I spend a lot of time thinking about food independence, but I have been ignoring the elephant in the room. I am a media slave! All of my family are indentured to Comcast. It controls what we watch, whether we get email, how fast we connect to the Internet, and how much we spend on all of that. I buy manual cooking tools, but up until now we haven't given organized thought to all the media tools that require electricity. DH and I talked about it this week.
No one in my family can imagine an appealing future without media - we are huge readers, film-watchers, magazine subscribers, Internet users, and TV-watchers. Our music is digital. DD15 goes to an online charter school. We are selective, and control our TV with a DVR. We don't spend all our time in front of a screen. We allow only one TV that everyone watches, so family members have to negotiate to watch favorite shows. No TVs or computers in kids' rooms. Each person tracks different shows they think are worth watching, and DH generally manages the DVR recording and reminds us to watch our saved shows.
But we have a $150+ monthly Comcast bill, of which $48 is high speed Internet. The rest is basic cable, a required digital package, DVR rental, and HBO, along with fees and taxes. One or two pay-per-view movies a month. We also see one or two movies per month at theater matinees. DH and I like to have the occasional Friday afternoon date, with a movie and Cajun food.
We don't have landline phones, only cell phones with pay-as-you-go plans, so we are already Phone Independent (as far as one can be). But no landline means no DSL through a phone company, which is cheaper Internet. On the other hand, Verizon is also moving toward more expensive options (FIOS) for the speeds needed to support media streaming.
We could survive without cable TV and Internet. We very much enjoy reading. But we wouldn't like losing the connections, the information, the news, my blog! The Internet is more than entertainment. It has become essential for business, and to connect services with people who are otherwise isolated by distance, disability, or poverty. Most job hunting is now done online. In Pennsylvania, cable companies negotiate individual long-term franchise contracts with municipalities, making cable a patchwork of providers for users who have no group identity or power. I anticipate that the price of Internet service will rise as customers leave cable TV - either because they switch to Internet programming, or because they choose food and rent over cable.
These are the possible scenarios I see for us in the next few years:
Best Case: We remain able to afford electricity, cable TV, and high speed Internet. Over the next 5 years, as more and more TV programming becomes available online, we will invest in a High Definition monitor, and hook up a computer to stream our programming from the Internet, eliminating our cable subscription. We could get a 32" HD TV for under $800, maybe much less if we buy one at a store liquidation or bankruptcy sale. A computer with a large hard-drive would come in under another $1000. Alternative energy sources will develop over the next 5-10 years, and our electricity needs may be met off-grid.
Middle Road: We may be forced to cut our spending dramatically in the next 2-3 years. Cable TV would go first, to preserve our funds for Internet and electricity. We think that about half of the programming we watch is available online now. We could get a digital Netflix subscription, but would lose the original HBO prgramming that we like, until HBO starts offering the predicted digital subscriptions. We would also stop going to theaters, and would give up our magazines, new books (using only the library), and other forms of paid media in order to keep the Internet.
Worst Case: If the economy goes downhill very quickly, I would consider organizing a "community media center." We would not be the only ones jonesing for TV and Internet (not to mention light, heat, and a meal). We could start a community-supported TV and Internet Cafe, spreading the power and connection costs across a larger number of people. I hope to see this kind of thing start up in any future. Movies were popular and inexpensive during the Depression, a distraction from hunger and worry. TV could be more of a positive experience if it came with community and discussion, instead of isolation. Group watching could also make tedious tasks entertaining - bean shelling, needlework, and other handcrafts.
Bug-Out Media Plan: This is a short-term plan for unexpected local emergencies. We have extra phone chargers. I have a biometric flash drive with our essential data and passwords. We would take our phones and DH's laptop. Everyone but me has an MP3 player, flash drives loaded with music, and DS-Lite game systems. (I prefer reading.) We are shopping for solar chargers and rechargeable batteries. We need to be able to keep our phones and a laptop up in an emergency. The music and games could pass the time if we had to evacuate-n-wait at a shelter. We also have a shelf of waiting-to-be-read books, that we could easily grab on the way out the door, and three of us carry Moleskine notebooks and sketchbooks.
What's your Media Plan look like? How will you make sure you can keep reading my blog? :-)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
If You Give a Mom a Hammer...
If you are a parent, perhaps you have read the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. In it, a boy gives a mouse a cookie, which results in a huge chain reaction of exhausting events.
This sounds like a simple task, doesn't it? "Hammer in hooks for laundry pole." I wanted to hang a 7-foot bamboo pole across a niche in our bedroom to use for drying laundry indoors. All I have to do is pound in two hammer-in hooks for the pole. I have hooks; I have a hammer. DD15 can climb on the footboard of the bed to do this.
Want to know why I have such a long list of simple tasks?
Hmm... maybe we better dust the ceiling fan, or it will throw dust on the laundry. But first we better cover the bed with a drop cloth, since fan cleaning inevitably drops chunks of dust. We'll need to lug the big vacuum cleaner upstairs, to vacuuming loose dust off the fan blades. Then we need the ladder to climb up and manually take off the rest. Ugh, the glass light fixture needs a wash.
I love ceiling fans, but they get really dirty in the city with the windows open all summer. A ring of dust develops on the walls at fan level, so DD15 and I will also have to dust all the walls and woodwork. Then all the furniture and lampshades will need dusting. And the humidifier still on the floor from last winter needs a good cleaning.
