Took some more of the peppers Bonnie brought me and made a stir fry.
Sauteed some sweet onion in a little olive oil (sesame would have been better, but I was out), added two sliced thai chilis, a poblano pepper, and a clove of crushed garlic. SLiced some pork thinly and added it along with some diced yellow squash. Tossed in a little soy sauce, a couple tablespoons of fish sauce and a can of coconut milk, along with another larger thai chili pepper, whole. Simmered for 10 minutes, then added a handful of shredded cilantro and another handful of shredded basil. Simmered 5 more mins to reduce, then served over rice with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and mint for garnish.

This would be fantastic with firm tofu as well.

Ok, so don't get me wrong, I am completely stoked about Transformus, but at the same time, could there be anything else going on this weekend?? Not only is it Ritual and the SkinTwo party, but apparently Sasha and Digweed are playing???

@&^!^@%^W$%^!!!!

why does everything have to happen at the same damn time in this town?

grumblegrumblegrumble

I finally broke down and started using the stash of vintage floral cotton I'd been saving. It was hard, but so worth it. I kept a couple of pairs for myself already, lol.



They've got elastic and a drawstring to fit a wider range of people. These two pairs are med/large.


Not much sewing for you guys this week, I'm off to a burn this weekend and have been stitching up costumes and accessories for that. I can't wait, 4 days in the mountains with 2 lakes, an apple orchard, music, friends and campfire food!

Ps, I love summer. I was hungry and lunch was waiting for me in the backyard! mmmmmmmmm

A friend sent me a link to the "Safe Foods" site after seeing my post on the movie FoodInc. She wanted to know what I thought about the attempt to debunk the "myths" in the movie, and their supposed facts about how safe the current system really is.
The site leads off with this paragraph about the reality of producing sustainable foods:

Subscribing to the film's makers' vision for North American food production would mean many things, including:
* Food prices—especially meat and poultry prices—would rise dramatically because of the increased costs of their inefficient production approaches.
* Vast amounts of land would need to be used to raise livestock and poultry in free range systems.
* The environment would suffer from open systems lacking environmental controls.
* Many fresh fruits and vegetables, which are seasonal in nature, would become unavailable in many areas of the country for much of the year.
* Imported foods like salamis from Italy, Danish hams and many other items would become "politically incorrect" because of the distances the products travel.

Ok, so those are their main arguments, and here's what I think about them.
At first glance, yes, most of these statements are at least partially true. However, they couldn't be further from missing the point if they tried, and I do believe they are trying.
For instance, would we need vast amounts of land to produce the meat to meet our current levels of consumption if we raised cattle the Salatin way? Well, yes, but there are a few problems with that argument.
First, the 'you're-missing-the-point' argument: Didn't steaks used to be a treat? Now, they're apparently considered an entitlement, and served in obscene portions of 10, 12, 16 ounces... Is that availability really doing our health any good? Diabetes, Obesity, heart disease, antibiotic resistance, e-coli outbreaks... those are just a few of the "benefits" of a diet high in industrialized foods. Is this really an entitlement we want?

The other argument is that there is an awful lot of difference in terms of the effect on the land between the two systems:


(both of those are hog farms)

or, this:

(chicken farming)
or this:

(cattle "ranches")

Of those choices, which would you rather live next to? Toxic fumes and contaminated drinking water? or the sort of place you'd be happy to take your kids to visit?? Even if the industrial agriculture isn't in YOUR backyard, don't think you're safe from it's toxic effects. The meat from the grocery store might not be as safe as you think, and the overflow can even contaminate your vegetables. Beyond that, the overuse of medications that such overcrowding necessitates is having a seriously detrimental effect on doctors' ability to treat simple infections.

So let's go back to their main arguments:
1. Yes, prices would rise. However, the current "cheap-on-the-surface" meat and poultry is anything but cheap in reality. We pay now, or we pay later with our health, our children's health, and the health of the land around us.

2. We might need more available land, but the land wouldn't be a wasteland, and the effects of farming it would do more GOOD than harm. Can you even imagine that?

