Butternut Squash Soup

My first butternut squash soup :) (recipe here). If I could learn to cook one new thing a week, even if it's a new topping on a salad, it's progress! With our soup we had bread, avocado spread on top with bacon, and a glass of white wine. I had a few bits of bacon. Yum!

PS. My camera is in the shop again, so I've been using my husband's iPhone - not bad for a night shot!

American Craft Magazine

I just subscribed to a digital version of American Craft! Maybe I've been missing out, but this is brilliant. If you're not satisfied with digital, you can easily upgrade to a magazine subscription. Found this via Denise Schmidt for Obama, Via Lena Corwin.

collapsible chopsticks

I finally found them - collapsible chopsticks! They unscrew midway down the chopstick and fit in a little container. I can pass on the container, but really cool idea! My friend had been telling me that they are all the rage in Japan. These are from Rafu Bussan in J town. They were about $8.

The Fabric Workshop

Borrowed an old book from the library about The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, a non profit print studio where artists were invited to explore an unfamiliar medium, combined with an inner city art education program.

I always wished I had a chance to live in Philly, which used to be (or maybe still is?) the heart America's textile industry.

Good to know the Workshop is still going!

Obama Tee

Sabine holding up our freshly screened Obama t-shirts by Grow Your Own Media from last night's Eagle Rock Music Festival.

Breakdance ER style!

Kids seriously busting out some moves at last night's Eagle Rock Music Festival!The splits, go girl!

Pose my little ten year old brotha!

And what's it called when the boys and girls challenge and outdo each other's moves, back an forth?? anyway...

Go ki-i-ids! Go ki-i-ids!

Let's Be Frank

Let's Be Frank - the best and best looking hot dog truck in town serving grass fed beef and family farmed pork!

Native Garden - Lili Singer

Last night, I attended a lecture at the Pasadena Public Library about native gardens by Lili Singer of the Theodore Payne Foundation. I truly have a black thumb so reading a book about plants just won't do for me. This lecture was perfect. Here are some things I jotted down...

• In California, a native plant is one that grew without human intervention before the Europeans came.
• We have 2 springs in Southern Cal - one in the spring and one in the fall. Most native plants are dormant in the summer, then with the moisture in the fall, come back to life again.
• LA County has a Medditeranean climate - similar climates include Southern tip of South Africa, southwest Australia, west facing Chile, North Africa, and the Medditeranean part of Europe so plants native of these regions can work for us here as well.
• Xeriscape = dry landscape. This was the trend during the drought in the late 1980's-90's
• Lawns provide no habitat for insects and animals and don't do much for the environment - they are great for kids, but kids can also be taken to the park, parks will then become more popular preventing the rif raf that hang out. They had a Kill Your Lawn Workshop!
• A healthy garden has a lot of anthropods (bugs!) Lady bugs will, for example, eat afids. Just gotta let nature do its thing. It will take care of itself. Also, if you don't have insects, you don't have birds - the food chain.
• Best to just keep leaves on the ground to create a natural mulch.
• Regarding the recent fires, the bottom line is to keep your your foilage moderated, not overgrown.
• How to plan your native garden: access your site, soil type, sunlight exposure, wind, overall climate, the microclimates.
• Group plants that have similar needs for water, sunlight, etc.
• Soil ammendments are not encouraged because the plant sort of becomes spoiled and then will overgrow too fast and potentially have a shorter lifespan. "Better to grow your plants hard."
• For erosion needs, natives are best!

I couldn't stay for the whole lecture, but I was impressed by the attendance and Lili Singer's following. Will try to make it to the Theodore Payne's annual Fall Festival Oct. 3-4 and Oct 10-11 where everything is at least 10% off.

pic: the plants I've managed to keep alive - these plants give me hope that I can make a native garden work!

Nose to Tail

Is it okay to eat meat (on occasion) if the animal has had a good life? This is my current dilemma. There are times when I just need a little bit of those beef ribs on my husband's plate, but only if I know that it came from a grass fed cow.

In this morning's NY Times, chefs are taking it a step further by "taking on the whole cow." Cow and pig in these Brooklyn restaurants are already grass fed and raised humanely, but they remove yet another step in "processing" by ordering entire carcasses and carving out the parts themselves, in their own kitchens, to be shared amongst their restaurants. This means coordinating who will get what parts each week and being creative when you do get the head, the feet, or the knuckles.

To drive home the point, he has taken his staff to witness animal slaughters. After that, he said: “I don’t have mistakes anymore. They don’t burn meat. They don’t miscount. There are no screw-ups." Heck yeah, that would set me straight too!

Good article and one that makes me feel like I can have an bite of a hamburger when it's done right.

(image: from the NY Times)

sparkle at sea

mid-afternoon sparkle at sea.

chocolate bread and butter pudding

Can you tell we just hated :) the chocolate bread and butter pudding (bread pudding, which was like creme brule/flan, filled with real chocolate, and finished with sugary carmelized top and slices of bread) from Hungry Cat. Wow.

Kyle Field

Kyle Field at Taylor de Cordoba.

The Bike

I finally got on the bike and ran errands today. Returned some library books (what a nerd), got a carrot juice to ward off sickness from the change in weather, sat at the coffee shop to do a little work, and even stopped by the farmers market to find some eggplant for dinner. This might sound like a typical senario for some, but for me - HUGE.

Admittedly, I'm not an athlete... which can explain why this new bike and cute basket have been sitting in the garage for the whole summer. Another reason might be all the damn hills here in ER! But something possessed me to set up the basket, figure out my lock, load up my backpack and basket with books, and just take off. Maybe it was to keep my green momentum going?

So not only did I get things done, save gas and emissions, I got a 30 minute workout in too.

Now home, I am enjoying the reward of a fan blowing on full speed and a cold glass of water. Next on my list - composting.... yikes!