Do you keep a "To Do" list? Is it possible to ever complete one of those things? Or, is it just their nature to constantly have new items added so the list never really shrinks? Mine actually seems to grow exponentially, especially if I am reading lots of blogs or homesteading-type books. I get far too many ideas for projects we could do, far more than we'll ever have time to do.
One issue we're running into now is the rapid approach of summer temperatures. We've already had a preview, in fact, with a number of days reaching the mid-90s. After my little overheating episode earlier this month, I seem to be much more sensitive to the heat and cannot work outside once it gets warm. I hope this is a temporary situation that will gradually fade away. If not, this summer is going to really be challenging.
We've got a number of projects that we'd like to get done before the summer rains begin, typically in early July. With just 8 weekend left until then, planning is critical and a well thought out "To Do" list will be helpful. Once the rains begin, it will be all we can do to keep up with the weed-eating and removing as many of the nasty weeds (Russian thistle aka "tumbleweed", for one) as possible before they go to seed. With our new rain gutters, we're hoping the rains work for us in growing our fruit trees rather than just drenching us as we try to get into the house without our lovely ex-porch.
There are more projects than I can shake a stick at that we have mentioned to each other, always with the caveat: "That is a winter project." In other words, something to take on when the garden isn't sucking up all our time and the temperatures are not soaring above 100 degrees. The weeks and months slide by so quickly, though, that many of those projects could get pushed even further away onto some remote, distant "To Do" list if we don't put them on the one for the colder months of this year.
With all this planning to do and projects to tackle, there is no way I'd even consider trying to write down a Bucket List. I don't have time to think about that, much less work towards knocking things off that kind of list!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
How To Make Oatmeal That Doesn't Suck
My apologies to die-hard fans of regular oatmeal but I think it sucks. The texture is slimy and disgusting. Mucilage is fine for okra but breakfast should not resemble bland snot. With encouragement from all angles to incorporate more healthy oatmeal into one's diet, I have often found it hard to comply.
Luckily there are ways to make oatmeal that doesn't suck. One way even used some rolled oats without too much resulting snottage. I used to buy regular rolled oats and steel cut oats, and mix them half and half. One portion of this mixture was combined with three parts water and then cooked until the steel-cut oats were tender enough to chew. An easy way to reduce the cooking time dramatically was to mix the oats and water the night before and let them soak. Cooking in the morning only took 5 minutes, instead of up to 25.
Nowadays, though, I am looking for ways to avoid having to buy and store multiple forms of oats. I have oat groats - whole oat kernels - on hand. Oat Groat Pilaf is delish, and whole oats store better than cut oats (as is the case for most whole grains). I have a small grain grinder, the ubiquitous "Universal" brand, that I acquired by trading a beading loom - purchased at a yard sale - for it.
Oat groats are relatively soft grains and much easier to grind than wheat berries. However, this grain grinder doesn't make rolled oats. Oat rollers are available but pricey and since I'm not crazy about rolled oats, I have little incentive to get one.
I have found, however, that just running the groats through the grinder produces a version of steel-cut oats that I like. The grinder can be adjusted to just barely break the grains or to produce flour or anything in between. I like grinding the oats finer than the typical steel-cut oats available for purchase. This allows for faster cooking and a less chewy texture, and for some reason, does not cook up with the sliminess of rolled oats.
To cook, I add three parts water to ground oats. Over medium heat, it only takes about 5 minutes to cook these up, stirring constantly to avoid burning.
Once cooked, I add a dollop of peanut butter and sprinkle of salt for flavor. This is optional but I sure like it. Cover and let sit for a few minutes to let the oats set up a bit and let the peanut butter soften into the mix.
The final step in making oatmeal that doesn't suck is adding a handful of dark chocolate chips. Fold them in quickly to avoid letting them melt into ribbons through the oatmeal. The idea is to distribute them throughout the cereal so that every bite contains at least one melted tidbit of sweet lovely chocolate.
Of course, this sort of recipe is why I have the little weight problem we don't talk about. If forced to, I can adjust to eating my oatmeal with a sprinkle of brown sugar and splash of soymilk on top instead of with the peanut butter and chocolate chips. If pushed really hard, I can eventually accept eating it with diced fruit such as apples or pears, but that starts moving oatmeal back into the sucky realm for me.
Interestingly, the book I'm reading right now, The End of Overeating, talks a lot in the inital chapters about how addictive the fat-sugar combination is. Adding in chocolate makes it even more so. No wonder I like my version of oatmeal so much!
Luckily there are ways to make oatmeal that doesn't suck. One way even used some rolled oats without too much resulting snottage. I used to buy regular rolled oats and steel cut oats, and mix them half and half. One portion of this mixture was combined with three parts water and then cooked until the steel-cut oats were tender enough to chew. An easy way to reduce the cooking time dramatically was to mix the oats and water the night before and let them soak. Cooking in the morning only took 5 minutes, instead of up to 25.
Oat groats are relatively soft grains and much easier to grind than wheat berries. However, this grain grinder doesn't make rolled oats. Oat rollers are available but pricey and since I'm not crazy about rolled oats, I have little incentive to get one.
To cook, I add three parts water to ground oats. Over medium heat, it only takes about 5 minutes to cook these up, stirring constantly to avoid burning.
