Jun 12, 2008
Planet Green Channel
The first "all green channel" http://http://planetgreen.discovery.com/ Planet Green
I don't know when this channel started airing officially but I am sick today at home and I cannot change the channel! Everything on is interesting and fun to watch. Even if I am aware of many of the things they are doing I am really enjoying seeing people adjust their lifestyles and not to mention all the hot guys, and sexy people in general talking compost, green building, etc...
Right now there is the show on with hottie Adrian Grenier called Alter Eco, http://http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/alter-eco/ and they are building a house the green way but meeting interesting people and showing cool edofriendly shops while they are doing it. OK i know that being green is getting trendy, and this is kinda cheesy for those of us who have always been into protecting the earth, but if this is what it takes to make things more positive for our future let's just let this run its course and hope that it turns out positive. BEsides I can't get enough of these hot guys like Leanardo DiCaprio http://http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/greensburg/ talking green ! And they have http://http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=36144fd6c6cc39bfcb995f6b75346b16f0f84e9a funny commercials!
And did I mention SEXY HOT GUYS???? (Yes guys, that machositic "I can't give up my giant truck" primative attitude is NOT attractive to most women).
Jun 5, 2008
Pasta Bolognese My Way
Earlier this year my parents came out to visit us in Washington state. We went to Seattle for dinner one night and ate at this wonderful place called The Pink Door http://www.thepinkdoor.net/ . I ordered some homemade spinach lasagna, Jarrod ordered some sort of pork chop, and upon the servers reccomendation my parents both ordered pasta bolognese. I don't eat beef but of course I've heard of the dish, it's pasta with meat sauce I thought. BIg deal. But all my parents kept saying was "this is so good" and had Jarrod give it a try which had him saying the same thing.
So ever since I've been wondering the big deal is. This weekend I whipped out the ol pasta machine and decided to make my own version to see if it was any good. The recipe sounds so simple I couldn't imagine what was so great about it. So first I made a wheat noodle version of tagliatelle, since that's the type of noodle the dish was served with at the restaurant. Tagliatelle is a wide egg noodle, wider than fettucine.
Then I made my own version of the sauce after reading several different highly rated recipes of the beef version, I adapted them to make my own recipe. The sauce smelled wonderful cooking and the noodles were a pain to make, as is all homemade pasta, but well worth the effort as always.
While you don't have to make your own noodles, I highly reccomend you buy fresh made noodles or at the very least, get those fettucine noodles in the refrigerated section to make this dish. The results were out of this world yummy, I don't know why because the ingredients are very simple. I do admit that the use of milk in the sauce seemed very weird to me and I was skeptical, but not anymore. From now on this will be a treat in our house.
Cara's Pasta "Bolognese"
Serves 4-6
For the Noodles Makes 1 1/4 pounds.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
1 cup whole wheat flour
5 large eggs
Mound flour in center of a large work surface, and make a well in the middle. Crack eggs into the well. Using a fork, beat eggs; slowly incorporate flour, beginning with inner rim of well. When flour is incorporated, gather dough together to form a rounded mass. Begin kneading dough with the palms of your hands. Once dough comes together, scrape up any dried bits of dough; discard. Lightly flour work surface; knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; rest for 30 minutes at room temperature before using. Divide dough into 4 pieces; keep 3 pieces covered with a slightly damp kitchen towel. Flatten dough to a shape somewhat narrower than pasta machine opening. Lightly dust dough with flour. Feed through machine's widest setting. As pasta emerges, gently support it with your palm and guide it onto the work surface.
Fold dough in thirds; roll out again. Repeat process 5 times. Pass pasta through the next finer setting, repeating the folding and rolling process 6 times. At the third setting, repeat process only 3 times. If pasta sheet becomes too long to work with easily, cut it into 2 pieces. Dust pasta lightly with flour to prevent sticking, if necessary. Roll dough through progressively thinner settings, without folding, until you have reached the thinnest or next-to-thinnest setting. Using the widest-cut attachment of the pasta machine, cut pasta sheets into 1/2-inch wide strips. To cut pasta by hand, cut each pasta sheet into 10-inch lengths. Brush lightly with flour, roll up sheet, and, using a sharp knife, cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips; unroll. Use tagliatelle immediately, or dry on a floured work surface and store in an airtight container for up to three days.
