My friend Mel, helpful and organized person that she is, loves to organize people's houses, including garages. She had a problem in garages, despairing of trying to organize tools inexpensively, and in a manner that would accommodate different types and sizes of tools. Straightening and organizing for people when you know the tools won't go back where they came from for long seemed fruitless.
Mel is a manufacturing Black Belt, trained at Honeywell, where we both worked at one time. She is good. When she is visiting me, she is constantly looking at ways to improve my work flow. It is just her nature. And it being her nature to solve problems, she came up with an invention and (after waiting on the patent) is finally is able to launch her product, just in time for the holidays. Seems like a great gift for people who have a lot of tools. I'm thinking of buying a couple to put in kitchen drawers for my kitchen tools that frequently go missing!
This is such an ingenious idea! I wish her much success. Go here to see how ToolLodge works.
I hope many of you decide to try one out. What a unique gift, for yourself or for that person with disorganized tool drawers. Happy shopping.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Pain? What pain?
I take a reading daily to see whether or not I am in ketosis (have been 99% of the time for the last four years as of January), and this morning I wasn't surprised to see a reading of 40. I rarely attain that. One little cheat, and I'm at 15, sometimes 5, and occasionally I drop out altogether. What is interesting is that I slept well last night, had absolutely NO pain, shoulder was quiet, bursitis in hip was a non-issue. My mind has been clear and focused all day.
I wonder how much "illness" could be cured by eating a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates. If it is true that insulin resistance is the precursor of nearly all of our Western physical ills, then we need to quit pushing that latest food plate (replaced the ridiculous pyramid) that is so heavy on grains. I know more people who can't tolerate gluten. Where is gluten? In grain! Why do we need it? I don't think we do.
On top of that, there now is a growing body of evidence that a low carbohydrate diet can affect mood. How much better to eat a steak topped with blue cheese, maybe a lettuce salad heavy on the dressing and a mess of greens cooked in bacon grease. Then top it off with a shot of whiskey (no beer or wine, please, they are full of carbohydrates). All of those things we were told not to eat - and they have moved to the top of the list of GOOD foods. Well, maybe not the whiskey, but I did include that so that you could see that giving up beer and wine isn't all bad. ;-)
Follow this link if you want to read more, lest you think I am speaking off the cuff. The use of ketogenic diets for better health
Nix the potatoes, rice, pasta and fruit, bring on the butter, the meat and the greens. Try it. You might like it.
I wonder how much "illness" could be cured by eating a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates. If it is true that insulin resistance is the precursor of nearly all of our Western physical ills, then we need to quit pushing that latest food plate (replaced the ridiculous pyramid) that is so heavy on grains. I know more people who can't tolerate gluten. Where is gluten? In grain! Why do we need it? I don't think we do.
On top of that, there now is a growing body of evidence that a low carbohydrate diet can affect mood. How much better to eat a steak topped with blue cheese, maybe a lettuce salad heavy on the dressing and a mess of greens cooked in bacon grease. Then top it off with a shot of whiskey (no beer or wine, please, they are full of carbohydrates). All of those things we were told not to eat - and they have moved to the top of the list of GOOD foods. Well, maybe not the whiskey, but I did include that so that you could see that giving up beer and wine isn't all bad. ;-)
Follow this link if you want to read more, lest you think I am speaking off the cuff. The use of ketogenic diets for better health
Nix the potatoes, rice, pasta and fruit, bring on the butter, the meat and the greens. Try it. You might like it.
Monday, November 18, 2013
My sourdough died!
I noticed that my sourdough wasn't bubbling as much as usual when I went to make my sourdough rye for Purple Porch last week. I went ahead with the process and ended up with five pounds of soggy wet rye flour that wasn't going anywhere!
I spread it out on a jelly roll pan and baked it for the chickens and dogs, then started the long task of making more. I finely ground more organic rye berries and mixed a cup of the flour with a cup of water. (If you are going to try this, don't use city water, as it has some stuff in it that will prevent the sourdough from forming.)
