This year I . . .

• rediscovered the magic of Harry Potter. Read books five through seven and went to the midnight showing - all in November.
• learned about lacto-fermentation. My favorite concoction so far is the shredded beets with apple. So good in a veggie wrap. The sauerkraut was okay, the pickles were awesome, and I've been enjoying a fermented peach slice or two in my morning smoothie. Yum.
• gave my dehydrator a workout. dried pears and mango = candy.
• fit in my skinny jeans (as of today. Happy New Year to me!). I'm now in the best shape I've been able to manage since the great thyroid disaster of 2008.
• read a lot of books. Wallace Stegner and Anne Tyler top the list of new favorite authors.
• made a new e-friend (Hi, Miri!).
• cooked eggplant Parmesan for the first time. Made up my own recipe. The secret's in the sauce . . . and the Japanese-style breadcrumbs.
• ate roughly a million pounds of Swiss Chard, the most prolific plant in my garden. Still eating it in smoothies.
• quit drinking cow's milk and gave up cheese and ice cream most of the time. My body has been throwing me a party ever since.
• worried a lot about the present and the future, felt despair, then did some hard things.
• danced in a studio for the first time in five years. My soul needs it.
• didn't blog very much. I just didn't feel up to it a lot of the time.
• celebrated my fifth anniversary. It's hard to believe. Harder still: believing that I first met Clark over ten years ago.
• found   lots.  of.  new-to-me.  music.  I.  love.
• learned to play a little ukulele. (lol!)
• ate a lot of tofu sausage. and a lot of healthy bread.
• freed my skin and hair from the tyranny of sulfates, parabens, and silicone. So what if my hair smells like a salad?
• watched all seven seasons of The West Wing, again . . . and two seasons of Lois and Clark (yes, the new adventures of Superman - from the 90s). 
• considered trying to find more recent sources of entertainment, then gave up and read more books.
• sold some junk on craigslist for the first time. I'm pretty sure all your home lacks is a black futon frame that my husband pulled out of a dumpster and refurbished. It can be yours; price negotiable.
• directed the yearly primary program - with some kick-butt dynamics.
• learned to really like those little boogers in primary. Loving them was easy; liking them took some work for me.
• handed my calling off to Clark. Every week I sneak a peak at him singing with the nursery kids; it's hands-down the cutest thing I have ever seen.
• grew my biggest garden ever, thanks to neighbors who let us use part of their open field.
• made some new friends. Really new. I'm excited to get to know them better. It's amazing what happens when I don't spend all my time hibernating, commuting, or studying.
• didn't take my grad school comps. I was near catatonic in October; it just didn't happen. The new goal is March.
• got a new, seemingly free heater. the old one was an oil furnace that gave out several times before we gave in. Last Christmas, Mom and I huddled under blankets for two days watching Cranford because no one was available to fix it. This year we watched Return to Cranford in relative comfort. The heater installation was done in September and we have yet to see a bill. I'm a little worried, but for the moment I'm 4k richer. and a lot warmer.
• was proud of Clark. He worked hard at building walls, installing insulation, and doing other hard things.
• felt support and love from people who came to help us build walls, install insulation, and do other hard things.
• was more settled-in at work.
• spent time alone and liked my own company.
• taught a short grammar class to a group of sassy legal-assistant students. I hope they now understand the concept of antecedents. ^sigh^t
  
• went to my ten year high school reunion. I was a little ambivalent about going, but I'm glad I went. It was a good time, and I was delighted to find all you girlfriends of mine who have grown into confident women are more beautiful now than ever. 
• kicked out the tenant from our basement apartment.
• learned how better to screen for tenants for our basement apartment.
• meditated by a lake at what was possibly the best professional conference of all time.
• finished my last class some classes for my master's degree.
• didn't write a thesis, mourned my failure to academicize, then reconsidered the future of my academic career. Yes; I am still paralyzed by indecision.
• took back Christmas. As opposed to the failed campaigns of 2005-2009, in 2010 we made about 90% of all of the gifts we gave.
• didn't mail off said gifts before Christmas. There may or may not be something life-changing coming to a mailbox near you. but probably not.

