So, I haven't tried this restaurant yet. I have no idea how good the food is, although reviews say the burritos are wonderful, the best in Boston (just don't order delivery).
But I have to mention, this isn't Mexican food.
1. Breakfast. No Huevos Rancheros here. You can get 2 eggs, a chicken tamale and a pupusa for $8.00 though. They have breakfast burritos too, with a choice of spinach, grilled veggies, mushrooms, and homefries (in addition to eggs and meat and guacamole). They also offer pancakes.
2. Desserts. They offer Baklava, Kadaif, Rice Pudding, and Kazandibi. What the heck is Kazandibi?
3. Main Dishes. Here's where we find out it's El Salvadorian food. The tamale's are made with carrots and potatoes. Humm. Someone online said they were very good. I'll have to try them, but could they at least think of a different name? They also have "pupusa" which comes with coleslaw and tomato sauce (the description says it's a pancake filled with pork or cheese).
They have some "Mexican food" like burritos, quesadillas, tacos, and fajitas, but they offer things like zucchini frittata and lentil soup. I really, *really* miss good New Mexican food.
My favorite dishes that I can't get around here? Stuffed sopapillas, chili rellenos, and breakfast burritos with green chili. While this restaurant may be tasty, it's not going to be a stand in for what I really want. Too bad. With the exception of breakfast burritos, these dishes are not exactly easy to make from scratch.
Seriously, why couldn't they just SAY that they're an El Salvadorian restaurant?
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Knocking on Doors
I guess you could say our church practices a *little* proselytizing, but not in a traditional sense. We've got a campaign to go door to door to get registered voters to vote. According to the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, who heads the project, the effort to get people to vote in the last election (not the presidential race) resulted in a 30% increase in turnout in our precinct. That's pretty good!
Our goal is to get 500 people in our district to pledge that they'll vote. We're not trying to get new people to register, although that's important too, we're looking at people who have voted in the past. We have a list, thanks to public record and the city, of everyone who is registered, has voted in the past, but did not vote in the election 4 years ago. We go to those houses, knock on the door, talk about voting, and then bring up the ballot questions so they know what they are.
I have to admit, we've got a view on how to vote on the ballot questions this time. I guess the last time they did this it was just to get people to vote, no favoritism. But this time, we want people to vote no on ballot question 1. That means we want people to say NO please don't eliminate the tax on alcohol.
We're not prohibitionists, but we are in favor of drug and alcohol prevention and recovery programs. Right now all of the city's programs are funded by the alcohol tax. If we eliminate the tax we eliminate funding for the programs, which will either close, become grant funded (which is touch and go, let me tell you), or get funded by the state budget (which is already overburdened). Not only will programs be at risk (because of the funding issue) but people likely to abuse alcohol will have easier access to it.
We don't have a stance on question 2 (about affordable housing) or on question 3 (halving the sales tax) although I'm personally opposed to question 3 (education is funded by taxes). I remain unconvinced either way about housing. One side says it's a corrupt law that disregards permitting and leads to environmental harm, the other side says it's the best way to ensure low income housing in a very expensive state.
I've never gone door to door before, but I guess there's always a first. I'll let you know how it goes!
Our goal is to get 500 people in our district to pledge that they'll vote. We're not trying to get new people to register, although that's important too, we're looking at people who have voted in the past. We have a list, thanks to public record and the city, of everyone who is registered, has voted in the past, but did not vote in the election 4 years ago. We go to those houses, knock on the door, talk about voting, and then bring up the ballot questions so they know what they are.
I have to admit, we've got a view on how to vote on the ballot questions this time. I guess the last time they did this it was just to get people to vote, no favoritism. But this time, we want people to vote no on ballot question 1. That means we want people to say NO please don't eliminate the tax on alcohol.
We're not prohibitionists, but we are in favor of drug and alcohol prevention and recovery programs. Right now all of the city's programs are funded by the alcohol tax. If we eliminate the tax we eliminate funding for the programs, which will either close, become grant funded (which is touch and go, let me tell you), or get funded by the state budget (which is already overburdened). Not only will programs be at risk (because of the funding issue) but people likely to abuse alcohol will have easier access to it.