I beat it for a minute or two, then threw in six big, fat organic grapes, unwashed. I wanted that bloom on the skin of the grape - that's yeast! I covered the bowl with cheesecloth so that any yeast floating around in the kitchen would make it into the dough, but the bugs wouldn't.
Last time I made sourdough, which was three or four years ago, it failed on the first try, then took nearly a week to get going. This was bubbling within three days. I fished out the grapes and then added a couple of tablespoons of rye flour each day for three days, beating it well after each addition.
This morning, I used all but enough for another starter to make rye bread. It looks beautiful!! I wonder if the old sourdough was wearing out and I just didn't realize it. I won't know until the bread is baked tomorrow if it is as good as the old batch was. Sure hope so!!
I spread it out on a jelly roll pan and baked it for the chickens and dogs, then started the long task of making more. I finely ground more organic rye berries and mixed a cup of the flour with a cup of water. (If you are going to try this, don't use city water, as it has some stuff in it that will prevent the sourdough from forming.)
I beat it for a minute or two, then threw in six big, fat organic grapes, unwashed. I wanted that bloom on the skin of the grape - that's yeast! I covered the bowl with cheesecloth so that any yeast floating around in the kitchen would make it into the dough, but the bugs wouldn't.
Last time I made sourdough, which was three or four years ago, it failed on the first try, then took nearly a week to get going. This was bubbling within three days. I fished out the grapes and then added a couple of tablespoons of rye flour each day for three days, beating it well after each addition.
This morning, I used all but enough for another starter to make rye bread. It looks beautiful!! I wonder if the old sourdough was wearing out and I just didn't realize it. I won't know until the bread is baked tomorrow if it is as good as the old batch was. Sure hope so!!
Monday, November 4, 2013
Food and health
I've been thinking about food and health. We all have our opinions - low carb, low fat, grass fed meat, raw milk, no dairy, vegetarian, vegan - the list goes on and on. And everyone can find plenty of "data" to back up their opinions. Dr. Weston A. Price (my food guru) studied long lived peoples all over the world, and something that stood out was that healthy indigenous peoples ate copious amounts of fat (no polyunsaturated fat), raw milk and fermented food /soaked grains. And when these healthy people were introduced to our Western diet, full of sugar and processed foods, they became ill. So it sounds like a pretty resounding endorsement for upping our fat intake and cutting out sugar, both of which I have done.
However (and isn't there always a "however"?), even though this old body just can't tolerate sugar and carbohydrates in general, I know people who can, who remain slim in spite of indulging in potatoes and apples, who don't suffer from depression after eating a couple of cookies, who don't have to use lettuce in place of bread when making a sandwich, and who don't make their pizza dough out of shredded cheese and eggs. (Yup, I do that, and it is REALLY good.)
I know one woman who couldn't wait to get out of her household as a teenager so she wouldn't be forced to eat meat anymore; can't stand it, hasn't eaten a bite of it since leaving for college. She is slim, energetic and healthy. So there you have it. No single magic bullet so far as food and health are concerned.
I'm thinking, "Perhaps it is something else altogether." Are there other reasons, such as the Western lifestyle that goes with the Western diet? I was in the bookstore perusing cookbooks. And I was thinking of how many famous cooks live to a ripe old age.
What do/did they have in common? They ate well. The ingredients were good, the methods of cooking were good, and the end result was a feast for the eyes and the nose as well as the taste buds. And they were doing what they loved - including loving to eat.
The age-old question "Do you eat to live or live to eat?" seems to imply, at least to me, that perhaps some of us, such as I, are too focused on food, that the healthiest among us just eat when hungry, when it is time, and eat what is available in the fridge and cupboard.
I am rethinking that attitude of mine - perhaps it is the "live to eat" part that is the most important. I love to cook. I love to shop for food. I am so delighted that I work at the Farmers Market in South Bend, and belong to Purple Porch, and live on a certified organic farm so that I can eat my own grass fed meat, drink raw milk, make my own cheese, eat eggs from free range chickens. Food is a daily delight in my life.
