There is very little I will not eat and, most likely, like. I’ve had some things that I could probably live without, but I’d be hard pressed to come up with a food that I hate. The stranger, the more exotic, the better.

So when at the beginning of a foraged foods class I attended last week, the instructor issued a disclaimer, saying we were trying all the food he’d collected at our own risk, I was thrilled. This isn’t just different food, but a food challenge. I was up for it and boy was the risk worth it.

The class was held at The Road Less Traveled, the coolest eco-store I’ve ever visited. It has a decent collection of eco-friendly home goods, kitchen equipment, baby stuff and an awesome green living selection of books, but the store really shines is in the classes offered. There are classes on embroidery, sauerkraut and kimchi, felting, sewing, urban gardening, solar cooking and OMG so much more. I want to take all of them.

Back to foraged foods. This was one of the first classes I’ve taken at The Road Less Traveled and it did nothing but make me more excited for future classes. Joel Robinson, an Orange County naturalist introduced us to some in-season edibles that can be found in our area. Joel started off by telling us a short snippet of the history of the Native Americans in the area. Living amongst the concrete wasteland and never-ending strip malls of Orange County, it’s easy to forget that there was a time when clusters of condos didn’t block the horizon. There was actually a period in this area’s history where people lived with the land instead of dominating it. Mindblowing.

Joel introduced us to a table of green leaves. Most of the plants looked like wilting weeds and, well, technically I guess many of them were. But they were edible weeds. These are the things we spend boatloads of money on every year to kill because they crowd out the more desirable crops and tarnish our pristine landscape, but the have as much value as any of the other plants we throw in a typical salad. In fact, we did make a huge salad filled with sow thistle, fennel, mallow and more. Delilah, The Road Less Traveled’s amazing owner, supplied sage pesto and acorn bread. We made tea from toyon and raspberry leaves and chewed on some carob for dessert. I may not turn to all the greens we tried for a lettuce standby, but the result of the days class was a pretty delicious and ridiculously local meal.

All the while, I kept thinking back to the book Into the Wild by John Krakauer. I don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t seen or read it, but there is a scene where a pretty bad mistake is made in identifying plants. So I know I am nowhere near the level where I can feel confident marching out into the wild to search for my own salads. Hopefully I’ll be able to meet up with some of the people from my class or take a hike with Joel and get more hands-on experience.

If you are interested in learning about wild edibles in your area, I would suggest you try to find a foraged foods or wild edibles class or contact a naturalist in the area for more information. I’ve taken classes before on wild edibles in Ohio so I know they exist elsewhere. Just make sure you’re getting more hands-on information than from just a book. Please don’t end up all Into the Wild, okay? I’d miss you.

Mother Earth News has a neat article on how to learn more about using wild edibles.

You can read more about Joel at Naturalist for You and Delilah on her blog, Project Small.

» In my neck of the woods, it’s truly a fantastic Friday! This is the THIRD day in a row we’ve had sun, & it’s due to be here all weekend! Methinks a nice long drive is in order…

» Gluten-free wonton wrappers. Similar to the infamous oopsie rolls; I’ll definitely be trying these soon, perhaps even for pierogies. I’ve had such wonderful luck with the oopsie pizza crust – you’d honestly never know that it’s not flour!

» You do know about Cake Wrecks, right?

» BABY ELEPHANT! Seriously, does it get any more adorable than a baby elephant playing with mommy? I didn’t think so.

» Speaking of elephants, did you see Kurt Halsey’s two adorable intertwined inks back in January? I just discovered them this week.

“We dance round in circles and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle, and knows.”
Robert Frost

» c/o Pasta Queen, the exact thoughts of every person living in the Midwest.

» Hosting a party sometime soon? Check out this list of yummy appetizers!

» While everyone else is excited about the new Alice in Wonderland, I personally cannot wait to see The Secret of Kells. At this point, the music & animation is so gorgeous, I won’t care if the plot is the silliest thing ever written. What I’ve seen reminds me quite a lot of The Last Unicorn – perhaps I’ll dig that out this weekend.