For the Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, chopped fine
3 celery ribs, chopped fine
1/2 pound ground lean turkey
1/2 pound Hot Italian Turkey Sausage, removed from casings
1 cup milk (any FF, 2%, whole, whatever you prefer)
freshly grated nutmeg to taste
1 cup dry white wine
28- to 32-ounce can whole tomatoes including juice
1/2 cup tomato sauce
**To make a vegetarian (lacto/ovo) version use Gimme Lean Veggie Sausage grounds and/or Veggie meat grounds in place of the turkey. I am sure it will be just as tasty!
In large heavy saucepan heat oil over moderately high heat and sauté onion, carrot, and celery, stirring 2 minutes. Add turkey and turkey sausage and cook, stirring, 2 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink. Season mixture with salt and pepper.
Add milk and nutmeg and cook, stirring, until most milk is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes.
In a blender or food processor coarsely purée tomatoes with juice and stir into sauce with tomato sauce.
Cook sauce at a bare simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 1 hour and 15 minutes (sauce will be thickened) and season with salt and pepper. Sauce may be made ahead and cooled, uncovered, before being chilled, covered, 2 days or frozen 1 month. In an 8-quart kettle bring 7 quarts salted water to a boil.
Cook pasta until al dente (about 6 minutes for fresh, longer for dried) and drain in a colander. In a heated large bowl immediately toss pasta with sauce. This is essential to toss the pasta with sauce because the noodles will absorb some of the flavor.
After making this I've decided I need to get an electric pasta machine. That hand cranker is quite a pain in the ass after awhile!
So ever since I've been wondering the big deal is. This weekend I whipped out the ol pasta machine and decided to make my own version to see if it was any good. The recipe sounds so simple I couldn't imagine what was so great about it. So first I made a wheat noodle version of tagliatelle, since that's the type of noodle the dish was served with at the restaurant. Tagliatelle is a wide egg noodle, wider than fettucine.
Then I made my own version of the sauce after reading several different highly rated recipes of the beef version, I adapted them to make my own recipe. The sauce smelled wonderful cooking and the noodles were a pain to make, as is all homemade pasta, but well worth the effort as always.
While you don't have to make your own noodles, I highly reccomend you buy fresh made noodles or at the very least, get those fettucine noodles in the refrigerated section to make this dish. The results were out of this world yummy, I don't know why because the ingredients are very simple. I do admit that the use of milk in the sauce seemed very weird to me and I was skeptical, but not anymore. From now on this will be a treat in our house.
Cara's Pasta "Bolognese"
Serves 4-6
For the Noodles Makes 1 1/4 pounds.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
1 cup whole wheat flour
5 large eggs
Mound flour in center of a large work surface, and make a well in the middle. Crack eggs into the well. Using a fork, beat eggs; slowly incorporate flour, beginning with inner rim of well. When flour is incorporated, gather dough together to form a rounded mass. Begin kneading dough with the palms of your hands. Once dough comes together, scrape up any dried bits of dough; discard. Lightly flour work surface; knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; rest for 30 minutes at room temperature before using. Divide dough into 4 pieces; keep 3 pieces covered with a slightly damp kitchen towel. Flatten dough to a shape somewhat narrower than pasta machine opening. Lightly dust dough with flour. Feed through machine's widest setting. As pasta emerges, gently support it with your palm and guide it onto the work surface.
Fold dough in thirds; roll out again. Repeat process 5 times. Pass pasta through the next finer setting, repeating the folding and rolling process 6 times. At the third setting, repeat process only 3 times. If pasta sheet becomes too long to work with easily, cut it into 2 pieces. Dust pasta lightly with flour to prevent sticking, if necessary. Roll dough through progressively thinner settings, without folding, until you have reached the thinnest or next-to-thinnest setting. Using the widest-cut attachment of the pasta machine, cut pasta sheets into 1/2-inch wide strips. To cut pasta by hand, cut each pasta sheet into 10-inch lengths. Brush lightly with flour, roll up sheet, and, using a sharp knife, cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips; unroll. Use tagliatelle immediately, or dry on a floured work surface and store in an airtight container for up to three days.