Of course, this sort of recipe is why I have the little weight problem we don't talk about. If forced to, I can adjust to eating my oatmeal with a sprinkle of brown sugar and splash of soymilk on top instead of with the peanut butter and chocolate chips. If pushed really hard, I can eventually accept eating it with diced fruit such as apples or pears, but that starts moving oatmeal back into the sucky realm for me.
Interestingly, the book I'm reading right now, The End of Overeating, talks a lot in the inital chapters about how addictive the fat-sugar combination is. Adding in chocolate makes it even more so. No wonder I like my version of oatmeal so much!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Who Likes Ya, Baby?
It's been a long time since I've done a post about my stats, mostly because I don't look at them all that often anymore. I gauge interest in what I've written about by the comments more than by how many hits I get on a post. However, statistics are useful, too, and often entertaining.
I've been glancing at the stats maybe a couple of times per month lately. I find it fascinating that the same search criteria keep coming up over and over. Apparently I've written about a few things that put me high enough up on the search results lists that people check out particular posts. Curious which subjects these are?
Coffee substitutes - I wrote about comparing a bunch of coffee substitutes and it gets a lot of hits. The link also got reposted on at least one discussion board bemoaning the discontinuation of Postum.
Vardo or often, vardo interior - I posted pictures of a fellow blogger's gypsy vardo and ever since then it always appears in the list of search terms in my stats. I guess vardos fascinate people.
Hand crank blender - I've posted a couple of times about my Vortex blender. Too bad it doesn't work as well as I wish it did.
Spoiled apple juice or "can apple juice go bad" - It's nice to know I'm not the only one who wonders about these things. Yes, it can go bad.
Vegetarian sushi - my how-to posts are often popular. Vegetarian sushi is easy to make once you get the hang of rolling up the nori.
Fried rice without eggs - I've been a bit surprised how often this one shows up on the searches. Who knew so many people wanted to make fried rice without eggs?
Sprouting wheat berries - This subject has shown up on the search lists ever since I put up the post three and a half years ago. And my stats only cover 500 visits at a time, which means at least one in every 500 hits on my blog is going to this particular post. And the folks looking for this information come from all over the world, often from Third World countries. How to make corn tortillas is also an international subject of interest.
Bike powered grinder - Not surprisingly, this is also a popular search item. It's much easier to manually grind grain with big powerful leg and glut. muscles rather than the smaller arm and shoulder ones. I just need to make room in the house to set up the bike inside. Time for some pedal power!
Basic or simple first aid kit - I truly hope that my little post on putting together our kit has been helpful to all the people who have checked it out. We haven't had to use it yet, other than occasionally needing ibuprofen when on the road, but it's reassuring to know it's available in an emergency. And yes, we do keep the products with expiration dates rotated.
Composting tissues - Can you compost snot? Lots of people seem to wonder about this. Read here to see my conclusions on the subject.
Blogger business card - I still love having a business card for my (non-business) blog and apparently a lot of other bloggers are curious about the idea.
Thistle socks - it actually surprises me a little how often this one shows up on the searches. I wonder how many people have actually cut up their sweetie's old running shorts to make a thistle sock, though.
Prickly pear or "tuna" processing - I suppose it's not surprising that people would be interested in how to make prickly pear jelly. After all, it tastes darn good.
It's been three years since I noted that people from 100 different countries had stopped by the blog. I've long since stopped keeping track of the countries represented by visitors to the blog, but do find that it's interesting to see about thirty listed each time I look at the stats. It's not the same thirty each time, but seems to be pretty consistent in that variety for each 500 hits.
Folks from the US generally represent about two-thirds of my visitors. Canadians fill in another quarter with Australia and the United Kingdom filling in most of the rest. The remaining couple dozen countries usually reflect only one or maybe a few hits each. This morning's review of the last 500 hits (about a day and a half) yielded this list of countries (in descending order by number of hits):
I've been glancing at the stats maybe a couple of times per month lately. I find it fascinating that the same search criteria keep coming up over and over. Apparently I've written about a few things that put me high enough up on the search results lists that people check out particular posts. Curious which subjects these are?
Coffee substitutes - I wrote about comparing a bunch of coffee substitutes and it gets a lot of hits. The link also got reposted on at least one discussion board bemoaning the discontinuation of Postum.
Vardo or often, vardo interior - I posted pictures of a fellow blogger's gypsy vardo and ever since then it always appears in the list of search terms in my stats. I guess vardos fascinate people.
Hand crank blender - I've posted a couple of times about my Vortex blender. Too bad it doesn't work as well as I wish it did.
Spoiled apple juice or "can apple juice go bad" - It's nice to know I'm not the only one who wonders about these things. Yes, it can go bad.
Vegetarian sushi - my how-to posts are often popular. Vegetarian sushi is easy to make once you get the hang of rolling up the nori.
Fried rice without eggs - I've been a bit surprised how often this one shows up on the searches. Who knew so many people wanted to make fried rice without eggs?
Sprouting wheat berries - This subject has shown up on the search lists ever since I put up the post three and a half years ago. And my stats only cover 500 visits at a time, which means at least one in every 500 hits on my blog is going to this particular post. And the folks looking for this information come from all over the world, often from Third World countries. How to make corn tortillas is also an international subject of interest.
Bike powered grinder - Not surprisingly, this is also a popular search item. It's much easier to manually grind grain with big powerful leg and glut. muscles rather than the smaller arm and shoulder ones. I just need to make room in the house to set up the bike inside. Time for some pedal power!
