The Last of the Peaches

On the first Thursday of September, I bought the last peaches of the season at my local (sustainable/organic) farmers' market. Two days later, a friend came over (with her digital camera) so we could bake some of those delicious peaches in a pie. Here's what happened:

photo credit: Sam

 

Although there is no picture of it, then we ate it.

Hot Yam! That Gazpacho Was Good!

Yesterday I finally left my apartment to see people, after several days of limiting my experiences to my apartment, my friend's Netflix account (I've recently become hooked on MI-5, known in the UK by its more appealing title, Spooks), the library, and of course, the grocery store.

I meant to get up early, as I always mean to, but when I finally dragged my lazy self out of bed, I had just enough time to get ready for lunch, at the Hot Yam "lunch party" on campus, which operates every Thursday around (you guessed it!) lunchtime. For $4 guests receive an intimidatingly full plate of all-vegan lunch. Sadly, having had breakfast less than two hours before I got there, I didn't have the appetite to do justice to all that food. However, I really did enjoy the gazpacho. A perfect, very well-done complement to a hot, humid afternoon, indeed. We sat on the lawn in front of the building to eat, fending off ants and other small, many-legged critters while catching up on each others' exciting (or not-so-exciting, in my case) summers.

Today, it's back to work, this time drafting a proposal for the student conference.

In other news, it turns out that too many silly people voted for The Tourist at next week's Harbourfront Center Free Flick, so I won't be attending - instead, I'm scrounging around trying to find a place to watch Cairo Time, and in a last-ditch effort to see it sometime in the near future, will no doubt eventually put a "Cairo Time" post-it note on my computer monitor.

Sekanjabin

I found the minty drink so delightful that I've decided to re-create it, at home. I plan to drink it as is, and also to add rum to it, as the occasion demands.

The link in the title leads you to the recipe I decided to try out, first time around, to make the minty syrup that is the basis of the drink. In case you don't care to click the link, here's the recipe (slightly altered) in the post:

Ingredients:
4 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 cup white vinegar*
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 sprig mint per glass, and shredded/grated cucumber to add to the pitcher or the glass

In a large pan over medium heat, bring the sugar and water to a boil. Boil for five minutes, then add the (correct amount!) of vinegar. Boil until the syrup drips slowly from the end of a cold spoon. Lower the heat, add the mint, and simmer for three minutes. Strain the syrup into a jar and let cool. Add three tbsp of syrup to each glass, fill with water, stir. Serve with mint, shredded cucumber, ice, rum, et cetera.


*I've just now realized that I doubled the vinegar without knowing, and nothing else. So, I guess I'll see if this batch turns out. Shame if it doesn't, given the amount of sugar required. Sigh. 

Summer Fun and Rum Punches

Well, it hasn't really been that fun. I won't go into details, but there are lots of things I should be doing, which I'm not always on top of. This tends to ruin the fun I have when I am doing things that are supposed to be fun.

So far, I've been doing a lot of reading, and a lot of biking (I'm changing routes en-route now, and making directions up as I go along, which is cozy - thank goodness I have an excellent sense of direction!). I have also been going to Moth Up's with a friend of mine. These are events at pubs, where a few people from the "audience" get up to the mic and tell stories. Some have been prepared in advance, while some are off-the-cuff. Some are better than others, but they're definitely fun events to go to.

I'm in the process of burying (deeply) memories of the summer course I took, that ended earlier this month. Those things I'm supposed to be doing include my research assistant research, my volunteer curator supervisory responsibilities, and planning the next student conference. Oh, and making money.

Anyway, to get down to business: My friend from home introduced me to her family's traditional Barbados Rum Punch recipe, which we used to drink while watching The Tudors and eating Trader Joe's frozen foods (I miss TJ's.) The original recipe, (from memory, so it's probably not exact) goes like this:

1 shot dark rum
2 shots pineapple juice
2 shots orange juice
dash of bitters.

Mix/Stir, Serve. (If you want it fancy I'd add an orange slice or a pineapple slice, or both!)

I don't buy pineapple or orange juice, because I find I just never drink them.