Yup, I live to eat, and I think perhaps that is a good thing! And I love what I do to earn my living - very much associated with food. Now it is time to cook another great breakfast - bacon from Berkshire pigs raised right here on organic feed, eggs collected yesterday from my friends the hens, a cup of espresso, and some thick and luscious kefir made from raw milk from cows I am looking at.
Bon appetit.
However (and isn't there always a "however"?), even though this old body just can't tolerate sugar and carbohydrates in general, I know people who can, who remain slim in spite of indulging in potatoes and apples, who don't suffer from depression after eating a couple of cookies, who don't have to use lettuce in place of bread when making a sandwich, and who don't make their pizza dough out of shredded cheese and eggs. (Yup, I do that, and it is REALLY good.)
I know one woman who couldn't wait to get out of her household as a teenager so she wouldn't be forced to eat meat anymore; can't stand it, hasn't eaten a bite of it since leaving for college. She is slim, energetic and healthy. So there you have it. No single magic bullet so far as food and health are concerned.
I'm thinking, "Perhaps it is something else altogether." Are there other reasons, such as the Western lifestyle that goes with the Western diet? I was in the bookstore perusing cookbooks. And I was thinking of how many famous cooks live to a ripe old age.
- James Beard - died at 82, and he ate plenty of bread!
- Julia Child - died at 92, and ate plenty of butter
- François Massialot - died at 77 in the 18th century, French chef and cookbook author
- Georges Auguste Escoffier - died at 88 in the 20th century
- Prosper Montagne - died at 83 in 1948, author of Larousse gastronomique
- Jacques Pépin - 77 and still going strong
What do/did they have in common? They ate well. The ingredients were good, the methods of cooking were good, and the end result was a feast for the eyes and the nose as well as the taste buds. And they were doing what they loved - including loving to eat.
The age-old question "Do you eat to live or live to eat?" seems to imply, at least to me, that perhaps some of us, such as I, are too focused on food, that the healthiest among us just eat when hungry, when it is time, and eat what is available in the fridge and cupboard.
I am rethinking that attitude of mine - perhaps it is the "live to eat" part that is the most important. I love to cook. I love to shop for food. I am so delighted that I work at the Farmers Market in South Bend, and belong to Purple Porch, and live on a certified organic farm so that I can eat my own grass fed meat, drink raw milk, make my own cheese, eat eggs from free range chickens. Food is a daily delight in my life.
Yup, I live to eat, and I think perhaps that is a good thing! And I love what I do to earn my living - very much associated with food. Now it is time to cook another great breakfast - bacon from Berkshire pigs raised right here on organic feed, eggs collected yesterday from my friends the hens, a cup of espresso, and some thick and luscious kefir made from raw milk from cows I am looking at.
Bon appetit.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Rest in peace . . .
Clay usually makes sure that Susie is in the Moop at night, but he must have been in a hurry last night. She hides underneath, and I often have to reach under for her or chase her out with the handle of the broom rake.
This morning, there were a few remaining bits of her under the truck.
I am very sad. She was a beautiful pullet, and my favorite of all the chicks born this year.
This morning, there were a few remaining bits of her under the truck.
I am very sad. She was a beautiful pullet, and my favorite of all the chicks born this year.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
The chicks are growing up!
Goldie and the Twins have been on their own since Goldie went back to the flock. We have been putting them in a tote with a lid and carrying them from their nest in the water tank in the old barn to the Moop each night, trying to get them used to being with the flock. The hens are not very nice to them. When they hop out of the Moop in the morning, their mission is to find a place in the fence that they can squeeze through, and still being small enough, they find one. Then they run around outside the chicken run all day, free from the pecking and abuse of the older hens. Then the cycle starts over again, and we haul them back to the Moop the next evening.
Late yesterday afternoon, I opened up the gate into the chicken run and closed all of the doors into the old barn, hoping that the chicks would go into the Moop on their own, since access to their nest was blocked. Then at dusk I sneaked out to the Moop to see what was happening.