Basic or simple first aid kit - I truly hope that my little post on putting together our kit has been helpful to all the people who have checked it out. We haven't had to use it yet, other than occasionally needing ibuprofen when on the road, but it's reassuring to know it's available in an emergency. And yes, we do keep the products with expiration dates rotated.
Composting tissues - Can you compost snot? Lots of people seem to wonder about this. Read here to see my conclusions on the subject.
Blogger business card - I still love having a business card for my (non-business) blog and apparently a lot of other bloggers are curious about the idea.
Thistle socks - it actually surprises me a little how often this one shows up on the searches. I wonder how many people have actually cut up their sweetie's old running shorts to make a thistle sock, though.
Prickly pear or "tuna" processing - I suppose it's not surprising that people would be interested in how to make prickly pear jelly. After all, it tastes darn good.
It's been three years since I noted that people from 100 different countries had stopped by the blog. I've long since stopped keeping track of the countries represented by visitors to the blog, but do find that it's interesting to see about thirty listed each time I look at the stats. It's not the same thirty each time, but seems to be pretty consistent in that variety for each 500 hits.
Folks from the US generally represent about two-thirds of my visitors. Canadians fill in another quarter with Australia and the United Kingdom filling in most of the rest. The remaining couple dozen countries usually reflect only one or maybe a few hits each. This morning's review of the last 500 hits (about a day and a half) yielded this list of countries (in descending order by number of hits):
United States
Canada
Australia
Malaysia
United Kingdom
Taiwan
India
Spain
Belgium
New Zealand
Singapore
United Arab Emirates
Peru
Egypt
Germany
Jordan
Greece
Lebanon
Denmark
Pakistan
Korea, Republic Of
Norway
Switzerland
Nigeria
Slovakia
Chile
El Salvador
Vietnam
Trinidad And Tobago
I hope this post has amused and entertained you just a wee bit today. I do have a couple more informative posts started but haven't gotten the text and/or photos complete yet.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Personal Space
I don't think of myself as having extraordinary personal space demands. However, I have noticed that, more and more, people are crowding into my personal space. These "crowders" fall into several categories. For clarity, I will give examples based on grocery store line experiences, but I'm sure you'll recognize the same behavior from drivers on the road.
The Distracteds
These are the folks that are busy talking or texting on their phone, fussing with their child in the cart, or something like that. In a car, it includes the women who think it is not unsafe to apply make-up while driving on a 55 mph road (while their speed varies from 45 mph to 60!) Because The Distracteds are not paying attention, they are likely to ram their grocery cart into your butt while you stand in line waiting your turn to pay.
Best Defense: If someone behind you is distracted, try to give them extra space or catch their attention with a cheerful "Good Day" to minimize the likelihood of being bumped.
Response: If they actually bump you, they usually apologize profusely and rarely do it again.
The Clueless
There are some folks who just don't seem to have a clue. In a crowded store, they seem incapable of figuring out that turning their cart parallel to the aisle is a more effective solution to staying out of others' way than simply pushing their cart into your butt or alongside you.
Best Defense: I have not found much that works well other than staking my place in line more assertively; stepping back or to the side a bit, and then moving forward in the line as much as possible without crowding the person in front to show that I am not trying to block them maliciously.
Response: If you say anything to them, they are often defensive and rarely correct their behavior. Even if they've bumped into you, apologies are uncommon.
The Intimidators
As a female, I've noticed that some men tend to crowd me in line. It is more typical with the younger crowd; I've not had this happen much with older men. Combined with black t-shirts with "tough" designs or logos, substantial ink (tattooes), and/or aggressive posturing, these guys seem intent on making the person in front of them uncomfortable.
Best Defense: I'm never sure how to handle this because I don't know for sure whether the behavior is intentional or unconcious. In either case, I don't want to antagonize the person, nor am I thrilled to let them know that yes, their behavior is bothering me (because that often seems to be the intent). I typically turn sideways so that they are in my line of sight, at least peripherally, and I may widen my stance as well.
Response: Nothing I do seems to elicit any response or change in behavior. In fact, these men often act totally oblivious of what they are doing. Again, it is my belief this may well be intentional.
The VIPs
These very self-important people make it clear to everyone that they deserve to be at the front of the line now regardless of whether it is their turn. Tactics include frequent heavy sighs, shoving your items on the counter forward so they can get theirs unloaded (uncaring whether they bruise your tomatoes and avocados in the process), and pushing their cart right up on your heels. Once you are at the register and their cart is out of the way, they are likely to be breathing down your neck during your transaction.
Best Defense: You can go with totally ignoring them yet claiming your space with a wider stance and leaving more space between you and the person in front of you.
Or you can confront them. It is rare that a stern look back at them has any affect. They are far too important to care about whether their behavior is rude. After repeated offenses, it may become necessary to say something. How you choose to do this is up to you.
A friend of mine is very direct and will turn and ask them, "Rude much?!" I rarely say anything but was tempted today to offer up a sarcastic, "Excuse me for delaying you; I'll be out of your way when my purchase is complete."
Response: None. You are too far beneath them to warrant a response.
How about you? Have you been a victim of the Crowders? What is your favorite way to deal with them?
The Distracteds
These are the folks that are busy talking or texting on their phone, fussing with their child in the cart, or something like that. In a car, it includes the women who think it is not unsafe to apply make-up while driving on a 55 mph road (while their speed varies from 45 mph to 60!) Because The Distracteds are not paying attention, they are likely to ram their grocery cart into your butt while you stand in line waiting your turn to pay.
