Tuna juice & handmade cards

I've been a busy bee lately. I have made taken the canned tuna (Remember: that "Tuna" is a name for the Pricky Pear Fruit) syrup and been mixing delicious drinks out of it~ some syrup, lemon lime soda and either tequila or vodka! white rum may even be good too~ or coconut rum! The possibilities are endless. If someone were to have a ladies night sort of party this would be a PERFECT drink to have mixed up.
I have also been taking the juice, which I have in a mason jar in the freezer, scraping some "Tuna" ice off and mix lightly into drinks to add a pink pizzaz! Then I took the thawed juice and added a bunch to some orange juice I had from concentrate. It is so delicious, but Trey won't drink it! I think the fabulous fuchsia turns him off. Adding just a tiny bit of the juice adds the color, but not so much the flavor. So you could add it to orange juice for an interesting twist on the orange color of orange juice, with only adding a very slight hint of another taste.

you've heard of pink lemonade~ but pink orange juice?

I got some cardstock from target ($7 for 75 colorful scrapbook sized pages) along with patterned gift wrap for a $1 a roll. I got a bit of gift wrap from my parents too (for embellishments). I used a glue stick to glue the wrapping paper on the folded cardstock (I was able to get 4 cards from each page: 2 large and 2 small). I hand painted some with "noel" and "joy" while others got a Santa. One got a snowflake my friend made. I went through magazines I got for free and found pages that had little to no words and were pleasing to the eye. These ones went to some of my family members in Massachusetts.

I still need to photograph the rest of the cards and their envelopes. Now I can make nice cards for an occasion from wrapping paper, magazines, old posters... the possibilities seem endless!
Oh and I harvested some broccoli and lettuce~ yum!

Amish White Bread

I just have to post a photo of the Amish white bread I have been making from this recipe. It turns out great every time I make it. This loaf I had frozen for a few weeks before thawing out to use. I keep it stored in the refrigerator, so it has last over a week after thawing and hopefully a bit longer for me to finish off this loaf.

Dr. Crook

I have had insurance off and on during my life. Recently I have obtained health insurance again so I can make sure my health is good so I can avoid having it again, hopefully ever.
With the plan you must get a check up to receive a discount~ so I did. This was supposed to be covered 100%, but I received a bill in the mail for a little under $20.
That's when I got to see how much "doctors" charge for a check up. $750!
I called the billing dept and attempted to discuss my outrage~ how could they charge that much money for a simple check up and bloodwork~ things I have gotten for free through the health department for years. The desk demon replied "well thats what they charged your insurance company." I told her that my opinion of doctors is that they are nothing but crooks and thanks to their office my opinion has been concrete.
I am outraged. Are there honest doctors in America who want to help people and not become filthy billionaires leaching the life out of people?! I am seriously thinking about moving out of this country, there are so many problems! So many things that I do not agree with! I want acres and acres of land to distance myself from this terrible lifestyle people call American. Now I am thinking just 5 acres in a good community in a good country would be plenty.

Today just seems so dark and I hope we can pull ourselves out of this. I see there are groups who are trying but there have been for over 30 years! Human rights went away and money took over a long time ago...

Container Housing

Trying to cure boredom I browsed a web column about strange architecture. One of the pages showed some of the container housing that is becoming popular and mentioned it to my partner Trey later on. He said, "why don't we just bury a container then for our house?" BING! A light went off in my head... so now I have been researching container housing and sketching plans. Now I have been seeing old containers for sale on sides of roads, or ones seemingly abandoned.
It would be important to get a rust free container and I would have to use a plastic sheeting to seal around once I fill in the earth so that the rain water wouldn't rust it.
I also ask myself, can just one 40 foot container be enough? At first we drew plans for incorporate 2 containers, joined together. But I feel that would be a lot of work, perhaps just a single container could be enough for a home and have an additional container on the property as a garage and work space.
Why buried underground? Living in the metal Bus I became very aware of how metal quickly heats and cools. 10 feet underground remains a constant temperature of around 50degrees, thus requiring very little to heat it when the outside temperature is say, 10 degrees. In the summertime vents and windows can be opened to warm the inside. I plan to bury my container at least 90% underground, and with the remainder roof being a living roof.
This is a very far off plan unfortunately unless I wanted to en debt myself and obtain a loan. But I would want to ensure that containers are strong enough to support at least 10 feet of earth.
Until then I can google photos of already made container housing to help me plan the interior of mine.

Rice Vinegar Success

After 5 weeks of fermentation I tasted my rice vinegar I created following these instructions. I peeked in my closet a few times during the weeks and noticed no bubbling and was worried something had gone wrong. However it tastes good and very sweet. I heated the vinegar over a double boiler to set the flavor (kill the yeast) and stuck it in the fridge. Now I just need to finish up my bottle of extremely delicious home made French salad dressing so I can experiment with rice vinegar dressings.

Prickly Pear AKA Tuna Syrup

I've been wanting to harvest the prickly pear fruits, called tuna, for a year now. While traveling on Thanksgiving I found a lonely prickly pear cactus in front of a closed up restaurant in a run down town. Weilding a pair of tongs, I twisted the fruits from the paddles, being careful of the sharp pricklers. I tossed 'em in a plastic bag and took them home.
Today I juiced about half of them which gave me about 10 cups of juice! I searched the internet for how to prepare prickly pears and found the various ways to remove the spines. I tried to peel the skin carefully but it was difficult to do, so I tried soaking the fruits in water for an hour, swishing them around and rinsing them to remove the spines. This removed most, but not all. Lastly I found Chile Chews blogger site and followed the directions she used to prepare prickly fruit juice. The one difference I did was I used an old T-shirt to strain the juices through because I was scared a spine may squeeze through my cheesecloth.
I made the syrup following her recipe for the most part and the bit that spilled during canning tasted very good. I can't wait to try it over ice cream! I may even try to use it as a substitute for maple syrup in granola.
No matter how careful I was I did end up with spines. Most of them I was able to remove with tweezers but I have a few that broke off close to the skin and are very irritating. Next time I plan to use tongs, hold the fruit over a fire and burn the little spines off.
With my left over 7 cups of juice I plan to freeze some of it, and make jelly with the rest. I want to try to use the low sugar pectin, so I will report how that goes.