We don't have a stance on question 2 (about affordable housing) or on question 3 (halving the sales tax) although I'm personally opposed to question 3 (education is funded by taxes). I remain unconvinced either way about housing. One side says it's a corrupt law that disregards permitting and leads to environmental harm, the other side says it's the best way to ensure low income housing in a very expensive state.
I've never gone door to door before, but I guess there's always a first. I'll let you know how it goes!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Coat Shopping
Last winter I realized I needed a warmer coat. I've got a wool princess cut that I adore. It's from Cardiff, and has served me well for the past 9 years. I hope to keep wearing it for a long time yet too, because I love it love it love it. Well, I love it until it's 10 degrees outside and sleeting. Then it's not so awesome, even with a few layers of fleece and wool socks. Nothing seems to keep me warm enough around here.
See, it's the coastal wind. We live right by the water, so the humidity, or whatever you'd call it, that permeates the air makes winter snows feel sloppy. It seeps into the bones in a way I've never really experienced before. Even when it's warmer than other areas (because the coastal effect also makes it less likely to get cold enough to actually snow) it feels more miserable.
So this year I decided to find a coat BEFORE winter begins. I realized around January last year that my coat just wasn't cutting it, but decided winter wouldn't last *too* much longer. And I was right, but I was also miserable for a few months.
But did you know how many puffy coats there are to choose from? And how expensive they are? While I normally love to shop, I pretty much hate coat shopping. First of all, many coats (at least many super warm coats) really don't flatter the figure. Searching for that ONE coat that doesn't make you look like you're 50 pounds heavier can take hours of searching. Meanwhile, as you try every coat on, you get to feel like a sweating walrus, because even in winter, department stores keep their buildings warm enough to make a coat too hot to handle.
To avoid the process, this year I decided to search online first. I'd pick out the best features, read the reviews, limit my choices and go in for the kill. REI had a bunch of options so I did my fact checking and headed out. I STILL ended up stuck between a few choices and came home empty handed. More down but no rain proof? Rain proof but super heavy? Removable vs. non-removable hoods? Marshmellow vs. Gestapo?
I came back home and immediately checked the internet again, hoping to find more reviews, better online prices...and was directed to.... Sacks Fifth Avenue.
On a positive note, the price for an Arctic Down coat from REI is the exact same from SFA. I suppose that makes sense, although I'm surprized to see the same coat in both stores. But the big difference? Oh, how about those other 96 coats that cost up to $2000. Won't be buying them.
But you know what I noticed? All those pretty, well fitting down coats that I've seen on people walking by on Newbury St., yeah, they must be very expensive coats. You can tell, just by the pictures, that a down coat that doesn't make you look like the Michelin Man from Ghostbusters, one that has style and finesse, costs some serious $. I mean, some are downright beautiful. I wish I could convince myself the investment is worth it. I mean, my last coat has been good to me for almost 10 years. And who knows, maybe I can find a pretty coat somewhere less well known for their high prices. Or maybe they could have a sale...
But I really want the agony of buying a coat out of the way and there is no way I could justify a coat that expensive.
WHY does coat shopping always have to be so painful?!
See, it's the coastal wind. We live right by the water, so the humidity, or whatever you'd call it, that permeates the air makes winter snows feel sloppy. It seeps into the bones in a way I've never really experienced before. Even when it's warmer than other areas (because the coastal effect also makes it less likely to get cold enough to actually snow) it feels more miserable.
So this year I decided to find a coat BEFORE winter begins. I realized around January last year that my coat just wasn't cutting it, but decided winter wouldn't last *too* much longer. And I was right, but I was also miserable for a few months.
But did you know how many puffy coats there are to choose from? And how expensive they are? While I normally love to shop, I pretty much hate coat shopping. First of all, many coats (at least many super warm coats) really don't flatter the figure. Searching for that ONE coat that doesn't make you look like you're 50 pounds heavier can take hours of searching. Meanwhile, as you try every coat on, you get to feel like a sweating walrus, because even in winter, department stores keep their buildings warm enough to make a coat too hot to handle.