I am still in love with the soaps and the shampoo (although I’m slowly trying to transition to no-poo, or less-poo anyway), but I came up against a wall with the conditioner. Their other products seem to last much longer than their bottled counterparts, making the extra cost more than worthwhile, but I could easily go through a $15 chunk of the conditioner in a month. I am a firm believer that being green can save you money and this product was not meshing.

So I needed to find something else. My number one priority was that it could not come in packaging. I considered buying a conditioner bar on etsy, but the shipping and packaging that came in wouldn’t really be helping my cause. After searching for conditioner recipes, I finally decided to try the Apple Cider Vinegar rinse.

I really had no hopes for it. My hair has always been pretty picky and in desperate need of serious conditioning. There have been times in my life where the back of my hair will basically turn to straw unless I deep condition on a regular basis. Vinegar and water did not seem like they should cut it.

My first batch was just about half a cup of ACV diluted with about three or four cups of water. After cautiously trying it, I was way impressed how soft my hair turned out. It didn’t melt into my hair like regular conditioners, and my distrust of the mixture led me to add oils to my hair which left it greasy the first few days, but after I got the hang of it, it worked great.

I’ve been off of conditioner and 100% into this cheap, green and effective way of treating my hair for about a month and a half now. I’ve been experimenting with different ingredients and applications. Now I use chamomile tea to soften my hair, rosemary to darken it (or at least offset the chamomile’s lightening properties) and clary sage because I like the scent and it helps oily hair. I think I’ve finally got it down so here’s my refined technique:

Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse
(measurements very approximate)
1/2 cup ACV (I measure this by putting about an inch into the bottle shown in the picture)
Fill the rest of the bottle (about 3 or 4 cups) with chamomile tea
Add a sprig or 2 of rosemary
A few drops of clary sage essential oil or other essential oil that’s beneficial to hair.

If possible, let sit for at least a week. I make two bottles at a time so one is always getting infused by the rosemary while I’m using the other. I go through a bottle in about 3 weeks, using it every other day. The bottles I use are from the Synergy Kombucha drinks I used to buy. I’ve heard other people like spray bottles better.

In the shower pour a bit on after rinsing with water or shampooing, then comb through with a wide toothed comb. Make sure to rinse out thoroughly, especially at the roots. I usually put a tiny drop of jojoba oil on my fingertips and work through the ends of my hair once it’s dry to cut down on flyaways.

And that’s it! Once you get the technique down and get used to the different feel of your hair without the heaviness of conditioner, you won’t want to go back, if just for the fact you’re dumbfounded you ever spent so much money on conditioners before.

I can’t think of a better way to live.

» Did you see these birds over at Cute Overload last week? They absolutely make me smile. I do love the birds around here, but I gotta say, I wish we had some of these around!

» Ten Do’s and Don’ts for Speakers - I daresay these have relevance for bloggers as well!

» Gala Darling recieved an interesting letter from someone about self-love & self-acceptance. It’s quite a wonderful & inspiring read! Personally, I rather adore her new project entitled Radical Self Love – it’s a refreshing change from iCiNG & something that most of us absolutely need more of in our lives!

» 101 Posts for the All-Around Well-Balanced Life, c/o of The Book of Wisdom. They’ve really done our homework for us!

» Life before Google: A Short Story.

» Crystal Renn for ELLE Canada – the world’s highest paid “plus-size” model in a wonderful spread. Very beautiful & a refreshing change from both size twos and the usual “girls of all sizes” editorials that most fashion magazines (fail to) do. This is a nice interview from Time magazine about her book, Hungry, which talks about her switch from unhealthy & unhappy at size zero to the exact opposite as a plus-size model. I’ve got it on hold at my library!