Overcome The Recapitulation

We've had enough of these politician's wars
All we need right now is love
We've had enough of these military scoreboards
All we need right now is love

Turn it up
The future is held in the hands
Who right the textbooks
Ignorance is bred when falsified thinking is taught
To the youth instead of
Past mistakes and mind elevation,
Like the graves that manifest destiny has created
So we can build our
Capitalist consumer based economy,
To build, market,
And sell commodities we don't need
But we are trained to believe like celebrity imaging
Well I'm here to take my feelings back and I hope That you will be with me

I can't wait for that day
When I hear us all screaming.
Ahhhhhhhhh,
I can't wait for that day
When I hear us all singing together,
Ooooohhhhhh

I can't wait for the day
When I hear us all screaming,
HERE COMES THE REVOLUTION.
When every race color
And creed of militant human beings stand up
With fists together for substance and true meaning
Because right now we got our feet stuck in cement
We're too caught up in
A material status quo punishment
And one thing is for sure
And that's the sun will always set,
Darling you can bet our moon is quite the opposite
So baby take a axe to your makeup kit
Set ablaze the billboards and their advertisements
Love with all your hearts and never forget
How good it feels to be alive
And strive for your desire
Just cause you can't see
Your cage doesn't mean that you are free
When there are laws against nature
But its ok for you to be
Addicted to over the counter prescriptions
And magazines dictate all our human relations

I'm not buying, no I'm not giving in
To a culture that objectifies all of our women
I'm not buying, no I'm not consuming
The apathetic dribble on the news media's chin
I'm not buying, no I'm not giving in
The lies that are sold through textbooks to children
I'm not buying, no I'm not consuming
Cause the positive will
Always overcome the negative right

And we stay inside, its right outside,
We stand in line
We all enjoy the fences to keep it at bay
But I'm not giving in

RX Bandits, Overcome. This is why I am the 99%. We Must Overcome!

Foraged

I've been researching wild edibles and a romp in the woods produced some large wood sorrel. I meant to eat it in a salad but I forgot about it, so now it sits in fridge in a cup of water.
I also found a dead, dried tendril of seed pods (without seeds) that were slightly sharp when crushed but smelled like licorice. Could it be dead Anise Hyssop? I do not know, but there was a lot of it along the path in the woods.

Home Made Mayo is easy for a beginner

To go with all this bread I made mayo to make chicken sandwiches. I am not a huge fan of mayo and I have purchased just one tub of miracle whip in my life, none of mayo. Recently I had olive oil mayo on a sandwich and I just loved it! Knowing that everything tastes better made fresh at home I looked up some recipes. I followed Alton Brown's recipe on making mayo, but I made some changes to go along with what I had at home.
I used just regular white vinegar and added just a smidgen less. I also used olive oil, which gave my mayo a nice light green color (the mustard color came out more in the pic though).
When adding the oil I added it a teaspoon at a time while I was whisking quickly the whole time, towards the end I slackened a bit and added the oil a little quicker because the mixture had "emulsified." This is easy to do with just a whisk but I did have to switch arms a few times, because you want to keep the quick movement of the whisk so it the mayo doesn't turn out runny. I used a bit less than a cup of oil also, because others had theirs come out runny. It came out perfectly and although I am not brave enough to try it on its own, I mixed it up into some chicken salad tried a bit on my Amish white bread, died and went to heaven. :)

Thankful for bread

This November I am being thankful for learning how to make my own bread! My mom & dad bought me a 50lb bag of bread flour Friday, and come Sunday they already had a loaf of focaccia and 1/2 dozen bagels. Last week I also made Amish sweet white bread. Here are the links to the recipes I used with some alterations I made written below...
Amish White Bread ~ I cut all of my ingredients in half with this one, and it came out very light & sweet. Next time I will cut down on the sugar though, it is a bit too sweet for my taste. Also it is a bit chewy, but good for sandwiches.

Easy Bagels~ Making these I had to measure out my sugar and salt with a kitchen scale per the directions. Everything was measured perfectly and once all the flour was combined the dough was much too wet still. Turns out I had proofed my yeast in 1/2 cup more water than needed. So I added more dough and followed the directions anyways~ boiling the bagels before baking them, letting them rise again after shaping, etc. They came out great! The outside is crisp with a soft center~ just a perfect bagel.

Focaccia Bread~ I followed the recipe on the back of the 50lb bag of bread flour and it told me to used 1 1/3C water and 3 C flour. If you've made bread before, this may seem like too much water to flour ratio. With my hands all covered in sticky dough I had my boyfriend keep emptying more flour little by little until I had something that was workable. It was very soft still, not like the dough I am use to making, but since I never made focaccia before, I don't know if the dough should be soft and gooey or a bit dense.
After the first rise I divided the dough and lightly patted it into two round loaves. After the second rise they were touching on the pan so I moved the smaller one to another greased pan, and in doing so make the dough fall. I baked them both as they were and they both turned out delicious and different!~ The large one was more just a round loaf of rosemary bread, while the smaller, flattened one (on the left in photo) was more like naan or flat bread. I guess the larger one was more like the focaccia I have had before. I LOVE having a rosemary bush growing in my neighborhood.

Here's an updated look of my garden, I have had to move the buckets to keep them from falling within the shadow of our apartment building. I wish I had been able to get a South facing apartment. Lobster (my cat in the pic) also moves around the yard to lay in the sun. I fertilized my broccoli and the lettuce and they are doing great. I keep picking little salads off my lettuce plants and they do not mind. I also have some resident lizards that have been eating those horrible bugs off my plants~ thank you lizards! When I have a my garden later in time, I may try to put out a rock for lizards to sun on and attract them to eat the bugs. However I do not want to attract snakes to eat the lizards.
Yesterday I caught a small black snake in my sun room. I got one of my long metal stakes that has a loop at the top, grabbed the snake up in the loop and tossed him into the yard. Pretty easy~ but fun! I'm glad to practice "snake wrangling" with a small non-threatening snake.

Garden Update

Minus Photos at the Moment, sorry my one reader. :)

I've got broccoli and lettuce that is doing great! I got a 4 pk of starters for 1.50 each, planted about 4 weeks ago, fertilized a few days ago and they are doing great! The weather has started to cool finally and the 40degree nights are great for these guys. The lettuce is slow growing but I just fertilized it yesterday, and I keep picking the lower leaves for salads and tacos. Buttercrunch is good.
However there's these horrible bugs that ATE my catnip and now they are getting on my plants. I unfortunately sprayed the broc because it doesn't have the heads yet. But the lettuce I don't feel comfortable spraying since I eat it right off the plant... I know I can wash it but I just feel like it sinks in... So I go out and flick em off the plant here and there.
The bugs fly and are square-ish in shape, with a hard shell. They look like itty bitty dark chicklits~ that weird square gum in vending machines, except slightly smaller on one side. WHAT ARE THEY!? I don't know but they KILLED the catnip. I harvested what I could, but goodbye yummy friend until next year!
Also got some mint growing inside because i wanted a lovely green, good smelling plant that grows "readily indoors." So it was doing great and then it started dying, and then I noticed leaves were getting MUNCHED. A big fat green caterpillar ate my plant. It had some green shoots, so I repotted it, and set it by the window. Low and behold, leaves are growing back quickly.
Carrots~ I started them months ago, I don't even remember when. And what small little things they still are. I did a good thinning out and fertilized. Maybe that will get them growing good. The little ones I pulled were white little taproots that smelled like carrot! they should go through the winter Ok if I cover them in extreme cold (which is not often here in the deep south) and should have nice spring carrots.
I now know that I need to start my seedlings EARLY and get them outside ASAP because an early crop is essential, before the temps start staying above 100 degrees.

