Off to Work...

A peak at what I take with me every day. Always a cup of coffee (with whole milk of course) and my favorite basket filled with the items that will sustain me until I get to come home again. Each day I tuck the following into my basket: my purse, lunch (including an after school snack), water bottle, and my daily tea (a mixture of Red Clover, Raspberry Leaf and Nettles).

What do you take with you each day?

Sunday Bread

About a year ago we tried to eliminate store bought bread from our grocery list. While we are still suckers for a crispy baguette (because we have such wonderful local bakeries around here), we have been quite successful in our efforts. It has been a long time since store bought sliced bread has passed through our doors and we have loved the change.

Sunday is my bread day. The recipe I use, from the Tassajara Bread Book, makes two loaves. I either freeze one for the next week, give it away to another bread lover (the latest recipient was my mother), or I use 1/2 of the dough to make little buns that we later use for hamburgers or sandwiches.

I really like the rhythm bread making brings to the kitchen. Sundays have always been my farm chore day and this is one farm chore that I look forward to each week. I like to start the bread early in the morning and revisit it between chores throughout the day. Then as an afternoon snack, nothing beats warm bread and butter.

Whole Grains and Meal Planning

I recently took another class from Monique Dupre and it was, of course, wonderful. The class was titled Whole Grains and Meal Planning. Throughout the two hour class, Monique walked her students through what kind of grains are available, how to prepare them and how to meal plan in a whole foods kitchen.

Above you will find our whole grains shelf. This picture is not very telling, as those jars up there are shelved about four deep. But as you can see, we do not have a lot, if any, canned food. Over the course of the last few years David and I have realized that meal planning is a huge part of staying organized and prepared in a kitchen where most things are not ready to eat and will not be ready to eat for a few hours. Enter... the meal planning class. Monique reassured me on many planning tricks that are already taking place in the cozy cottage kitchen and I learned quite a bit about how to stay ahead and always have something ready.

This is the second class I have taken from Monique and I have truly enjoyed both classes. Next on the list? Most likely Fermented Food and Condiment Making... what fun!

Nightly Reading

Around here we have many of stacks of books, but the telling stack is the ever changing one that graces my night stand. Here you will always find the latest cookbook I have been using for our meal planning, usually a knitting book or two and what ever new read my girlfriends and I are working our way through that month.

This stack is usually what is on the tip of my tongue when asked, "What are you reading lately?". As of now, I would recommend any of the books you see in the pile above. Some are new and some I have turned to over and over again. Books are like that, you can come back to them after a long hiatus and look at them like they are brand new.

What books are on your night stands lately?

Better Living Show

Friday night's Date Night led David and I to the Better Living Show at the Expo Center. After dinner at Fire on the Mountain we were off to the fun yearly event that is the Better Living Show. We enjoyed meandering though the booths and especially loved seeing the animals that were brought in for the show!

Last year I remember seeing chickens and a rabbit, but this year there was a farmer who even brought two alpaca! I have always loved alpaca and have longed to own some someday. Until seeing these two cuties at the show, I thought the love for alpaca was all on me, but oh was I surprised when David fell in love with them as well!

They were very sweet and docile, even though many hands were reaching in to pet them and we enjoyed talking to the rancher for the better part of a half hour. He answered all of our questions and encouraged us to call him when we are ready to start our own little flock... how fun! While we know that we will not be having a flock of any kind any time soon, it sure was fun to chat with him and see the animals up close!

Of course we also enjoyed seeing the home goods booths and chatting with the ladies from the Master Gardener program, but nothing compared to those alpaca!

Print Making Class

Last week I took a print class at Collage and it was such fun! I studied print making throughout college and always loved the art form. I have often missed my times at the print shop and wished that it was a hobby that I could continue. While in college I used very large printing presses and never knew that there were ways to hand print. The techniques quickly came back to me and I look forward to starting up the printing process again... thank you notes, birthday cards, Christmas cards- oh my!

I attended the class with two of my teacher friends from school. Each of us having printed before, but not in many moons, made for a fun evening! We started off with dinner and drinks and The Bye and Bye, a vegan bar on Alberta (vegan being something I just don't understand). The food was fair, they served local brew and the company was great!

After our dinner we were off to our class, which was held in the back of the Collage store. There were maybe 10-12 students in the class, which was wonderful as it allowed for questions and plenty of time to print. I came away with four cute little prints of a bike and lots of plans to continue printing.

The Story of Stuff

Monday night found my good girlfriend and me at our usual spot, Powells bookstore. We were amidst a crowd of about 150 waiting to hear Annie Leonard speak. She is the creator behind the Story of Stuff and has just come out with a book of the same title. I had seen the video about a year ago and it really got me to thinking about how to better live this simple life I strive towards.

Throughout her talk she kept reiterating the fact that yes, we should all be doing the little, but important, things to save the earth, but what we really need to be doing is collaborating as a community to attack larger items on the agenda. I loved when she said that she longs for a society that does not give out gold stars to people for composting. Rather, composting, bringing your own bag to the grocery store and recycling should be like flossing, something every grown-up is expected to do.

She urged her listeners and readers to be citizens striving to assist with the betterment of society, not just the betterment of ourselves, which often ends up creating more consumers and more consuption. She asked that you pick your cause and contact your government to make it happen. The thing of it is, how does one go about that? Who is it that you contact to get jobs done? And, if you find those people, what do you say that will make them listen?

I left realizing that I am not really doing much for the betterment of society. I have been doing some heaving thinking on what my cause really is and how I can get my voice heard enough to make my cause the norm. She was a great speaker, proven by the fact that days later I am still thinking about it, and I look forward to some change.

P.S. if you haven't seen her video, click the link above. It is a free 20 minute video that Leonard says has been viewed over 8 million times!