» Could you go sixty days without sugar? Sally & her husband over at Aprovechar are trying to. I’ve so far gone a little over two months without pasta, but I can’t imagine giving up all sugar. Honey on hot chicken wings is far too yummy!

» mnmlist talks about clearing distractions - this is the post that partly inspired me to cut back on my social networking.

» In the same vein, here’s a list of 7 Simple Ways You Can Disconnect. Try it over the weekend!

» This will not end well.

Dear readers, what’s been fantastic in your life this week?

This is the story of why I couldn’t order our Chinese food before I left for work.

Brace yourself – it’s quite the epic story. Worth telling, nonetheless.

Next Thursday, we’re having the Mad Hatter’s Simply Maddening Tea Party at my library in celebration of the new Alice in Wonderland movie. The teens are quite excited, & as such, on Tuesday we went shopping for all the various things you need to put on a fabulous teen program. After picking up some sundry items from Target, we went to Hot Topic to get some prizes – buttons & keychains, etc. It’s always fun talking to the people who work there, now that I am no longer they’re target demographic. I mentioned we were having the party, & they say hey! You should bring us some flyers, & we’ll put them out here!

Awesome.

Yesterday, Wednesday, my co-worker Steve & I attended a meeting at one of our branch locations. I offered to drive, since I don’t always have the car (my fiance & I share one), & often bum rides off Steve. I took along some flyers with me, so we could drop them off at the mall on our way back. We also made a quick stop at a local used paperback bookstore – hey, we are librarians, after all. There was an issue with the door (I drive a rather old car), but in the end we realized that the seatbelt was simply caught & thus the door could actually be shut completely.

Then we go to the mall, stop & Hot Topic & drop off the flyers. Eventually, we make it back to the library – at which point Steve realizes he doesn’t have his car key.

Which was the only copy.

Uh-oh.

And so the calls begin – first to the library branch where the meeting was held, then to the used paperback store, & then Hot Topic. They mention that although they’ve found a random cell phone, they have, in fact, not found a key. Steve calls his wife & the car dealer to see how they can go about getting a new key, since it’s one of those fancy programmable ones with a chip (don’t you just love technology?!), & we look everywhere. The parking lot, the library lost & found, in & around my car, etc. We try to see if maybe he somehow left it in his car, but we don’t see it.

Le sigh. It seems to have disappeared.

I mention that although it wasn’t in the used paperback store, perhaps it fell out when we were fussing with the door in the parking lot? It’s a long shot, but there’s a chance. As it’s already starting to get dark, we head off immediately.

Steve digs around a little more in the car while he’s in the passenger side, & that’s when he spots it. There’s an evil little place between the middle… armrest/random stuff holder thing & the passenger seat. I lost my engagement ring in this evil little place once, & our iPod constantly falls down there. I personally believe gravity has an extra-strong hold in this vortex of doom, but I’ve no rock solid evidence to back this up. Someday, my 2000 Saturn LS will become the centerpiece in a vast scientific experiment with earth-shattering ramifications, just you wait.

Anyways – back to the story. Much relief is felt by both parties, & I take Steve back to the library so he can drive home in his car.

I proceed to the post office to mail off a few things, as people are wont to do at such a place. Then I reach into my purse to call Sam to see if he’d like Chinese for dinner & if so I’ll also call them to place our order for sesame chicken & two egg rolls.

My phone is not there.

Now, before we can proceed, we must rewind to the beginning of the story, to my visit to Hot Topic the previous day, when we were picking up prizes for the Mad Hatter’s Simply Maddening Tea Party. You see, as I was paying & the nice guy with the flyer idea was trying to remember how to perform a tax exempt transaction, my (very small but perfect!) purse was knocked off the counter. My wallet fell out, & I, assuming that was all, proceeded to sign the receipt & left.

Hot Topic totally had my phone. That’d fallen out along with my wallet when my purse hit the ground. & I would’ve never known if that evil little vortex hadn’t swallowed Steve’s key, thus requiring Steve to call Hot Topic.

