apologies.



I'm sorry dear, gentle reader(s) (all three of you). I've been neglecting you like the cobweb in the far, upper corner of my bathroom. I've been busy, and watching far too much tv lately. Stupid, stupid tv. Not that there's anything wrong with media and entertainment, but there are only so many hours in the day, and there are so many wonderful things to do. And there are necessary things to do. I've been neglecting those a bit, as well. Unfortunately. Anyhoo, I apologize. Truly, Madly, Deeply. So here's what I've been up to!



*I started volunteering for the Humane Society for a very worthy cause. The HSUS is trying to put an initiative on the ballot in 2008 to give farmed animals (for meat) enough room in their cages to turn around and spread their wings or stretch their limbs. Specifically, the legislation covers hens, breeding sows and calves. See? It's a good cause. Legislation like this (banning breeding sow crates) has already passed in 3 other states (Arizona, Florida and Oregon) and the European Union, and Arizona has also banned veal crates. If you like animals, or believe in treating any creature humanely, or care about your food, you should support this measure. It is for the good of our health, animals, small farmers and the environment. Unless you are absolutely against the initiative/ballot process, there is no reason why you should not find your nearest Humane California volunteer immediately and sign their petition! We need 650,000 signatures by the middle of February 2008. (This does only apply to registered voters in the state of California, though). For more information (and some horrific pictures and the truth, click here).



Next, I have to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! A truly American holiday, and one that my family loves to celebrate. Well, we love to celebrate anything that allows us to get together to eat, drink and be merry. Who doesn't? I'll share a recipe that I made for this recent holiday soon. In any case, it was a great weekend. Two paid days off- who wouldn't like that?? I spent some time with my brother and sister-in-law who I love dearly. They don't live that far away (southern California), but (selfishly) it's not close enough for me. Although I sometimes get annoyed at (read: jealous of) their relationship, I would love it if they lived in the bay area and I could see them every week.



I also went to a baby shower for perhaps the cutest pregnant couple I have ever seen. I can't wait to see the baby when it arrives in this world. Mark my words, it is going to be one cute baby! And speaking of "babes" (it's a poor segueway) I saw not one, but two exes this weekend. One was unplanned and didn't go so well. It's a recent split and it wasn't a particularly nice one. There is still attraction there and I am still torn between calling him (the weak thing to do, since I said I wouldn't do it any more) and being strong, and calling him the asshole that he is. Luckily I was strong this time. Asshole. Grrr.



The other ex was planned and went very well. The relationship was a long time ago, after all, and there's nothing in the way of our being friends. So we met for drinks, talked, hung out. I was nervous about it, but (thankfully) I didn't drink too much and start babbling like an idiot. I tend to do that. It's an issue.



Moving on, I have two very exciting things to share. First: I'm curing olives! Weee! I saw them at the SF Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market at the Knoll farm stall and had to get them. It's a challenge and an adventure and we'll see how it goes. I googled recipes and decided on the one from Hedonia since I didn't want to use lye. Right now I'm about to switch from water to brine. I'm very excited to see how it turns out!



Second: I bought a plane ticket to Europe! That's right, I'm leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again. Only, I do know when I'll be coming back. A month after I leave. A whole month of traveling in Europe! Weee! My dear parents decided they wanted to rent a house in the Provence region of France, and they invited their offspring to join them for a week. Since I had an excuse, I decided to splurge a little. I'll talk about this later, but suffice to say, I am definitely looking forward to next June. I can't wait!!



*sigh* That's it. So what have you been up to? : D

pesto and boys.



like peas in a pod, right? right? or not. let's get the boys party out of the way: I need to stop falling for smart Geminis and Cancers. I realized a few days ago that as far as I can recall (at least to high school), I think all of the guys I have dated have been Geminis, or Cancers. And I'm a Cancer. They do not mix so well. I wasn't cultivating this at all. I never even realized it. Now I'm going to have to be all weird and ask guys what their birthday is first thing. "Hey, what's your sign? Come here often?"
(Jason and the) Arg (0nauts).