DH has to help sort all the treasure on his bureau, which lives in the bottom part of the niche. The broken X-Box must be ceremoniously removed, dusty martial arts gear sent to launder, unidentified cables that "might come in handy" taken to the bin where such things are kept. The pile of old X-Box games will have to be taken downstairs to list on eBay. While we are ripping apart the room, it will seems like a good time to wash the windows, so they will be ready for bubble wrap and the heavy drapes (a separate item on the to-do list). Then I will have to deal with the pile of "this doesn't belong in our bedroom" junk that needs a new home.
That pile includes a stack of summer clothes that I can put in the plastic trash barrels we use to store off-season clothing in the cellar. But first I need to go through the winter barrels to make room. Uh oh, the barrels are covered in kitchen trash bags full of clothes I told the kids to "take to the barrels" all summer as we bought them at yard sales. It all needs sorting.
I can use the top of the washing machine to sort clothes. But first I better empty it. It's raining, so the stuff can't hang outside to dry. Oh! I can hang it on the new laundry pole! Crap, there aren't enough extra hangers. Have to find the box of extra hangers. I bet they are in the attic. Oh dear, the attic steps are full of stuff that was supposed to go up there for storage...
But first, I need a nap under the drop cloth.
This sounds like a simple task, doesn't it? "Hammer in hooks for laundry pole." I wanted to hang a 7-foot bamboo pole across a niche in our bedroom to use for drying laundry indoors. All I have to do is pound in two hammer-in hooks for the pole. I have hooks; I have a hammer. DD15 can climb on the footboard of the bed to do this.
Want to know why I have such a long list of simple tasks?
Hmm... maybe we better dust the ceiling fan, or it will throw dust on the laundry. But first we better cover the bed with a drop cloth, since fan cleaning inevitably drops chunks of dust. We'll need to lug the big vacuum cleaner upstairs, to vacuuming loose dust off the fan blades. Then we need the ladder to climb up and manually take off the rest. Ugh, the glass light fixture needs a wash.
I love ceiling fans, but they get really dirty in the city with the windows open all summer. A ring of dust develops on the walls at fan level, so DD15 and I will also have to dust all the walls and woodwork. Then all the furniture and lampshades will need dusting. And the humidifier still on the floor from last winter needs a good cleaning.
DH has to help sort all the treasure on his bureau, which lives in the bottom part of the niche. The broken X-Box must be ceremoniously removed, dusty martial arts gear sent to launder, unidentified cables that "might come in handy" taken to the bin where such things are kept. The pile of old X-Box games will have to be taken downstairs to list on eBay. While we are ripping apart the room, it will seems like a good time to wash the windows, so they will be ready for bubble wrap and the heavy drapes (a separate item on the to-do list). Then I will have to deal with the pile of "this doesn't belong in our bedroom" junk that needs a new home.
That pile includes a stack of summer clothes that I can put in the plastic trash barrels we use to store off-season clothing in the cellar. But first I need to go through the winter barrels to make room. Uh oh, the barrels are covered in kitchen trash bags full of clothes I told the kids to "take to the barrels" all summer as we bought them at yard sales. It all needs sorting.
I can use the top of the washing machine to sort clothes. But first I better empty it. It's raining, so the stuff can't hang outside to dry. Oh! I can hang it on the new laundry pole! Crap, there aren't enough extra hangers. Have to find the box of extra hangers. I bet they are in the attic. Oh dear, the attic steps are full of stuff that was supposed to go up there for storage...
But first, I need a nap under the drop cloth.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Independence Challenge - Week 21
My new cellar shelving and bins.This was a big stock-up week for us. Last weekend, we went to Washington DC for a family party. The party itself was very lovely and delicious, but the most significant thing for me was that DH's family patriarch started a discussion about keeping chickens in his urban Philly backyard. Apparently he has also been stocking up. That got me massive street cred with DH - if his godfather is doing it, I no longer look like a survivalist whacko. :-)
So, DH agreed that we should spend some of our savings on 3 months of stored food. Instead of buying bits and pieces from our regular food budget, I now have a stock-up budget, and funding to purchase a freezer. I feel so much better - like when you are in labor and they finally say you can start pushing; the hard work is not over, but you are finally doing something besides moaning and complaining.
Planted: Brought some herbs indoors to start getting used to being indoors: fine-leaf basil, rosemary, two kinds of sage, garlic chives. I put a plastic tray on top of a filing cabinet in one of our only two south-facing windows. Took some coleus cuttings to root over the winter. Working up another order of seeds for spring.
Harvested: Cherry tomatoes, mint. Cut some grass to dry for mulching, but got rained out of the rest of my grass harvesting plan.
Preserved: Roasted tomatoes, peppers, basil, and onions as a sauce base for freezing. Dried yet more mint.
This loaf from the old machine was like a brick doorstop. The baking bucket didn't stay locked in.Cooked: The newer bread machine produced a nice loaf, so I think we are finding our groove with that. I'm having trouble keeping up with yogurt-making. Every time I think of making it, the milk is almost out. Too much going on lately. Made a new cauliflower soup, and found I had everything I needed on hand.
Stored: I focused on dry goods this week, filling out the supplies I already had. Next week, expect to see veggies for cellaring, and after the freezer arrives there will be meat, lard, butter, and whole wheat flour.