I do drink Ceres' Fruit Medley mix (with tropical fruits like passionfruit, guava, pineapple). Well, I haven't been making rum punches, because I figured it would be better with the original ingredients. Until today. I tried the Fruit Medley, added a half-shot of Triple Sec for orange flavor. So my new Rum Punch - Canadian Variation:

1 shot dark rum
4 shots Ceres Fruit Medley
1/2 shot Triple Sec
2-3 dashes bitters

Mix/Stir, Serve. (If you want it fancy I'd add an orange slice or a pineapple slice, or both!)

It's marvelously tasty. I dare you to try it! Or, try both, and tell me which one you like better. 

My Granola Life

I'm still learning from the whole bike-commuting experience. For example, I've discovered I hate being out in the rain when I'm not prepared (i.e. dancing, or splashing in puddles, or hiking) even more than I thought I did. I'm also re-discovering the meaning (the real meaning) of the terms "cardio" and "muscle-tone." Unsurprisingly, I'm happier about the second than the first.

In other news, I'm living more like a granola* every day. Although I've always been interested in living cheaply, reducing my carbon footprint, et cetera, I'm not sure I ever imagined I would be biking everywhere (not even taking public transportation as a usual, quotidian thing) and going to the farmer's market (where, for the first time at a farmer's market, I bought yogurt. And eggs. And smoked whitefish^, among other things) and composting and recycling and baking my own bread, making my own spaghetti sauce and pizzas and smoothies and not buying clothes things.** It's kind of fun, really. I feel more self-sufficient than ever. I haven't started planting vegetables and herbs, yet, but that's also on the list of things to do. I'm thinking tomatoes and basil to start... I'll discover whether or not my thumb is green. In the past, I've had very inconsistent success with gardening.




*I use this term with utmost respect, affection and admiration.


^Usually I just go for the veggies. The yogurt is excellent, as is the fish. Next on the list is good chicken. Free range and organic chicken, like the eggs.


**Okay, this last one has nothing to do with personal preferences. If I had my druthers, I'd still be buying pretty clothes things. It's just not in the cards at this point in my life. Sigh.

Summertime: Gin and Tonic Upgrade

Today I want to write about the color green.

But I'm going to start with a little history.

Back in Scotland, one of the "summer" drinks was Pimm's. It's pretty ubiquitous, and you don't need to know what it is to enjoy it properly - the recipe's on the bottle. Basically, take Pimm's, add lemon-lime soda (tonic might work, too), and fruit. Cut up strawberries and cucumbers especially, but citrus and other fruits work as well. Stir, and enjoy. We used to drink these every summer, at garden parties, in beer gardens, any pretty outside location, really.

Returning to the present, today is the first legitimately warm day in Scotland since October (says the woman from south of the M-D). In celebration, I've opened my door to let the sunshine in - early evening, fortuitously, is the best part of the day for this - and I'm having a gin and tonic. You thought I was going to say Pimm's, didn't you? :) I don't actually have any, but gin works almost as well.

In fact, the reason I told the story about Pimm's and Scotland is because I've upgraded my gin and tonic (with lime). It now includes cucumber. And it makes a very pleasantly, noticeable difference. First, cucumber just smells fresh and sunny. Secondly, it adds a really light high note on the palate of aforementioned fresh and sunny qualities.

Try it. Tell me if you like it.

Zen and the Art of Baking [and the honey bar recipe]

Two nights ago I had a craving for Sweet. This happens frequently in my life, so I'm quite used to it, and usually have chocolate chips on hand. Only, I decided last week not to buy more because I bake chocolate chip cookies (and eat them) way too often.

So instead, I turned to my favorite baking cookbook In. The. World: the Tassajara Bread Book, by Edward Espe Brown. The author, who has a very zen outlook on life (perhaps because he is an ordained Zen priest), is simply amazing. He's a genius. His introduction to the copy my mom has, which I don't think made the cut for the 25th anniversary edition, and which I own, states that you cannot make a "bad" loaf of bread. Each loaf is different.If you enjoy baking, or want to start baking, I suggest you try the Tassajara. It's not all bread, either, but breakfasts and desserts, muffins and butters and pastries.


To get back to my craving, I found a recipe at the back, in the desserts section, called "Honey Bars." To cut a long, boring story short, these are what I made. I didn't have enough honey, so I added a bit of maple syrup instead, and they still tasted great (maybe next time I'll learn how they're really supposed to taste).