For the Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped fine
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, chopped fine
3 celery ribs, chopped fine
1/2 pound ground lean turkey
1/2 pound Hot Italian Turkey Sausage, removed from casings
1 cup milk (any FF, 2%, whole, whatever you prefer)
freshly grated nutmeg to taste
1 cup dry white wine
28- to 32-ounce can whole tomatoes including juice
1/2 cup tomato sauce
**To make a vegetarian (lacto/ovo) version use Gimme Lean Veggie Sausage grounds and/or Veggie meat grounds in place of the turkey. I am sure it will be just as tasty!
In large heavy saucepan heat oil over moderately high heat and sauté onion, carrot, and celery, stirring 2 minutes. Add turkey and turkey sausage and cook, stirring, 2 minutes, or until meat is no longer pink. Season mixture with salt and pepper.
Add milk and nutmeg and cook, stirring, until most milk is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes.
In a blender or food processor coarsely purée tomatoes with juice and stir into sauce with tomato sauce.
Cook sauce at a bare simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 1 hour and 15 minutes (sauce will be thickened) and season with salt and pepper. Sauce may be made ahead and cooled, uncovered, before being chilled, covered, 2 days or frozen 1 month. In an 8-quart kettle bring 7 quarts salted water to a boil.
Cook pasta until al dente (about 6 minutes for fresh, longer for dried) and drain in a colander. In a heated large bowl immediately toss pasta with sauce. This is essential to toss the pasta with sauce because the noodles will absorb some of the flavor.
After making this I've decided I need to get an electric pasta machine. That hand cranker is quite a pain in the ass after awhile!
May 30, 2008
Old School Soups for those chilly Spring Nights
Well I've been SO busy in my garden this month I have barely had any time to work on anything else. Hence the lack of any new items in my store lately.
Spring is "go time" for me in the garden and I am so busy planting veggies, tilling, weeding and watering that I have to put almost everything else on the backburner. Not to mention the 2 stray cats we are taking care of for now until we can find homes for them. Having 6 cats and 3 large dogs in a tiny 1000 sq ft home can get a little crazy and messy!
But back to my point- even though it warms up and we are ready with our shorts on, we still get a sporadic sprinkling of chilly and/or breezy spring days that make us grab the sweatshirts in defeat. As I've mentioned before, my hubby LOVES soup so we pretty much always have some every week even in the summer. I've got a long row of leeks that I planted last summer, they overwintered and then got big enough this spring. Now I think they are getting too old because some are going to seed, look at this big wiggle "scape" growing on one of them. I cooked this one last night and I couldn't bear to throw into the compost so i wrapped it around my neck like jewelry for the evening.
So one thing I have been making lately is potato soup with leeks to use up the leeks. This soup is something my grandma used to make all the time and always in HUGE batches because my mom came from a family of 12, yes 12! My grandma is gone now, and over the years of trying to get this recipe the way she made it I've realized that the most basic of ingredients is all that is needed.
Potato Soup
2-4 leeks (depending on size)
Bag of baking potatoes
Garlic (optional)
Salt Pepper
Chicken or Vegetable Broth (optional)
Slice tops of leeks off the leek and discard into your saintly compost pile. Then trim the end of the leek off, slice in half and thouroughly wash them out under water, to get all the dirt out of the layers. Then slice them up, put a little spray of oil or bit of butter in your pan and start to sautee, chop up the garlic and throw it in the pot too.
While they sautee over medium heat, peel and chop your potatoes up. They don't need to be fancy cause you will be pureeing the soup at the end. Throw em in the pot and pour water or broth over the vegetables until they are covered. Bring to a boil until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.
Turn heat to low, and puree the soup in batched or with an immersion blender. You can make it as smooth or chunky as you wish, just try to make sure you blend up those leeks. Then salt and pepper to taste. Voila, potato soup.
I like to serve with fresh snipped chives, sour cream, and/or light cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top.
The other soup I have been making lately is a new favorite for us, but an old favorite for a lot of people, chicken and dumplings. I never had this before I made it for myself and I don't know why. It's satisying, comforting and delicious. The original recipe called for 1 medium chopped onion, but I like to use sliced leeks instead.