A lot of people order bulk food online, but I've heard a lot of stories about slow delivery, so I decided to shop locally for now. I want to establish local sources for our food. I went to a warehouse grocery, a wholesale club, and an independent grocer with a can sale, so far. I still have to visit a Mennonite bulk store, the grocery liquidator, and a flour mill (pastry flour). I do plan to order powdered eggs and high-quality dry milk online. Bought this week:
Cases: evaporated milk, corn, refried beans, canola oil, crushed tomatoes, whole grain pasta, macaroni, Spaghetti-O's (DD11's request), paper towels (DH's request)Prepared: Ordered a 7.2 cubic foot freezer from Sears, on sale for $195. I did extensive checking, and they had best price per cubic foot. But they were sold out at that store, and there were none in the regional distribution center, either, so it is being shipped from another region for Oct 7 delivery. That seems ominous, Sears selling out of freezers in the Northeast.
Bulk: 20# bread flour, 15# rolled oats, 10# red lentils, 5# cornmeal, 10# split peas, 30# basmati rice, 25# sugar, 4# brown sugar, 6# honey, olive oil, 16# of cat food
Essentials: a brick of yeast, cider vinegar, some spices, hot chocolate mix, bouillon cubes, dried apricots, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pistachios
We got the equipment for making hard cider. Did some research on an email list, and found a home-brew shop in our area: Universal Carbonics, at 614 Gregg Ave (turn back Noble St from Lancaster Ave), where the Reading Draft Birch Beer factory is located. Martin Radovanyi is the proprietor and is very knowledgeable. He helped me pick out a 6 Gal fermenting bucket, airlock, siphon, tubing, and yeast - came to less than $30 and all is reusable. We still need a large glass carboy to rack the cider ($20-40), some bottles (recycled), and a capper ($13). Hard cider is not exactly an essential, but it will be fun, and tasting will be a good excuse to have a party.
Jar, coffee press, and mill from church sale.Bought a better bread machine at Goodwill for $5, along with some winter fiction. Got another 27 canning jars via Craigslist, mostly quarts. Went to a good church sale and found books, games, a big glass jar, some greeting cards, 18 canning jars, and a shelving unit. DD15 bought a French coffee press, a small electric coffee mill (for spice grinding), and a sewing machine for $10. I am researching the Singer model # to find the right bobbins.
Managed: Cleaned and reorganized the cellar. The kids were an enormous help with unloading the car, hauling stuff to the basement, helping to assemble the shelves, and making labels for the bins.
Couldn't find the shop-vac hose, so I had to buy a new one ($18). Found a spot where there was likely a freezer belonging to the previous tenant. There is a raised concrete slab of the right size, and a heavy-duty electrical outlet. We think the new freezer will just fit down the cellar stairs.
The niche behind the shelves will be for appliance boxes we are saving for moving.Found a large set of wood utility shelves at that church rummage for $20, and they just fit in our low headroom cellar, in front of the furnace we no longer use. Just what I needed! And Boscov's had a sale on 20-gal lidded storage totes for $3.97. I got 8, and may go back for more. I don't think you can have too many bins. I sorted our food reserves: cans and jars on the shelves, boxes and bags into the bins. Put a temporary shelf on top of the furnace intake, since we are not using it. I have four old milk crates that hold 6 gallons each, so they will store 24 gallons of water in gallon jugs. People say the jugs may leak over time, but the cellar has a sump pump, and we will try to get in the habit of rotating them. I'll look for other water storage containers.
Sorted my dry beans to figure out what else to buy. I have enough split peas, lentils, rice, and pintos. Probably need another 20 pounds of other types, like garbanzos, cannellini, black beans, and soup bean mix.
Reduced, Reused, Recycled: Gave away all our old Christmas lights via Freecycle. We will get a few strings of LED lights. Researched ways to reuse more of our empty food containers.
Doesn't this deli container already look like a seed-starter?Local/Family: The Neighbor Club is hard to get going. People have different schedules, and are not used to asking each other for help. We also never all have money at the same time, to buy things together. One neighbor was carless and walked to a store a few miles away with a limping push cart. I scolded her for not telling me she needed a ride. I am going to have to figure out how to check in more routinely, to watch for opportunities to collaborate.
I did give a pan of warm apple bread pudding to the pregnant neighbor before we went to DC. I had baked it for breakfast and we didn't have time to eat it. I plan to bake on Monday. Our surly male neighbor just had hip replacement, and I will see if some banana bread will sweeten his disposition. Newsflash: Pregnant Neighbor had her baby Saturday night, a healthy 8.5 pound boy. Better bake some cookies for her other three kids.
Learning: I am signing up for gardening classes given by the Berks Master Gardeners at the GoggleWorks art center. I am not a beginner, but 9 hours with the attention of a Master Gardener is not a bad deal for $25. The three Tuesday night sessions that don't conflict with soccer practice. These classes are poorly advertised. If I hadn't caught the newspaper article in my feedreader, I would not have known. And I am looking for these things. It wasn't included in the regular Cooperative Extension packet, or in the GoggleWorks mailings. I am going to mention that to the people that teach the classes, and make some suggestions
Library: I ordered 4 new books: Coleman's Four Season Harvest, Ashworth's Seed to Seed, Bubel's Root Cellaring, and Katz' Wild Fermentation. I've wanted these, and the used price is almost the same as new - I saved money buy ordering new at a discount and getting free shipping from Amazon.
At the Goodwill, I found a cute little 1955 cookbook, Potluck Cookery, that has a lot of recipes for leftovers. The church sale had some interesting titles: The Cake Mix Doctor, American Wholefoods Cuisine (1983), and Cooking from the Cupboard. Gotta love a 25-cent book.