Funny how things work, isn’t it?

So after this realization, I drive to Hot Topic, & ask for my badly cracked (but still usable!) phone back. They told me they only called Japan twice, but had otherwise kept my phone safe. Silly Hot Topic employees. Of course, my phone had no more juice left, & so I couldn’t call for Chinese until I got home & could use Sam’s phone. Which is exactly what I did – sesame chicken & two egg rolls.

So that’s the story of why I couldn’t order Chinese food until after I got home. I think I’ll remember this for ages.

I’ve been on Livejournal since 2001. In internet terms, Livejournal is practically ancient, but I’ve stuck around throughout it’s changes, both for the better & for the worse. I still love it there, & find new & fascinating people all the time.

Livejournal was around before “social networking” became everyone’s favorite time waster. It’s always been one (a time waster, that is), but I’ve formed connections there that I hope will last throughout my life. If it wasn’t for Livejournal, I probably wouldn’t have gone to see Serenity, introducing me to the Jossverse & ultimately to one of my favoritest people ever, Buffy Summers.

This actually isn’t an advertisement for Livejournal. But it is an introduction to something rather crazy that this twenty-something has done: I’ve deleted most of my social networking accounts.

See, in the early 00’s, social networks started popping up. Myspace, Facebook, YouTube. Friendster. De.icio.us. Flickr. Then came Vox, Twitter, & most recently Dreamwidth. I created accounts on almost all of them, & most I completely ignored. I’ve found account emails from places like Inksome, Spark People, Webshots… I’m sure there are more I’ve forgotten about.

I’m tired of them. Although I think they’re great in theory, & I did get to see what many of my classmates did after we graduated, I can’t keep up. I don’t understand why people I didn’t like/didn’t like me in high school ask to be friends with me. I don’t need the nagging guilt that I haven’t updated in awhile – after all, there are only so many ways I can say “it’s dull & dreary in NE Ohio today; someone make it stop.”

I’m delighted that many people find these tools useful. But I guess I just… don’t. Perhaps I’ve become more introverted in my old age, but the idea of my name being attached to so many webpages & companies rather bothers me. But I think what it truly comes down to is that I yearn to know more about someone than what is possible in a 140 character tweet. I want real, meaningful relationships with people; I want to get to know people by sharing a pot of tea, playing Monopoly into the wee hours of the night, & actually talking to them. I’m definitely in the camp of people who thinks that with all our text messaging & websites that are supposed to connect us, we’ve never been further apart. I constantly see people distracted from experiencing life thanks to all these technologies – teens texting away while rollerskating; two people on laptops at a coffeeshop on Facebook.

But as I’ve said before, I love Livejournal, & I’ll probably stick around there as long as the site exists. Although I’ve withdrawn & deleted probably a dozen accounts at various places, I have saved a few. Obviously, you’ll still find me here. Livejournal is still around, & I’ll be keeping my Flickr account if for no other reason than it’s a great place to store photos, but I don’t honestly use that for the social networking components anyways. When I’m at home, I’d rather read, watch television, or be out in the world doing something.

I’d been thinking about doing at least some of this anyways, but when I really got to thinking about all the places I’d signed up for accounts… I knew it had to be done. So my advice to you is this: delete all but a few of the accounts you actually use. I did this two or so weeks ago, & I feel not the least bit of guilt. The freedom is rather exhilarating.

I’m growing a garden!

And the picture above is *not* from my garden.  Although I wish it was.  My garden consists of plastic pots filled with dirt so it’s still feeling pretty camera shy.  I live on the second story of a concrete-surrounded condo with a small balcony overlooking some more concrete.  In my ideal world, I would have a small plot of land behind my house where I could grow anything my heart desires and my tomatoes would look just as yummy as the one above, but my world is not yet ideal.  I’m not even close to putting down my own roots (I’ve moved four times in the last two years) so sticking anything else in the ground is not really wise.