Chicken and Dumplings
1 1/2 pounds organic chicken breast tenders
2 tablespoons butter
1 russet potato, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced or thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped or 2 medium leeks, sliced
1 rib celery, diced
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning,
1/3 palm full (I use season salt)
2 tablespoons flour, a handful
1 quart organic/free range chicken broth (it's one of those boxes- like 4 cups)
2 cups Heart Healthy Bisquick Mix (the lowfat one)
1/2 cup organic milk
Fresh dill
Fresh chives
Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup frozen green peas
Dice tenders into bite size pieces and set aside. Wash hands. Place a large pot on stove over medium high heat. Add butter, vegetables and bay leaf and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season mixture with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Add flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes. Stir broth or stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken to the broth and stir. Place biscuit mix in a bowl. Combine with 1/2 cup milk and mined fresh herbs of choice (like the dill and/or chives).
Drop tablespoonfuls of prepared mix into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly. Cover pot tightly and reduce heat to medium low. Steam dumplings 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cover and stir chicken and dumplings to thicken sauce a bit.
Stir peas into the pan, remove chicken and dumplings from heat and serve in shallow bowls. There you have it. Both recipes are easy and delicious and perfect for those breezy evenings.
May 22, 2008
Ski-To Sea Weekend Here
Well it's that time of year here in Whatcom county, Ski-to-Sea is on sunday!It's time for Ski-to-Sea race this weekend for any of you interested here is the info.
Ski To Sea relay race info
The Ski To Sea Race consists of 7 legs starting at the Mt. Baker Ski Area. The 2007 Race is online, with video of each leg. Visit them by pasting this into your browser http://www.skitosea.com/content/Race_Legs_info/Race_Legs_info.asp
The legs of the race are as follows:
Cross Country
Downhill / Snowboard
Running
Biking
Canoe
Mountain Biking
Sea Kayak
I am NOT racing this year! I don't know if I will again ever, it's tough and the people I get stuck training with don't really take it seriously so I've given up. I may be down at the festivities and party area though. There's plenty of bands, bars, parades, and festival all for celebrating the end of the race. And don't forget the parade on Saturday! You can see the Blonde Ambition Belly Dancers (my old troupe!) in the parade if you go :)
Cross your fingers for great weather! It always seems to rain except the year I raced it was super hot, of course.
May 14, 2008
May 11, 2008
Making the Meditation Flute Bag
SO my friend Greg sends me a message a couple months back and says he has some knitting missions he would like to take on for him. I of course say I will. This is one of them. Being a musical type he recently bought a meditation flute "Ala David Carradine" he said and he needed a bag to carry it around. This flute is 3 feet long and very narrow.So I bought 2 skeins (135 yards each) pretty Manos Del Uruguay Space-Dyed Wool Yarn in "Jungle" -shades of green (http://www.manosdeluruguay.co.uk/) and knit the pattern for a Mutidirectional Scarf from this site in a very long length. www.angelyarns.com/free-patterns/noro-scarf.php Then I threw it in the wash with some towels and felted it. It felted very nicely and made the colors blend a lot better. But the purpose of felting was to get a more fabric-like material.
I cut the width and lenth of the scarf out of the felted yarn and then if I was thinking this out, I would have sewn the strap on the edge of the fabric at this step. I used nylon webbing and 2 D-rings to create the strap. Taking a very short length of the webbing (maybe 2-3 inches) I singed the ends with alighter (to keep it from unthreading) and then folded it over the top of the 2 D-rings and sewed it together. Then sewed the piece near the bottom end of the fabric. Then I took the rest of the of the webbing (about 2 yards) and sewed the top of the strap about 4 inches below the top of the fabric on the edge. Really I didn't do this till later, but I will explain why, it was a mistake.
At this point this is when I actually hand-sewed the straps to the bag because I was such a scatter-brain and forgot to do it earlier. But don't do this, sew them on before you close the bag together, it will be MUCH easier! And you can use your machine. Then I used a small piece of silky thick string and sewed it around the outside of the top of the bag with a yarn needle, using big stitches, so that it can be used to open and close the bag. I used almost ALL of the yarn, so make sure you get enough. That's it, voila metitation flute tote!