To my digital library, I added Pat Meadows' beginning vegetable garden plan. She developed it for her daughter (who happens to live in my 6B frost zone), but it has good advice for any new gardener. Pat's site has lots of other good info, and she runs a number of email lists for no-nonsense gardening and cooking.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Holiday Prep: Paper Tree
DD11 has a birthday in a few days, and will become DD12. She has been mentioning this with increasing frequency, as if we would forget.
But the scary thing is that her birthday means we are less than 3 months from Christmas! I pretty much refuse to start preparing until December. I like Thanksgiving, and I like to devote some attention to that, without feeling like it is just the big meal before Black Friday.
A post on an email list suggested an ornament exchange, and that led me to think about our family holiday tradition, the paper tree.
When my girls were very young (maybe 3 and 6), we had a holiday with no money. I was on a church list, but by Christmas Eve, it was clear that a tree was not going to arrive, and I didn't have $60 to buy one. I had some gifts ready, but OMG, no way was I going to face Christmas morning explaining why there was no tree.
So I invented a new tradition. I had a roll of wide green floral ribbon scrounged from somewhere, and I cut sort diagonal lengths from it. I taped them to a wall in a tree shape, and cut a trunk shape out of a paper grocery bag. Then we spent the rest of the night making paper decorations. Little paper chains, all sorts of cut out paper ornaments, shiny bits of wrapping paper. We flipped a coin to see who would draw the star for the top. They were so proud of their work, and couldn't wait for Santa to see it.
Now the girls are 11 and 15, and we celebrate a variety of holidays - Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year - but we still do a paper tree. We make new ornaments every year. The girls have taken over making the tree base now, and then spend December making ornaments. I won't let them start until December 1st.
Sometimes they use floral ribbon, sometimes they draw it, or make 3D paper branches. All paper ornaments. And it all gets recycled or composted in January. No storage, no buying decorations - we do collect used wrapping paper, Christmas cards, shiny bits, stickers, etc. and use assorted art supplies. But we would do that anyway. :-)
Sometimes I do miss the tree-hunting tradition of my childhood - but then I just look at the price of a tree, and I feel A-OK!
If the mention of Christmas in September has you freaked out, too, just join me in refusing to talk about it until December.
But the scary thing is that her birthday means we are less than 3 months from Christmas! I pretty much refuse to start preparing until December. I like Thanksgiving, and I like to devote some attention to that, without feeling like it is just the big meal before Black Friday.
A post on an email list suggested an ornament exchange, and that led me to think about our family holiday tradition, the paper tree.
When my girls were very young (maybe 3 and 6), we had a holiday with no money. I was on a church list, but by Christmas Eve, it was clear that a tree was not going to arrive, and I didn't have $60 to buy one. I had some gifts ready, but OMG, no way was I going to face Christmas morning explaining why there was no tree.
So I invented a new tradition. I had a roll of wide green floral ribbon scrounged from somewhere, and I cut sort diagonal lengths from it. I taped them to a wall in a tree shape, and cut a trunk shape out of a paper grocery bag. Then we spent the rest of the night making paper decorations. Little paper chains, all sorts of cut out paper ornaments, shiny bits of wrapping paper. We flipped a coin to see who would draw the star for the top. They were so proud of their work, and couldn't wait for Santa to see it.
Now the girls are 11 and 15, and we celebrate a variety of holidays - Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Chinese New Year - but we still do a paper tree. We make new ornaments every year. The girls have taken over making the tree base now, and then spend December making ornaments. I won't let them start until December 1st.
Sometimes they use floral ribbon, sometimes they draw it, or make 3D paper branches. All paper ornaments. And it all gets recycled or composted in January. No storage, no buying decorations - we do collect used wrapping paper, Christmas cards, shiny bits, stickers, etc. and use assorted art supplies. But we would do that anyway. :-)
Sometimes I do miss the tree-hunting tradition of my childhood - but then I just look at the price of a tree, and I feel A-OK!
If the mention of Christmas in September has you freaked out, too, just join me in refusing to talk about it until December.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Winter is Coming
Early snow last winter, on the mountain above our house.This summer we started reading an epic fantasy series, Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, starting with A Game of Thrones. It features a land where seasons lasted years, not months. Years of summer, followed by years of winter. One of the protagonists has a family motto, "Winter is Coming." It reminds people that summer is lovely, but must be used to prepare for hard times, not to fool around wasting time and money on political intrigue.
I have my own task list to get ready for winter:
Major Project #1: Unload several rooms of my mother's house into a storage unit, so we can get major plumbing repairs done over the winter. We won't heat her house most of the winter. I hate to spend money renting storage, but there is no place else to go with it, and Mom could not handle the emotional strain of large-scale disposal.
Major Project #2: Our landlord won't insulate our attic, so we will. We need the space (otherwise finished) as a bedroom, to make room for my mother to stay with us this winter. That will mean shifting the girls to share the attic BR, put my mom in the warm BR next to the bathroom, and move all of our desks and bookcases to the second BR to make better living space downstairs. Yes, we are moving nearly everything we own from one room to another! :-)
Smaller Projects:
- Order bubble wrap for the windows, and working on arranging the heavy window drapes.
- Get garlic planted.
- Buy a chest freezer so we can take advantage of friends' hunting prowess. We passed up a deer last year, that we could have had for the cost of butchering. (Done 9/26)
- Finish fitting out the basement storage area. Make bulk food purchases of dry and canned goods, vegetables for cellaring, bulk meat for the freezer, and basic toiletries.