The best I can say for 2010 is that it's over and I did some things, felt some feelings, and learned some stuff. Sweet success?! I think it might be.

Here's to next year, my friends. A happy 2011 to you.

meatless monday

Check out Meatless Monday,

 a part of


 Healthy Monday.

Everybody's doing it.

A very good friend had us over for dinner some months back and quickly realized he had no idea what to cook. He managed to scour the kitchen and put together a very good, if slightly unconventional, mix of side dishes. Like others, this friend was baffled by the "what to eat?" question when meat was taken out of the equation. It was kind of amusing to me, and I thought it was incredibly sweet that he would even try.

I can see how eating less meat can seem restrictive, but really, doing it opened up my eyes and my tastebuds, not to mention my arteries. You can make chicken into seven very different tasting meals, but you'll still be getting the exact same nutrients day after day. Choosing to eat vegetables has helped me be more creative and venturous in my cooking and eating. 

So, how 'bout it? Can you go meatless once a week? To check out the benefits, click on the top link. It's easy to find vegetarian recipes on the internets, but I'll recommend one on the occasional Monday.This one was inspired by a recipe in my red and white checked BHG cookbook. It is called "meatless tacos" but Clark objects to it every time I propose it for dinner, so at our house, they're just "tacos" and we love 'em. An added bonus to the deliciosity - these tacos are quick to make and they're super cheap. In fact, lentils are basically free. And if you made your own tortillas or even if you used store-bought corn tortillas, you'd be eating for pennies.  (Something for your meat-eating maw to chew on :-)

image

This image is of the tofu taco original. The recipe below is the "inspired by" version sans tofu.

• 1 cup water
• 1/2  cup lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 12 taco shells or tortilla - if you use a whole grain tortilla like corn or wheat, the meal will have complete protein
• 5 teaspoons taco seasoning mix- make your own taco seasoning - it's so easy and it will have a gazillion fewer grams of sodium (esp. important if you are using canned ingredients)
• 1 cup black beans (either canned or soaked & cooked)
• 1/2  cups shredded lettuce
• 2 tomatoes, chopped and separated (or a can of diced tomatoes)
• 1/2  cup shredded cheddar cheese optional
• 1 avocado - or, if you're like me, 1 per person or taco  

Directions

1. In a medium/large saucepan combine water, lentils, black beans, one tomato, taco seasoning, and onion. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 25 to 30 minutes or until lentils are tender and liquid is absorbed.

2. Spoon into taco shells. Top with lettuce, tomato, and cheese and avocado. If desired, serve with salsa.

Makes about 12 tacos.

as promised

This is long overdue; but I still wanted to write about our farm experience.

Fun fact: the food you eat, regardless of where you get it, comes from a farm (yes, even the high-fructose corn-syrup, even though it doesn't resemble a plant anymore). Our CSA experience was a cool farm-to-table experience. I knew exactly where my food came from, how it had been grown, that the seeds weren't "roundup ready" so I wasn't eating plants genetically altered to repel or kill bugs (I know; I have problems.).

image

So, what is a CSA? So glad you asked. This is how it works: you buy a "share" of the farm's spoils upfront - which is the appropriate word because there is some risk involved. In our case, we purchased our share in the winter; the farm has to plan ahead and buy seeds, equipment, etc. At our CSA, the earlier you buy, the cheaper the share is. Your share entitles you to a portion of the spoils, but if there aren't any spoils due to bad weather or pests, you lose. Once a week you pick up your share. In our case, we went directly to the farm in Victor, ID, which was fun . . . for the first 8 weeks or so (Our share lasted 17 weeks). (In other locales, with a greater infrastructure for local food, you can pick up a share at a farmers' market or other such convenient location.) We loved it. Okay, I loved it. I learned to cook new things and appreciate a diversity of vegetables and mushrooms. I acquired a love of fennel. I have to say, if you haven't ever had fresh garlic (before the skin gets papery and dry), you are missing out. The only downside is that it was so much food, and a lot of it was pretty labor-intensive to cook or preserve. I cook, and I don't mind the time in the kitchen. But harvest time is also back-to-school time, and I took a full-time course load while working full time. Clark cooks too, but his culinary vein runs along the familiar instead of the adventurous. So, some of our fresh produce went to waste, and that is my only regret.  I would do it again in a minute and recommend it to anyone who likes vegetables, cooking, and is interested in getting the most vitamin-rich, fresh food available.

