It seems incredible that in these days of “Dirty, Sexy, Money” on a national television we could still be talking about banning books, but the issue is alive and well. Every year the American Library Association and other related agencies receive demands for various books to be banned from libraries. The issues range from the religious viewpoint in “The Golden Compass” (Philip Pullman) to racism portrayed in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain.

To highlight the importance of books and the need to fight censorship, Banned Books Week is held the last week of September. This year’s celebration is from Sept. 27 to Oct. 4 and includes events at libraries throughout the country. Here’s a really great set-up at a the Twin Hickory Public Library, Glen Allen, VA, as featured in Boing Boing.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. Banned Books Week is also endorsed by the Center for the Book of the Library of Congress.

In the same week that we had European Day of Languages comes International Translation Day, dedicated to those smart folks who have the difficult job of taking words from one language and putting them into another. The theme this year, as chosen by the sponsoring organization, The International Federation of Translators , is “Terminology: Words Matter” highlighting the fact that professional translators should know precisely the correct term for a given word. Conferences will features speakers from all types of business, such as doctors and lawyers, to talk about terms specific to their field of expertise.

Last year’s theme was Don’t Shoot the Messenger!, a great idea aimed at educating those that use translators not to get angry when they don’t like what is said. They’re translating words, not coming up with them!

Traveling is one of the best way to understand the world and international issues that affect us all. To promote traveling and exploration the World Tourism Organization established World Tourism Day in 1980. Each year the organization selects and issue to highlight and a country to host the holiday. In 2008 Peru and the environment will take center stage, with a theme of “Tourism Responding to the Challenge of Climate Change - A call for action to a climate neutral planet”.

A component of the holiday is a photography contest sponsored by the organization. Last year’s winner focused on the 2007 theme “Tourism Opens Doors for Women”. The conference was held in Sri Lanka.

Students of tourism management school paints tattoo during Tourism Fair. Recent boom in travel and tourism sector opens new avenues for aspiring young women, which is a good sign in developing countries like India.INDIA.Photographer: Sudipto Das

It makes a lot of sense to celebrate language in a place with so many of them. What better place than Europe, where the 21st century has brought an extraordinary amount of opportunities to work and live in a variety of countries. But if you don’t know the language, how can you function? That is the purpose of European Day of Languages - to educate people in the diverse languages of Europe and the reason for learning a new one.

The holiday was launched in Sept of 2001 by the Council of Europe, and organization that promotes the development of Europe’s cultural identity and diversity as well as human rights. It was an offshoot of the European Year of Languages (2001), also organized by the Council of Europe.

According to the EDL Website,

there are about 225 indigenous languages in Europe - roughly 3% of the world’s total. But due to the influx of migrants and refugees, Europe has become largely multilingual. In
London alone some 300 languages are spoken (Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Berber, Hindi,
Punjabi, etc.).

South Africa is a country made p of many cultures. Leaders wanted a way to allow citizens to celebrate this diversity, so Heritage Day was established. The holiday has its roots in Shaka Day, a longtime celebration of Zulu King Shaka. His legacy was a uniting force in the nation, because he worked to bring harmony to various zulu nations.

September 24 is a dual holiday in South Africa. National Braai Day honors one of their long-standing traditions, the open fire barbecue. The word braai (rhymes with cry) is Afrikaans for “barbecue” or “roast”. The custom is sort of like a pot luck, with family and friends gathering in one place, all bringing food to share. Traditionally men do all the barbecuing, while the women make the salads, vegetables and pap, a traditional porridge. Try this version with sheba tomato gravy over top.

Ingredients
PAP
1 cup cornmeal (white or yellow)
2 cups boiling water
1 (14 ounce) can creamed corn
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon margarine

SHEBA

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces onions, chopped
8 ounces green peppers, chopped
1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
2 teaspoons brown sugar
3 garlic cloves, crushed
salt and pepper
parsley, dried or fresh to taste

Directions
Pap
Add boiling water, creamed corn, salt and margarine to casserole dish. Add cornmeal and stir. Cook in microwave for 2 minutes, stir. Cook for around 6 to 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes, until pap is thick and fluffy. Serve with gravy, sheba, or salsa. Great with barbequed meat. To make microwave pap without creamed corn, add an extra cup of boiling water and cook as directed.

Sheba.
Sauté the onion in a frying pan with oil until soft – make sure heat is not too high, you don’t want the onions to brown. When onion is soft, add green pepper and stir for around 2 minutes – doesn’t have to be completely cooked.
Add can of tomato paste and also can of diced tomatoes. Then add 3 big cloves of crushed garlic and two cubes of brown sugar and chopped fresh parsley (around 2 tbsps).
Add ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 ½ tsp of freshly ground black pepper.
Cook over slow heat (simmer) for about 10 minutes. Better the day after it is made.
Serve over pap.

It always amazes me to see how many holidays and celebrations start with just a few people - or even one person - who starts the ball rolling. One Web Day is a perfect example of how that works.

It began in 2006 when Susan Crawford, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, networked enough folks together to hold the first One Web Day. The inspiration was Earth Day, a holiday that began because a small group of people wanted to bring attention to the importance of protecting the environment. Crawford’s non-profit organization was founded on the premise that the Internet needn’t be a scary place, and that everyone in the world should have access to it and the wonderful opportunities that exist.

According to Crawford, “peoples’ lives now are as dependent on the Internet as they are on the basics like roads, energy supplies and running water. We can no longer take that for granted and we must advocate for the Internet politically, and support its vitality personally.”