Best Defense: If someone behind you is distracted, try to give them extra space or catch their attention with a cheerful "Good Day" to minimize the likelihood of being bumped.
Response: If they actually bump you, they usually apologize profusely and rarely do it again.
The Clueless
There are some folks who just don't seem to have a clue. In a crowded store, they seem incapable of figuring out that turning their cart parallel to the aisle is a more effective solution to staying out of others' way than simply pushing their cart into your butt or alongside you.
Best Defense: I have not found much that works well other than staking my place in line more assertively; stepping back or to the side a bit, and then moving forward in the line as much as possible without crowding the person in front to show that I am not trying to block them maliciously.
Response: If you say anything to them, they are often defensive and rarely correct their behavior. Even if they've bumped into you, apologies are uncommon.
The Intimidators
As a female, I've noticed that some men tend to crowd me in line. It is more typical with the younger crowd; I've not had this happen much with older men. Combined with black t-shirts with "tough" designs or logos, substantial ink (tattooes), and/or aggressive posturing, these guys seem intent on making the person in front of them uncomfortable.
Best Defense: I'm never sure how to handle this because I don't know for sure whether the behavior is intentional or unconcious. In either case, I don't want to antagonize the person, nor am I thrilled to let them know that yes, their behavior is bothering me (because that often seems to be the intent). I typically turn sideways so that they are in my line of sight, at least peripherally, and I may widen my stance as well.
Response: Nothing I do seems to elicit any response or change in behavior. In fact, these men often act totally oblivious of what they are doing. Again, it is my belief this may well be intentional.
The VIPs
These very self-important people make it clear to everyone that they deserve to be at the front of the line now regardless of whether it is their turn. Tactics include frequent heavy sighs, shoving your items on the counter forward so they can get theirs unloaded (uncaring whether they bruise your tomatoes and avocados in the process), and pushing their cart right up on your heels. Once you are at the register and their cart is out of the way, they are likely to be breathing down your neck during your transaction.
Best Defense: You can go with totally ignoring them yet claiming your space with a wider stance and leaving more space between you and the person in front of you.
Or you can confront them. It is rare that a stern look back at them has any affect. They are far too important to care about whether their behavior is rude. After repeated offenses, it may become necessary to say something. How you choose to do this is up to you.
A friend of mine is very direct and will turn and ask them, "Rude much?!" I rarely say anything but was tempted today to offer up a sarcastic, "Excuse me for delaying you; I'll be out of your way when my purchase is complete."
Response: None. You are too far beneath them to warrant a response.
How about you? Have you been a victim of the Crowders? What is your favorite way to deal with them?
Friday, April 22, 2011
How about some interspecies cooperation for Earth Day?
I'm a nice landowner. I didn't rent a bulldozer and blade our lot. I don't buy gallons of poison to rid myself of the annoying weeds and pests. I don't pull out the native vegetation.
So why, oh why, do you other residents on my land treat me so bad? Let's try a little cooperation for Earth Day, shall we?
Quail, quit spreading the straw mulching the fruit trees all over hell and gone. It needs to be thick right around the tree well, not thin for another two feet out because you want to scratch in it. I left you the native weeds whose seeds you like even though they are drying out and look ugly. And by the way, next time I catch one of you snuggling under the chickenwire trying to eat my sweetie's seedlings, I will have you for dinner instead of letting you go.
Ants, I know you turn up the soil but do you have to strip the leaves off my blueberry bushes? Twice?! Back off my garden plants and go back to the native species out there. Or else...
Pocket gophers, thank you for turning the soil, too, but leave my trees alone. They aren't cheap, you know, and it was quite a bit of work to line their holes with hardware cloth to keep your nibbly little teeth away from their tasty tender roots. The Russian thistle are sprouting; try eating their roots instead.
Ground squirrels, don't even think your cuteness will gain you forgiveness for wiping out my wildflower transplants. My friend went to a lot of work to save me the plants she was thinning from her garden and I carefully planted them where they'd look very pretty for all of us. Out of over a dozen plants - poppies, marigolds, mullein, and sunflowers, you've wiped out all but three. You are on my shit list.
Gopher snakes, where are you? I need you here eating up the rotten graound squirrels and pocket gophers! Rattlesnakes need not apply.
Black widows, I really don't appreciate you nesting in my compost. There's a whole big acre here; I'm sure you can find someplace else to catch tasty insects without threatening to bite me in the process.
Are we all onboard? At least for today? All righty then. Happy Earth Day.
So why, oh why, do you other residents on my land treat me so bad? Let's try a little cooperation for Earth Day, shall we?
Quail, quit spreading the straw mulching the fruit trees all over hell and gone. It needs to be thick right around the tree well, not thin for another two feet out because you want to scratch in it. I left you the native weeds whose seeds you like even though they are drying out and look ugly. And by the way, next time I catch one of you snuggling under the chickenwire trying to eat my sweetie's seedlings, I will have you for dinner instead of letting you go.
Ants, I know you turn up the soil but do you have to strip the leaves off my blueberry bushes? Twice?! Back off my garden plants and go back to the native species out there. Or else...
Pocket gophers, thank you for turning the soil, too, but leave my trees alone. They aren't cheap, you know, and it was quite a bit of work to line their holes with hardware cloth to keep your nibbly little teeth away from their tasty tender roots. The Russian thistle are sprouting; try eating their roots instead.