3. It's true that we might not have cheap fresh strawberries year-round. But again, as oil prices increase, shipping foods across the world is going to naturally become a luxury... just like it used to be. This silly distraction is irrelevant to the current discussion.

4. Again, imported salamis and the like will go back to being what they used to be... a luxury, something to be savored and appreciated instead of taken for granted. Is that really so awful?

We waste an insane amount of food in our culture, partly because we do not truly appreciate it's value. The scare tactics used by the meat industry are hell-bent on keeping the truth from the public by provoking unfounded fears as distractions. The truth is that the industrial food culture spends billions to bring you shiny, happy, shrink-wrapped packages of things that barely resemble food, with low nutritional value, high calorie counts, and are full of subsidies, toxins and disease. All of this is brought to you in the name of efficiency, but the only efficient things about it are how quickly the pockets of the executives are filled, and how much faster we're making ourselves and our land sick.


Sometimes less really IS more.

inside the new studio:



love this clock, even tho the birdie no longer chirps. Feathers from my great-grammas hat stash and other treasures waiting to be sorted



Another typewriter found hidden in piles of papers in Michigan. The racoon was a birthday gift, he has a story that came with him!

Should have gone out last night.
As it turns out, Wayne's racing a night race and won't be home till the clubs are about closed. Just not sure I want to go to a Buckhead-ish club by myself, even if it is a Secret Room event. Just getting from the parking lot to the door wearing latex would probably be a vigorous exercise in fending off weirdos.
blah.

Last week I was the lucky recipient of a bag of fresh chilies from Bonnie's parents' garden.



I went looking for a recipe for poppers, but found this delicious recipe from Martha Stewart instead.

* 6 fresh poblano chiles
* 8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast
* 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
* 5 small tomatillos (about 7 ounces), husks removed
* 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, plus sprigs for garnish
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 1 to 2 limes)
* 1 3/4 teaspoons coarse salt
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 5 ears of corn)
* 2 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled
* Freshly ground pepper, to taste

(see the link for the directions!)



I switched out the chicken for some diced grilled squash, just because. Grill 1" thick slices of squash with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper until they are just tender. Don't overcook, or it gets mushy when you bake it. I bet firm tofu or even shrimp would work well too.

Thanks to mdaniel for the heads-up. Chipotle is sponsoring free showings of Food Inc in various cities around the country.
For Atlanta folks, it's the 16th at the Midtown Arts Cinema. Go see it!!

if the person involved even sees this...

I'm so very sorry. You didn't deserve that sort of treatment.

ok, that's it for the shop this week. Next week: Pajamas made from vintage fabrics! I'm super exited about those, I might have kept a few pairs for myself, lol.

So last night I went with a fairly diverse group to Rogue Apron's showing of Food Inc. By diverse I mean we had another artist who grew up in a small farm setting, a nutritionist and avid gardener, and a tech guru who grew up on a cattle ranch. I went in not really expecting to learn anything new, but I wanted to support the release of the movie, and more importantly, I wanted to hear the perspectives of my friends about the subject. The audience in general appeared to be made up of a few people who were really into some particular aspect the movie touched on... slow food, organics, local food, etc, and a lot of other people who were probably just learning about the issues and wanted to know more. It seemed like a good mix.



Since I read an awful lot already about most of the subjects in the film, the premise was pretty familiar. However, the one thing I thought the movie did extremely well was creating a narrative that connected the dots. Meaning, it gave at least some time to almost every aspect of our industrialized food system - everything from the scope of it, to the animal cruelty, to the problems with the regulatory agencies, to the multiple health issues and immigration problems.... all the way down to the downright terrifying intellectual property precedents that are being set in court cases brought by Monsanto. In other words, there was something for pretty much everyone to relate to, and that's the first step in getting people talking and working together.

The downside was that the ending almost ruined it for me. The end is full of the sort of feel good, write your representative, vote with your wallet, we can make a difference crap that I personally thought belittled the rest of the movie. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like they spent the movie talking about how the people in charge of the system were in bed with the people ruining the system, so I wasn't really sure why we were then supposed to think writing to them to tell them we didn't like it was going to do any good.
Beyond that, I was really bothered by the ending's comparison of the fight with Monsanto to the fight with and defeat of big tobacco. Tobacco use has always been a choice. Monsanto controls most of the world's food supply in one form or another, making it anything BUT a choice for an awful lot of the world's population. See: India. It's like comparing apples and oranges.