There is likely a CSA near you. You can check it out here.

'baring our souls and telling the most appalling secrets'

One of the classes I took this fall was a leadership class. My classmates and I did projects and case studies and a therapy-inducing 360 review to evaluate and develop our leadership capacity. As the culminating project, we were asked to write a "This I believe" essay to help us identify our core values. Writing the essay was an interesting experience; it made me realize that while my values don't change easily or often, the way I choose to express them does. Needless to say, there were drafts and drafts of drafts before I was finished. The hardest part was knowing that I would have to deliver it as a speech to my class. How much of your soul can you comfortably share with relative strangers? Turns out, not very much; I prepared to get uncomfortable. Some of my classmates' essays were deeply personal, sharing details about losing children, finding forgiveness, and developing or losing faith. Others were more of the bullet point variety. I think mine lay somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Anyway, I figured if I could share it with them I could share it with you, so here it is:



December 2009

This I believe

I believe a culture that values education will thrive and grow. Education bears the fruit of tolerance, self-knowledge, and positive social change. I believe learning is its own reward and that those who believe money is their reward for education, will get it, and without much trouble but likely without much knowledge. While a college degree happens to be a strong social currency, Education and its applications are not and must not be confined to classrooms. Jed, a young student I met while working as a writing tutor, showed me this (names have, of course, been changed). He returned to college after serving a sentence for a felony conviction. While working together on his essays, he confided that by going to college, learning to focus on math and sociology and writing, he has also learned to control his anger. He now has some good friends, a scholarship, and a fresh start. I believe in education. I believe it is the best solution to long-term problems because it is the only long-term, transformative solution.

I believe in the power of food as a healing instrument and a means of cultural self-expression. Every day I make choices between options that are narrowed by a culture that is powered by corporations and industry. I have the power to take back my original, now invisible options. Common sense and communion and have given way to Gogurt and Gushers, fruit loops and high-fructose corn syrup. Before they came from multivitamins, nutrients came from food. Uncomplicated, unpackaged, unprocessed food. Last summer I found a part of myself as I learned to make cheese from milk as my great, great grandmother must have done, and yet another as I visited the farm where my food was grown and grew more vegetables in my own garden. I can comprehend, though vaguely, the complexities and joys of life halfway across the world as I parse a complicated curry or burn my first souffle. I believe Food is a way to simultaneously connect with the earth from which it came and the people who create meals from its bountiful ingredients. When I make deliberate choices about food, I recognize myself as a part of the whole.

I believe the mouth is one of the most important parts of the body. It is where nourishment enters body and the mind finds expression as ideas exit in the form of words. I believe that I, along with many others, would find more happiness and health if I guard more closely what goes in and what comes out. A large ship is indeed guided by a small rudder.

I believe in the transformative nature of words and ideas. Among others, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, and Harper Lee have shown me the power of words and parts of me are real products of their fictions. Scout’s innocence and evolving devotion to justice, Pip’s realization of his self-destructive search for external happiness, and Jean Val jean’s story of kindness, mercy, and personal redemption express some of the best parts of me and ideals to which I aspire.

Although I had read or been read to all my life, the first book I remember getting excited about is Johnny Tremain. I was ten, and my teacher had assigned the book. I read it twice, once for fun, and answered every question with a paragraph where a sentence would have sufficed. A new world had been opened. Reading has allowed me to glimpse the wonder of science, experience the beauty of a diverse humanity, and find companions in this human experience.