Ground squirrels, don't even think your cuteness will gain you forgiveness for wiping out my wildflower transplants. My friend went to a lot of work to save me the plants she was thinning from her garden and I carefully planted them where they'd look very pretty for all of us. Out of over a dozen plants - poppies, marigolds, mullein, and sunflowers, you've wiped out all but three. You are on my shit list.
Gopher snakes, where are you? I need you here eating up the rotten graound squirrels and pocket gophers! Rattlesnakes need not apply.
Black widows, I really don't appreciate you nesting in my compost. There's a whole big acre here; I'm sure you can find someplace else to catch tasty insects without threatening to bite me in the process.
Are we all onboard? At least for today? All righty then. Happy Earth Day.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Solar Cooker Variety
We went by the solar cooking exhibition on Saturday to check out the variety of solar ovens. Many people had commercial ovens set up but there were also a few homemade ones, ranging in size from petite to "has to be hauled in a trailer" huge. I did not get pictures of all of them, mostly because I saw little need to duplicate NancyG's efforts from past solar exhibitions. (See the previous post for links to her photos.)
The pictures I did take highlighted things I was interested in particular, such as side or back access into the cooking area. This seems like a great design option to me as I get tired of the brightness and heat I'm exposed to while getting in and out of my ovens.
Front
Back access
Side access in large flat solar cooker
The other oven I was particularly interested in was one made with a fresnel lens, often recovered from projection TVs. The advantage of such a solar cooker is that enormous energy is concentrated in a small space, making it possible to cook foods that need intense heat. Slow cooking is fine, but sometimes a girl just wants to do a stirfry!
Igniting a piece of wood
The cooking rack with cast iron skillet
Turned down to limit fire risk
The disadvantages of this kind of cooker are that it is big, it is very hot, and it can start a fire if not tilted out of the sun's direct rays. The gentleman demonstrating this oven likes to show that it can ignite a piece of 2x4 in just a couple of seconds. Obviously not for use by children or pyromaniacs.
One other oven that intrigued me was a slimline model that apparently folds down to nothing. The oven is really just the panels and then the food is cooked in a metal pot inside a tempered glass bowl with a lid. In the world of commercial solar ovens, it's relatively inexpensive and highly portable.
Of course, there are also plenty of plans online for those who wish to construct their own solar oven. Buy or make yourself one and start cooking with free energy!
PS: It was nice to finally meet NancyG, a fellow McDougaller whom I've crossed paths with online for several years. While visiting with her, who should drop by but Gabrielle, the Solar Oven Chef? You may recall her blog where she posted about cooking with her oven almost every day for a year. Now she blogs over at the Sun Oven website.
The pictures I did take highlighted things I was interested in particular, such as side or back access into the cooking area. This seems like a great design option to me as I get tired of the brightness and heat I'm exposed to while getting in and out of my ovens.
The other oven I was particularly interested in was one made with a fresnel lens, often recovered from projection TVs. The advantage of such a solar cooker is that enormous energy is concentrated in a small space, making it possible to cook foods that need intense heat. Slow cooking is fine, but sometimes a girl just wants to do a stirfry!
The disadvantages of this kind of cooker are that it is big, it is very hot, and it can start a fire if not tilted out of the sun's direct rays. The gentleman demonstrating this oven likes to show that it can ignite a piece of 2x4 in just a couple of seconds. Obviously not for use by children or pyromaniacs.
One other oven that intrigued me was a slimline model that apparently folds down to nothing. The oven is really just the panels and then the food is cooked in a metal pot inside a tempered glass bowl with a lid. In the world of commercial solar ovens, it's relatively inexpensive and highly portable.
Of course, there are also plenty of plans online for those who wish to construct their own solar oven. Buy or make yourself one and start cooking with free energy!
PS: It was nice to finally meet NancyG, a fellow McDougaller whom I've crossed paths with online for several years. While visiting with her, who should drop by but Gabrielle, the Solar Oven Chef? You may recall her blog where she posted about cooking with her oven almost every day for a year. Now she blogs over at the Sun Oven website.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Solar Potluck & Exhibition
This Saturday, the Tucson Citizens for Solar will host their 29th Annual Solar Potluck. If you've always been intrigued by the idea of solar cooking, this is your chance to check out lots of ovens in use, starting at 10 am. When the sun sets, all the dishes are put out for a big potluck.
I have known about this potluck for several years but always seem to miss it. Either something else is on the calendar or I forget about it. This year I am definitely going. I've got too many projects going on at home to spend the day there, but I plan to swing by for a while midday to see all the different ovens (check out photos here!) and then attend the potluck with my own solar-cooked (at home) dish in hand.
If you live in the area, go check the event out. It will be at Catalina State Park, which is worth checking out anyway for its nice trails. I don't know what time I'll be there, but I can't wait to see all the ovens. Plus I get to meet the gal who took the photos in the link above - someone I've "known" online for several years but never met in person before! I'm also looking forward to meeting other solar cooks in the area.
I have known about this potluck for several years but always seem to miss it. Either something else is on the calendar or I forget about it. This year I am definitely going. I've got too many projects going on at home to spend the day there, but I plan to swing by for a while midday to see all the different ovens (check out photos here!) and then attend the potluck with my own solar-cooked (at home) dish in hand.