That said, I don't know that people who are already well versed in the industrial food crisis were this movie's target audience, and as such I'll let the things that bugged me go. Judging from crowd reactions around me, I think it most definitely appealed to people who are just starting to really pay attention to their food, or who maybe only really know about one or two aspects of the problem, and if it gets more people from different facets of the issues to realize they are all fighting the same battle, then great. The lady sitting next to me seemed fired up by the movie's proposed solutions, so clearly it works for some people.

There's one piece of this argument that I'm going to save for another post, however, and that's the entitlement argument. A guy says somewhere in the movie that people who don't care about how their food is treated are the kinds of people who will also find ways to marginalize the workers who produce it, and so on. There's a whole lot wrapped up in that meat for every meal mentality that I'm going to need a few more cups of coffee to tackle.

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

It was for this:



A savory onion and tomato pie that was inspired by my friend Hannah's cooking of this pie recipe from the Food Network.

I made basically the same pie, but with a few notable changes. First, I used whole wheat cous-cous in place of bread crumbs, and I eliminated the mayonnaise. I also couldn't find fontina cheese at my local store, so I upped the parmesan and added some leftover cheddar from the fridge. I subbed oregano for the thyme (because I didn't grow any thyme this year) and probably tripled the amount of basil (yes, I have a basil addiction). I also mixed regular and cherry tomatoes because my cherry tomato plants are... exuberant... at the moment.

The pie is in the fridge waiting to be cooked for dinner. For now, I'm off to a showing of Food Inc. More on that later.

If your Grandmother was anything like mine, she grew up in the aftermath of the depression and with a real sense of thrift and value. Going through the second World War only deepened that, and I think she's forgotten more than most people my age know about living on less, frugality, and sustainability.

This is one of those little tips I learned from her: No need for those non-stick cooking sprays, just save your butter wrappers. One of those holds enough residual butter to grease a pie pan perfectly!

slowly getting back into the swing of things. first up, a few pieces of jewelry... tomorrow should see some new skirts listed.

Just a teaser of the new studio. Still have shelves to (buy and) put up and lots more stuff to put away.



my new (old) table, Annie (who I've had since I was born) and yes that IS a daybed rescued from the Michigan house. I repainted it last week and am "storing" it until my mother makes room for it in her house. (altho she may have to fight me for it, lol)



I finally have a place to put this bonsai tree where the cats won't eat it!! Yes, there might be a bunny theme in the room...

Recently, I had to make a trip up to the Great Lakes area of Michigan for a family funeral. I'd never been to Michigan before and the thing that struck me was how green and lush the area was. Small farms dotted the landscape, punctuated by the occasional horse and buggy of the Amish. My uncle's house was situated on a small lot on a hill above a sparkling and gurgling creek, the sort of thing I would have loved to play in as a child. The hammock strung across it indicated I wasn't the only one who loved the water. It was a small and simple town, the main business being the Gerber Baby Food plant, a place where my Grampa had worked for a while when his family was young. In fact, my mother was born in the Gerber Hospital.



So when people at the luncheon after the service were talking about a brouhaha involving Nestle buying out the Gerber baby food plant, it really peaked my interest. This was more than the normal small business gets bought out by corporate giant, apparently it was actually part of a larger problem that is only beginning to spark interest in my drought-ridden home state.
For those not in the know, Nestle is the number one bottled water company in the world. Most people have heard of Perrier, but the company also owns close to 80 different labels of bottled water that are marketed and sold throughout the world.
Nestle has gone on a mission to buy up private lands in Michigan and Florida (to name just a couple of places) and then use their ownership of that property to justify drilling wells and capturing the groundwater underneath to pump out into bottling plants.
The problems began to arise when their pumping meant that neighboring properties were potentially going to run out of water in THEIR wells, that local springs and lakes were going to be severely threatened, or in the case of Tampa, Florida, the drinking water supply of the city was jeopardized because Nestle sued to continue pumping, even during a severe drought.