I know I may not be explaining this clearly enough, and if I was thinking about it I would have taken pictures as I was putting it together. But I was too impatient and felt rushed as I made Greg wait long enough for me to put this together and I have yet to finish two other scarves for him! If you do attempt to make this bag or something similar, feel free to contact me and ask any questions. I will do my best to help you :)
May 9, 2008
MEow Meow kitties Attack!
WTF? I am a kitty beacon or what? As you may or may not know, there has been construction in front of my house for about a month now. They are moving our road away from our house about 50 feet. The thing is, across the old road is a big strip of trees and brush that has separated some lawns from the road, and this where a lot of strays seem to find themselves. Seems that the noise and big construction machines are scaring these cats out of the woods. The last batch of strays (Alice and Tater) were living over there.
Then this last kitty we have at the moment, Harley, we are not sure if he is from over there or not. But now another cat showed up in my front yard yesterday when I got home from running errands. After I pulled in the driveway this cute little lady walked up to me with some hungry sounding "meow meows" and she was crusty with no collar and thin. I fed her and she totally pigged out and drank the water I gave her. I would be surprised if she belongs to anyone, and if she does, they don't deserve her if this is the way they treat her. SSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we have yet ANOTHER stray cat in the garage, living in the big dog crate. We already started dewoming her and she's very cuddly. She loves to eat and seems to be quite happy with the new situation, although a little nervous.
Earlier this week we paid to have Harley spayed and tested for feline aids and leukemia. Even with a coupon from the Alternative Humane Society, the bill was over $100 bucks. Now some of you might think this is crazy, but I cannot turn my head and look the other way when I see stray dogs or cats, how can you???? At the very least you can take them to the humane society. There are TONS of stray cats and dogs and besides being overpopulated and neglected, many of these animals are sick, passing diseases to one another (and your cats if you let them outside) and they are breeding like CRAZY. This is a community responsibility. We should all take this responsibility and there wouldn't be this problem! I can't afford this but I am not going to ignore these sick and/or starving animals wandering around my neighborhood and I really can't understand why ALL of my neighbors ignore it! It's heartless and cruel.
I have 4 cats already and a tiny house, so even though these strays are all lovely and sweet I cannot afford to keep them. I spay and neuter them because in the chance they become stray again, they won't be spreading babies around all over the county. The stray cat population in our county has grown over 200% in my county in the past 5 years..... IF this is happening in my county you better believe it's happening in yours! Take some responsibility, even if you don't want to keep any, you can help. Call your local shelters there are plenty of them around to help. Post an ad in craigslist with the requirement to neuter or spay when they are adopted. And stop leaving your cats outside! It doesn't matter if you think they like it or not, it's not safe for them be outdoors. http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/cat_care/keep_your_cat_safe_at_home_hsuss_safe_cats_campaign/its_a_dangerous_world_out_there.html
FYI- if anyone is interested in my aprons or jewelry stuff, feel good shopping there knowing that most if not all of my "profits" are going towards taking care of these animals and all of my 7 pets (4 cats and 3 big dogs) as well that were rescued. Not that this is supposed to be plug, but I can't handle this by myself! I am NOT an ANimal Shelter!!!! And our local non-kill shelter stopped fostering cats, so they have nowhere to go except the regular Humane Society and you better believe that kitty season is from Spring through fall and no adult cats are getting adopted, they are just getting euthanized. So I am not taking them there. I have a tiny 1050 sq ft home, it barely fits us as is, but I have to do this because it's the responsible thing to do for us, and our community and these sweet cats and dogs who cannot help themselves. They cannot speak for themselves either, so give them a voice and help. YOu can find A LOT of your local shelters listed on www.petfinder.com
Then this last kitty we have at the moment, Harley, we are not sure if he is from over there or not. But now another cat showed up in my front yard yesterday when I got home from running errands. After I pulled in the driveway this cute little lady walked up to me with some hungry sounding "meow meows" and she was crusty with no collar and thin. I fed her and she totally pigged out and drank the water I gave her. I would be surprised if she belongs to anyone, and if she does, they don't deserve her if this is the way they treat her. SSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we have yet ANOTHER stray cat in the garage, living in the big dog crate. We already started dewoming her and she's very cuddly. She loves to eat and seems to be quite happy with the new situation, although a little nervous.