- Get straw bales for mulching, and to make a cold frame. Bag leaves for mulch.
- Buy another oil-filled electric radiator, our transitional heat source.
- Sort through clothing barrels to see who needs more heavy winter clothing. Continue shopping at rummage sales - church bazaar season is starting.
- Buy fermenting buckets to make hard cider. (Done 9/26)
- Get the rest of the books in Martin's series, for winter reading.
- Update our tetanus shots.
- Hang rods for indoor clothes drying. (Done 9/30)
- Late addition: Set up the worm composting bins.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Independence Challenge - Week 20
I like a beneficial bug as much as the next gardener, but not ON me. This Wheelbug was crawling on my back at soccer practice Monday night - flicked off by another parent (thanks, Earl!). It bites - a long-lasting, painful bite that is reportedly worse than a bee sting. It was huge. Ugh!
This will be a short update this week, because we spent a lot of time preparing for a trip to Washington DC for a family birthday party. I spent a shocking amount of money ($102) on an appointment for hair cut and color. I like the result, but I just can't stand spending money on that, even if I only go a few times a year. I can get a similar cut at lots of less expensive places, and I will ask a friend with a cosmetology license to help me buy and apply my own professional color.
Planted: Nothing new. Still clearing the remains of summer.
Harvested: Last of the basil, mint, and parsley. Cherry tomatoes.
A neighbor gave us some pluots. They are a cross of about 70% plum and 30% apricot, like large plums, but sweeter, right down to the pit. They are not brand-new, but our family just discovered them this year. I brought some home from a market to try, and DD15 bought some in Baltimore and introduced them to some of her friends. A neighbor also gave us some of a branded variety called "Dinosaur Eggs." I just love pluots - too bad they are only available from July to September, and apparently only grown in California so far. Maybe I better find place to plant my own tree.
Preserved: Dried mint and chopped parsley. Froze one-cup bags of sliced peaches. Froze blanched cauliflower in soup-recipe-sized bags. The freezer is officially crammed, and we need to get moving on buying a chest freezer.
Cooked: Roasted tomatoes with onion, garlic, and basil. It was very thick and I put it in a container in the fridge to decide how to use it - but DD15 discovered it and has been using it like a condiment on sandwiches and pasta. I am out of tomatoes, but I think I better find more and roast them up.
Our bread machine bread started coming out funny, and I wasn't sure why. Then I figured out that not everyone was firmly seating the baking bucket in the machine - the base has to lock into the socket, or the ingredients don't mix thoroughly. Now we are back on track with baking, and ready to experiment with new recipes.
Stored: Pasta, popcorn. Another dozen half-pints, a dozen pints, more plastic lids, new lids and rings for jars I got from Freecycle. Hair conditioner.
This will be a short update this week, because we spent a lot of time preparing for a trip to Washington DC for a family birthday party. I spent a shocking amount of money ($102) on an appointment for hair cut and color. I like the result, but I just can't stand spending money on that, even if I only go a few times a year. I can get a similar cut at lots of less expensive places, and I will ask a friend with a cosmetology license to help me buy and apply my own professional color.
Planted: Nothing new. Still clearing the remains of summer.
Harvested: Last of the basil, mint, and parsley. Cherry tomatoes.
A neighbor gave us some pluots. They are a cross of about 70% plum and 30% apricot, like large plums, but sweeter, right down to the pit. They are not brand-new, but our family just discovered them this year. I brought some home from a market to try, and DD15 bought some in Baltimore and introduced them to some of her friends. A neighbor also gave us some of a branded variety called "Dinosaur Eggs." I just love pluots - too bad they are only available from July to September, and apparently only grown in California so far. Maybe I better find place to plant my own tree.Preserved: Dried mint and chopped parsley. Froze one-cup bags of sliced peaches. Froze blanched cauliflower in soup-recipe-sized bags. The freezer is officially crammed, and we need to get moving on buying a chest freezer.
Cooked: Roasted tomatoes with onion, garlic, and basil. It was very thick and I put it in a container in the fridge to decide how to use it - but DD15 discovered it and has been using it like a condiment on sandwiches and pasta. I am out of tomatoes, but I think I better find more and roast them up.
Our bread machine bread started coming out funny, and I wasn't sure why. Then I figured out that not everyone was firmly seating the baking bucket in the machine - the base has to lock into the socket, or the ingredients don't mix thoroughly. Now we are back on track with baking, and ready to experiment with new recipes.
Stored: Pasta, popcorn. Another dozen half-pints, a dozen pints, more plastic lids, new lids and rings for jars I got from Freecycle. Hair conditioner.
Local/Family: Had dinner (Vietnamese Pho soup) with a friend that works for Penn State's Cooperative Extension. I am not sure of her exact job title, but she works with farmers who grow fruit and veggies. She frequently gets quoted as a source in the local paper. We had a long chat concerning my ideas about living in a city that often feels like a food desert, surrounded by the huge food-producing rural county. One fascinating thing she told me: small groups of people go to the large produce auctions and watch for the best stuff to be offered. Then they find the former who grew it and make their own deal to pick produce, presumably feeding large families or reselling to city shops. A problem across many types of farm-related business, she noted, was that people with farming ideas are often not equipped with practical business management experience. She will try to let me know if she hears of events or news that match my interest in exploring ways to connect city consumers with the food producers that surround them. She also recommended that I look into joining the Pennsylvania Assoc for Sustainable Agriculture as a consumer member.