Rice Vinegar easily made at home

I've been interested in making vinegars lately. Not the cheap white vinegar, but vinegars more suitable for marinades and dressings. My boyfriend makes home made red wine and once this batch is done I will be making red wine vinegar.
But until then I am experimenting with Rice Vinegar. Not to be confused with Rice Wine Vinegar, simple Rice vinegar is made with just rice, water, sugar, and yeast.
I searched around online for recipes and some were varying. So I went for the middle ground, but also did some things a bit different.
I soaked the rice for 12 hours or so, in the fridge, covered.
Then I strained the rice out with cloth, and measured the murky water that resulted. I had close to 3 cups, so I added a bit of water to get exactly at 3.
Then I put it in a pot with 3/4 C sugar per 1 C water. Stir til sugar dissolves completely.
Cooked it 20 minutes over a double boiler~ one pot sitting on top another slightly smaller pot of boiling water is what I use, some people might actually have a double boiler, but I really don't know what that is.
Then I let it cool, but I let it cool for 8 hours because I left the house and didn't come back until later. My mixture was now at something like 4 cups because of the added sugar.
I added 1/4 TBS (almost 1 tsp) of yeast to the mixture and stirred well. Poured in a glass jar with a coffee filter on top secured with rubber band, the yeast can ferment the rice syrup and breath and release gas. Yuck! I set it in my closet in my house on a top shelf, since "heat rises"- even though my apartment is a steady 68degrees...
Going to bed I wondered if I should have heated the rice mixture a bit so it was warm to activate the yeast... So when I made green tea with breakfast this morning I set my glass jar close to the burner. Then with gloved hands I held if over the steal with the bottle just in the water, only for 30 seconds or so. If it gets too hot it will kill the yeast. I did that twice, with a break in between and set the container close to the burner after.
It appeared to work~ now there were little bubbles all in the container, whereas before there were just a few near the top. My Yeast is aliiiiive! It's Alliiivvee!

Happy Halloween

Garden Update

To the left you can see my Catnip plant is doing awesome. (My cat Bootsie Collins is in the background) Catnip tried to go to seed so I pinched off the head to keep it from doing so. Harvest time is near. Fresh catnip doesn't do much for the kitties, they just sniff and walk away. Once it is dried they have more interest. Until then, I have found that fresh catnip is AWESOME on pizza. Just rip some up and throw on top of sauce before you cheese is. It has a wonderful taste. I think it would also go great with steaks and pork although I don't eat pork. I don't find much on the internet about people using catnip in recipes but I have been using it as a go to spice since my other choice is Basil, which my strain is very strong flavored, almost like licorice. Next year I will try a few different varieties of basil to find my favorite- this one is just a bit too strong. I still use it anyways though :)
The sun has moved in my yard, so I had to move my plants now that their old spot is shaded by the apartment buildings I live in. I also got complaints about my buckets so I reduced the amount, pulling up my beloved jalapeno (because its too cool now) and bell peppers (who got diseased somehow but still produced 3 delicious peppers. Thank you Bells!) I said I was sorry and thank you, and tossed them into the woods. Most people are happy about my plants and dont have issues... but some elderly ladies like to make trouble with us young'uns so they do their best. Since I don't have wild parties and disturb anybody they find other things to complain about.
I planted potatoes and garlic at stupid times- mid summer. I just felt like sticking some that started growing in pots and see what happens. The potato plants got pulled and I was surprised to find some teeny little tatos in the dirt I dumped from the bucket.

Hello Tatos!

the jalapeno farthest from the tatos is the only one I got from seed. Either my soil mixture was not right, or they do not like transplant. Next year I hope to find out more.
My garlic is doing something weird~ but appears to be going along a lot better now the weather has "cooled"- that means it is in the 80s and not 110s! I transplanted a bulb back in July and a small clove had already formed.
There is a feeling i get from growing my plants my brings me great joy. I look forward to the day I can do it full time, producing a bountiful harvest in the summer to bring me and my partner food all winter long- giving us time to travel and return when its time to plant again.

Diatomaceous Earth

the fleas native to this area are super fleas. my carpet has been treated with chemical spray, and diatomaceous earth which is said to kill insects by tearing teeny little holes in their bodies so they dry out. Well, today I am wearing my flea catchers (knee high socks) because these things don't work. I have applied frontline to my cat every 3 weeks since June. I also have been bathing him in flea bath~ let soak 5 to 6 minutes and fresh from the tub he still has fleas all over his big tan belly. what gives? Am I the only thing that can kill these fleas? I have heard of washing your pet in Dawn Dish Detergent, but I do not want to risk my best friend's health and safety. Dawn is for dishes... and my dreads (I am washing obsessively now because I don't want fleas in my hair!)
Naturally with fleas, come worms. Cats lick the fleas from their bodies and get worms. Diatomaceous Earth is great for this! Make sure to get the food/animal grade and not the pool grade. Pour a little bit of the dust into your cat's WET FOOD and mix well. I did this once a day for 5 days or so and no worms. Also if you take a pinch of ROLLING or CHEWING tobacco (because these are additive free, unlike cigarettes) and mix into wet food, this will also kill the worms but may give your pet diarrhea. The small amount of tobacco is toxic for the worms but not the pet. For larger animals, like dogs, give them a little bit more.
The de-wormer I bought from PetSmart was pretty expensive and did not, repeat, DID NOT work. Maybe the D.E. will work for your fleas too~ ours are a special, evil breed.
Must have something to do with the blackhole of a town that I live in.

update Nov.7~ so the d.e. is the only thing that kills the fleas living in the carpets. After treating my whole house the fleas have finally all died to the point that we do not have them jumping on us any longer. I am no longer afraid to sit on the carpet. I have been applying the d.e. to my cat's fur on his back where he can't really reach it, but doing so carefully as to not make the dust fly everywhere into our noses and lungs. This has decreased the flea population of Lobster (my cat) but he still has them. I applied a knock-off Frontline (which has the same active ingredient) and still, he has some fleas.
D.E. did appear to get rid of the worms for Lobster but it also appeared to make him constipated. We have given Bootsie (my outside cat) tobacco mixed into Tuna to kill her worms twice, it appears to work for about a week and they return, along with her extreme hunger. Maybe we need to try more tobacco but I just don't want to make her ill. I know that smoking a cigarette makes me, a nonsmoker, feel very odd indeed. I wouldn't want to wish that upon my kitties!