I shared them around because initially I didn't like them (now I think they're the best), and I know a few people asked for the recipe. So after that long written perambulation, here it is, with a few notes of my own:

I have always loved the soft but chewy texture of these bars and the exquisite bouquet of spices, honey and fruit peel. They can be kept for several weeks in a tightly closed tin. 

1 1/2 cups honey [I added maple syrup]
3 tablespoons butter OR margarine
2 cups whole wheat flour, sifted with 1 tablespoon baking powder [I used unbleached white here]
2 tablespoons chopped lemon or orange peel OR 1 tablespoon of each
2 teaspoons cinnamon [I never really measure the spices]
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon mace OR allspice OR ground coriander (optional) [I don't have these]
1/2 cup chopped almonds or other nuts [almonds are perfect]
1 1/2-2 cups whole wheat flour [my dough looked really thick, so I ended up only adding about a half cup of whole wheat flour here]

[Makes about 24 large bars. Preheat oven to 350F]

Have all the ingredients ready to mix quickly before the mixture stiffens with cooling. 
Heat the honey in a saucepan slowly [this doesn't take very long] just until liquidy; remove from the heat. Stir in the butter or margarine and then the sifted flour with baking powder to make a thick batter. Add the fruit peel, spices, and nuts, and then add the additional flour until a dough forms.  [I ended up using much less than 1 cup extra flour]
Pat the dough into a buttered pan until you have a layer 3/8 inch thick. Bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes. Be careful not to overbake or the cookies will be quite hard. When done, the bottoms will be lightly browned and the tops dry but not browned. 
Remove from the pan while still warm and slice into bars. Then cool before storing.  

Enjoy! I'd love to hear about variations, too, so let me know how it turns out!

Green Drinking - Water, That Is.

There's information out there (Green Guides from two years ago was my source; but I'm sure elsewhere, too) that drinking bottled water is awfully hard on the environment. Here's another article, from 2010, with some quick facts (like this one: "The bottled-water industry is so successful, it has outpaced milk, coffee, and juice in number of gallons of drinks sold—putting it behind only beer and soda" about water bottle pollution.

Read down to the health section and you may never re-use a plastic water bottle again.

But, to get personal about this issue, I've had some interesting conversations about the "water bottles" I use. Everyone knows there are SIGGs and other aluminum bottles, which have become popular over the past few years... but when you carry around an old jar that used to have salsa in it (and still has the label on it, and a pepper on the lid) you get funny looks, raised eyebrows, and amused comments. Some of my friends have even laughed at my salsa water jar.

Yes, they're heavy, and yes, you get all those reactions from incredulous friends and acquaintances - but, I don't have to buy aluminum water bottles, and I get to re-use the glass jars that I buy at the grocery store, when they're not holding nuts or cream of wheat or other dry goods.

And, frankly, I like their uniqueness, their quirkiness. To all those with the raised eyebrows and incredulous looks - Yes. I proudly drink water out of salsa jars.

Romancing a Fish

Found this on a blog at U of T, after a recent TED Talk at Hart House. I don't know much about it, but it sounds incredible.

Here's another Green one!

Noticed this on the Facebook grapevine: stop wasting food.

These days, my fridge is pretty bare. That's a good thing, because I don't eat much compared to the cavernous interior of my fridge. Toronto composts, which is a really good thing - otherwise, I'd feel guiltier than I do, since I'm one of those who has eyes bigger than her stomach. Or so my dad always used to tell me.

Well, the link has some statistics and some ideas to help if you find yourself wasting food. Enjoy!

Another Crazy Weekend and A New Drink Recipe

Last Saturday my cousin got married. The ceremony was lovely, the reception fun... and a good time was had by (well, me, at least).Not many people danced, and after the reception ended, the DJ thanked my sister and me for dancing, since we pretty much held up the dance floor. It must be awful to DJ an event at which nobody dances.

Attending the wedding involved some more crazy travels and much less sleep than I'm used to. I'm definitely ready for a boring weekend where I try to get up early and get my reading done! I flew out on Friday, and got back on Monday just in time to go directly to class, where I had to turn in an assignment. After I ate, and edited another assignment due that evening, I had another class and was feeling pretty ill, thanks to the dry, recycled air on the planes and the changing pressures during flight.