My garden consists of:
- Roma tomatoes
- Serrano peppers
- cilantro (add some avocado, lime and onions to those first three and I can make some wicked guacamole)
- lettuce
- dill
- basil
- chamomile
- lavender
- catnip

I’m hoping I can keep at least half of these alive, as I am excellent at murdering green things.  I’ve been sneaking peaks out onto the balcony whenever I pass wishing I could do something to make my plants happier and humming this song.

Please send out well-wishes for my little plants.  I have big plans for them!

Do you have any experience with container gardening? I’d love to hear your successes (and failures).

Now I just need to stop myself from adding to my dirt collection until I can prove myself with this batch.

» I love this article from Body + Soul about the guys behind the Life is good brand. I’m rather inspired to get a mug with that very message!

» I love her. She’s a fearless pagan primal minimalist; her views on the world are so incredible & refreshing. She may just be my new favorite person.

» My dandelion is a flower.

» 101 Simple Salads – it might’ve been written during the summer, but I could use some summery flavors right about now.

» An experiment in Germany took all the toys away from a day care center for three months. What happened may surprise you…

» How to make your own shampoo – I haven’t worked up the nerve to try it yet (I’m far too in love with my current stuff), but I’d be remiss if I didn’t point it out!

» What will my reward be?

» Burt’s Bees Soap Bark & Chamomile Deep Cleansing Cream – I’ve been using it for about three weeks now, & I look forward to using it every morning & night. It’s just so soothing & wonderful!

» Laughter is the best way to get through all this terrible weather – or at least I think so. Danny Bhoy is an absolutely hilarious Scottish comedian; make some popcorn & watch the whole show!

» 100 Cupcakes featuring 100 games. Can you name them all?

» I started drinking kombucha tea in the last few weeks. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first, but I’ve grown accustomed to my small glass each day. I find it rather refreshing & I’ve noticed I don’t want soda anymore. Have you tried it?

» Do you suppose they’d let me move in with them?

» I’m working on reading all the Printz winners – I’ve only a few left, but my favorites are still Looking for Alaska & How I Live Now. Has anyone read any of these?

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I wish you at least a few hours of sunshine blissfully free of snow!

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent for Catholics.  For forty days, Catholics prepare for Easter, reflecting Jesus’ forty days of solitude in the desert.  They are asked to give up meat on designated days, live more simply, and deprive themselves of something distracting from God in their lives or perhaps add something to their daily lives that can enhance their connection with the divine.

Please don’t leave, yet!  I’m not going to get all preachy.  I grew up Catholic and work in about as Catholic an environment as you can so I can’t really escape the Lenten season.  My own spirituality is often pretty scattershot, but in the last few years I’ve begun to see a lot more value in the tradition I grew up in, even if I can’t see settling down and rejecting all other comers right now.  Lent is one of those things that I’m reclaiming this year.  I like the idea of sacrifice in a communal environment.  There is a spiritual connection, no matter what your orientation, of sacrificing something at the same time millions of others are going on the same journey.

It is interesting to me how many people choose to give up things like sweets, soda, and junk food.  A lot of these people may have ulterior motives (they can lose weight while serving God!) but it says a lot about how difficult it is to break ourselves away from food addictions.  How terrible is it if people need the hand of God to push them into quitting?  Everyone knows how bad these processed foods are for us, yet we need them so badly, after only forty days many Catholics are falling all over themselves to have a bag of chips.

This Lent, I’m also going the “eating better” route, half for rooting toxins out of my system and half for trying to be greener.  I’m committing to giving up refined sugars and red meat.  I’ve actually stumbled already by eating some chocolate my Mom sent me for Valentine’s Day, but it is chocolate from Mom so it hardly counts, right?  I’ve chosen the refined sugars because it is an addiction I can overcome and has literally been called a poison.  I chose red meat because it has the most negative impact on climate change of anything in my diet.  I’d also love to be 90% vegetarian one day, for the same reasons, and this is a great first step.