Little Susie was in the Moop! Such a smart little girl!! The Twins were bedded down under the Moop, and it took Clay and me working at it a few minutes to get them both out and put inside the Moop, but we got it done. We will do the same thing tonight and hope for the best.
Another batch of chicks is on its way to being part of the larger flock. :)
Late yesterday afternoon, I opened up the gate into the chicken run and closed all of the doors into the old barn, hoping that the chicks would go into the Moop on their own, since access to their nest was blocked. Then at dusk I sneaked out to the Moop to see what was happening.
Little Susie was in the Moop! Such a smart little girl!! The Twins were bedded down under the Moop, and it took Clay and me working at it a few minutes to get them both out and put inside the Moop, but we got it done. We will do the same thing tonight and hope for the best.
Another batch of chicks is on its way to being part of the larger flock. :)
Friday, October 4, 2013
Fridays off - it's like summer vacation, only in the fall!
The Farmers Market in South Bend is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, year round. I look forward to being there. It is a great place to be three days a week. However . . .
April through September, we are open on Fridays as well. That extra day seems to push it from a pleasure to a job, if you know what I mean!
On Tuesday and Thursday, Annemarie, whose mother has the booth next to me, opens for me and works at my booth until I come in with the raw milk and market baskets at about 11:00 am. But on Fridays, Annemarie is not there. Having your booth open on Friday is voluntary, so many are empty.
Fridays are pretty dead; being late is not a big deal. I try to get there by 9:30, but I usually roll in an hour later. The lunch counter at the market is pretty awesome, and we have many regulars who are there every day, so most of my business occurs over the lunch hour. But that doesn't mean I'm not busy. It is the perfect time to dust jars on the shelve, do inventory, make shopping lists and sometimes get out from behind the booth and do a little shopping myself. Friday has its redeeming qualities.
Today is the first Friday off, and it is quite lovely! I'm playing catch-up with paperwork, and will be heading down to the soap room when I'm done with lunch. Today I need to make Belly Butter, Drummer's Hands and Organic Yarrow Cream. It will be nice to have the luxury of getting this stuff done now, instead of cramming it into my evening, or worse yet scurrying around in the morning trying to make sure the products are ready to go by the time I leave. No late arrivals on Saturday! I'm out the door by 7:00 at the latest, and it means getting up by 4:30 if I have product to make before I leave. Ugh!! But not tomorrow. I can "sleep in," alarm won't go off until about 5:45. Yup, I love my Fridays off.
April through September, we are open on Fridays as well. That extra day seems to push it from a pleasure to a job, if you know what I mean!
On Tuesday and Thursday, Annemarie, whose mother has the booth next to me, opens for me and works at my booth until I come in with the raw milk and market baskets at about 11:00 am. But on Fridays, Annemarie is not there. Having your booth open on Friday is voluntary, so many are empty.
Fridays are pretty dead; being late is not a big deal. I try to get there by 9:30, but I usually roll in an hour later. The lunch counter at the market is pretty awesome, and we have many regulars who are there every day, so most of my business occurs over the lunch hour. But that doesn't mean I'm not busy. It is the perfect time to dust jars on the shelve, do inventory, make shopping lists and sometimes get out from behind the booth and do a little shopping myself. Friday has its redeeming qualities.
Today is the first Friday off, and it is quite lovely! I'm playing catch-up with paperwork, and will be heading down to the soap room when I'm done with lunch. Today I need to make Belly Butter, Drummer's Hands and Organic Yarrow Cream. It will be nice to have the luxury of getting this stuff done now, instead of cramming it into my evening, or worse yet scurrying around in the morning trying to make sure the products are ready to go by the time I leave. No late arrivals on Saturday! I'm out the door by 7:00 at the latest, and it means getting up by 4:30 if I have product to make before I leave. Ugh!! But not tomorrow. I can "sleep in," alarm won't go off until about 5:45. Yup, I love my Fridays off.
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