Earlier this week we paid to have Harley spayed and tested for feline aids and leukemia. Even with a coupon from the Alternative Humane Society, the bill was over $100 bucks. Now some of you might think this is crazy, but I cannot turn my head and look the other way when I see stray dogs or cats, how can you???? At the very least you can take them to the humane society. There are TONS of stray cats and dogs and besides being overpopulated and neglected, many of these animals are sick, passing diseases to one another (and your cats if you let them outside) and they are breeding like CRAZY. This is a community responsibility. We should all take this responsibility and there wouldn't be this problem! I can't afford this but I am not going to ignore these sick and/or starving animals wandering around my neighborhood and I really can't understand why ALL of my neighbors ignore it! It's heartless and cruel.
I have 4 cats already and a tiny house, so even though these strays are all lovely and sweet I cannot afford to keep them. I spay and neuter them because in the chance they become stray again, they won't be spreading babies around all over the county. The stray cat population in our county has grown over 200% in my county in the past 5 years..... IF this is happening in my county you better believe it's happening in yours! Take some responsibility, even if you don't want to keep any, you can help. Call your local shelters there are plenty of them around to help. Post an ad in craigslist with the requirement to neuter or spay when they are adopted. And stop leaving your cats outside! It doesn't matter if you think they like it or not, it's not safe for them be outdoors. http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/cat_care/keep_your_cat_safe_at_home_hsuss_safe_cats_campaign/its_a_dangerous_world_out_there.html
FYI- if anyone is interested in my aprons or jewelry stuff, feel good shopping there knowing that most if not all of my "profits" are going towards taking care of these animals and all of my 7 pets (4 cats and 3 big dogs) as well that were rescued. Not that this is supposed to be plug, but I can't handle this by myself! I am NOT an ANimal Shelter!!!! And our local non-kill shelter stopped fostering cats, so they have nowhere to go except the regular Humane Society and you better believe that kitty season is from Spring through fall and no adult cats are getting adopted, they are just getting euthanized. So I am not taking them there. I have a tiny 1050 sq ft home, it barely fits us as is, but I have to do this because it's the responsible thing to do for us, and our community and these sweet cats and dogs who cannot help themselves. They cannot speak for themselves either, so give them a voice and help. YOu can find A LOT of your local shelters listed on www.petfinder.com
Apr 30, 2008
Random Ramblings
Well I haven't much interesting to talk about lately. That's why I haven't posted. I am going through a "burnout" phase right now, it was to be expected. Sometimes I get so full of ideas I just keep churning projects out left and right. Now I've gotten to the point where I am dwindling on the last few items on my to-do list of craft projects and though I keep buying more supplies because I have even MORE ideas, I am slightly burnt out from all the work I've been doing for the past couple months. Not to mention this slow economy= slow sales and that's not very motivating for me. The aprons aren't selling as fast as I thought they would. I've sold some but not as many as I thought I would.
Maybe it's the price, I thought they would make great gifts. I don't know, I guess it could pick up cause I do have lot of people who ♥ the store. I've also been working in the garden lately. Got my raspberries fed, blueberries, kiwi vines, and rhubarb is coming up! The garlic is coming up and I've got some tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in water cloches outside already.
The temps have been cool for this time of year and I hope it warms up soon. My friend from MyEmmaGrace on etsy is making and commercially selling her salsa in the near future. I've volunteered to grow her some tomatilloes for the salsa. I am ALL organic too, so they will be tasty. I've never grown them but I've read that they are a good producer and fairly easy to grow. I hope they do well! I tried some of Kath's salsa and it's really good. I wonder if she could sell it on etsy? I know she went through the FDA and all that already so she's good to go.
I am going to a new bellydance class tonight. I am a little nervous about it since I haven't practiced much in the last couple years. I used to go to another class with a different group of people but I got stuck in the middle of some girls that were a little intimidated by me or my enthusiasm(I think?) and I shied away REALLY fast after that came to light. So I stopped going, and I flaked out on troupe practice and stopped performing.
