Staying changed

So, in my last post, I talked about how I’ve made some changes in my life, and how resuming my old routine didn’t quite “fit” anymore. I have been waiting for this for the better part of a year. Heck, maybe two.  I’ve known that I needed to rest, to move houses, to recuperate, and

Making changes

So I’ve known for a while that I’ve wanted to change some things about the overall shape of my life. I was fried too much of the time. I was accomplishing a lot but never felt at ease or rested. I had pulled back some from 2011’s two speeds of “dead run” and “asleep,” but

Confessions of a garden-aholic

So my main garden goal this year was to eliminate “vegetables of obligation” – those things that I have to nag myself to harvest, clean, and eat.  I stripped down my plant list to things that meet one or more of these criteria: I can “plant it and forget it” until harvest time – then

How long does it take to can a year’s worth of jam?

The short answer: If you want 8 pints of strawberry jam in a year, and have two reasonably adept cooks in the kitchen, making a year’s worth of jam takes about 2.5 hours from buying the berries to a clean kitchen.  So in the time it takes to go to a theater and take in

Lower energy towels

Though we probably do less laundry than most households, we do wash a fair number of towels.  My husband is a champion exerciser, and a clean towel is a must every three days or so. The towels we bought shortly after college are starting to wear out, and several of our newer towels have a

Moving toward local eating: Summary

Part of the “Moving toward local eating” series Which of these is the most important? For me, awareness, followed closely by enough experience to know what I can and can’t do as far as a local diet goes.  Figuring out what is and is not essential.  For me…I love me some avocados, and they will

Moving toward local eating: Deprivation and delight

Part of the “Moving toward local eating” series Let’s face it.  You can only combine rice, beans, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, beets, kale, onions, and beef or pork so many ways.  The vegetables, especially, really get to me, because there are only so many things that store well through a Michigan winter.  I’m not about to

Moving toward local eating: Tropical blindness

Part of the “Moving toward local eating” series At some point, I got so used to buying things that are produced nearby, I forgot that things like bananas and avocados even exist.  Ok, maybe I never forgot about avocados, but there are lots of things that I quit buying because they are shipped from too

Random stuff

First, Mel and family over at Elsmo Four have finished their month of vegetarianism (fueled, in part, by my Vegetarian Recipes for a Month).  Her wrap-up is here. Great news for Michigan bakers!  Almost all the flour at the Ann Arbor Food Co-op is now grown and ground in Michigan! Currently, the only exceptions are

Moving toward local eating: Storage

Part of the “Moving toward local eating” series Storing food is its own adventure.  No matter what climate you live in, different foods are harvested at different times of the year, and chances are you will want to store some food for the “off” season. It takes some space, especially if you start trying to,