More next week - we are planning some big food and equipment purchases.
Monday, September 15, 2008
A Weekend with SuperMom
I was SuperMom this past weekend. I think I have gotten too old and fat for my Spandex supersuit.
Friday, I took DD15 to cash her paycheck and buy dye to make the ends of her hair bright pink. Then we grocery shopped at Aldi, the grocery liquidator, and the farmer's market. Put away a lot of groceries. Made sure laundry and dishes were caught up. Made curried ham and lentil soup. Baked a loaf of bread that didn't turn out right, for unknown reasons. Cleaned the kitchen.
All because we were leaving DH and DD11 for an overnight trip to Baltimore. DD15 is an elected social-action chair of a 65-church regional youth steering committee - they plan four weekend youth conferences each year, with themes ranging from social justice, to leadership, to worship. The group has monthly meetings all over the mid-Atlantic, so we drive somewhere once a month. I can't stop being conscious of the price of gas, but DD15 pays for it. The deal we made is that I would do the driving and help with chaperoning, if she pays for gas and food out of her barista income. My criminal background check just came through, so now I will be an overnight chaperon. It really is a great leadership development opportunity for her, and we are getting tour a lot of beautiful old (and new) churches, where a group of 18 teens and 5 or 6 adults sleep on the sofas and floors. I also try to explore markets, food co-ops, and ethnic food stores when we travel.
Saturday, I drove her and another youth group member to Baltimore, about 2 hours away. We left early, so we could see something of the city. We parked on a little residential street near Inner Harbor. We could see dragon boat races in the harbor. The kids dragged me up all the steps at Federal Hill Park and down the steep grass on the other side. As I was trudging up the million steps, a woman going down whispered, "One step at a time, hon." That gives me a clue to how bad I must have looked, huffing, red-faced, with my knee audibly popping. I made the kids stop halfway down the other side to identify plantain, dandelion, and purslane - and tell the kids they could be eaten- bahahaha!
But it brought us to the American Visionary Art Museum. Visionary art is produced by people who have no art education - we call it "Outsider Art" at our community art center. The admission was discounted ($5) because they were between main exhibits, but the remaining galleries are very interesting.
There is a scale model of an ocean liner, made of toothpicks. My favorite was a huge multi-panel painting made up of zillions of detailed tiny people: "On an outer wall is a seven-panel trompe l'oeil mural by James Franklin Snodgrass imagining the population of the world materializing into a subtle image of a fertile reclining mother figure--an altogether different, more organic vision of Babel." Snodgrass was a 50's TV game show fraud whistleblower featured in the film Quiz Show. Many of the biographies of these artists talk about mental illness and reclusive behavior, and on the third floor is a whole exhibit devoted to OCD: Obsessive-Compulsive Delight. A gift shop on the first floor is stuffed with weird little objects, ephemera, books and cards. Everything from art books to vintage needle holders to tiny plastic dogs.
The outside of the building is as interesting as the inside. I love mosaic work, and the building is literally covered with it. There is garden full of native plants behind one of the buildings. The entrance fountain has water shooting out of faces carved in native rock.
The garden is a lush, wild mass of native plants and grasses. Wonderful to find tucked into a sheltered city nook. Like suddenly stepping into different world.
There is this fabulous structure in the middle of it all:
Across from it is a covered arcade lined with more mosaic panels.
We started to get hungry, and I wanted to find the Lexington Market, which is advertised at having been in operation since 1782. We didn't have good directions, but we managed to find it after a few loops.
I was disappointed. The market does have a lot of seafood and meat vendors, but few real produce vendors. Prices seem high; a smoked ham shank that costs $1.99/lb in my home market was $2.99 in Baltimore. Most of the produce is non-local fruit, cut-up and sold ready-to-eat. Most of the stands sell sandwiches, assorted ethnic food, and bottled beverages. It's more of a giant urban food court of prepared food. Not much of an emphasis on local food, at least not visible to me. Perhaps locals know what food is really local. I had some "Texas BBQ" that was really just sliced beef in a too-sweet gravy, with soggy macaroni in cheese sauce. The kids had sushi. We bought some fruit and baked goods to take to the meeting for later snacking. It just seems wrong, for the region to be at the height of the harvest season, with no sign of it in the city market - no corn, no tomatoes, no peaches, no green beans.
We found the church, which is a wonderful historic building, celebrating 200 years since the birth of Enoch Pratt, who built the church social hall out of bricks recycled from houses torn down to build the Pratt Free Library. I loved the architecture in Baltimore. I should have taken more photos. Every block has some ridiculously wonderful church or monument or a row of little old houses. Lots of little urban garden patches.
The youth meeting went from 6pm to about 11:30pm, followed by some youth social time. I read the last few chapters of my book club book, and went to sleep about 1am on a sofa. I set my cell phone to wake me at 6am. I wandered through the still-dark church, checking sleeping bodies until I found my daughter. She found the boy that was driving back with us. We gathered our stuff and were on the road by 6:30. The drive up Route I-83 was smooth and pretty. As the sun came up, there was light fog rising from the trees along the highway. We were all still quite groggy and silent - a relief after a day of constant teen chatter.