Food products aren’t the only thing Catholics are focusing on sacrificing.  I think it’s awesome that the Archdiocese of Washington (where else?) has created a Carbon Fast Calendar for Lent 2010.  The calendar gives one action a day to improve the environment.  Most people who are already environmentally friendly will have done a lot of the items on the list, but it’s great for those that aren’t so green.  For example, today’s tip is to turn down your thermostat a degree.  Another tip leads you to the New American Dream’s Wallet Buddy, which I’d never seen before.  The print-out (be sure to print it on scrap paper) lists questions to ask before buying a product.  I love the saying on it “Every dollar I spend is a statement about the kind of world I want & the quality of life I value.”  Now that should be printed on the inside of every wallet.

I don’t want to make Lent sound like it’s full of glorified New Year’s Resolutions, but a season of making changes to improve your life and your world as a community transcends religion.  I’ll be keeping up with the tips in the Carbon Calendar as well as working on my own Lenten sacrifices and sharing those experiences here.  If you’re observing Lent (or want to follow along without making it a part of Lent, per se) let me know how your journey is going!

One of the most marvelous things about Southern California is its year-round growing season.  It’s hard to have too much hate for a place that can provide you with citrus in December – and from your neighbor’s tree, no less.  After my first year here, I decided to take advantage of the bounty by joining a CSA.

If you’re not familiar with CSA’s (although I’m sure you are), the acronym stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  I buy half a share in Morning Song Farm, a local farm, and in return I get a box of fruits, veggies, herbs and nuts every other week.  I love knowing that what I’m eating is grown locally, organically and is in season.  It takes the stress of trying to buy sustainable produce off my shoulders and I feel great supporting the farm.

When I first began the CSA program, I did not cook that much.  Honestly, I still don’t cook half as much as I’d like, but a fridge full of fresh produce has spurred me to cook more.  I had been quite bad about having leftover veggies, though, and that has inspired me to take a look at the produce I use the least and share some of the recipes for how to use them with you.

This week my project is kale.  Kale is such a neat green.  It’s not exotic by any stretch, but I never grew up using it.  It does grow year-round, so if you’re in a colder climate you still can have kale coming up, even if there’s snow on the ground.  As such, I get it in my basket almost every week and almost every week I end up wasting half of it.

I’ve cut up bits and pieces to add to eggs, pastas, salads and soups, but I can never use it all so this week I decided to search for a dish where kale was featured so I could reliably use up my portion whenever I receive it.  After a bit of searching, I found a some super simple recipes for kale chips.  I wasn’t quite sure about how much I’d like them, but figured giving it a try would be better than wasting the plant.

Turns out, they’re great.  The first batch wasn’t perfect, but definitely enjoyable. I only used about half the bunch of kale since that’s all that would fit on the baking sheet pre-cooking.  It was positively overflowing.  I didn’t take into account the fact that the kale would shrink so much and used a bit more olive oil and salt than I should have.  Some of the chips were wilty and all of them were too salty.  Still, I couldn’t stop eating them!

Here’s my version (which is really close to everyone else’s version) of the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350.
Drizzle a bit of olive oil (not too much!) on a baking sheet.
Take your kale and rip the leaves into tortilla chip-sized pieces, discarding the stalk, and add that to the baking sheet.
Sprinkle some salt over the kale.
Mix the salt, kale, and olive oil together on the sheet so the kale is coated.
Bake for about 15 minutes.

And that’s it!  The resulting product does not look beautiful, but the texture and saltiness make a great substitute for unhealthy potato chips.  I ate about half the batch the first night and brought the rest to work, though it tastes better right out of the oven.  Besides, I probably ate more kale in those two days than I had in months.

Stay tuned for more adventures in CSA cooking.  I’ll be looking at dandelion green recipes next time.

CSA programs are all over.  If you’re interested, visit www.localharvest.org to see if there is a farm near you.