I believe that we are connected in ways we do not and cannot understand that are best expressed through literature. Poetry, once inaccessible to me, has given breath and validity to my own deepest emotions and core beliefs. With John Donne, I affirm that all mankind is of one author, no man is an island and that any man’s death diminishes me. I believe, like W.H. Auden, that we must love one another, or die. These words and ideas penned by great authors and poets have allowed me to think their thoughts and become, if only slightly, the product of their ideals. God bless Gutenberg.

Okay, bloggers, Consider yourselves "tagged." If you choose to blog a This I Believe essay, post a link in the comment section; I would love to read yours, now that I've borne my soul. It's a challenge, and knowing that someone else will read it changes the quality of the experience. You'll find instructions here. Who knows? You may like it so much that you'll want to go on the record by submitting it to the NPR Essay database.

gobble, gobble

Sara asked, so you all get to know.
"Just curious - are you outright vegetarians or will you be feasting upon the turkey this thanksgiving?"

So glad you asked.

I think our friend Randy summed it up best when he said, "So, you don't eat meat, but you're not vegetarians."

It all started because I love food and I love to read, which eventually led to reading about food . . . how to cook it, bake it, roast, it grill it, grow it, spice it . . . and then I got to how it is processed*. I don't have to be too explicit (nor will I, for my bacon-loving friends' sake). But, I will say that don't ever want to a) eat animals as if they are just protein delivery systems, b) vote for unsound environmental practices with my dollars, or c) grace my system with extra hormones and antibiotics. We do eat meat if it falls outside those parameters (eg. chicken that lived a chickeny life, cows that eat grass instead of corn, etc.). It can be hard to find and it's expensive, so we don't do it often. I also feel better since I started eating meat sparingly, so I don't really miss it.

Last year we had a great Thanksgiving which involved a not-great, but free Tofurkey from PETA. This year PETA can keep its Tofurkeys. Ew! We got over the finding-substitutes-for-meat and this-dish-is-supposed-to-have-meat-in-it phase pretty quickly. Vegetable based meat substitutes are generally not a healthy or tasty option because they are so heavily processed, and the texture is always slightly off.

This year, I am happy to say, we found a turkey. My heritage turkey is currently living in Arimo, ID. On Tuesday, just before I pick him up, he will be killed (as humanely as possible) by a turkey farmer I met this summer. My turkey has lived his antibiotic/hormone free turkey life in an open field and eaten grass and bugs to his little heart's content. He is going to taste great with gravy and mashed potatoes. Which reminds me that I still need to blog about our CSA experience, which is good because there is nothing that motivates me to blog more than food and farming.

A happy harvest celebration to all.

*Reality-shattering reading list available upon request

bread fail and other adventures

I have a small obsession with food. I love to talk and read about it, grow it, bake it, cook it, eat it, and feed it to others. Though cooking has come pretty naturally, I am relatively new to baking. In fact, Clark is the baker in this family because I just can't resist experimenting - an endeavor that, when baking, usually ends in disaster. This is the latest:

(The red fan at the top is blowing away the putrid smoke
pouring from the bread machine.)

We didn't have any milk, so I thought, "Why not try almond milk? Who cares if it's chocolate?" Then we didn't have any eggs, and I was already in it too deep by then. I tried an egg replacement technique (corn starch + water) but got the ratios wrong - - obviously. Also, I used honey instead of brown sugar. Maybe three substitutions was two too many.

The bread machine is usually pretty safe for me. Anyway. It's not all failure. I made some amazing pita bread for falafel on my first try. Also, Mom G has taught us how to make artisan bread and it works out well most of the time . . . unless you try to substitute whole wheat - then it burns on the outside before it finishes cooking on the inside and the loaf ends up weighing about ten pounds.

(Yeah, I take pictures of my food. So?)

This post inspired by Cake Wrecks, which I found on Sara's blog, and Craft Fail. Check them out.

growing and growing

Remember these?