My goal on Sunday was to get to my own church by 8:45am to attend a book discussion group, and I made it. We were talking about Riding the Bus with My Sister (2002), a true story about a woman who explores her relationship with her mentally handicapped sister. I was particularly interested because the sisters are my age, and scenes from their lives echoes the clothing and popular culture of my life, set in my city. The author lightly disguises the locations and identities, but we recognized the descriptions. The handicapped sister still lives here and still rides the buses.
But the book club was just the start of my day! The club broke up it time for us to go to the annual RE breakfast, where you sign your kids up for the year. (RE stands for Religious Education, what we call Sunday School.) DD15 helped set up the breakfast, and I was starving. They had an assortment of bagels and spreads, several kinds of yogurt, and lots of fruit, nuts, and granola to make yogurt parfaits. I love that kind of breakfast.
One of the nice things about living in the city, is that we are only a few minutes from most of the stuff we do. So, I raced off to swing past our house and pick up DD11, so she could go to RE. We have a new DRE (Director of Religious Education), and had hoped to meet her, but she is still finishing up at her last job.
I tried to stay awake during the sermon, I really did. Not too successful, on only 5 hours of sleep, but I don't think I actually snored. When the service was over, we left to make a mad dash through the Sunday grower's market. I got 2 pecks of #2 peaches, a peck of #2 tomatoes, a large head of cauliflower, some sage, and a quart of plums.
Then we jumped back into the car to pick up DH and go to DD11's first soccer game of the season. She had gone to church in her uniform, and we got to the field by 12:30 for the 1pm game. It had gotten hot. I found out later it hit 90, and the heat index was 105. We made sure the players got hydrated. Most of us start our kids hydrating in advance the night before a game.
DD11's team tied 2-2, a good first game for us. They lost a lot last year. Our urban recreation league usually plays suburban teams with better equipment, soccer camps, and teams that also play together in school leagues. Our city teams tend to have lots of new first-time players every year, so we build a new team every season. We make sure all the girls play, and everyone plays hard. We all felt good about the game - players, parents, coaches. One first-year Soccer Mom was a blast to watch, as she leapt in and out of her chair whenever the ball got near her daughter, a first-time goalie.
We left the game and took DD15 to work - she had to work from 3 to 8. I think she had only an hour of sleep Saturday night. Oh, to be young again. I napped while she was gone, and woke up to realize I had a bad suburn. During the game, I just wasn't thinking about the blasting sun and not having sunscreen on my face and neck. I burned my collarbones in a boat-neck t-shirt. I slept with a damp cloth cooling my chest Sunday night.
I don't know - maybe other families are that active every weekend. But I felt like I did a week's worth of activities in 2 days. DD15 said she was proud of me for "not freaking out." I was tired, but didn't lose my temper, even when a 16-year-old boy was back-seat-driving at me. And I did everything I set out to do, in my madly over-scheduled weekend.
Now I have all week to recover in the kitchen and the garden. Because next weekend, DH and I drive to Washington DC to attend his aunt's 50th birthday party. We get to stay in a hotel, just us grown-ups! Whoo-hoo!
Friday, I took DD15 to cash her paycheck and buy dye to make the ends of her hair bright pink. Then we grocery shopped at Aldi, the grocery liquidator, and the farmer's market. Put away a lot of groceries. Made sure laundry and dishes were caught up. Made curried ham and lentil soup. Baked a loaf of bread that didn't turn out right, for unknown reasons. Cleaned the kitchen.
All because we were leaving DH and DD11 for an overnight trip to Baltimore. DD15 is an elected social-action chair of a 65-church regional youth steering committee - they plan four weekend youth conferences each year, with themes ranging from social justice, to leadership, to worship. The group has monthly meetings all over the mid-Atlantic, so we drive somewhere once a month. I can't stop being conscious of the price of gas, but DD15 pays for it. The deal we made is that I would do the driving and help with chaperoning, if she pays for gas and food out of her barista income. My criminal background check just came through, so now I will be an overnight chaperon. It really is a great leadership development opportunity for her, and we are getting tour a lot of beautiful old (and new) churches, where a group of 18 teens and 5 or 6 adults sleep on the sofas and floors. I also try to explore markets, food co-ops, and ethnic food stores when we travel.
Saturday, I drove her and another youth group member to Baltimore, about 2 hours away. We left early, so we could see something of the city. We parked on a little residential street near Inner Harbor. We could see dragon boat races in the harbor. The kids dragged me up all the steps at Federal Hill Park and down the steep grass on the other side. As I was trudging up the million steps, a woman going down whispered, "One step at a time, hon." That gives me a clue to how bad I must have looked, huffing, red-faced, with my knee audibly popping. I made the kids stop halfway down the other side to identify plantain, dandelion, and purslane - and tell the kids they could be eaten- bahahaha!
But it brought us to the American Visionary Art Museum. Visionary art is produced by people who have no art education - we call it "Outsider Art" at our community art center. The admission was discounted ($5) because they were between main exhibits, but the remaining galleries are very interesting.
There is a scale model of an ocean liner, made of toothpicks. My favorite was a huge multi-panel painting made up of zillions of detailed tiny people: "On an outer wall is a seven-panel trompe l'oeil mural by James Franklin Snodgrass imagining the population of the world materializing into a subtle image of a fertile reclining mother figure--an altogether different, more organic vision of Babel." Snodgrass was a 50's TV game show fraud whistleblower featured in the film Quiz Show. Many of the biographies of these artists talk about mental illness and reclusive behavior, and on the third floor is a whole exhibit devoted to OCD: Obsessive-Compulsive Delight. A gift shop on the first floor is stuffed with weird little objects, ephemera, books and cards. Everything from art books to vintage needle holders to tiny plastic dogs.