To avoid the process, this year I decided to search online first. I'd pick out the best features, read the reviews, limit my choices and go in for the kill. REI had a bunch of options so I did my fact checking and headed out. I STILL ended up stuck between a few choices and came home empty handed. More down but no rain proof? Rain proof but super heavy? Removable vs. non-removable hoods? Marshmellow vs. Gestapo?
I came back home and immediately checked the internet again, hoping to find more reviews, better online prices...and was directed to.... Sacks Fifth Avenue.
On a positive note, the price for an Arctic Down coat from REI is the exact same from SFA. I suppose that makes sense, although I'm surprized to see the same coat in both stores. But the big difference? Oh, how about those other 96 coats that cost up to $2000. Won't be buying them.
But you know what I noticed? All those pretty, well fitting down coats that I've seen on people walking by on Newbury St., yeah, they must be very expensive coats. You can tell, just by the pictures, that a down coat that doesn't make you look like the Michelin Man from Ghostbusters, one that has style and finesse, costs some serious $. I mean, some are downright beautiful. I wish I could convince myself the investment is worth it. I mean, my last coat has been good to me for almost 10 years. And who knows, maybe I can find a pretty coat somewhere less well known for their high prices. Or maybe they could have a sale...
But I really want the agony of buying a coat out of the way and there is no way I could justify a coat that expensive.
WHY does coat shopping always have to be so painful?!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Friday Night
I think one of the nicest things about Fridays (now that I'm married and boring) is staying in.
I don't miss Friday night dates AT ALL. Really, after a long week I don't want to get dressed up and go out, not on Friday anyway. I want to veg on the couch, cuddle with the husband, play with the cats.
Honestly, I don't know how people do it. I can't imagine having enough energy right now to go dancing. Did I ever have energy on a Friday night? I suppose I must have; Sunday's have never been for sleeping in around my house. But then I've never been much of a partier, and my brain stops functioning at a certain hour, usually around 11.
So I'm sitting here on the couch waiting for a pizza to arrive (half sausage and mushroom, half pepperoni and olive) looking through the online Netflix options, and debating whether or not I'll allow myself a beer.
Who in the world would ever have thought that *this* feels like a perfect night.
I don't miss Friday night dates AT ALL. Really, after a long week I don't want to get dressed up and go out, not on Friday anyway. I want to veg on the couch, cuddle with the husband, play with the cats.
Honestly, I don't know how people do it. I can't imagine having enough energy right now to go dancing. Did I ever have energy on a Friday night? I suppose I must have; Sunday's have never been for sleeping in around my house. But then I've never been much of a partier, and my brain stops functioning at a certain hour, usually around 11.
So I'm sitting here on the couch waiting for a pizza to arrive (half sausage and mushroom, half pepperoni and olive) looking through the online Netflix options, and debating whether or not I'll allow myself a beer.
Who in the world would ever have thought that *this* feels like a perfect night.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Primarily Speaking
The primaries are in, and the worst guy for the job (in my opinion) got the Democratic nomination.
So I've decided to change parties.
Right now I"m registered in the Green Party. Yes, I know, they don't have any chance of putting a candidate in power anytime soon, but my idealism led me to join. I want to support a 3rd party, and I agree with the Green Party's emphasis on the environment. AND, by being a part of the Green Party I'm helping build their numbers. I think in NM if they have 5% of the population they get money and the ability to participate in the debates. So there was a reason I joined.
But the thing is, I've missed out on two primaries now. First, Scott Brown, now Tim Collins. I'm beginning to realize how important primaries really are. I called the city to find out where I could vote for the primaries, because I didn't want another Scott Brown moment, and was told I couldn't vote. Doh, that's right, I'm not a Democrat. Either everyone else is registered Green, or just didn't vote. There was only an 8% turn out in South Boston.
Now I'm stuck deciding if I'll vote for the Republican candidate, who I liked better than Tim Collins, or not. The lingering problem I have with Patrick Brennen, at least after listening to the primary debate hosted by our church, is that he shot down spending for all programs we (as a church) said we wanted to see in the community (gotta tighten the purse strings) but didn't offer any options to help those that would be cut from spending. It's a problem I frequently sense from the GOP.