This is a new class and while i really LOVED to bellydance before I can't decide if I will be having as much fun or not because of the new people in the class and how they will be. Also just not sure about the teacher, she's about my age and that alone can make things complicated for some. I don't care as long as she's a good teacher and I have fun. It's not till 7:45pm tonight and I am done with work at 3:30om so I will be hanging around town till then. I don't think I should go home since it's a 20 min drive and the gas prices being so high, it seems like a waste. But I don't know what to do with my extra time! It's not like I have anywhere to go or money to spend. This is always cramping my urges to take classes because driving in and out of town all the time is too expensive and time consuming. Not to mention it feels wasteful.
Anyway- that's my blabbing for now. I will post another soon. I've been working on something for a friend and I want to show it to you!
Maybe it's the price, I thought they would make great gifts. I don't know, I guess it could pick up cause I do have lot of people who ♥ the store. I've also been working in the garden lately. Got my raspberries fed, blueberries, kiwi vines, and rhubarb is coming up! The garlic is coming up and I've got some tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in water cloches outside already.
The temps have been cool for this time of year and I hope it warms up soon. My friend from MyEmmaGrace on etsy is making and commercially selling her salsa in the near future. I've volunteered to grow her some tomatilloes for the salsa. I am ALL organic too, so they will be tasty. I've never grown them but I've read that they are a good producer and fairly easy to grow. I hope they do well! I tried some of Kath's salsa and it's really good. I wonder if she could sell it on etsy? I know she went through the FDA and all that already so she's good to go.
I am going to a new bellydance class tonight. I am a little nervous about it since I haven't practiced much in the last couple years. I used to go to another class with a different group of people but I got stuck in the middle of some girls that were a little intimidated by me or my enthusiasm(I think?) and I shied away REALLY fast after that came to light. So I stopped going, and I flaked out on troupe practice and stopped performing.
This is a new class and while i really LOVED to bellydance before I can't decide if I will be having as much fun or not because of the new people in the class and how they will be. Also just not sure about the teacher, she's about my age and that alone can make things complicated for some. I don't care as long as she's a good teacher and I have fun. It's not till 7:45pm tonight and I am done with work at 3:30om so I will be hanging around town till then. I don't think I should go home since it's a 20 min drive and the gas prices being so high, it seems like a waste. But I don't know what to do with my extra time! It's not like I have anywhere to go or money to spend. This is always cramping my urges to take classes because driving in and out of town all the time is too expensive and time consuming. Not to mention it feels wasteful.
Anyway- that's my blabbing for now. I will post another soon. I've been working on something for a friend and I want to show it to you!
Apr 18, 2008
Roller DErby Kicks ASS!!!!
Last weekend Jarrod (husband) and I went to the 2nd bout of the Bellingham Roller Betties roller derby. It was the "waste not want not" match and it totally rocked. I've never been to a roller derby before but this advertised beer garden and food so I was all over it! The girls are so cool, all wearing there glam gear and battle make-up. I was really tempted to ask about joining but these ladies break bones on a regular basis so I thought I better not since I am paranoid about breaking things, but it sure looks fun! The beer garden had it's own section on green turf nonetheless and I ran into a bellydancing friend of mine so we all sat together. It was so fun, I really got into and I'm not much of a spectator sport type. I don't like watching sports, I think it's boring. But this is AWESOME!!!!! I didn't have a favorite team so I kept rooting for them both. They all have really funny/cool names and I was so impressed with their lack of self-conciousness. They were all stripped to skivvies, short skirts, and ruffle panties with tights or short shorts and I would say the majority were not waify at all. Not that I think they were "big girls" but they were not beanpoles and I think that is very cool.
For the low-waste part they had all the beer cups made from corn so they are super biodegradeable, and everything in the place was recyclable, even the food! The waste department for the city was there handing out free grocery totes and there were recycling bins for everything all over the place. They had super rad music too. So....if you ever have the opportunity to go to a girls roller derby, I highly recommend them. If you want to look for one in your area, try entering "roller derby" and your state into Google, you are sure to come up with a few hits. :) And have fun!
Apr 10, 2008
I was featured in an Etsy Treasury! Woohoo!
Oh I feel famous already. And it was so perfect because I love this color combo. :) Thank you Bittystar! You are fabulous! For those of you who don't know this means I was on the front page of etsy.com for a short time yesterday.
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