Police Brutality Vs Peace

(copied from my other blog~ Laura's Westy)
This is a ten minute long video taken from MSNBC on the NYPD's attack on peaceful protesters at "Occupy WallStreet" The powerful words spoken by Lawrence O'donnell bring tears to my eyes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgr3DiqWYCI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I know this doesn't seem to have much to do with my Westy~ but it has to do with you and me every day of our lives. This also includes our vehicles and whatever life choices we make. I have been fortunate up to this point not having a run-in with the "law" but they're eyes glisten and glaze over with dreams of brutality as I peacefully putter by. This post is not to assume that all police officers are bad people, just a majority of them. Thanks for facebook my friends share, almost daily, videos of police brutality and they continue to get away with it. Here are some of my favorite quotes from O'Donnell during his clip (just in case you don't have time to watch it, but you really should because its important.)

"this weekend a few trouble makers turned a peaceful protest against wall street greed into a violence burst of chaos, the troublemakers were carrying pepper spray and guns, and wearing badges."
"Police were grabbing people for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON, crushing them on the pavement and arresting them."
"We will post this video on our blog and you won't find ANYONE doing ANYTHING that is legal grounds for arrest."
"Cops know they can always get away with it.. no mayor, no police chief will call them on what they think of as a little too tough"
"This is an AMERICAN policework that we are watching... Everyday in American police cross the line and abuse citizens, EVERDAY in America police get away with it."
"Everything the police done this weekend to these protesters they have already done to someone else with no video cameras rolling"
"They know just how much latitude their dept gives them on abusing citizens, they do it because they know they can...because they can get away with it."
"NONE of them will be charged..."
"The dept has already said the officers acted appropriately, cased closed."
"AMERICAN POLICE HAVE ONE AGAIN GOTTEN AWAY WITH ANOTHER CRIME AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE THEY ARE SWORN TO SERVE AND PROTECT"

Now let's have a BBQ!

sidenote~

A Wall Street Hedge Fund Manager made $5 BILLION DOLLARS last year

That's about $480 MILLION DOLLARS per month

That's about $120 MILLION DOLLARS per week

That's about $24 MILLION DOLLARS per day

That's about $3 MILLION DOLLARS per hour

And yet his Federal Income Tax Rate is 15%

Is it any wonder there is a protest

Hula Hoop. For Your Health!

Last week I heard a fat lady lost 130 lbs in a year by hula hooping! First she started at 10-15 min a day and worked her way up to an hour and a half a day. A friend of mine "facebooked" that hooping burns 100 calories in 10 minutes. I am putting these stories to the test and plan to hoop at least 30 minutes each day. Its fun and I am learned to dance with my hoop. Now I can twirl about, walk and jump while hooping. Still working on the transition from hooping with my hands and dropping it to my waist~ i can do it, but its messy looking. For $5 at wal*mart go get yourself a hoop! Just make sure its the larger size, as adults need the bigger one, unless you are skinny mini! ;) (I am medium sized and the large glittery wave hoop in the kids section is great)
Hoop On!

dreams of teeth

in my dreams i usually loose or am about to loose my left canine tooth. Last night I lost most of my molars, but avoided my front teeth as most of them were loose too and I didn't want to smile toothlessly! Woke up and all of my teeth are in my head securely. Whats up with that?

Sneaky Trans Fat

We all know trans fat isn't good for you... and labels love to read "0 grams trans fat"
However!~ for a product to claim 0% in their nutrition facts there needs to be a "trivial amount" which is 0.5grams or less PER SERVING.
Take a look at YooHoo for example. At 1gram of fat it appears to be "healthier" than my soy milk, reading further down through the list of unpronounceable ingredients appears "partially hydrogenated oil" or... TRANS FAT. That means if I was feeling super choclatey today I may want to drink 16 ounces (2 glasses) of YooHoo. That earns me 1gram of trans fat. You are supposed to not eat more than 2g of trans fat a day (I try to always shoot for zero but like I say... trans fat is sneaky!) so if I eat another 2 servings of peanut butter or cool whip or some other "food" boasting "zero trans fats!" I may end up being a fatass.
Moral of my blog post~READ THE INGREDIENTS OF YOUR PRODUCT

lower fat lunch decisions

today when looking into my sparse fridge I had few choices for what to have for lunch. Ignoring the neapolitan ice cream sandwiches calling to me from the freezer, I reached for the romaine and paused at the fat content of my "lite" caesar dressing~ 8g of fat. The ice cream bars at 5g of fat won, their influence is strong.

Garden Update

Well I finally got carrots sprouted~ I did the old method of putting the seeds in a moist towel, but soaking them in a sprouter and then rinsing them like how I make sprouts may work just as well. It worked for my spinach~ the weather is finally cooled off enough now to get a good start. I want to start some broccoli but I haven't found any seeds yet.

My catnip has grown a lot in the past week! But today I picked up it's basket to re-arrange my plants and a root was ripped from the earth beneath it! I hope it will be Ok... I should repot it in a bigger pot I suppose... I love the basket look though and I don't want to disturb the roots by ripping it out of the basket~ so I am going to just set the basket in a bucket of soil and leave it at that until its time to harvest it completely. Next time I should re pot it before it gets so big. Luckily I have a whole bunch of seeds still for next spring!

Lookin' a little wilty now...

My Jalapeno plants are still going strong, one of them has a whole set of new peppers growing. Now that is getting cooler out I worry if they'll have a chance to fully develop. They grow a lot smaller than other jalapenos I see at the store or ones my friend grows... But they still pack a punch! I'll have to make some more Pinappeno hot sauce! Pineapple juice + jalapeno + vinegar + bit of salt and blend! You can cook it down to make it thicker too... but we just left it runny.

Easy & Yummy Cheese Crackers

I made my own cheese crackers today~ I used Cabot Sharp Cheddar cheese and it is far superior to other cheeses~ you can use whole wheat, but I just used unbleached all purpose flour to get as close to a Cheezit taste as possible. Man, its delicious to succeed!

Recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 3/4 cup butter, chilled
• 1 cup shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese
• 6 tablespoons cold water, or as needed

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, white pepper and mustard. Cut in butter with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in Cheddar cheese. Stir in water one tablespoon at a time, until the dough is able to hold together. Press the mixture into a ball, wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a rectangle that is 16x12 inches. The dough should be about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 1x3 inch strips. Place the strips onto the prepared baking sheets spaced about 1 inch apart. A pizza cutter works great here.
   