Now, I tend to agree with balancing a budget, and recognize that some programs probably SHOULD be cut. I mean, if a state is overspending, it can't continue indefinitely. But what are you doing to do about the people who still need benefits?
From Brennen I heard he couldn't support the Substance Abuse Recover Act (which taxes alcohol and uses the money to fund recovery programs). He couldn't support allocating money for YouthWorks, a program that gives youth from underprivileged areas jobs for the summer so they can build skills and experience in the workforce. He wouldn't support moving state money from Bank of America to local banks that cap usury at 10% interest.
There was always something wrong with the bill that was introduced. There was always a reason to tear it down, but never an answer. Never a suggestion that we could improve the acts or money allocations by one means or another. In other words, lets just cut spending without resolving issues. It's like the businesses that cut employees but keep expecting everyone to do the same amount of work. Eventually it falls apart. And frankly, the Alcohol Recovery Act is self funded, tax alcohol. The Bank of America move doesn't cost any money, it saves it in reduced interest.
So Nick Collins said he'd do everything that we wanted. Do I believe him? Not sure, he was a little unclear in his speaking, a little slick in his bearing.
By next election I'll be an Independent (although it won't matter by then, at least this year). In Massachusetts (so far the only good thing I've seen politically in this state) an Independent can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries.
Sometimes I want to just withdraw from politics entirely. But then I think of the kids I teach and the problems our communities face, and I know we need to keep fighting to ensure programs get the funding they need to flourish. Who would pick up the slack otherwise?
And case in point? At the Catholic organization where I work there's a food pantry. People get one bag of groceries once every TWO MONTHS. We give out bags of groceries every day. That's a lot of people with very little food. Even if the private sector would take over charity, there wouldn't be enough to go around.
So I've decided to change parties.
Right now I"m registered in the Green Party. Yes, I know, they don't have any chance of putting a candidate in power anytime soon, but my idealism led me to join. I want to support a 3rd party, and I agree with the Green Party's emphasis on the environment. AND, by being a part of the Green Party I'm helping build their numbers. I think in NM if they have 5% of the population they get money and the ability to participate in the debates. So there was a reason I joined.
But the thing is, I've missed out on two primaries now. First, Scott Brown, now Tim Collins. I'm beginning to realize how important primaries really are. I called the city to find out where I could vote for the primaries, because I didn't want another Scott Brown moment, and was told I couldn't vote. Doh, that's right, I'm not a Democrat. Either everyone else is registered Green, or just didn't vote. There was only an 8% turn out in South Boston.
Now I'm stuck deciding if I'll vote for the Republican candidate, who I liked better than Tim Collins, or not. The lingering problem I have with Patrick Brennen, at least after listening to the primary debate hosted by our church, is that he shot down spending for all programs we (as a church) said we wanted to see in the community (gotta tighten the purse strings) but didn't offer any options to help those that would be cut from spending. It's a problem I frequently sense from the GOP.
Now, I tend to agree with balancing a budget, and recognize that some programs probably SHOULD be cut. I mean, if a state is overspending, it can't continue indefinitely. But what are you doing to do about the people who still need benefits?
From Brennen I heard he couldn't support the Substance Abuse Recover Act (which taxes alcohol and uses the money to fund recovery programs). He couldn't support allocating money for YouthWorks, a program that gives youth from underprivileged areas jobs for the summer so they can build skills and experience in the workforce. He wouldn't support moving state money from Bank of America to local banks that cap usury at 10% interest.
There was always something wrong with the bill that was introduced. There was always a reason to tear it down, but never an answer. Never a suggestion that we could improve the acts or money allocations by one means or another. In other words, lets just cut spending without resolving issues. It's like the businesses that cut employees but keep expecting everyone to do the same amount of work. Eventually it falls apart. And frankly, the Alcohol Recovery Act is self funded, tax alcohol. The Bank of America move doesn't cost any money, it saves it in reduced interest.
So Nick Collins said he'd do everything that we wanted. Do I believe him? Not sure, he was a little unclear in his speaking, a little slick in his bearing.