Now, on to the pesto. So many of the food bloggers have been posting about canning since it's the theme of this month's Eat Local Challenge. It sounds perfect to me- having your pantry stocked with your personal tomato sauce, pesto, etc. It may not be less expensive, but at least you would know (and be able to control) exactly what is going into your food. That means quite a bit, to me. Plus, my dear Nonna always canned, and I would like to learn how. So, I took some of her old canning jars. Alas, when I got home, I realized they were all large. Too large. I would need a bigger pot to boil them in. Also, since I'm only cooking for one person (for the most part), storing many large jars of food in my pantry doesn't make that much sense. So I thought about freezing. And then I made pesto.

mmmmmm. Homemade pesto.* I used Mario Batali's recipe. From these pictures, I'm sure you can understand why I don't post many. While I think my photography skills are not that bad, I certainly don't know how to photograph food. And, my camera is very basic.




*after 2 hours with the mortar and pestle, I had a bruised, strained hand, so I switched to a food processor.

my dear cell phone.



I recently discovered something which irritates me. My cell phone has an alarm clock, as most do, I'm sure. It's the alarm that I use when I'm traveling. However, recently I discovered that if my cell phone doesn't get reception, the alarm doesn't work. What is that?? I have good service, but inevitably there are places that my phone won't get reception. Why haven't companies thought of separating the phone and tools functions so that the tools can function even when the phone cannot? Is that so difficult?? Or is it just that I have a cheap phone? In a closely related subject, my regular alarm clock broke. Does anyone know where I can get a cool one? I think it's time to upgrade.


Also, it's August. When did that happen? This year has flown by like a peregrine falcon.

thank yous.

Thanks to Green Apartment Therapy, I've found organic cotton sheets and towels at West Elm. Yes!

West Elm Organic Line



Part of the problem of trying to live a sustainable, No Impact, or in this case, little impact, life is the amount of research it takes to do little things like buying towels, or big things like buying furniture.



This does not apply to food. It's fairly easy (at least where I live) to find a farmer's market and buy most things that you want or need. Also, buying food is fun for me. Going to the SF Ferry Building Farmer's Market? Fun! The Oakland and Berkeley markets? Fun! I get to imagine what I can make with what's available; I get to choose exactly which food I think is healthy and interesting. I get to discover new things. Did I mention I like to cook? I do. Buying food does not apply to un-appetizing (hah!) research.



What does apply is every time I want to buy: paper, pens, pots, pans, sheets, towels, clothes, toiletries, etc. The list goes on, and on. Right now, I happen to need sheets and towels. A friend told me she had found bamboo sheets at Target. Generally, I try not to support Target for political reasons, but I thought it would be an easy answer to my issue of where to find sustainable sheets. Of course, there is no easy answer. Bamboo is not the cure-all wonder plant. I went, and it turns out that Target has organic cotton sheets, as well, so I bought those. Mind you, I have no idea where this organic cotton comes from, how organic it is, or perhaps more importantly, what the worker conditions are like in India, where the sheets were made. Unfortunately, many times there seems to be a choice between labor conditions and environmentally-friendly conditions. For example, buying high-end clothes and textiles might eliminate the awful, third-world country labor conditions, but it might not eliminate pesticide use, which affects the raw element labor force, as well as the environment. Buying organic might help the raw element labor force and the environment, but it certainly does not stop the abuse of the poor textile workers. Why does there have to be a choice?? This is a topic for another post, entirely...



The whole point is that most times when I want to buy a home product, I have to do research into what is "sustainable" and "environmentally friendly." It adds up to be quite a bit of work, and sometimes, I just buy what's convenient. It's not always easy being green.



Here's the thank you part: there are now two accessible, budget friendly, and relatively well-known suppliers of organic sheets (that I know of). Target and West Elm. That means options, people. Options are good. It means that the concept of being environmentally friendly is going more mainstream, and that is always a positive thing.

this makes me happy


Green Apartment Therapy. Yes!