Moonriver Lodge, Sigar Highlands
FOR OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDRENArchive for Joyful Work
Hey Pesto!
When I was 18 years old I travelled alone to Rome and stayed at my Italian friend’s apartment near the Spanish Steps in the centre of Rome. His mum would cook the most wonderful Italian meals and fed us till we could not walk. One evening I was served a lovely plate of pasta with a creamy and extremely refreshing green sauce. It was the first time I was introduced to PESTO sauce. About 17 years later, I found out from a friend visiting Moonriver Lodge that Basil is the main ingredient in Pesto sauce. Pesto is a sauce originating from northern Italy and traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil and nuts blended with olive oil and cheese.
Here is a recipe contributed by Sumes, our Guest.
Hi Billie and Peng Keat,
Finally home in mad KL. really enjoyed the serenity and the great company of the last few days @ MRL. keep up the great work!
Here’s a recipe that i’ve used for pesto. i didn’t use any cheese – i figured it didn’t need any! already incredibly rich without it.
2 cups basil (a great heaping bowl of leaves??), coarsely chopped
1/2 – 3/4 cup olive oil (possibly more)
1 cup pine nuts (and/or a mixture of other seeds and nuts, i’ve used sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, cashews before) – lightly toasted or raw
2-3 cloves fresh garlic (more if a great fan of garlic!)
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
pinch black pepper (to taste)
Very easy – blend/process everything together! or you may want to blend the nuts first, then slowly add the rest….. up to you. traditionally made by mortar and pestle, if you have time or energy. don’t blend til smooth like puree, leave some texture in it. you can also add some grated parmesan, and/or a twist of lemon. but you don’t really need these.
When you store it in the fridge, just make sure the top is sealed in olive oil to keep it from oxidising. i’ve kept it this way and found it fine for use up to 2-3 weeks. but obviously, fresher is better.
Happy experimenting!! (and eating!)
New John Muir Rooms – Father of the National Parks
We are adding two more rooms at the front of the Lodge and have named them after John Muir.
John Muir (21 April 1838 – 24 December 1914) was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions. His activism helped to save the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas.
He is today referred to as the “Father of the National Parks,” and the National Park Service produced a short documentary on his life. Muir was noted for being an ecological thinker, political spokesman, and religious prophet, whose writings became a personal guide into nature for countless individuals, making his name “almost ubiquitous” in the modern environmental consciousness.
(Source : Wikipedia)
The Childrens’ Permaculture Garden Programme
Please go to “Building a Children’s Permaculture Garden” to read about this exciting project @ Moonriver Lodge.
Find out how you can support us through participating in our Permablitzes/Workshops or contribute seed capital.
See you at Moonriver!
Best of conservation
I picked this up browsing through an old edition from Asian geographic magazine. A slight variation in words from the Kenyan proverb I blogged previously.
“A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers but borrowed from his children.”
(John James Audubon, French American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter & painter)
RAW FOOD – A New Experience at Moonriver Lodge
We were very fortunate to have had the chance to spend the weekend with Ana Maria (a raw food chef based in Kuala Lumpur) who inspired us with her creation of Raw Spaghetti Zucchini with Hemp Pesto and Garden Salad with Orange Walnut Dressign paired with Organic Santa Julia Reserve Malbec.
When you can cook and eat like that, growing your own vegetables seems like the only reasonable thing to do.
WWOOFing @ MRL
Moonriver Lodge has been listed under WWOOF International. WWOOF stands for Willing Workers On Organic Farms. We have played hosts to a few International WWOOFers to date. Please write in with your details.
Our next project in the pipeline will require us to enlist the support of more WWOOFers/volunteers. This project will be a combined effort between Embun Pagi (Permaculture Farm in Batu Arang) and Moonriver Lodge. Details will be revealed in time.
To Clean Bamboo Furniture
Using the available raw materials on site, we have many bamboo furniture at the Lodge, each carefully handmade by our live-in residents. Maintenance is important and this tip was picked up.
To clean bamboo furniture, use a brush dipped in warm water and salt. The salt prevents the bamboo from changing colour.
(Source: Australian Early Settlers Household Lores – Mrs N. Prescott)
I can do something
“I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.
I will not refuse to do something I can do”.
-Helen Keller
Blazing a new trail
Our Volunteer Forest Rangers have helped blazed a new trail today which starts from the Bamboo Canopy junction and connects to the Water Trail. We call this the Valley Trail.
This is an easy and short loop trail ~ 1 hr and suitable for all ages.
Please read more under Trails Category.
Teamwork
A perspective from the workers who stands in the same shoes as those in the corporate world reporting to several bosses.
“A flat or matrix reporting line,” Human Resources Dept will explain patiently.
No one knows what a headache this is to the employee!
” This is called teamwork.
I furnish the brains,
You furnish the muscles,
the aches and the pains.
I’ll pick the best roads,
tell you just where to go
And we’ll find a good doctor
more quickly, you know.”
Then he sat and he worked,
with his brain and his tongue
And he bossed me around
just because I was young.
He told me to go left,
Then he told me to go right.
And that’s what he told me
all day and all night.
I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew ~ by Dr Seuss.