By next election I'll be an Independent (although it won't matter by then, at least this year). In Massachusetts (so far the only good thing I've seen politically in this state) an Independent can vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries.
Sometimes I want to just withdraw from politics entirely. But then I think of the kids I teach and the problems our communities face, and I know we need to keep fighting to ensure programs get the funding they need to flourish. Who would pick up the slack otherwise?
And case in point? At the Catholic organization where I work there's a food pantry. People get one bag of groceries once every TWO MONTHS. We give out bags of groceries every day. That's a lot of people with very little food. Even if the private sector would take over charity, there wouldn't be enough to go around.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Yogurt
It turns out that a half gallon of milk makes a WHOLE LOT of yogurt. Or, in my case, semi-yogurt.
AFTER starting my yogurt in the slow cooker I read that I shouldn't use ultra-pasteurized milk. Pretty much all organic milk on the shelf is ultra-pasteurized, which has led me in the past to consider going milk non-organic. I keep buying organic though because I figure it keeps that many more fields pesticide free (organic cows have to eat organic grass...)
Anyway, I got more of a Kefir appearance, but it does taste like yogurt, and it is thicker than plain milk. I'm hoping to go buy some fruit and make fruit yogurt drinks out of it. Maybe I'll find some recipes that call for yogurt too. This is like a repeat of the cucumbers. Can you preserve yogurt?
Anyway, I loved my recipe and I will definitely make yogurt again (on a smaller scale), so I thought I'd share!
I got this recipe from this site:
Step 1: Pour 1/2 gallon NOT ULTRA-PASTEURIZED milk into slow cooker (2%/skim/lowfat is fine)
Step 2: Heat on Low setting for 2 1/2 hours (set a timer and go about your life)
Step 3: Turn off slow cooker and let sit for 3 hours. Keep the lid on. (again with the timer)
Step 4: Measure 2 cups of the warm milk into a separate bowl and mix in 1/2 cup yogurt with live cultures.
Step 5: Return mix to slow cooker, cover, and wrap the slow cooker in a towel overnight or 8 hours.
Okay, so this is like making bread, do something, wait, do something, wait, etc., but it's incredibly easy, not messy at all, and I have to believe regular milk would have turned out a nice thick yogurt. Even kefir-like it tastes good.
I put my milk on at 4pm then checked it 3 hours later (after dinner), then mixed the culture in around 10:00.
Now, any ideas of how to use all this good stuff?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Squirling Away
Its beginning to feel a bit like autumn! I think we're about 2 weeks behind, which somewhat connects with the maple syrup harvest this year. Anyone else a bit concerned by the warmer temperatures and longer than usual summer? Ah well, it's too beautiful a day to complain.
Anyway, on my last trip to the farm I ended up with 10 pounds of apples. They're "seconds" so they were cheaper, and not really in too bad shape either. What do you do with 10 pounds of apples? Make apple sauce of course!
(I'd already started cutting up apples and putting them in a pot before I took this picture, but you can see that I have at least a few apples :)
I canned and processed! Now I've got 6 pints of apple sauce....and about 5 more pounds of apples!
So even though it's warmer this season, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to get my fall garden planted in time. Today would have been a great day to do it, but I don't really have a bed set up for new plants. My other plants are still slowly putting out veggies, so I'm not quite ready to pull them up yet. Well, I did pull up the potatoes, but that's in the knotwood infested area that I'm about to (ye gads) spray with double strength round up.
Still, I've done a pretty good job this summer I think. I've managed to squirrel away more than I ever have before, even if I am pretty far from a full backyard homestead.
Here's what I've got so far:
2 large freezer bags of whole frozen tomatoes. These can be thawed individually or a few at a time. I plan to make sauces with them as I need to.
3 small portions of tomato sauce. I'd like to have a ton more sauce, but we keep eating the tomatoes. I started freezing tomatoes to make more sauce, but just left them whole and frozen. I plan to use the frozen sauce for pizzas when I don't really feel like doing a bunch of cooking.
2 tupperware boxes and 2 small zip lock bags of Rainbow Chard. I'm guessing these will go into soups sometime when it gets cooler.
