. So basically this is your purest sugar, most closely related to it's source of origin in nature: sugar cane. It is almost always sold under the brand Wholesome Sweeteners (as most natural sugars are in the US) and if you follow this link you can read about the good stuff retained by the minimal processing, which includes iron, calcium and other minerals and vitamins.

It is by far my favorite sweetener, although i don't use it for everything. I definitely use it whenever brown sugar is called for, such as peanut butter cookies, gingersnaps and barbecue sauce. The granules are very large and round but it is a soft, moist feeling sugar.

Turbinado, raw sugar and demerra sugar are essentially the same thing, with slight variations attributable to the place of origin and processing. These sugars are also minimally processed, although more so than sucanat. They retain molasses so are also more nutritious than white sugar. These sugars have large, golden brown crystals and can be used for all cooking and baking, although it may take a while for their crystals to dissolve. Because of this, some people prefer not to use them in cakes, where creaming the butter and sugar together is an important process. These sugars also lend an earthier color to things and impart an ever so slight wholesome flavor. They are to be used measure for measure to substitute white sugar, although you will probably end up using less because the surface area of the crystals is greater with this natural sugar.

Evaporated cane juice is a natural sweetener which has been clarified and purified to give it a lighter color. It has not been chemically processed or bleached with animal bones. It does retain molasses and is the color and consistency of beach sand, however, it is the least nutritious of all the sugars mentioned. That being said, it is the most versatile. It behaves just like white sugar, except it is totally natural. It is great in baking, cooking, for preparing drinks or in jam making. It will not adulterate the color of your final product and tastes most like sugar cane juice. How bad can that be!

Fructose is not good. Stay away from fructose. While although it has a low glycemic index, it is white white white and therefore should be avoided like cheddar cheese on pizza. Apparently it is metabolized differently than other sweeteners and studies with lab mice have found that fructose will make you fat (so lets subsidize it!!!). For lots of info on fructose, most of which you need a Phd in science to understand, visit this Wikipedia link .

Other sweeteners line the shelves of health food stores and even the natural foods section in chain supermarkets. Agave nectar is now being touted for its low glycemic index and is becoming very popular. It is able to boast a low glycemic index because it is 90% fructose. But people who sweeten with agave generally tend to use it sparingly, since it is pretty pricey, and they are using it for the whole health food effect.

There is a lot of info available online and what sweetener you choose to go with is really a personal decision based on what is important to you. And although buying from the bulk bins is cheaper than getting a small pre-packaged bag of Wholesome Sweetener sugar, it still is expensive. If you can special order a 50 lb bag from your favorite shop, you will save a good amount on sugar and the stores usually give an additional 10% off quantity orders. This is just my suggestion because in my house, even without jam making, we go through a lot of sugar. I personally like to have sucanat, evaporated cane juice and turbinado all on hand. Sucanat will be the most expensive, followed by evaporated cane juice and turbinado will be the cheapest (around $25/50lb for the natural, more for organic). I recommend comparing the quantity prices to what you are paying in the bulk aisle and after you get over your shock at the mark-up, go in for the 50 pounder with some friends.

Hope this is helpful.

Some more Kirtan recordings from our second show in Upstate NY. We were honored to stay with and perform for our friends Saci Suta, Keli Lalita, Raghunath and Bridget and their amazing and large familes.

Karuna Shakti Yoga

(more…)

On the transcendental appearance day of Lalita Sakhi,please take darshan of Lalita sakhi in Mayapur. Srila Rupa Gosvami describes the qualities of the eight main gopis in Radha Krishna Ganodesa Dipika. He describes Lalita Sakhi as the main sakhi of the eight sakhis (main gopis). She is 27 days older than Srimati Radharani. She is the leader and best of the eight main gopis. She is the constant companion and follower of Srimati Radharani.

read more