Jenn Morris owls!

These little owl pendants from my friend Jenn Morris are just divine!!

Urban Eco Kit

Continuing from my post a few days ago, this is the Urban Eco Kit I put together after taking Deborah's workshop. The premise behind the kit is just to be prepared when you are out and about in the city. I was finding myself lunching at home more because I didn't want to be given disposable crap. Now, I feel like I can order to go anytime without generating so much trash by the end! I must say, it's a phenomenal feeling.
This is a super basic kit that includes:

1. Stainless Steel Container - First of all, I think that a nice presentable container makes it easier to convince a person taking your food order to use it. This stainless steel one can easily handle hot food, which makes it better than plastic. I'm still using some Tupperware type stuff, but never for hot items or heating things up. Plastic leaches cancerous toxins at really high or really lo temeratures. This stainless steel is also lighter than glass, also making it easier for the cooks in the back kitchens to deal with. This is double decker container I just ordered. Deborah uses this one when she gets take out and says she's never been turned away. The only down side to this steel is that you can't heat it up in the microwave, but I've already usually eaten the food by then.

2. Insulated Stainless Steel Mug - Again using stainless steel especially for my scalding hot tea is better than the plastic versions which I've gotten rid of. My favorite new way of using it is when I get freshly made carrot juice from the natural food store or Jamba Juice. I'm not a big soda drinker, but I suppose your could fill it up at one of those all you can drink stations.

3. Cloth Napkin - This is pretty easy. So helpful when I've got to eat on the go, sometimes in my car before a workshop. I can use it a few times before washing and when I do that, I just throw it in with my darks. I also use them to wrap my utnesils.

4. Real Utensils and/or chopsticks - I hate using disposable plastic utensils! I've also seen those Bambu sporks.

5. Extras - I have to get salsa when I get a burrito. Burritos are so sad without salsa, so I am reusing one of those small plastic containers until I find a good one.Everything fits perfectly in a lunch box size basket I got from the Philippines. I've been on a mission to really consciously reuse as much as possible.

Urban Eco Kit and reusable bags sitting brilliantly in my collapsible crate in the trunk of my car.

I've benefited tremendously from taking these local green workshops and highly recommend to friends when they are ready to make changes. It's just a good cause for everyone. I'm not just trying to pimp my friend Deb, but despite all my good intentions, I honestly don't know if I would've been able to figure out how to make doing these things, creating these systems, as easy and less daunting.

Sumi Ink Club

Fabulous Smockshop and Sumi Ink Club collaboration.

Composting: Phase 1 Out of the Garage

After 6 months of sitting in the garage, my compost bin is out!! I guess, I wanted to be more informed and now that I am, I'm realizing that it didn't really matter because all you need to know, you can learn in about 15 minutes. I kind a tossed everything in there like a salad which I'm not sure is completely right, but I am excited to experiment as I go.

Election Day 2008

No matter who wins tonight, I am happy about how this election has brought light to the honor and excitement found in public service. We really do have a responsibility to serve our communities in any way big or small, because of the simple reason that whether we like it or not, we are all interconnected. Cool buttons from my friend Emily.

9:30pm
“It’s been a long time coming,” the president-elect added, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America." Congratulations to our new 44th president Barack Hussein Obama. I feel privileged and humbled to make this moment a part of my history.

time to *VOTE* tomorrow!!!

blue eggs

Gorgeous (and real!) blue eggs from local author Jeanne Kelly at the Little Flower Candy Company. She wrote Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden. Found out that each chicken lays the same colored eggs, so these are from 5 different chickens!

The Sustainable Kitchen

Been attending excellent sustainability workshops by Creative Green that will continue through the fall. This past Saturday was The Sustainable Kitchen. The first part was talking about each person's relationship to food. What had we eaten in the last 24 hours and what did it mean? I happened to carelessly stuff pieces of tofu in my mouth using my fingers half sitting in my chair while trying to explain something to my mom with my mouth full. This boiled down to lack of mindful eating often resulting in over-eating. On the flip side, I had also got off the freeway to get a carrot juice even though I knew it would mean getting stuck in traffic because I felt myself coming down with a cold. It was in this case that I slowed down and listened to what my body needed.

The second part was about food, our kitchen set ups, and ways to be sustainable throughout our busy urban lives. Talked about organic on a budget - what foods we really should buy organic and which ones don't need to be. In general, thick skins mean more protection from pesticides. Just some of the other things discussed were safe pots, the microwave, plastic, food storage, and even solar ovens.... On my immediate list - slowly changing out my teflon pans to stainless steel or iron and starting a small herb garden.

I've been greening for the last year or so, but it seems that I'm still far behind! I like that Deborah, the teacher who happened to live as monk for 7 years, always says to leave all judgment at the door. There is no room for feeling bad. She recommends keeping a green acknowledgment list to focus on the things we have done!

Menu planning is also key to a sustainable kitchen - we must accept that no matter what, this requires extra time. This morning, we went to farmer's market, came home, made a fresh from the market lunch, used last week's tired veggies for vegetable stock, and then prepped washed and stored all the produce for easy access. So far, this will be our plan every Sunday and we will do our best keep it! Above is the photo of the veggie stock in crock pot. May be a little too many onions, but I hope to use it to make carrot ginger soup this week.

Mr. T

"I pity the fool!" The best Halloween costume last night!

being crafty

Just some of the crafty things I've been making lately -- lacy crochet, super mini quilts, the eco bag from the Eco Bag book. Testing out different things for the holiday sales.

my own to-go container

I did it again! This is the second time I got my food to go in a container that I provided! This was was the tofu cabbage salad at Blue Hen. They were super nice and didn't have any problems using my container. Last week I did it at Senor Fish and they were equally as easy going. Because this practice is clearly a new thing in general, it was better to go to the restaurants when it wasn't crowded.

I have recently put together my Eco Kit. Will have to do a post for that.

Collapsible Recycled PET Bag!

Finally - an ultra compact, collapsible bag made of *recycled* PET by ACME Bags!! There have been some really well designed, fresh looking collapsible bags out there like Baggu and Envirosax, but they are made of virgin plastics. I have been waiting for something like this. Yes, we are preventing the use of the horrible plastic grocery bags by buying the virgin PET versions, but ultimately, we want to recycle and reuse materials or use bags made of things like hemp and cotton that can completely biodregrade over time. Plastic takes literally hundreds of years to breakdown, and even when it does, it is not able to enter back into nature's cycle. Plastic is truly forever, so let's reuse it!

Recycled Watering Can

Been using my new watering can made out of a recycled jalapeno can. Love it. It was a souvenir I bought here when we were in Santa Barbara.

Barbie

Recently had a craft afternoon with Yuka... and Barbie!

De-Chlorinator for my shower

I have been hanging out with Deborah Tull, a sustainability coach here LA, and she turned me on to using a de-chlorinator for my shower head. Apparently, there is so much chlorine in our water these days. I can smell the difference between the waters - in other words, I can smell the chlorine in the unfiltered water. Booooo.

Besides less chemicals, I'm noticing less dry skin. Yay!

Eco-Bag book from Japan

My new Eco bag book from A Little Goodness on Etsy :)


These are the ones I want to make. Each one is a little art piece.

Also had to document the package it came in!

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 Denyse 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)