2 small ziplock bags of squash, most likely for soups
1 large bag of carrots, probably for soup, maybe for a side dish.
1 small bag of spinach, definitely for soup, I hate frozen spinach otherwise.
2 small bags of green beans.
9 heads of broccoli (and 3 more growing on the plants as of September). All for soups, I just need to get and freeze some soup to go along with it.
1 pound of potatoes
5 heads of garlic (decedents of my grandfather's garden)
9 jars pickles (and I still have enough cucumbers for 9 more jars if I can get to it)
12 jelly jars of grape jelly (hopefully to be traded or given away as gifts).
6 pints of apple sauce
I'm currently making yogurt, but I don't know if it'll come out alright or not. I read too late that I shouldn't use ultra-pasteurized milk. I had a bunch of raw milk from our Raw Milk Festival outing yesterday, but wanted to experiment with something less expensive on the first try. Oops, guess I should have gone ahead with my original plans.
But instead of worry about that now, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day. I've been puttering in the garden and baking, so the day has already been a good one. Time for yoga, or maybe a nap.
But before I go.... Here's the latest wildlife found in our garden. Mama snake and 3 babies. I sure hope they aren't poisonous, and I really hope the cats don't get too interested in making friends with the locals.
Anyway, on my last trip to the farm I ended up with 10 pounds of apples. They're "seconds" so they were cheaper, and not really in too bad shape either. What do you do with 10 pounds of apples? Make apple sauce of course!
(I'd already started cutting up apples and putting them in a pot before I took this picture, but you can see that I have at least a few apples :) I canned and processed! Now I've got 6 pints of apple sauce....and about 5 more pounds of apples!
So even though it's warmer this season, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to get my fall garden planted in time. Today would have been a great day to do it, but I don't really have a bed set up for new plants. My other plants are still slowly putting out veggies, so I'm not quite ready to pull them up yet. Well, I did pull up the potatoes, but that's in the knotwood infested area that I'm about to (ye gads) spray with double strength round up.
Still, I've done a pretty good job this summer I think. I've managed to squirrel away more than I ever have before, even if I am pretty far from a full backyard homestead.
Here's what I've got so far:
2 large freezer bags of whole frozen tomatoes. These can be thawed individually or a few at a time. I plan to make sauces with them as I need to.
3 small portions of tomato sauce. I'd like to have a ton more sauce, but we keep eating the tomatoes. I started freezing tomatoes to make more sauce, but just left them whole and frozen. I plan to use the frozen sauce for pizzas when I don't really feel like doing a bunch of cooking.
2 tupperware boxes and 2 small zip lock bags of Rainbow Chard. I'm guessing these will go into soups sometime when it gets cooler.
2 small ziplock bags of squash, most likely for soups
1 large bag of carrots, probably for soup, maybe for a side dish.
1 small bag of spinach, definitely for soup, I hate frozen spinach otherwise.
2 small bags of green beans.
9 heads of broccoli (and 3 more growing on the plants as of September). All for soups, I just need to get and freeze some soup to go along with it.
1 pound of potatoes
5 heads of garlic (decedents of my grandfather's garden)
9 jars pickles (and I still have enough cucumbers for 9 more jars if I can get to it)
12 jelly jars of grape jelly (hopefully to be traded or given away as gifts).
6 pints of apple sauce
I'm currently making yogurt, but I don't know if it'll come out alright or not. I read too late that I shouldn't use ultra-pasteurized milk. I had a bunch of raw milk from our Raw Milk Festival outing yesterday, but wanted to experiment with something less expensive on the first try. Oops, guess I should have gone ahead with my original plans.
But instead of worry about that now, I'm going to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day. I've been puttering in the garden and baking, so the day has already been a good one. Time for yoga, or maybe a nap.
But before I go.... Here's the latest wildlife found in our garden. Mama snake and 3 babies. I sure hope they aren't poisonous, and I really hope the cats don't get too interested in making friends with the locals.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Defensive Driving
We bought a car. No, not the Mini, ANOTHER car. Turns out a car that won't run in the rain isn't a good investment in the Boston area. No, we haven't sold or returned the Mini yet either. I kind of expected my husband to be more solid about returning the car to the guy who sold it to us, but he hasn't been. Neither of us has the umph to sue him, and would it really help in the long run, even if we won? A court order to pay us wouldn't really guarantee that he'd pay us, would it?