If you live in the area, go check the event out. It will be at Catalina State Park, which is worth checking out anyway for its nice trails. I don't know what time I'll be there, but I can't wait to see all the ovens. Plus I get to meet the gal who took the photos in the link above - someone I've "known" online for several years but never met in person before! I'm also looking forward to meeting other solar cooks in the area.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Volunteering for Local Food
The decision at the end of last year to give up my volunteer position with the Tucson CSA was tough because I'd grown very accustomed to having quality, organic, and local fresh produce available to me every week in exchange for volunteer labor. For four years, I knew where my food was coming from and how it had been grown. I learned about vegetables and fruits I'd never heard of before. I got enthused about canning and food preservation. I made friends and enjoyed seeing the same faces week after week.
Giving that up due to the long drive once we moved north of town meant giving up a lot more than just the tasty food. This year I began going to a farmers' market north of town and started to get to know some of the farmers. Then I missed a few weeks due to sickness, forgetting to go, and just plain being too busy. I was surprised when the farmers mentioned missing me; after all, I was a relatively new customer. Those interpersonal connections are an enjoyable part of the food process for me.
I found out recently that another farmers market had opened up north of town. While checking it out, I was thrilled to run into a friend from the CSA who had a booth there selling her handmade soaps. Sadly, at the time there was little in the way of truly local produce due to a bad recent freeze. However, one of the other vendors mentioned a little organic farm with a produce stand in that area. I checked out their website and waited eagerly for them to open once they'd recovered from the freeze.
I went by "Our Garden" on the first Saturday they were open. Oh, yum! Wonderfully luscious looking produce filled the trays in their selling area. I got to take a quick look around the gardens and marveled at their set-up. There were rows and rows of vegetables including lettuces, onions, garlics, and more. A huge section for asparagus. Shaded enclosures waiting for tomatoes to be started. What looked like an acre of pistachio trees. I was amazed to hear they grow more than half a dozen varieties each of grapes and peaches. So far, I'd only stumbled across a small orchard in that area offering a few fruits. This, on the other hand, had the kind of variety that the CSA farmer grew.
And then the gal there said the magic words: volunteers welcome. You can bet my ears perked up at that. Four days later, I showed up an hour before opening time to learn my new volunteer duties. I've now been going four weeks and just love it. The family operating this little organic farm are all friendly people, more than willing to share their wealth of knowledge about gardening in this part of the country.
My growing conditions are, of course, different than theirs and I am facing strict zoning issues in my area, but it's inspiring to see what they've created. Their customers seem to be a loyal bunch and are beginning to recognize me, too. And it's exciting to be eating quality, local, and organic fresh produce again, especially that which I've seen growing in the field just hours earlier.
Giving that up due to the long drive once we moved north of town meant giving up a lot more than just the tasty food. This year I began going to a farmers' market north of town and started to get to know some of the farmers. Then I missed a few weeks due to sickness, forgetting to go, and just plain being too busy. I was surprised when the farmers mentioned missing me; after all, I was a relatively new customer. Those interpersonal connections are an enjoyable part of the food process for me.
I found out recently that another farmers market had opened up north of town. While checking it out, I was thrilled to run into a friend from the CSA who had a booth there selling her handmade soaps. Sadly, at the time there was little in the way of truly local produce due to a bad recent freeze. However, one of the other vendors mentioned a little organic farm with a produce stand in that area. I checked out their website and waited eagerly for them to open once they'd recovered from the freeze.
I went by "Our Garden" on the first Saturday they were open. Oh, yum! Wonderfully luscious looking produce filled the trays in their selling area. I got to take a quick look around the gardens and marveled at their set-up. There were rows and rows of vegetables including lettuces, onions, garlics, and more. A huge section for asparagus. Shaded enclosures waiting for tomatoes to be started. What looked like an acre of pistachio trees. I was amazed to hear they grow more than half a dozen varieties each of grapes and peaches. So far, I'd only stumbled across a small orchard in that area offering a few fruits. This, on the other hand, had the kind of variety that the CSA farmer grew.
And then the gal there said the magic words: volunteers welcome. You can bet my ears perked up at that. Four days later, I showed up an hour before opening time to learn my new volunteer duties. I've now been going four weeks and just love it. The family operating this little organic farm are all friendly people, more than willing to share their wealth of knowledge about gardening in this part of the country.
My growing conditions are, of course, different than theirs and I am facing strict zoning issues in my area, but it's inspiring to see what they've created. Their customers seem to be a loyal bunch and are beginning to recognize me, too. And it's exciting to be eating quality, local, and organic fresh produce again, especially that which I've seen growing in the field just hours earlier.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Hard to Imagine
Last weekend, I suffered from heat illness after working too hard Friday morning digging holes for our new rosemary plants. The highs on Friday and Saturday were in the mid-90s and I apparently didn't drink enough water or take enough breaks. I spent the rest of Friday and all day Saturday with a bad headache, weakness, and nausea. No matter how cool I felt in the house, as soon as I went outside in the sun, I immediately felt overheated again.
This weekend, I am soggy and freezing. We got almost an inch of rain yesterday and temperatures last night stayed just below freezing all night. It's hard to imagine being overheated right now.
This weekend, I am soggy and freezing. We got almost an inch of rain yesterday and temperatures last night stayed just below freezing all night. It's hard to imagine being overheated right now.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Following Links
Movie links, that is. I'm a movie buff and so is my sweetie. Watching a movie together to relax after a hard physical day or an emotionally-draining one is enjoyable. Since we don't have a television, we've collected some used DVDs through yard sales and thrift stores. The local library also has a pretty decent selection, although the waiting list for newer films or television series can be long.