4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden and crispy. Cool completely before storing.

Mine came out thicker because I used a cup as a rolling pin, so my bake time was closer to 25 minutes. Just keep an eye on them and check often. Mmmm goes good with the 3 pepper hummus I made with them!

Bible LOLs

taken from this website~ this is a letter to Dr. Laura who stated on her radio show that "homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance"

Here's a letter somebody with more sense (of humor) & intelligence wrote to her~

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath.Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle- room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.

James M. Kauffman, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus Dept. of Curriculum,
Instruction, and Special Education University of Virginia

has the government finally done something RIGHT?

"Throughout our history Americans have used petitions to unite around issues they care about. We the People provides you with a new way to petition the federal government to take action on a range of issues. And if your petition attracts enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it is sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response."

I have quite a few petitions up my sleeve already...

recycling those disposables...

we live in a disposable world, full of one time use objects that will sit around for thousands of years, wondering why we threw them away. Even relationships appear to start becoming disposable (one night stands, bar friends, school friends you never talk to once graduated)...
I re-use my plastic baggies and because of this I can count on one hand how many times I have purchased ziplock baggies. Once a raw meat is bagged or it starts looking stained or old I will toss it and begin anew. But why? Why should I use this great plastic bag with a zipper on it, only once?
Disposable razors~ are you supposed to only use them once? I have been using them regularly and one will last me about a month, or more! No nicks, no cuts... 4 years ago I ran out of shaving cream, and I never bought it again, regular soap works perfectly. Although Glamor magazine told me that it would increase nicks & cuts, I actually feel like I have fewer because I am free to use a lot more soap than I would with "shaving cream." I am getting away from my point here.
Plastic yogurt containers, maraschino cherry jars, spaghetti sauce jars, these all make wonderful Tupperware that is free (essentially) and you can give your leftovers to your friends and not care about ever getting it back because you have another container of yogurt about finished.
Ran out of spice? Save that spice jar to put your own home made seasoning blends in~ see below for Chef Paul Prudhomme's Redfish Magic seasoning. (It turned out wonderful, but I think my white pepper is lacking in potency.)
It puts a smile on my face to see an object have several different uses, put a smile on your face too and reduce, reuse, recycle!

the color white

I clean houses for a living. I curse the person who invented the white counter top, toilet, shower stall, appliances. It is easy to clean a surface, but de-staining a surface is different. Home-made cleaners with vinegar or baking soda or soap nuts will clean your home and rid you of odors and bacteria. But they may not take the stains away... Much of my "cleaning" time is devoted to removing stains.
The emergence of "stainless steel" in my client's kitchens makes me shudder, now I have a harder surface to "clean." Stainless steel appliances streak easily, leaving you to purchase cleaners to create a streak free shine that mimics cleanliness. I begin to wonder if the appliance companies are in with the cleaner companies, making profits in both areas of market.
Sounds plausible.

When I create my home I will try my hardest to find old retro tubs, sinks, toilets, etc; they came in colors like pea green, baby blue, and baby girl pink. I will choose anything but white NOT because I don't like to clean, but because I don't like to SCRUB and apply harsh chemicals that I breathe in and get on my skin. No white walls, no white counter tops, no white floors, no white cabinets. No white. Cream, maybe. Yellow? Yes. Pea Green? It may be considered ugly but paired with lovely colors, I can make it work.
For now I have my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to help me. I can only wonder what awful kinds of product exist in this little white foam "eraser".

Prudhomme Redfish Magic Seasoning

I love Chef Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish Magic seasoning. It is superb on any meat, especially chicken! The skinny bottles of his seasonings go fast for how much they cost, leading me to wonder what the ingredients are so I can make it at home. Thank Science for the Internet!

today I will be following this recipe to create my own "RedFish Magic"
3 teaspoons salt, optional
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons paprika

Prudhomme's redfish magic became so popular in the 80s that the Redfish entered the endangered species list. Too bad they didn't know his seasoning is good on anything! Now you can enjoy your own home made bottle of Redfish magic without his creepy fat face staring at you from the bottle... unless you like it then buy one of his seasonings, use it up and refill it with your own! Everyone can get what they want :)

Sprouts!

I started growing my own sprouts in March. It is fun, easy and so much cheaper to start your own sprouts at home! I first obtained alfalfa sprouts from Ebay, but quickly found myself becoming bored with them. Then I found the Sprout People! They have so many different varieties and mixtures of sprouting seeds to tantalize your tongue! I bought 3 different types~ The Russian Mix, Beanies Super Awesome Mix, and the French Mix. They are all different and delicious!
Just be careful of how much you start~ I did 2 tbsp of the French Mix and it became huge!(See Photo)
Today, however, I started 1/2 tsp of the Russian and French mixes (lettuce varieties) to grow in the garden for a fall crop. The Sprout People's website even tells you how to grow their sprouting seeds in your home garden. Fast & friendly people- they really know their sprouts!

Smoothie Goodness

Some people pay $5 for a smoothie. Some people are also crazy!
All you need is a blender, fruit and liquid.
Bags of frozen fruit (usually picked at ripeness, not beforehand like what you get in the produce section) cost around $2-$3. If I buy 3 bags I can make well over 10 smoothies with them. Fruit juices come in cans (like Jumex at 33cent 8oz can), bottles, frozen concentrates, and in fruit(if you got the time to juice your fruit.
Got a pint of berries which half are beginning to mold? Toss em and freeze the un-molded berries. Bananas starting to get spots? Unpeel em and freeze em too!
Here are some suggestions for smoothie success:
Pick your fruits: Strawberry, Blueberry, Blackberry, Cherry, Mango, Peach, pineapple, banana, guava, kiwi, etc!!
Pick your juice: Fruit juices like apple, pineapple, grape, orange, cranberry; water, green tea (or any tea, I have only tried green and its great!), Soy Milk, Regular Milk, Almond Milk... you get the point here...
Pick your add ins: Honey, Yogurt (plain or flavored), powdered greens mix, or VEGGIES! That's right. Take a handful of spinach and throw it in there. The fruit will completely over power the taste of the greens.

How do I know how much to use? I always end up making a bit too much... but what I do is add my fruit to the cup of my choice, then add my liquid almost to the top. Throw it in the blender and blend away!
Now you have at least half your daily dose of fruits/veggies! don't it feel good?