Anyway, I realized that I REALLY wanted a car.
Recently I visited a blog called "Simple, Green, Frugal" where one of the writers mentioned she was enjoying being without a car for a while, but wasn't sure it would last. I sympathized with her. It's wonderful to live somewhere you don't NEED NEED NEED a car. When I posted that I recently decided to buy a car again I did so to show encouragement, not to convince her living without a car isn't an option. Sometimes convenience wins out over simple, green, or frugal.
But I've been feeling more and more defensive about my decision. The commenter who posted right after me said "I would NEVER go back to two cars in a family" and my non-driving friends, although non-judgmental, have mentioned they wouldn't buy a car based on transportation time. They've adapted to the long travel times. And I KNOW in my heart of hearts that I'm not doing what I feel is best for the environment.
But, despite feeling a bit guilty about the oil consumption, I feel so much happier knowing I can go wherever I want at the drop of a hat. Sure, parking is still a consideration, so I might choose not to go, or I might take the bus or the T, but I'm no longer feeling confined.
Perhaps someday I'll be able to live without a car, and that feeling will make me feel free. Right now being carless brings the opposite emotion. Until my mindset changes, I'm going to try not to feel too guilty for enjoying my new little Yaris.
Anyway, I realized that I REALLY wanted a car.
Recently I visited a blog called "Simple, Green, Frugal" where one of the writers mentioned she was enjoying being without a car for a while, but wasn't sure it would last. I sympathized with her. It's wonderful to live somewhere you don't NEED NEED NEED a car. When I posted that I recently decided to buy a car again I did so to show encouragement, not to convince her living without a car isn't an option. Sometimes convenience wins out over simple, green, or frugal.
But I've been feeling more and more defensive about my decision. The commenter who posted right after me said "I would NEVER go back to two cars in a family" and my non-driving friends, although non-judgmental, have mentioned they wouldn't buy a car based on transportation time. They've adapted to the long travel times. And I KNOW in my heart of hearts that I'm not doing what I feel is best for the environment.
But, despite feeling a bit guilty about the oil consumption, I feel so much happier knowing I can go wherever I want at the drop of a hat. Sure, parking is still a consideration, so I might choose not to go, or I might take the bus or the T, but I'm no longer feeling confined.
Perhaps someday I'll be able to live without a car, and that feeling will make me feel free. Right now being carless brings the opposite emotion. Until my mindset changes, I'm going to try not to feel too guilty for enjoying my new little Yaris.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Grape Jelly
When my neighbors cut down the Concord Grape Vine that bordered my yard, I thought I was out of luck for grapes this year. Fortunately however, the grapes left on the dead vine branches ripened in the sun anyway. Most of the grapes weren't as plump as normal grapes would be, but they were the right color, and juicy. I wasn't sure about eating them straight out, so I figured I'd make either wine or jelly. Wine was a bit over my skill level for now, so I settled on grape jelly.
This is the harvest a few weeks ago, when I pulled all the grapes from the vine. I just keep getting more cucumbers!
Here's a better close up of the grapes:
Concord grapes aren't like "normal" grapes you'd get at the grocery store at all. They have a very thick skin that slips off easily. The taste is strong too, and despite a kind of weird texture, they can be an addictive snack. I forgot to take a picture of the next step (boiling down the grapes), so you'll just have to imagine these beauties in a pot with about 2 cups of water. After boiling the grapes, I drained them with cheesecloth and left the juices sit overnight (because one recipe said this would eliminate "crystallization" whatever that is).
While I planned on making jelly last weekend, my cousin from Buffalo visited so we biked around the city and took a boat trip along the Charles River, ate Ethiopian and Afghani food, and basically didn't do much more. So my juice sat for about a week before I got a chance to make my jelly.