As Nestle tried to move into areas and buy up property (often negotiating contracts with local governments in secret) upon which to put wells, varying groups contested their rights and generally made it difficult for Nestle to continue expanding their bottling operations. Nestle has fought community opposition to their wells with lobbyists, sneak tactics and outright bullying with varying degrees of success. In Fremont, where I became aware of the scope of the story, after nearby community activists helped block the construction of new wells, Nestle purchased Gerber Foods, a company which has 4 wells already in existence in their food production facility. Word amongst the locals was that Nestle cared little about baby food, but only bought the property for access to the water.

While Fremont's story is still unfolding, there is better news in other municipalities. In Mecosta County Michigan, a ruling was finally handed down Monday, after a lengthy battle, severely restricting Nestle's ability to pump, and offering back some protection to the local aquifers. Other towns are still battling Nestle's operations, but community awareness and an understanding of the need to keep public resources public IS growing. That's the good news, let's hope it continues to spread.

For Fremont, only time will tell. It's a quiet and beautiful town full of small farms and lovely old homes, sandy-bottomed lakes and crystal clear streams. Let's hope it is able to remain so.


(My great-grandmother's house in Newaygo. The house was originally on the town square, but was moved up onto the hill and the porch was added by a more recent owner)

To find out more about the water wars being waged under the soil of YOUR hometown, this is a good place to start: http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/water-campaign

Cleaning out one of the dressers I brought home from Michigan, I found these inscribed inside one of the drawers.
Ann 1885, May 1916
Mother and daughter?
It's kind of humbling to know this dresser was around for close to 100 years before I was even born.

when I have more time:

1) Food Inc

2) Gardening mistakes.

3) The absolutely devastating picture I've been putting together about my Uncle and what happened to him thanks to "research" by the CIA

4) something pretty personal prompted by Brooke's post on entitlement, youth, growing up in the 80's and paying your own way.

5) some pretty big changes coming up for my crafty business

6) this:


7) water rights, wells, bottled water and what Nestle is doing to the Great Lakes

8) potato boxes
there's more, but it's time to get to work for the day... y'all have a good one!

Molly Crabapple's new book is out!! Check it out, you do NOT want to miss this:
http://www.amazon.com/Scarlett-Takes-Manhattan-Molly-Crabapple/dp/0982340907/

A young woman orphaned in tragic circumstances (by a pair of copulating circus elephants) rises to become the foremost burlesque performer of her era: Scarlett O'Herring. Mentored by the mysterious D'Lovely, Scarlett is a fire-breather, courtesan, and the heroine of Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School founder Molly Crabapple's first graphic novel. "Scarlett Takes Manhattan" is a delightful erotic romp through the exotic world of Gilded Age New York!

I wish I could remember who's blog I got this link from thanks Ro, it was Apartment Therapy, but aren't these Japanese office supplies ADORABLE???


Yep, those are Post-It notes. I really wish I could read Japanese. They're here: http://www.kok-design.jp/SHOP/DB-FM.html
I wonder if I can find a local seller for them?

While I'm on cute overload, I'm planning to make a few of these to hang from the ceiling in my new studio:


I know they're everywhere, but I still love them. And, my new studio has super-tall ceilings, so they're perfect!

Speaking of new studio, it's finally coming along. My work table was delivered yesterday, an old 1930's slide-leaf table in need of a paint job, but oh so cute. I gave up on the floor temporarily and bought a huge rug. This will let me tackle that tar-paper problem in sections, yet still use the room. Have I mentioned how much I hate people who do things to houses without caring about destroying them? Yeah. Whole other rant! (tip: don't put tar-paper adhesive and crappy linoleum over solid oak hardwood. ever.)
I'm still in the long process of packing up my old studio (how in the heck did I have so much STUFF crammed into that space?) and moving it over, but I feel fairly confident that next week will finally see me back to work. My poor Etsy shop has been so neglected, I feel so guilty! (not to mention broke!)