Now they look like this:

Plant your own; it's fun.
It's still not too late to plant lettuce varieties, radish, peas, and some types of beans (and probably some other stuff, too).

thank you, idaho

Dear Idaho,

Here in the Gem State, we try to enjoy ourselves. After almost three years, only this summer have I begun to love what you have to offer. If you asked me in February, I would probably bemoan the sub-zero temperatures and your months of gray skies; I might even cry (i mean, can't the sun shine a few times between December and April?). But today, I'm feeling the love. Summer in Idaho Falls is a beautiful thing. These are a few reasons:

"I picked these yesterday"
-cute farmer boy at market, looked about 15ish

• Easy-to-find yummy local produce
• Rarely gets above ninety
• Easy camping
  
• My garden = amazingly prolific
• Hikes within a 20 minute drive
• Greenbelt - a stone's throw from home
• Walking to the farmer's market
• Daytrips to Teton or Yellowstone = F-U-N
  
• The drive to pick up our CSA vegs is incredible
• This old house and the work we are doing with our own hands this summer (watch for pictures!)

beautiful, shiny zuke fresh from the garden!

So, thank you Idaho for your abundance. We've always known that we won't be here forever, but we're enjoying your spoils while we can.

And thanks for our kitty; we love her.

. . . and a job I love, my paychecks, and grad school tuition.
You're the best. XO

fun times on the fourth

It was another sunny Fourth of July. A few days before the actual holiday, Mom H and long-time family friend JoAnne came for a visit and saw more of Idaho than they bargained for. We drove and drove and saw some amazingly beautiful country. On Friday, we visited the Tetons and then stopped over in Victor to pick up the veggie share (This week: baby greens mix, garlic curls, sage, spinach, bok choy, and . . . real tomatoes!).

Despite the load of food then in the car, the fact remained that the lucious vegetables were unwashed and we weren't prepared to fix the raw materials into a meal. So, we stopped in at the Knotty Pine for a spot of supper. For a tiny-town restaurant, the menu was impressively diverse and featured a mix of traditional (turkey & potatoes w/cranberry) and more interesting dishes. Mom and I each ordered "mushroom blue" (which is mushroom soup with melted blue cheese - de-lish), and shared the seared ahi tuna over bok choy and wasabi mashed potatoes. It was amazingly tasty with just one exception. If I ever get an itch to experiment with wasabi and potatoes, I now know I don't need to scratch that itch.

String Lake in Teton Nat'l Park
(Top - JoAnne, Mom H; Bottom - My uber-cold feet in String Lake)

cute Mom H relaxing by the lake

Then we had more guests. In fact, the visits overlapped. Unprecedented! Joel, Katie, and Carolyn-Kate migrated north for a summer visit. Thanks to the chill nature of our fams, we were able to sleep five people comfortably (i hope).

We had ever so much fun:

eating ice cream,

a bubble-gum 'kiddie' cone


carnivaling,

going to market,

playing music,

Joel on tamborine, CK as lead vocalist, jclark on guitar

napping,



and eating.


waiting for a table at Brownstone
while listening to live, jazzy blues

Oh, yeah. We watched some fireworks, too.

Families: thank you so much for coming to visit. We love to see you. We also love to be home. It's nice we can do both simultaneously once in a while. Thanks for the good times. Love you!

the social problems of a sometimes vegetarian

Okay, I'm not actually a vegetarian; it's just so much easier to wear the label than to than to explain that healthy, nutritious meat from acceptable sources is just too expensive to buy and eat regularly. You can say "vegetarian" in a breath; the other, not so much (and most people don't really want details, anyway).

But vegetarianism, even my benign version, is not without stigma. Instead of asking questions, some people tend to make assumptions . . . broad, sweeping assumptions. These assumptions are not often articulated, but subtly implied. Despite the occasional alienation, it's been kind of fun to decode people's responses.

Assumption #1 - "You are a militant who wants to steal my steak and bacon and turn them back into animals."

My mental response: Do what you do, dude.

Assumption #2 - "You are an anarchist. What's wrong with McDonald's, KFC, and Taco Bell? Abundant, cheap meat is part of our heritage."

My mental response: Unfortunately, so is obesity.

Assumption #3 - "You don't eat meat, so you must be an animal rights activist. That's weird, but whatever. So you have a soft spot for chickens, just please don't spray paint my leather jacket; it was expensive."