Since 1982, the United Nations has started off their General Assembly in the right way, by marking Sept. 21 as the International Day of Peace. The organization has promoted this as a day where everyone can participate “lighting a candle at noon, or just sitting in silent meditation. Or it can involve getting your co-workers, organization, community or government engaged in a large event. The impact if millions of people in all parts of the world, coming together for one day of peace, is immense.”

Two art teachers in Florida found a way to make International Peace Day a real thing for their students. In 2005, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, who teach at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Florida, founded “Pinwheels for Peace”, an ingenious public art installation that has spread all over the world. The idea is for students and others to make their own pinwheels with thoughts of peace written on them. The pinwheels are placed outside on Sept 21 where the good thoughts are taken by the wind and spread throughout the world. Bravo Ann and Ellen, your students and those who are inspired by your project are sure to sread the message of peace.

Not that you can’t do it everyday, but this is special…..

Are you German and proud of it? Then Sept. 17 is for you! It’s Von Steuben Day, celebrating Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (born Sept. 17, 1730) who came to America on the advice of Benjamin Franklin. Von Steuben met Franklin in France and impressed him with his military training. Knowing that General George Washington was short on schooled military leaders, Franklin recommended him for service. Von Steuben joined Washington at Valley Forge and volunteered to serve without pay (though he asked for and was eventually granted a $2,500 a year pension). He was instrumental in helping the Continental Army with drills and discipline and formulated a sanitation plan for the camps.

Von Steuben Day is celebrated with parades in New York, Philadelphia and, most notably Chicago (this is the parade featured in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). After the parade their are generally German festivals, with traditional dancing, food and of course beer. There’s nothing more traditional than sauerkraut, which translates to sour cabbage in English. Try this easy sauerkraut and pork for a taste of traditional Germany.
Sauerkraut and Pork
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. pork, cubed
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. caraway seed
1 lg. can sauerkraut, drained

Directions
Brown pork in 1 tablespoon fat. When browned, add onions and brown a few minutes more. Add 1/2 cup water, paprika, and salt and simmer 1 hour. Mix sauerkraut with sugar and caraway seed and stir into pork. Simmer or steam 15 to 20 minutes. Serve over egg noodles.

If there’s any country that knows how to throw a party, its Mexico. On Sept. 16 they go all out to celebrate the nation’s independence from Spain in 1810. Cars and buildings are decorated, the national colors of red, green and white are everywhere and of course food abounds.
Mexico started off as an independent county, with the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, Toltec and Aztec empire. But then arrived Cortez and the Spanish explorers in the 1500s and with them disease and guns that killed many of the native people. For 300 years the Spanish ruled over Mexico, until Napoleon invaded Spain and installed his brother as king. The Mexicans, possibly inspired by the recently ended American Revolution, decided it was their turn for liberty. On Sept. 16, 1810 their own liberty bell was rung from a little church in Dolores, Guanajuato by Father Hidalgo. After an 11 year war, the Treaty of Córdoba was signed on August 24, 1821, giving the Mexicans their homeland back.

This very time consuming dish of stuffed chilies is very traditional for Mexican Independence Day. The pomogranetes are in season and the colors are those of the Mexican flag.

Chiles en Nogada (Chilies in Walnut Sauce) Recipe
You must start this dish one day ahead by soaking the walnuts for the nogada sauce overnight.
INGREDIENTS
The Picadillo:
2 lbs of boneless pork
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp salt, or to taste
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

A molcajete (mortar and pestle)
8 peppercorns
5 whole cloves
1/2 inch stick cinnamon
3 heaping Tbsp of raisins
2 Tbsp blanched and slivered almonds
2 heaping Tbsp acitron or candied fruit, chopped
2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 1/2 pounds of tomatoes, peeled and seeded
1 pear, cored, peeled and chopped
1 peach, pitted, peeled and chopped

Directions
Cut the meat into large cubes. Put them into the pan with the onion, garlic, and salt and cover with cold water. Bring the meat to a boil, lower the flame and let it simmer until just tender - about 40-45 minutes. Do not over cook. Leave the meat to cool off in the broth.
Strain the meat, reserving the broth, then shred or chop it finely and set it aside. Let the broth get completely cold and skim off the fat. Reserve the fat.
Cook the onion and garlic in butter, until they are soft. Add the meat and let it cook until it begins to brown.
Crush the spices roughly and add them, with the rest of the ingredients to the meat mixture. Cook the mixture a few moments longer. Add chopped peach and pear to the mixture.

The Chilies:
Put 6 chiles poblanos into a fairly high flame or under a broiler and let the skin blister and burn. Turn the chiles from time to time so they do not get overcooked or burn right through.

Wrap the chiles in a damp cloth or plastic bag and leave them for about 20 minutes. Make a slit in the side of each chili and carefully remove the seeds and veins. Be careful to leave the top of the chili, the part around the base of the stem, intact. Rinse the chilies and pat them dry.

Stuff the chilies with the picadillo until they are well filled out. Set them aside on paper towels.

The Nogada (walnut sauce)
The day before:
20 to 25 fresh walnuts, shelled
cold milk
On serving day:
The soaked and drained nuts
1 small piece white bread without crust
1/4 lb queso fresco
1 1/2 cups thick sour creme (or creme fraiche)
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
Large pinch of cinnamon
Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until they are smooth, like a pesto

To Serve
To assemble the dish, cover the chilies in the nogada sauce and sprinkle with fresh parsley leaves and pomegranate seeds.