Lately we've been following links from one movie choice to the next rather than just selecting a film at random. The nuclear disaster in Japan got us thinking about films dealing with such scenarios and we chose the recent Godzilla remake with Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno.
We've done this linking thing before with movies and one has to choose what link to follow. Will it be genre? Another disaster movie? Perhaps geographic. Another movie set in New York? How about following people from one movie to the next?
For our first link, we chose genre and geography - another "New York City is in peril from something unusual" sort of flick. In other words, Men in Black with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
After this one, we decided to follow people in our choices. So, our next movie was another Will Smith flick: Independence Day. Ironically, this also shared a director with a previous picture. Roland Emmerich also directed Godzilla. That left us with several choices for the next viewing: another Roland Emmerich film - Day after Tomorrow or 2012 - or another Will Smith movie.
We went with Will and watched I, Robot. While watching the "making of" special feature, I was surprised to learn the robot movements were choreographed by the lead actor, Paul Mercurio, in Strictly Ballroom. That, of course, dictated that it would be our next choice.
While watching that film last night, we discussed where we would go from there. We could follow the father, Barry Otto, to the movie Cosi. From it, we'd have multiple choices to follow Toni Collette (then to Muriel's Wedding, In Her Shoes, United States of Tara), Aden Young (then to Hotel de Love), David Wenham (then to Van Helsing, Lord of the Rings).
Or we could follow the head of the Dance Federation, Bill Hunter, to Muriel's Wedding (which would provide a link to Toni Collette again), Priscilla Queen of the Desert (and then follow the lead, Hugo Weaving, to The Matrix, from there following Keneau Reeves to the Lake House and Sandra Bullock to Practical Magic which could lead right back to Bill Pullman in Independence Day).
Or follow Bill Hunter to Finding Nemo where we could follow Albert Brooks to Defending Your Life and from there follow Meryl Streep to Mama Mia (or Rip Torn back to Men in Black...)
See how much fun this is? Doesn't that just help take your mind off the Doom & Gloom out there?!
Lately we've been following links from one movie choice to the next rather than just selecting a film at random. The nuclear disaster in Japan got us thinking about films dealing with such scenarios and we chose the recent Godzilla remake with Matthew Broderick and Jean Reno.
We've done this linking thing before with movies and one has to choose what link to follow. Will it be genre? Another disaster movie? Perhaps geographic. Another movie set in New York? How about following people from one movie to the next?
For our first link, we chose genre and geography - another "New York City is in peril from something unusual" sort of flick. In other words, Men in Black with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
After this one, we decided to follow people in our choices. So, our next movie was another Will Smith flick: Independence Day. Ironically, this also shared a director with a previous picture. Roland Emmerich also directed Godzilla. That left us with several choices for the next viewing: another Roland Emmerich film - Day after Tomorrow or 2012 - or another Will Smith movie.
We went with Will and watched I, Robot. While watching the "making of" special feature, I was surprised to learn the robot movements were choreographed by the lead actor, Paul Mercurio, in Strictly Ballroom. That, of course, dictated that it would be our next choice.
While watching that film last night, we discussed where we would go from there. We could follow the father, Barry Otto, to the movie Cosi. From it, we'd have multiple choices to follow Toni Collette (then to Muriel's Wedding, In Her Shoes, United States of Tara), Aden Young (then to Hotel de Love), David Wenham (then to Van Helsing, Lord of the Rings).
Or we could follow the head of the Dance Federation, Bill Hunter, to Muriel's Wedding (which would provide a link to Toni Collette again), Priscilla Queen of the Desert (and then follow the lead, Hugo Weaving, to The Matrix, from there following Keneau Reeves to the Lake House and Sandra Bullock to Practical Magic which could lead right back to Bill Pullman in Independence Day).
Or follow Bill Hunter to Finding Nemo where we could follow Albert Brooks to Defending Your Life and from there follow Meryl Streep to Mama Mia (or Rip Torn back to Men in Black...)
See how much fun this is? Doesn't that just help take your mind off the Doom & Gloom out there?!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Chile's Little Weight Problem
I finally started my new blog about dealing with my weight issues. There's not much there yet, but it will fill out over time (hopefully as I become less filled out personally!) The blog will discuss why I think I have a weight problem that I've not been able to successfully conquer, why it's important in many ways that I do deal with it, and how I'm trying to deal with it now. Hopefully it will track successful losses of weight and health improvements over time.
It will not discuss fad diets, crash diets, diet drugs, or surgery to control weight issues. I welcome discussion on topics I post about but comments will be moderated to avoid discussion of the topics listed above. The blog will also not be a daily log of every calorie or morsel of food I ingest. That would bore me to tears and you, too, I expect.
Come check it out if you want. Ignore it if you'd rather.
It will not discuss fad diets, crash diets, diet drugs, or surgery to control weight issues. I welcome discussion on topics I post about but comments will be moderated to avoid discussion of the topics listed above. The blog will also not be a daily log of every calorie or morsel of food I ingest. That would bore me to tears and you, too, I expect.
Come check it out if you want. Ignore it if you'd rather.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Thrifty Clothes for the Snarky Shopper
I hit one of the local thrift stores yesterday in search of work shirts for my sweetie and jeans and shirts for myself. It's hard to find jeans in good condition that also aren't a hideous style but I did pick up one pair. I also found 4 button-downs for hubby, half a dozen t-shirts, and a sports bra. All this for just over $50 made me a happy shopper.