My mental response: Animals taste good; I simply prefer them to have been happy while they were alive. Free range animals are much, much, much healthier while they are alive, not to mention healthier for you, for the earth, and more delicious to eat. Also, if you are going to eat a cow, you may as well use its hide for warmth or something.

image from blog.citypages.com

Maybe these are extreme examples, but they are real (if you can believe it). Sometimes Clark privately considers playing to the stereotype(s) just to mess with people, saying things like, "The swine flu is a scourge sent to punish those who eat the flesh of the Lord's fallen beasts." It kills me every time. Really though, do you have thoughts or know of any good writing on the social aspects and acerbic reactions to vegetarianism?

image from mychildhealth.net

All kinds of people boycott all kinds of things; it's the oldest form of protest (homespun, anyone?). Some quit sugar for health reasons, others refuse to shop at a certain store because of its business practices. So, why is it that quitting meat is so socially and politically charged? We give individual stamps of approval in so many ways: money, time, attention, laughter. It can be a powerful form of boycott to withhold support by withdrawing any of these resources. It is not a new idea. I recently saw a bumper sticker that said, "I refuse to participate in this recession." I'm not sure how that could be accomplished (spending rather than saving money?). More power to him, I guess.

Another conundrum is the dinner invite. I love to eat with friends and to feed people, but there are a few inherent obstacles. I don't want to be accommodated and the alternative is equally unappealing. I can't stomach the idea of sitting in front of a plate of chicken; I want to be a gracious guest, but I just can't eat it (at this point, I'll get physically ill - part of the reason for quitting meat to begin with). Also, people generally expect some sort of meat dish for dinner. Our default is to serve pizza. Clark makes wicked-delicious sauce and, even without meat, our made-from-scratch pizza is usually a crowd-pleaser. (Now I can even make the mozzarella!) Want some? You can even BYOMeat, if you want; we genuinely don't mind. And I won't even confiscate your leather jacket.

say cheese

In my quest for achieving a respectable level of domesticity, I have recently made my first batch of delicious mozzarella cheese (quest currently limited to making delicious things I can eat). I will probably never rival the creative craftiness and stellar sewing ability of the amazing Gardner sisters (sisters-in-law included. See example here), which makes it a good thing it's not a contest.

Making cheese is so much fun; each time it's a revelation that I can make something that often comes in plastic pods that have been sitting under winking fluorescent-lights for days, weeks, or months. For example, this

used to be MILK - just minutes before this picture was taken - and I made it into yummy CHEESE with some assistance from my friend Jessica. I love that you can trace the short line of where this milk/cheese has been - cow's udder to jug (with some pasteurizing step in between), jug to stock pot, stock pot to my mouth. Incidentally, I also made this bread and nourished the Basil leaves. Many of the best meals are so simple and hand/home made; Y. U. M.

Thank you, Jess, Barbara Kingsolver, and Ricky Carrol. And thank you, Reed's dairy cows, for your locally-produced, artificial hormone-free, creamy goodness.

weekend in pictures

It all started with some vegetables.
We picked up our first week of CSA yummies: sorrel, chives, oregano, and baby greens mix.



The farm is in Victor, Idaho, which is near . . .

Teton National Park.

So, we camped

in Wyoming, and we hiked


to a lake


in the pouring rain.

Luckily, we each had a change of clothes in the car so we were able to enjoy the scenic ride home through Yellowstone. It was surely the best impromptu mini-vacation ever.

good times

On a short vacation from their vacation, the NV Gardner clan graced us with a visit. We had loads of fun making & eating pizza, playing games, shopping at the market, and eating more pizza. Thanks for making the trek to IF! We had a blast.

games galore

loot from the market

Favorite quotes from the weekend:

Sydney at lunch: "Mom, I'm having second thoughts about becoming a pop-star."

Clark: "Why do you like that food?" Jacob, in a serious tone: "because of its deliciousness."

eggs!