I didn't really have a great recipe, and I had trouble deciding which online recipe to use. Some didn't use pectin, others were freezer jelly recipes, many used a thermometer, and the pectin I bought didn't have a recipe for grape jelly either, so I kind of improvised using other recipes as a baseline.
I put in 4 cups of grape juice, 5 cups of sugar (most recipes called for 7!) and after they boiled together added 1/2 packet of pectin. I initially forgot to scoop off the foam, but quickly figured out that I needed to. This did cause a problem for some of my jars though, so there may be a few jars of jelly with globs in them.
After a I scraped off the remaining
foam, I processed the jelly in a water bath for 10 minutes (looking at other jelly recipes for direction here). When I pulled them out they began popping immediately.
Then, because I had some time on my hands, I decided to make labels for my jelly and pickle jars. I used the homemade paper I made a few weeks ago and pasted the labels onto the jars with a glue made from flour and water.
Here are the results :)
I plan to either give some of the jelly away as presents for Christmas or take some to the Laurel Street Trading Post in a few weeks.
Gerd loves his pickles and says they remind him of his grandmother ("Granny"). Since we used her recipe I figured I would give credit where credit was due.
This is the harvest a few weeks ago, when I pulled all the grapes from the vine. I just keep getting more cucumbers!Here's a better close up of the grapes:
Concord grapes aren't like "normal" grapes you'd get at the grocery store at all. They have a very thick skin that slips off easily. The taste is strong too, and despite a kind of weird texture, they can be an addictive snack. I forgot to take a picture of the next step (boiling down the grapes), so you'll just have to imagine these beauties in a pot with about 2 cups of water. After boiling the grapes, I drained them with cheesecloth and left the juices sit overnight (because one recipe said this would eliminate "crystallization" whatever that is).
While I planned on making jelly last weekend, my cousin from Buffalo visited so we biked around the city and took a boat trip along the Charles River, ate Ethiopian and Afghani food, and basically didn't do much more. So my juice sat for about a week before I got a chance to make my jelly.
I didn't really have a great recipe, and I had trouble deciding which online recipe to use. Some didn't use pectin, others were freezer jelly recipes, many used a thermometer, and the pectin I bought didn't have a recipe for grape jelly either, so I kind of improvised using other recipes as a baseline.
I put in 4 cups of grape juice, 5 cups of sugar (most recipes called for 7!) and after they boiled together added 1/2 packet of pectin. I initially forgot to scoop off the foam, but quickly figured out that I needed to. This did cause a problem for some of my jars though, so there may be a few jars of jelly with globs in them.
After a I scraped off the remainingfoam, I processed the jelly in a water bath for 10 minutes (looking at other jelly recipes for direction here). When I pulled them out they began popping immediately.
Then, because I had some time on my hands, I decided to make labels for my jelly and pickle jars. I used the homemade paper I made a few weeks ago and pasted the labels onto the jars with a glue made from flour and water.
Here are the results :)
I plan to either give some of the jelly away as presents for Christmas or take some to the Laurel Street Trading Post in a few weeks.
Gerd loves his pickles and says they remind him of his grandmother ("Granny"). Since we used her recipe I figured I would give credit where credit was due.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Evil Ragweed
I haven't needed allergy medicine in several years. I've got a few different ideas about why, but the whole reason isn't important now because they're back (cue creepy music).
I just KNOW I'm going to end up with a stupid sinus infection. I should have started medicine a week ago, but I kept thinking it would all go away. But Tuesday I found out WHY I was having such difficulty. It's not just any allergen, it's ragweed. UGGG.
But did you know that you can track allergens on weather.com? Right now our weed count is high and very high. It doesn't say what pollen is high though. I'm on a quest for a better allergen predictor now. Any site recommendations would be appreciated!
I just KNOW I'm going to end up with a stupid sinus infection. I should have started medicine a week ago, but I kept thinking it would all go away. But Tuesday I found out WHY I was having such difficulty. It's not just any allergen, it's ragweed. UGGG.
But did you know that you can track allergens on weather.com? Right now our weed count is high and very high. It doesn't say what pollen is high though. I'm on a quest for a better allergen predictor now. Any site recommendations would be appreciated!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)