While shopping, though, I must have been in a snarky mood. Here are the messages from three of my new t-shirts.
Yeah, cheesy, I know, but a girl's got to have fun.
It's also important to share one's special qualities with others. Oh, you think my shirts are childish? Fine. I know what's really going on...
While shopping, though, I must have been in a snarky mood. Here are the messages from three of my new t-shirts.
Yeah, cheesy, I know, but a girl's got to have fun.
It's also important to share one's special qualities with others. Oh, you think my shirts are childish? Fine. I know what's really going on...
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Messy Moss Baskets
I finally got around to making a couple of moss baskets. They were a big mess to make, especially with the dried moss I'd purchased. I dampened it as advised in some of the instructions I'd read but the moss was in pieces, not large chunks or sheets. It kept falling through the gaps in the baskets, and I suspect will continue to do so every time it dries out. Theoretically in time the plant roots will help bind the moss to the basket wires. We'll see if that actually happens. I wonder, too, how well something like this will do in such an arid environment. I suspect moss baskets would do better in more humid climes.
In any case, I'd watched some YouTube videos of a gal making edible moss baskets and decided to try her method.
The moss basket is the one in the middle of this photo. It has cherry tomatoes, red leaf lettuce, and marigolds hanging from the sides all the way around. In the top are a couple of Anaheim chile plants. It only took a day for the tomato plant stems to turn upwards and the lettuces are starting to do the same. I'm rotating the basket every day or so in order to give all the plants adequate sunlight. I can't hang this outside because the quail and other birds would eat the lettuce in the first hour!
After making this one, I decided to abandon the fancy moss basket idea. Hence the regular pot on the left in the photo crammed full of tomatoes, pepper, lettuce, marigolds, chives, and parsley.
I still had plants leftover so I put a single tomato plant in another basket lined with moss. It already has a bloom starting on it. The remaining leftover peppers, tomatoes, and marigolds are going in the outside garden.
The shiny blue glass bulbs in the three planters are those fancy watering balls. I picked them up for $4 at a thrift store and stuck them in the planters to help keep them moist. They seem to do an okay job but the moss basket needs supplemental watering to keep everything on the sides moist enough.
In any case, I'd watched some YouTube videos of a gal making edible moss baskets and decided to try her method.
The moss basket is the one in the middle of this photo. It has cherry tomatoes, red leaf lettuce, and marigolds hanging from the sides all the way around. In the top are a couple of Anaheim chile plants. It only took a day for the tomato plant stems to turn upwards and the lettuces are starting to do the same. I'm rotating the basket every day or so in order to give all the plants adequate sunlight. I can't hang this outside because the quail and other birds would eat the lettuce in the first hour!After making this one, I decided to abandon the fancy moss basket idea. Hence the regular pot on the left in the photo crammed full of tomatoes, pepper, lettuce, marigolds, chives, and parsley.
I still had plants leftover so I put a single tomato plant in another basket lined with moss. It already has a bloom starting on it. The remaining leftover peppers, tomatoes, and marigolds are going in the outside garden. The shiny blue glass bulbs in the three planters are those fancy watering balls. I picked them up for $4 at a thrift store and stuck them in the planters to help keep them moist. They seem to do an okay job but the moss basket needs supplemental watering to keep everything on the sides moist enough.
Blogger problems
I am on a new computer with updated software. I cannot publish a decent looking blog post anymore. First I ran into problems publishing at all. Now all paragraph formatting disappears and my posts turn into one huge paragraph with no breaks where I put them in. Is anyone else running into problems? Have you found solutions? If I can't resolve this, I will be exiting the blogging world entirely because I just don't have time to deal with this kind of crap.
Update: Well, it seems like using Mozilla Firefox solves the issue so byebye Internet Explorer.
Update: Well, it seems like using Mozilla Firefox solves the issue so byebye Internet Explorer.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Have I've Blogged Long Enough?
In less than two months, I will have been blogging here for four years and published almost 1,000 posts. The other day I mentioned to my sweetie that I was going to have to start posting about topics I'd posted about before for two reasons: I don't have all that much new to share and I doubted that newer readers were going back to the beginning here and reading what I've already posted.
The more I thought about this, though, the more I realized I don't really want to rehash what I've already said. In glancing at my reader this morning, I see a post about peeing in the garden...I've written about that before here. Another post discusses sprouting. Yeah, done that. There are April Fool's posts. I don't remember if I've done that, but I've certainly done my fair share of silly holiday posts.
No, I haven't posted about everything that other people are talking about but I do think I've posted just about enough. I want to spend more time doing at my place and less time talking about it.
On the other hand, I have loved having an online presence and being a part of this amazing community of people trying to live more lightly on this marvelous planet and I think I'd really miss it if I just dropped out. My plan is to post here once in a while, probably things like new recipes or book reviews, and to start up my weight loss journal with some discussion of why this is important in our low energy future.
I hope some of you newer readers will take the time to browse through my past writings here. Some posts are quite useful or at least that's what my stats show me. There are a number of specific posts that get hits from around the world almost every single day as people search out how to sprout wheat berries or grind them with pedal power, how to make corn tortillas, and whether or not apple juice can spoil. Am I going to link to those posts here? Naw; I'll let you have fun searching for them yourselves.
Happy April Fool's Day. And, by the way, this post was not an April Fool's joke.
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