Thoughts From Becca

YOU CAN FOLLOW MY WEEK on the Live Local Challenge @ http://www.livelocalchallenge.blogspot.com/ Things have changed over time, and living in the city, we've really separated ourselves from being close to the earth, and to understanding our impact on it. This week, a new site http://www.livelocal.org.au/ is being launched with an aim of regrouping and rebuilding community. I'm going to do my bit and you can get behind it too by adding your ideas on the site. Of course with my food focus, a lot of my effort is food based. I've always tried to cook a lot of what I eat from scratch, to not use processed foods and to really support fresh seasonal produce. Once I started thinking about it, there was and is so much more that I can do. Starting this Wednesday I've accepted the live local challenge. As part of the challenge I've decided to take on a week of living only on regional produce (only grown within 100 miles of where I live). The preparation has been interesting, ...

During the week I asked Twitter friends what were their favourite pumpkin ideas. Actually it was a simple request, one little tweet (Twitter miniblog post), and I was surprised by so many replies and retweets (repeat posts). Here are the responses: @ sgere : pumpkin polenta! we just had that for dinner on Sunday @ Amykr : I love pumpkin ravioli or since it is late some pumpkin bread @ Kimbitz : my 5 year old asked for pumpkin pie today - something in the air? I make my pie with honey and coconut milk - fantastic! @ achillesmama : RT @frombecca : so now have pumpkin on my mind ... maybe pumpkin risotto tonight ... other pumpkin ideas anyone? @ VeronicaFitzhug : after din din you should watch the christin ricci movie pumpkin. it's 1 of my favs & soundtrack is awesome. love that ricci chick @ fridley : Pumpkin pudding!! Had it the other night. Delicious!! @ crazybrave : try pasta with chunks of pumpkin roasted with cumin and chilli, grilled ricotta and pesto. @ JohannaBD : nothing...

What a wonderful world of travel has unfolded before me. My wonderful world is the world that the online communities and user generated journalism provide to me, to us. My latest trip included Barcelona. There wasn't much preparation to find the accommodation. Still in Australia, with some months before travelling, I went straight to the TripAdvisor website and picked the top of their list: all 5 star ratings, all excellent comments. And, I was not disappointed. This information was from a trusted source. It was not from the advertisements, sponsored links or hotel listings. My selection was from the ratings of my fellow travellers, from their reviews. Destination BCN was top of the list, and did not disappoint on arrival. Closer to the time of my holiday, I used the Internet to research what to see and do in Barcelona. Of course I'd heard of Gaudi. I did not however know much about him, and used the time of mounting excitement, to research, read, learn. I stood before Sagrada ...