Since I quit eating most forms of meat last August, eggs have become a more important staple of my diet. They really are amazing; they are low calorie, versatile, dense in protein, and nutrient-rich (unsaturated fats, the ever-so-essential B12, and folate, with much higher concentrations of all vitamins if the laying hens are free-range).
Eggs have gotten some bad PR because of their high-cholesterol content. It's time to get real; eggs do have quite a bit of cholesterol, but not all dietary cholesterol ends up in the bloodstream. Check out the facts here.

So, what sparked this campaign for eggs? Well, I just found a new source for country-fresh eggs! We got two dozen local eggs from happy, artificial-hormone-free, non-irradiated chickens. For only three dollars! (see picture)

If you should choose to get fresh eggs from free-range hens, there are a few tips to follow in order to fully enjoy your delicious, nutritious ovum.

1. Wash eggs thoroughly; you should really do this with any egg as salmonella bacteria can spread from shell to egg when you crack it open.

2. Look for eggs with bright yellow to yellow-orange yolks. As with fruits and vegetables, brighter natural color equals higher vitamin content.

3. Be sure to break eggs into a bowl instead of right into whatever dish you are preparing. With fresh eggs, you run the risk of fertilization and you may run across one with a blood spot (gross, I know, but well worth it to have better eggs from happier, healthier chickens).

meet your meat

I just finished listening to the audio book, The Omnivore's Dilemma. I must say, it was slightly more than I bargained for, but I have had another epiphany about making choices. Being part of a society or culture can be a means of simplifying our options and decision-making processes. As it happens, however, many of the best possible options have been removed from our collective schema (removal in this case powered by the food industry and certain farm subsidies). One of my self-proclaimed missions in life is to take back my options so that I can make well-informed choices. While not everyone need be a vegetarian, I think it's worth taking time to evaluate what we put in our bodies and where it comes from in order to understand its impact and take back our choices from the predominating food culture.

Our decision to quit eating CAFO meat has been baffling to some. Well, I guess the reasoning is based on the idea that where much is given, much is required. I have been given much. In the last two years, I have learned a ton about food cultures, nutrition, farming systems, sustainability, and the food industry. I have a garden behind my house, a farmer's market within walking distance, and some means by which to obtain local, vitamin-rich foods that are sustainably-grown. Because I have all of these assets, I feel I should use them well.

On the less philosophical side of things, I have enjoyed being forced to be creative with my cooking. I have learned to bake delicious fish, make pesto from home-grown ingredients, create my own dressings and sauces, produce two kinds of cheese, and rock my bread machine. I have never enjoyed preparing and eating food so much. Next, I will conquer yeast breads minus the machinery.

So, if your in the mood for a culinary concoction, drop on by and have a bite of fresh-tomato and arugula pasta or some warm bread with homemade strawberry jam (minus the high-fructose corn syrup, of course :-).

cupcake bonanza

Happy Memorial Day! We missed going to SLC to see family and help with the graveside cleanup, but the good news is that I'm feeling much better. On the whole, it's been a great weekend: finished homework, planted more vegetables in the garden, made and ate delicious Pad Thai, rode bikes with Clark, spent time with friends, enjoyed church, and slept-in three days in a row. I also made these crazy, delicious cupcakes. I saw the idea online and wanted to try it despite the lack of healthy ingredients. (I think whole wheat flour would have ruined the effect.) I wish some neices and nephews lived near us so they could marvel at my cute cupcakes and eat them up.

coming up

My edamame are poking their little heads through the dirt. Seed, compost, dirt, water, sunshine = healthy, delicious food. Doesn't that make you happy?! I can't wait to eat them up. I never knew it would be so much fun to grow my own food.

robot parade

Clark is obsessed with robots. So, for his 27th birthday we watched an episode of Mystery Science Theater, danced to Robot Parade (They Might Be Giants), and ate this sweet, custom, made-from-scratch (by me) robot cake (red velvet with cream cheese frosting). What better way to commemorate entering one's late twenties?


happy birthday!
Clark: "Oh, cool; my robot is named 27."
Linds: "Actually, that number is how old you are now."