Are you "Brown"?

I've never heard of this before:

Browns as a group often share a set of beliefs that are catching on, much to the chagrin of global marketers. Browns take a moral or ethical stance toward these issues, and are often rooted in beliefs that are radically decentralized, local, and emphasize self-sufficiency. They don’t keep their houses cold and grow their own food as a publicity stunt. They are ambivalent, at best, about using mainstream media outlets to explain what they are doing, and why.

But, -yes. Very much, yes, this is how we think, my love and I.

(found via Peak Oil Blues)

Independance Days 3.3.2010

The Independance Days Challenge has restarted for the new year. Here's my first week's report:

1. Plant something: Sweet basil, indoors. I need to remember to start sprouting those commercial potatoes, or find some organic ones; I can’t plant enough to order seed potatoes so I plan on using slips. Root vegetables, herbs, and greens get along alright out there so that's what I plan on growing.

So far, it looks like the parsley and chives on the balcony have survived the winter.

2. Harvest something: nothing

3. Preserved something: nothing, but making plans and gathering recipes. We could use more home-canned convenience foods. I ordered another book, and visited Creative Canning for ideas.

4. Waste not: Eating of leftovers. Old dining set went to thrift and we bought a new one that’s far more useful for us. Old computers were scavenged for parts and now await a trip to the recycling. Also I created printable inventory sheets, to help with grocery shopping but also with what we preserve and when we eat it, since I plan on dating & keeping them.

6. Build community: ordering meat & eggs from a farmer that attends the local farm market during the summer, and makes drop-offs during the winter. All meat & eggs are purchased this way now.

7. Eat the food: chocolate cake with strawberry and raspberry preserves from last fall. Heavenly. Beef stew, home canned. Apple pie and applesauce. Dried fruit snacks. Starting to remember all the peppers I dried, and cook with them.

Snow update...

It snowed all day today, we got about 8" by 2pm when we went for a walk. We didn't go out otherwise -reports of accidents and people "driving" sideways across the overpass are sufficient to keep us home. We love this weather - the way the light looks, the quiet of the snow. Being out it, kicking it up, throwing it at each other (it wouldn't pack for snowballs), playing :-)

We've got to move somewhere with Winter, rather than a cold rainy season.....

Snow?

I've been working, since the beginning of last summer, on expanding the pantry. The eventual goal is to have enough to get through the winter, with only occasional visits to the store. While I'm not there yet, we do have a fair stock. It's very reassuring to have.

Case in point:
Down here, snow is rare. At least, rare enough to cause seeming panic for most of the area - I've seen places close for 4" of snow, that wouldn't close when a hurricane was coming that night. Yesterday the weather started calling for 5-10 inches of snow, starting tonight around 9pm. We discussed it last night - we needed milk, Coke, and to fill the car with gas. I checked this morning, and we have plenty of milk. That's it. Today's update is 100% chance of snow, accumulation of 8-12 inches, starting around 7pm. I'll go at lunch, grab what we need, and just go straight home tonight. Dinner is already cooking - last night's leftover elk in it's own broth, with root veggies and barley. There's two other soups in the freezer, and homemade pumpkin pie in the fridge. We'll have a nice quiet evening, enjoy the snow, and avoid being on the roads - it doesn't bother me to drive on snow, but others? I don't want to find out the hard way.

Happy Holidays!

I know I've been quiet - we had our Yule this past weekend, and I'll be visiting family for Christmas, so I won't be posting until next week or so. Everything is fine, just busy.

Take care, and Happy Holidays to all!

An Apple a Day.....

I've just finished working my way through all the apples we picked. We got 20 pints unsweetened applesauce from the Fujis - they didn't need anything added to make delicious sauce! The Granny Smiths were used for dried apples slices and canned apple pie filling, plus apple crisp for desert a few nights. Dehydrating apples make the house smell wonderful.

And even after all this time, I have 6 apples to keep for eating fresh. Yum.

Trying to peel the apple in one curl sounds like taking things to a small extreme. After peeling 30lbs of apples, I've noticed it actually makes a lot of sense - I'm less likely to cut myself, I loose less apple flesh with the peel, and the apple looks better when I'm done. Plus it's just fun to try!

Final results:

3 apple pies

dozen fresh apple snacks

18 pints Fuji applesauce, unsweetened

8 liters dried apple slices (estimate, might be 9)

13 Qts. Apple Pie Filling

4 Pts. Apple Pie Filling

4 Qts. Apple Slices in medium syrup

A Yuletide Meme

1.) Have you started your Christmas shopping? Yes.

2.) Tell me about one of your special traditions. We've started making a gingerbread house every year. I like to serve cinnamon rolls on Yule morning, and might look into stollen for that instead (make ahead! yay!)

3.) When do you put up your tree? The day after Thanksgiving with the rest of the Yule decorations, at least so far.

4.) Are you a Black Friday shopper? No, I put up Yule decorations that day.

5.) Do you travel at Christmas or stay home? We stay HOME. After one holiday visiting 5 houses - well, that won't happen again.

6.) What is your funniest Christmas memory?

7.) What is your favorite Christmas movie of all time? The full length How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The half-hour version is banned.

8.) Do you do your own Christmas baking? What’s your favorite treat? Yes. Favorite treat so far is my nutty Sugar Plums, for which I've never seen the recipe. Honey and spices and nuts (no fruit) rolled in cocoa or powered sugar, and taste better after a few weeks to let the flavors meld. Yum.

9.) Fake or Real Tree? Fake, due to fire codes. I strongly prefer real ones, and generally get a live wreath to hang inside, plus 'tree-scent' candles to get the scents.

10.) What day (as a Mom) does the actual panic set in to get it all done? It doesn't.

11.) Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve? Only a couple, often for stockings.

12.) What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas? All the yummy food :) Hanging out with loved ones.

13.) What Christmas craft do you like the best? You mean I have to pick just one?

14.) Christmas music? Yes or No. And if yes, What is your favorite song? In small doses, yes. Favorite songs - Adeste Fideles, in Latin; and Let it Snow, by Bing Crosby.

15.) When do you plan to finish all your shopping? A week before Yule, as we're traveling for the Christmas and Yule is several days earlier.

Any blogger is welcome to participate in this meme, even if you haven’t been tagged yet. Just simply copy and paste the questions into your blog, and then answer them. Then tag 5 or more of your favorite blogs, and leave them a comment telling them they’ve been tagged. I wasn't tagged; just playing along - care to join me?

When you post your blog, please spread some Christmas cheer, and leave a link back to Heather’s Top Ten Christmas Blog, and the blog that you were tagged by.