Since my siblings and I were all home at the same time for the wedding, we decided to have an impromptu Thanksgiving dinner, so we all got to eat some amazing food and share some good times with family and friends, even though it wasn't really Thanksgiving (Canadian OR American). I discovered my new favorite cocktail, which is called a Sporran Cooler (see the link for Wikipedia's definition, which matches up with my experience). For your future delectation, I will provide the recipe here:

Sporran Cooler:
2 1 msr Drambuie
1 msr fresh lemon juice
1 (approximate) tsp Grenadine
(Hefty) splash of Bitters
4 msr soda water

Msr = approximately 1 oz
(...) are peculiar to my own style of mixing.
It turns out this really pretty pink/peachy colored drink, fruity and honeyed with a bit of a tart kick.

I may have to stop by the liquor store tonight as well as the grocery store, given my nearly-empty "bar", which at the moment contains a half-bottle of Drambuie.

Well, the reading doesn't get done by osmosis, so I'd better get back to work. If you try the drink recipe, tell me what you think, and if you changed it up at all! I'd be interested to know others' takes on it.

Before Summer Passes into Fall: Scrumptious Quinoa Salad Recipe

Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
Quinoa
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Cucumber
Cherry (or other) tomatoes
Kalamata olives
Coriander (Cilantro)
Feta cheese

- Start with the above and add any others you like. For instance, I added red bell pepper this last time around.

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions (it's like couscous, only it takes a little longer)

Meanwhile:

2. Cut up cucumbers (I cut them into half moons; you can peel it if you like)
3. Cut cherry tomatoes in half (or larger tomatoes into roughly the same size as your cucumber moons)
4. Cut up any other veggies you're adding to the recipe.
5. Chop very roughly your coriander/cilantro. I usually try to cut the leaves in half and to leave off stems, because the stems are not fun to chew.
6. Pit and cut the olives (same size as your veggies). Do you know the trick of pushing down on the olive with your thumb till it splits? If not, try it. It's fun and easy.


Chill veggies, coriander and quinoa. You don't have to chill the veggies if you cut them when the quinoa is cold so you can just add them right away. Also, the salad might taste good hot, too, if you're impatient or hungry or short on time.

7. Sprinkle lemon juice and olive oil over the quinoa, and stir until you think it's mixed through.
8. Mix in the veggies and coriander.
9 Crumble the feta and mix that in, too.

Mess and Biscuits

Yesterday, for some unexpected and inexplicable reason, I started to crave biscuits while watching Big Fish (honestly, biscuits don't play even a bit part in the movie). Having made them before, I figured, piece of cake. Only something went wrong. After sliding them in the oven on my admittedly dodgy baking tray, which only as two raised edges, I sat down with a glass of wine and pressed play on the movie, which I planned to watch for the ten minutes of baking time. Before half that time passed, I heard crackling and buzzing coming from the oven. The butter (all that yummy melty butter) was dripping off the edge to the bottom of the oven! The gas oven, I might add, with the fire at the bottom? Familiar? So I slid my other baking tray underneath it, which stopped the fizzing, but not the smoking. Oh, that smoke and heat. I spent the next hour off and on, fanning my smoke detector with a messenger bag, oven mitt (not the best tool) and kitchen towel. Opened my windows, turned on the fans, and still sniffed a bit of smoke this morning. To top it all off, I ended up with too-crispy biscuits.

Thanksgiving Anticipation

I think it's funny that after Thanksgiving, everyone generally feels as stuffed as the turkey that got roasted full of good things like bread and apples or rice and raisins. Turkey's revenge, perhaps?

No matter, I'm still looking forward to the cooking and the wine and the feasting and the wine, and of course the good company and the wine... Seriously though, sometimes Thanksgiving is even better than Christmas. I say sometimes because I have had one perfect Christmas, and it didn't occur the same year I went to the perfect Thanksgiving.

This time of year always brings back good memories of hosting my own feast, sometimes with a chicken (oven too small), sometimes at a friend's apartment (kitchen too small) while in Scotland. For three years I organized Thanksgiving dinners, because I couldn't bear to be away from home and not celebrate one of my favorite holidays. This year I'll be making biscuits, squash and a pumpkin tart I can't wait to try, because I've never made a tart before. If any of the recipes are successful, I may just share them here, if anyone is interested.