Pindo Palm Jelly: Take 2

Today I am going to attempt the pindo jelly again. This time I am going to follow these directions:

Palm Fruit Jelly
5 cups juice (see cook's note)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 box Sure-Jell fruit pectin
5 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon butter, to prevent foaming

Cook's note: Gather fruit when the first fruit begins to fall from the tree, Chris says. People are happy for you to take it, especially if you give them a jar of jelly in return. I collect it in a plastic clothes basket and let the fruit ripen outdoors until it begins to fall off the stalk, usually in a day or two. I covered it with screening this year to keep flies away! Edit: I used a little more than what is pictured and came up with just at 5 cups of juice. Whew!

Rinse the fruit thoroughly; it is not necessary to remove the 'caps' on the fruit as they will cook off. EDIT: I removed the caps and pits, as the pits may change flavor and texture. Fill a large pot with the fruit leaving several inches at the top. Cover the fruit with water, bring it to a boil, and then cook at medium for 1 hour uncovered. Let the fruit cool down for an hour. To collect the juice: Scoop portions of fruit and juice into a jelly bag over another container and squeeze the bag to get the juice, some of it will appear thick, and then discard the pits. (This is the messy part). You may notice that your juice may vary in thickness, and you can combine all of it and stir to get a more homogenous batch before you begin the jelly making. As I measure for each batch, I sieve it through a handkerchief. (clean and free of hair or fuzz) to remove any small bits of pulp.
To make jelly: In large pot (pasta size) combine palm juice and lemon juice, and stir in box of pectin, using a whisk. Heat to a boil and stir in sugar and butter. Bring mixture back to a boil and turn heat down to medium high and continue to cook for 13-15 minutes. Monitor closely so that it does not boil over. Palm jelly requires longer cooking time than other jelly.

Pour jelly into half-pint sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace, and process for 5 minutes.

*except I am going to remove the pits from the fruit (which is a bit difficult as the pulp clings to the pits securely) before I boil them for juice. I read that the pit may secret an oil substance that makes the fruit more difficult to gel, perhaps it is because of the fruit's naturally high content of pectin that the pit's job is to keep the fruit from becoming a jellyball on the frond. That would be Willy Wonka-esque!

Success!

My jelly has jelled successfully! The recipe calls for a juice of one lemon, one lemon equals about 2 tablespoons juice. i only had 1 tbs, but that didn't cause a problem. This batched turned out more orange than yellow color the last batch was.
There is another frond ripening today~ so beginning tomorrow I will collect the fruits to make more batches. I hope to sell them at the next festival I attend.

Pindo Syrup??

I've found some more information about Pindo fruits and learned the error of my ways. My last batch of Jelly is more of a syrup, delicious to use on pancakes, waffles and ice cream! It is too runny to be called jelly. Why?? I asked myself. Because the pindo takes longer to jell than other fruit, so you must boil it with the pectin longer. Also I left to seeds in when I cooked and juiced the fruit, this could have caused the mixture to not jell as the natural oils from the seeds keep it from doing so. Luckily there is so much dang fruit on the tree that I can try all day and still have more tomorrow. Last night I picked a fresh batch of fruit that had ripened and fallen into the bushes below. With gloves on, I grabbed handfulls and filled about 2-3 inches of the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and it didn't even look like I had taken any!
So... what did I learn? Remove the pits and cook jelly mixture longer. I also learned a great way to test your jelly before you can it. Take a spoonful of your "finished" product in a very cold spoon. Sit it in the counter and wait for it to come to room temperature. If its jelly on the spoon and doesn't fall off, you're done! If not, try adding some more pectin and try, try again!
I am also thinking about buying a few of those cans of Jumex fruit juices at the store (usually 30cents a can) and creating a mango/pindo jelly and a few varieties. Fun!
If you are as interested in making jelly from the pindo as I am here are some links that helped me greatly:
Greenish Thumb
Eat the Weeds
Ehow

Pindo Palm Jelly

Also known as the Jelly Palm, the Pindo palm produces small orange fruits in the summer time. Each front of fruit ripens at a different time, giving you fruit all summer long. The taste is similar to apricot, mango and peach; but with a different (yet delicious) twang. The other day I picked a few fruits, just enough to cover the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket. Then we had a massive storm that picked the rest of the fruit for me, and threw them in the bushes. Now I am more prepared for the next batch. (Photo: Six 8 oz jars Pindo Jelly and Two jars Banana pepper rings.)
I followed this recipe:

2 cups prepared palm fruit juice

3 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup liquid fruit pectin

Remove pits from palm fruit, barely cover with water and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. Crush fruit and strain through a jelly bag. Measure into a saucepan. Add sugar to juice and mix well. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. At once stir in pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim off foam and pour quickly into hot, clean jars. For long term storage, the USDA recommends heat processing all jams and jellies in a waterbath canner for 5 to 10 minutes. Yield about 4, 8 ounce jars.

As far as the "Jelly Bag" goes, I made mine ghetto style and just tied up my fruit in a handkerchief and dangled it over a bowl to catch the juice. Once it cooled more I crushed them.
The amount of fruits I picked yielded me about 4 cups of juice so I can make another batch probably.
I also bought the liquid pectin, as specified, and used just one envelope of it, which looked to be about 1/2 a cup.
I also cut the sugar down a whole bunch, just measured 3 almost full cups of sugar. I put it all in a one quart jar, but I didn't fill it all the way up, I poured the rest in a small mason jar as a "tester". This is my first time making jelly EVER, so hopefully it turns out good! It sure smells wonderful.

Here is my set up to drip the juice out, thinner fabric may work better)

EDIT~ Aug.9
This morning my jelly is still a bit too liquid. I understand that some jellies do take a few days to set, so I am going to sit this one out until tomorrow or the next day and remake it. Luckily it is easy to fix jelly! you can find out how at here (How to Fix Runny Jam or Jelly), at pickyourown.org. So either way I come out winning! Looks like the next front is ripening, if I get good at this I can send jars of Jelly to my friends. I missed a majority of the fruits that fell, and the amount I collected gave me a good amount of juice. If i play my cards right I could make several dozen cans of jelly this summer! Now that's the kind of work I like!

Edit~ Aug 11
Today I fixed my jelly. I also made another two 8 oz jars since I had just enough juice and pectin left over. They are still setting but I can tell that this time probably worked. The mixture became very firm and gelatinous towards the end. Also the bit that remained on the bottom of the pan was jelly~ and delicious! I added lemon juice the second time around, as I added this in when I fixed the first batch.

