Shrinking our Footprint

I’ve been happily making the smaller ecological footprint of a vegetarian lifestyle for about ten years now and it was only a matter of time before I felt inspired to shrink that footprint further.

I’ve received many little nudges over the years, from Woody Harrelson’s 2003 movie, “Go Further” to recently released “Forks over Knives.” Lately, [...]

Breadfruit and Chestnuts

Bob and I once swore we would never live in a place where breadfruit didn’t grow.  We kept good to this promise for eight years and then re-entered the world of winter.  A place where breadfruit doesn’t grow.  A place where 99% of the population has no idea what breadfruit even is.

But, as I discovered [...]

Working for Peanuts

It’s another cold morning, and Garth and I are walking across the frozen lawn to Edible Earthscapes, the farm next door. The birds seem impervious to the temperature. Garth carries a baggie of home made peanut brittle. I’ve come along to see the look on Haruka’s face when he hands her the [...]

NO WORRY CURRY

The other day, I pulled open my vegetable drawers and saw: two bags of greens, half an onion, garlic, a pile of sweet peppers, cilantro, basil, some sweet potatoes, a couple of eggplants, carrots, green beans and okra.  Only one word came to mind, Curry!

I had an hour until dinner, so I got right to [...]

Hidden Gems

It’s no secret that I love potatoes.

I love harvesting them – pawing through the soil, uncovering each new spud with anticipation – kind of like scratch-off lottery tickets, only better tasting! I love the fact that they store well – often “discovering” some in our pantry when we’re looking for a quick, comforting meal. I [...]

RESHAPING MY FOOD 'TUDE

Last summer I didn’t shed my winter weight.  I carried it with me right into the next winter and into the spring.  My clothes were tight and I was four pounds over my “red alert” weight of 150  and threatening to add on some more.  I caught sight of my butt on a video and [...]

PUTTING SUMMER IN A JAR

The summer squash is upon us along with tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, and basil.  There’s so much food that we can no longer keep up by simply turning it into meals.  No two people can eat ten pounds of potatoes, ten pounds of tomatoes, and five pounds each of cucumbers and summer squash each week!

We fully [...]

SPUD LOVE

Red Thumbs

With all the CSA action going on around us, we hardly have to grow anything in our own garden.  But Bob could no more stop growing food than a fish could stop breathing water, so this year he decided to plant more of the things we end up buying at the grocery store.

That [...]

TWENTY-FIVE TOP FIVE

Earlier this month, Bob and I took a couple of weeks off for our annual road trip north to visit family and friends.  Those 1500 miles on the road in Blanche, our Mercedes 300TD “Hoopty Ride” wagon gave us plenty of time to chew on things.

It wasn’t long before our conversation turned to food and [...]

SPRING PARSNIPS - a hard core lesson in letting go

Sometimes you have to try something just to see how it comes out.  Great cooks and gardeners are fearless, or quote a gardener, “There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.”

This week Bob and I found ourselves with a couple of pounds of parsnips.  I wasn’t sure what to do with them but decided to give [...]