What could be more enjoyable than good food, good company and good wine? Not much, in my humble opinion. Though maybe in three months it is possible that I'll rate a beach, a cocktail, and and an umbrella higher on my list of "best things ever".

America Runs on Dunkin' Freebies

So a new Dunkin' Donuts (really, the reincarnation of the old Dunkin' Donuts) opened up on base today. And of course, to promote the new location (as though we haven't missed it desperately since the old one got demolished) they gave away free donuts, coffee, and, as we discovered to our surprise when we arrived, free travel mugs!!! They replicate the yucky plastic or styrofoam one-use cups you get everyday, and apparently they're so original there's a patent pending on the design. Go figure.

Being the conscientious, preoccupied organic/Green freak, I almost immediately flipped the cup over and checked the number. My memory failed, but happily I found out that #5 is one of the best plastics to buy. Or get for free. Check out the breakdown-by-number here.

A Weekend of Festivals

May is apparently Festival Month in DC. I didn't know about it until this year, but there's already been a Flower Mart at the National Cathedral, and yesterday Saint Sophia Cathedral held a Greek Festival. Not to mention there were at least two "Taste of" festivals going on in the region. Next weekend, Memorial Day will be celebrated just about everywhere, including my home town, which, although only two square miles small, holds its own Memorial Day Festival and Parade.

I first woke up yesterday, sort of, to the clang of long metal tubes dropping in the street. After falling back asleep for a few more hours, and finally deciding to start my day, I looked out the window and noticed several white tents in the street. I spent a few minutes deliberating over whether I'd seen them last night before actually getting out of bed.

I'd planned on going to Hagia Sophia for the Greek Festival, but walked around my block at the Taste of Arlington first. The setting-up of the festival accounted for the early-morning noises. We passed on the tastes, though some of them looked really good, in order to hit the Greek Festival.

The drive to Saint Sophia Cathedral in NW, DC was certainly eventful. We had directions that said, take ramp "X" off the Rock Creek Parkway to street "A" and turn left. Well, we saw street "A" but figured there must be a ramp "X" somewhere, so we kept going. All the way to the end of the parkway, which was not included in the directions. So we turned around, drove back - all the way back, practically into Virginia again, before we found a spot to turn around (again) and try again. This time we took the exit for street "A" - and discovered the sign meant, "this exit to eventually reach street "A" via ramp "X"! Although it didn't explain in so many words. The ramp, we found, was ramp "X" and the traffic light at the end of it intersected with street "A". So we did a lot of driving we didn't have to do, but saw some very pretty national park in the process! Perhaps next time we'll take the Metro and walk... if there are no delays.

The Festival was small, with Greek music, Greek crafts and jewelry for sale. There was one tent whose merchandise looked "Greek" only becuase it had currently resided in a Greek person's home. Yard sale, anyone?

Almost every jewelry seller had some charms against the evil eye - apotropaic charms, which "turn away" the evil eye curse, presumably back to the one who sent it.

My favorite part of the festival: the gyros!! Mm, they were so tasty. I've recently discovered a love for Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food. I've known for a long time that I like Greek and Italian food, (though gyros weren't included in that category for some reason..) but Lebanese, Greek, Turkish, and even further afield (and not included in the categories above) is Indian. And Bangladeshi. There's this amazing Bangladeshi restaurant in St Andrews, Scotland, which is how I know I like it. Also, baklava has been a favorite of mine since childhood. And I had one of those yesterday, too.

We took a tour of the Cathedral, and the most memorable aspect: the gilding. The whole ceiling and much of the walls are gilded and tiled. It took 30 years to tile the dome, ceiling and walls, apparently. Images of Jesus, saints and angels abound. I've been in cathedrals before, but I don't remember any that looked this ... gold. Even the windows were paned in yellow glass. It was all rather soothing, actually. And beautiful, though I hear St Nicholas is even more pleasing to the eye.

Catholicism is still an unknown to me, but I learned a little about it yesterday. Some of the practices seemed a little strange, some a little more familiar... all in all, I don't imagine I'll convert.

Image courtesy Curious Expeditions.

The One Disadvantage to Vacation

Well, now that I think of it, there are actually at least two - when one is a sports fan whose team has gone to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The original thought I had relates to food. Having two days in between trips (any combination of business and vacation you prefer) really doesn't leave enough time for grocery shopping. Not that there's much to buy when one is away again for four days. The problem here can be summed up with one question: What do I eat?