I also canned Banana Pepper rings while I was at it. A farmer at the farmer's market was selling Banana Peppers for 5 cents each! I should have bought them all. But instead I bought just enough to make Two 8 oz jars. I boiled two jars of filtered water and one jar vinegar. Meanwhile I crammed banana peppers, cut into rings, into sterilized jars. In each jar I added a pinch of sea salt (regular table salt may discolour the fruit and/or water), 1/3 of a huge garlic clove, and some black pepper corns. In one I added a pinch of sugar, but I wanted to see what difference would be to leave it out. Then I poured the water/vinegar mixture to fill the jars most of the way.

Everything got processed (canned) in boiling water for 10 minutes. You can probably get away with just doing it for 5 minutes, but I wanted to make sure I did it right. You know you are doing it right when the cans Pop! when they are cooling, this is when the cans seal. Pretty neat!


Who wants some jelly??

Palm fronds, are they useful?

Here in the devil's buttcrack, South Carolina; its so hot even my bell peppers are stressing out. It makes me wonder why people like to live here, and what kind of edible plants grow well. Now I know that tea would grow great, as well as vanilla and of course hot peppers.
Near where I live there are palm trees, and lately they have been dropping these small, orange, persimmon-like fruit. I brought one in, tore the skin with my finger nail and licked it. The smell reminds me of peach a little, and the taste is very different, with a slight spice to it. I am not a foodie so I cannot tell you what notes and hints are there... But I can tell you that it is a bit too strange to eat on its own. So I have been looking on the internet for hints as to what on earth I can do with these fruits.
So far I have found this
"Jelly palm (Butia capitata), a South American monoecious palm native to Brazil. The large cluster of yellowish-orange drupes is produced on a stalk near the base of the curved leaves. The drupes have a fleshy, sweet mesocarp with the flavor of apricots. They are eaten fresh or made into jellies, jams, cakes, pies and other delicious deserts. "
But I have not found any sort of recipes for it. I was thinking perhaps I can also make a scented oil or potpourri from it? There are millions of these little fruits (see photo? There are at least 4 of these trees in my yard) which makes me happy that I don't have to worry about landscaping as I rent, but I hate to see something of use to go waste.
Do you have any ideas for these? I am sad it isn't a date palm, that would be preferable.

I miss this place

Gazing across the miles, lungs full of fresh air, nothing seems stagnant. Only beauty exists here.

Wheat Bread

While making pizza the other night I noticed the recipe for whole wheat bread on the back of my King Arthur wheat flour.
I had most everything I needed already, so i got some molasses and went to work. It turned out very tasty but it did crumble a bit towards the end, and in the middle. I maybe should have cooked it a bit longer?
I still have half a bag of flour left and I have made bagels, bread, 2 pizza crusts and pancakes. Go Me!
Since the bread became crumbly I made breadcrumbs. So far I have made baked chicken tenders with them~ sooo yummy! Chicken cut up into strips, dipped in flour, then egg, then the crumbs. I'm not sure if you need to dip them in flour first or not, but it works either way!

To make crumbs, leave bread out to sit around and get stale. Then bake it a little bit on very low heat, like 200 degrees to thoroughly dry it out. Then add spices of your desires and chop!
My cucumbers are coming back! this makes me soooo happy~
they were forming teeny cukes, turning brown and dying. Leaves were dying, it was awful. But now I have soooo many happy little cucumbers, I can't wait to make so many pickles!

Farmer's Market! For your health!

Saturday I went to the local farmer's market and got 2 large zucchini, 3 medium yellow squash and 6 pickles for $3! Usually farmer's markets operate a weekend day (or both) and a week day, and every town I have ever lived in has had a farmer's market. This one is pretty small, but still wonderful! I like to go Tuesdays so I get a chance to talk to some of the farmers and get advice.

I made Farmer's Market Lasagne.
It turned out so delicious that my neighbors were bartering food for it!
1 chopped zucchini (and I added 1/2 a squash)
1 chopped sweet red pepper
1/2 cup shredded carrot (store bought for me)
3 cups baby spinach (also store bought, too hot now for it)
1 26oz jar pasta sauce (Full Circle Organic Roasted Garlic was on sale and info read healthiest)
1/2 15oz jar ricotta
6 regular uncooked lasagne noodles, broken in 1/2
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Step 1: Cook the zucchini, squash, pepper & carrots however you like, just until slightly tender. Heat up pasta sauce (I don't think I did this now that I think about it...)
Step 2:Layer 1/2 cup sauce, 4 noodles, 1/2 veggies, 1/2 cheese & repeat! Bake for a WHOLE HOUR at 350 degrees. Cover with foil if it browns. The reason for the caps is that I always forget to look how long it takes to bake and starve in the meantime. ;)

I also made Honey Glazed Chicken Stirfry
This turned out super easy and delicious, the sauce is like terriyaki
12 oz skinless/boneless chicken breasts
2 tbs honey (local)
2 tbs vinegar
2 tbs Orange Juice
4 tbs soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
4 cups veggies
2 tbs oil for cooking veggies
2 cups hot, cooked rice

Use a WOK~ they ROCK!
Step 1: cut everything up. For veggies I used peas, onion, broccoli (frozen, store bought) squash & zucchini of course, and shredded carrot for color & oomph! Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Step 2: Mix up your sauce in a bowl~ honey + vinegar + OJ + soy + cornstarch.
Step 3: Cook the veggies in oil 4 minutes or so, until tender. Remove from wok and put the chicken it. Cook it all the way, pile it all in the middle and add your sauce. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly and add the veggies in, tossing and coating it all in deliciousness.
Serve over rice, aint it nice?!

Tonight I am going to make pizza again, and I think I am going to do some jalapenos, cheddar cheese... and chicken sausage. Yum! :)

Pickles and Hot Sauce

I grew some cucumbers and they were yummy, but I don't prefer plain ol' cukes. I like 'em pickled. Refer to page 212 in Back To Basics for info and recipe. (don't have this book yet? Well you're crazy because it's awesome!) Ok, so it may be in the mail... I will tell ya what I did.

Pickled Cukes~ I sliced my cukes into spears and soaked them in Brine (1/2 cup salt : 1/2 gal water) it is best to use salt with nothing else in it or else the cukes will turn color or the water will cloud. I used regular table salt because that is what I had, so the water is a bit murky but that is just because of the additives...
I let them sit on the counter for about 8 hours and drained them. Meanwhile I brought vinegar, salt, sugar and water to boil. I put the cukes in a mason jar along with jalapenos I grew and some garlic. Usually you want to add some fresh Dill here, but the dill got over run with weeds and I haven't started anymore.
After you're smelly vinegar mixture is done you pour it into the jars with your cukes & spices. Now put on your lid and boil it in water for 20 minutes. This cans it! Take out your jars with some tongs and let cool. Enjoy!