The outside of the building is as interesting as the inside. I love mosaic work, and the building is literally covered with it. There is garden full of native plants behind one of the buildings. The entrance fountain has water shooting out of faces carved in native rock.
The garden is a lush, wild mass of native plants and grasses. Wonderful to find tucked into a sheltered city nook. Like suddenly stepping into different world.
There is this fabulous structure in the middle of it all:
Across from it is a covered arcade lined with more mosaic panels.
We started to get hungry, and I wanted to find the Lexington Market, which is advertised at having been in operation since 1782. We didn't have good directions, but we managed to find it after a few loops.
I was disappointed. The market does have a lot of seafood and meat vendors, but few real produce vendors. Prices seem high; a smoked ham shank that costs $1.99/lb in my home market was $2.99 in Baltimore. Most of the produce is non-local fruit, cut-up and sold ready-to-eat. Most of the stands sell sandwiches, assorted ethnic food, and bottled beverages. It's more of a giant urban food court of prepared food. Not much of an emphasis on local food, at least not visible to me. Perhaps locals know what food is really local. I had some "Texas BBQ" that was really just sliced beef in a too-sweet gravy, with soggy macaroni in cheese sauce. The kids had sushi. We bought some fruit and baked goods to take to the meeting for later snacking. It just seems wrong, for the region to be at the height of the harvest season, with no sign of it in the city market - no corn, no tomatoes, no peaches, no green beans.We found the church, which is a wonderful historic building, celebrating 200 years since the birth of Enoch Pratt, who built the church social hall out of bricks recycled from houses torn down to build the Pratt Free Library. I loved the architecture in Baltimore. I should have taken more photos. Every block has some ridiculously wonderful church or monument or a row of little old houses. Lots of little urban garden patches.
The youth meeting went from 6pm to about 11:30pm, followed by some youth social time. I read the last few chapters of my book club book, and went to sleep about 1am on a sofa. I set my cell phone to wake me at 6am. I wandered through the still-dark church, checking sleeping bodies until I found my daughter. She found the boy that was driving back with us. We gathered our stuff and were on the road by 6:30. The drive up Route I-83 was smooth and pretty. As the sun came up, there was light fog rising from the trees along the highway. We were all still quite groggy and silent - a relief after a day of constant teen chatter.
My goal on Sunday was to get to my own church by 8:45am to attend a book discussion group, and I made it. We were talking about Riding the Bus with My Sister (2002), a true story about a woman who explores her relationship with her mentally handicapped sister. I was particularly interested because the sisters are my age, and scenes from their lives echoes the clothing and popular culture of my life, set in my city. The author lightly disguises the locations and identities, but we recognized the descriptions. The handicapped sister still lives here and still rides the buses.
But the book club was just the start of my day! The club broke up it time for us to go to the annual RE breakfast, where you sign your kids up for the year. (RE stands for Religious Education, what we call Sunday School.) DD15 helped set up the breakfast, and I was starving. They had an assortment of bagels and spreads, several kinds of yogurt, and lots of fruit, nuts, and granola to make yogurt parfaits. I love that kind of breakfast.
One of the nice things about living in the city, is that we are only a few minutes from most of the stuff we do. So, I raced off to swing past our house and pick up DD11, so she could go to RE. We have a new DRE (Director of Religious Education), and had hoped to meet her, but she is still finishing up at her last job.
I tried to stay awake during the sermon, I really did. Not too successful, on only 5 hours of sleep, but I don't think I actually snored. When the service was over, we left to make a mad dash through the Sunday grower's market. I got 2 pecks of #2 peaches, a peck of #2 tomatoes, a large head of cauliflower, some sage, and a quart of plums.
Then we jumped back into the car to pick up DH and go to DD11's first soccer game of the season. She had gone to church in her uniform, and we got to the field by 12:30 for the 1pm game. It had gotten hot. I found out later it hit 90, and the heat index was 105. We made sure the players got hydrated. Most of us start our kids hydrating in advance the night before a game.
DD11's team tied 2-2, a good first game for us. They lost a lot last year. Our urban recreation league usually plays suburban teams with better equipment, soccer camps, and teams that also play together in school leagues. Our city teams tend to have lots of new first-time players every year, so we build a new team every season. We make sure all the girls play, and everyone plays hard. We all felt good about the game - players, parents, coaches. One first-year Soccer Mom was a blast to watch, as she leapt in and out of her chair whenever the ball got near her daughter, a first-time goalie.
We left the game and took DD15 to work - she had to work from 3 to 8. I think she had only an hour of sleep Saturday night. Oh, to be young again. I napped while she was gone, and woke up to realize I had a bad suburn. During the game, I just wasn't thinking about the blasting sun and not having sunscreen on my face and neck. I burned my collarbones in a boat-neck t-shirt. I slept with a damp cloth cooling my chest Sunday night.
I don't know - maybe other families are that active every weekend. But I felt like I did a week's worth of activities in 2 days. DD15 said she was proud of me for "not freaking out." I was tired, but didn't lose my temper, even when a 16-year-old boy was back-seat-driving at me. And I did everything I set out to do, in my madly over-scheduled weekend.
Now I have all week to recover in the kitchen and the garden. Because next weekend, DH and I drive to Washington DC to attend his aunt's 50th birthday party. We get to stay in a hotel, just us grown-ups! Whoo-hoo!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