Last month was a pretty frugal month for me, for which I pat myself on the back. Even though I didn't spend much while I was on vacation, and May is not even two weeks old, this month I appear to be reverting to my old pattern of going out to eat too frequently. Throw in a couple hockey games, a few meetings with friends, and self-defense classes and before I know it, it will be the weekend and I haven't eaten at home once in a whole week.

Which leaves me with coffee, donuts and the occasional sandwhich during the day, in an effort to save some cash.

The Capitals forced Game 7 last night!!! Which is very exciting and thrilling and anxiety-producing all at once (they MUST defeat the Penguins again tomorrow night)... and also means one more night without time to grocery shop and one more meal out.

But hey, for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals, I'm definitely not going to complain. I might have mentioned this before, but I'm a little addicted. So much so in fact, that I cancelled a previous engagement for Wednesday, in order to watch... ahem. GO CAPS!!!

Fruit Salad As The New Pasta (or Bread, or Couscous)

The last time I went grocery shopping, I hadn't eaten enough fruits and vegetables in recent weeks, so I found myself checking out blueberries, strawberries and bananas. I'm not a huge fan of melons, grapes (I go through phases) and all the other normal fruit-salady fruits - or what're commonly considered fruit-salady fruits, anyway - but was pleasantly surprised to find a new love: the base for my own version of the Fruit Salad. Someday I"ll add pineapples, maybe some mango... lots of possbilities exist for delicious, melon-free salads. I've been eating the combination for about four days straight. Unfortunately, am all out of both strawberries and blueberries now, but that just means next time I'll have to buy more!

So I love this idea so much that yesterday I forgot to eat any carbs for lunch, and by two in the afternoon, was starving! Had to buy some crackers and Nutri-grain bars (I fall in and out of like with those). I remembered today, but still the greater part of my lunch consisted of fruit. It has become my new must-have, cannot-live-without food staple.

My only regret is that none of these fruits are currently in season, and bananas aren't grown locally (Tropics in DC anyone? Though it might feel like it in summer, we're not even close. Though I wonder if anyone has ever tried growing bananas here...). Ever since university, I've been attracted to locally-grown produce, and the idea of eating what's available and in season locally. It cuts down on a lot of waste (think gasoline for trucks, refrigeration of those same trucks), and sometimes even the cost of the produce. It also just seems fresher. Hasn't taken a cross-country trip in a refrigerator to get to your local grocery store.

However. Alongside this preference lives the knowledge that when technology and global commerce did not allow for cross-country shipments of "fresh" produce, communities only had what was grown locally. Meaning, no bananas for DC. Ever. No oranges, except maybe at Christmas. No berries until they were in season. And one thing that has come with the global economy, is more opportunity for better health. Nobody in first-world countries worries about scurvy anymore (at least unless you're one of those people who never eats fruits or vegetables, which I find extremely sad). And that's only one example.

So I'm going to take advantage of the opportunities I have to eat exotic fruits, even if they aren't in season or available anywhere but the tropics. And I'll try to remember next winter about my passion for fruit salad (does anyone else eat fewer salads, fruit or otherwise, in winter?)

If anyone has ideas about what fruits and veggies are in season right now in the mid-Atlantic region, please share!

In other, unrelated news, the Capitals won Game 7 in the first series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Rangers and are going on to Round 2!!! One grunge match against the Pittsburgh Penguins, coming right up. I have another favorite player as of the start of the postseason: Simeon Varlamov. What a stud!

Advantage: Peanut Allergy

Just read an article on Food and Nutrition in WaPo with somewhat disturbing statistics based on a telephone survey. Though I don't have to worry about the salmonella outbreak because I have a peanut allergy (one reason not to pity me for my inability to enjoy peanut products), I have also been confused about the recalled products. The article above states that only 1 in 5 people have gone to the FDA's website to find out exactly what products have been recalled. And even if you don't have much faith in the FDA's ability to regulate food safety, believing that the products on the list are truly affected is at least erring on the side of caution.

Calling All Non-Drivers

Stumbled across this article and this website while searching for legal get-rich-quick schemes. Though concerning the latter, it looks like I'll just have to practice frugality, instead. Sigh.

And a little randomly, I found several articles about how to get started in the Slow Food (USA) Movement.