Pineapple Jalapeno Hot Sauce & Spicy Pickled Cucumbers

Pineapple Jalapeno Hot Sauce~ I have 4 jalapeno bushes in 5 gal buckets (now I know you only need 2-3 gal per bush) plus some young plants that started from seed and take forever. Its wetter here than their natural habitat so I've had to pick some peppers early. I made hot sauce with these cause they are so dang hot! !
We had around 10 or 15 peppers, put in a blender, added vinegar, sea salt and pineapple juice. It turned out wonderful! Just add a little bit of everything at a time and taste~ you can always add more but can't take it out! :) Also if you aren't doing sweet, use water & onions & garlic for savory-ness.

Holla!!!! Penos

In my large cucumber pot I had dill & carrots growing. In the first photo you can see a tiny dill baby sprouting up. The other shoots I thought were carrots, but they were weeds! I let them take over the dill and I pulled one up randomly to see how it was and there was no carrot on the end! So we pulled the rest of the weeds up... Gotta watch those weeds, they are sneaky.

I am a creator

I create things, I make things, and I do things. I can simply sit and be, but my being loves to create. I paint, sew, cook, grow, play... As much as I enjoy to destroy, I first create it for myself. I'll post these things here too.

Bagels~ I eat more bagels than anyone else I know. If I don't dumpster them I will now bake them from scratch. Panera bread double bags their bagels and breads and tosses them nightly. Get them and give them to your friends and neighbors. I have eaten these bagels for years... Once stale they make great bagel chips and croutons. Next I will try Atlanta Bread...
I have used this recipe and my only problem was they didn't rise enough and were quite dense. But delicious! I didn't put them in a warm enough spot during the second rise. I drizzled some local honey over them because we forgot to mix it in! This made em sticky, I liked it but you may not.

Pizza! This is a no brainer. It takes me less time to make my dough, top it and cook than it takes to call up a delivery place, put in my order, pay and wait for it to come. I also pay upwards of $5 less.
Go to your grocer, to the aisle with Yeast. Look on the back side of the packages and you will usually find a recipe. If there isn't one, do not despair! Just Google it, it's the 21st Century use it to your advantage. The kind I bought is specifically for making pizza and it has been the best so far.
Choose a sauce, BBQ, Alfredo, Pizza sauce, I LOVE Newman's Own Sockorooni (or something) but it isn't the healthiest. The last time I made sauce from canned tomato sauce, sliced tomatoes in juice, tomato sauce, tomatoes from my garden, and spices.
Then add your cheese and toppings. I like to mix some cheddar in with my Mozz, but you can do anything. Bake 12-15 minutes, and pet your full pocket.
(Photo Coming Soon?)

Capitalism is a Pyramid Scheme

The of those lower on the pyramid enriches the ones towards the top. To stay stable, the economy has to draw in more and more resources- colonizing new continents workforces and aspects of our lives. The resulting inequalities can only be maintained by ever-escalating force: armies occupy countries, police patrol neighborhoods, security cameras point at ever cash register.
Capitalists make money not only on what they do but also from what they own. It takes money to make money, as they say. Business owners, landlords, and large shareholders are capitalists: so are executives who receive salaries padded with money produced by other people's efforts.
Capitalists cash in on the activity of the exploited. the exploited can only make money from their own labor, so its easy for employers to pay them less than the value they produce. When banks and credit card companies make money off debtors, they're exploiting them, the same as a corporation that pays an employee a dollar to make a $200 pair of shoes.
Others are at the mercy of the economy but excluded from participating in it. The unemployed and the homeless are excluded, along with most of the occupants of shantytowns around the world. Prisoners are often both excluded and exploited, being forced to work at a pittance that amounts to slave labor,. Being excluded is not the same as being outside the market- the dispossessed are poor precisely because they are inside capitalism.
We're encouraged to compete against each other to improve our positions on an individual basis. But there's not enough space at the top of the pyramid for all of us, no matter how hard we work- and no pyramid scheme can go on expanding forever. Sooner or later its bound to crash: recession and global warming are just the first warning signs. Instead of going down with the Pharaohs, let's join forces to establish another way of life.

To obtain some badass posters updated from the above capitalism pyramid scheme go here. Disperse everywhere.

Feminine "Moon"

Some women call their menstrual periods their "moon" because their hormones are also on a monthly cycle. Some women can look at the moon and say to themselves "crap, moon's almost full/new/waxing gibbous... you know what that means." And some men ponder if that is where the idea of the werewolf really came from...
Some women just say "I'm on the rag" because in olden times women use to shove a rag between their legs and deal with it. That's perhaps where the idea of *shudders* the pad comes from? Tampons were first used by the Egyptians, who were also inventive enough to wax their legs and enjoy vibrators made from jars of buzzing bees!
Most women today still use the ancient practice of using cotton to collect the menses.
At least once a month a lady can expect to pay around $5 for a box of tampons (if she only needs one), $5 for a box of pantyliner or pads because you shouldn't sleep with tampons; unless you wake in 5 hours to change. Maybe every other month $8 will be spent on pain relievers such as Midol or mood enhancers.

Or you could do what I do! You could purchase one menstrual cup. The particular one I use is called the Diva cup, made from silicone. There is also one called the Moon cup which appears to be the UK version. For $35 the diva cup can essentially be used forever, as long as you take care of it and clean regularly. The best part about it is that I never have to worry about going to the store to get anything. If I go camping there is no worry about dry packing tampons to keep out moisture. Depending on how heavy your flow is you can wear your menstrual cup safely up to 12 hours, no more rustling in your purse for tampons during class! I bought mine at a whole foods type store (Earth Fare actually) and haven't seen them anywhere else, but online.


In my last post I mentioned a menstrual massage I found in the book Making Stuff and Doing Things. I want to try to avoid taking pain relievers because I feel it builds up a need for them, and there are better alternatives.
Such as massage!
The lady "on her moon" lays flat on the ground on her belly, arms out and relaxed. Her partner stands next to her facing her feet, using a chair for support, uses the heel of his/her foot to gently "hook"/massage around the pelvic bone. You can first try it with your hands to find the spot I am talking about~ the women should feel relief once massaged. I have tried this and it works. You may have to do it a few times a day for desired relief. Or as much as you want ;)
One other alternative is tea. I am still toying around with the perfect teas for my menses and everybody is different! Chamomile works great so far... avoid green and black tea because of the caffeine.
For me it worked to uplift my mood and relieve my cramps and back ache. St. Johns wort is an excellent natural mood enhancer that can be taken in the capsules but also opened and prepared as tea. But do not take if you are on the Pill, it decreases the effectiveness of it; as well as high doses of vitamin C.
Go out and get you a diva cup, its not for the squeemish, but its made my monthly Moon a lot easier! ;)