More Books We Love

While searching for something else on a library site, one of the results that popped up was this gorgeous (visually, lyrically, and spiritually) book we'd read together a few times in the Spring. All The World by Liz Garton Scanlon with mesmerizing illustrations (it did win a Caldecott Honor) by Marla Frazee is one of those really great books that we didn't even realize would touch us so deeply. And it's one I'd love to come back to time and again. In fact, I will check it out again this month to add to our celebration of the International Day of Peace which is September 21.

Another book we've checked out a couple of times now is Here Comes the Garbage Barge by Jonah Winter and Red Nose Studios. It creatively conveys the story (with a few embellishments) of the real-life events of 1987 wherein a Long Island town ran out of landfill space and loaded its garbage onto a barge which roamed the Atlantic and Gulf coasts for months looking for a place to dump it. I remembered the story from the news when I was a kid & was eager to share the surreality with my kids. Enter Red Nose Studio's captivating illustrations using a stop-motion-like photography* of handmade materials, and this book breathes new life into this green morality tale. The writing is good, too--and lends itself to accents (and you all know how I love to read in accents!). We most recently checked this book out because I was blending two units together--one on boats and one on household waste--and there was nothing more perfect than a boat with waste! We may check it out again for Earth Day (which was the first occasion we found it, thanks to a library display).

*Check out the Amazon page for an incredible look at the creative process from the author/illustrator. My kids were amazed at how the illustrations were created.

emollients et al

i made a homemade body cream the other night since my lotion, though much loved during the time of year during which the temp is regularly above 50 degrees, just ain't cutting it in this dry, dry, bitter cold. it was my first "go" at anything except deodorant and a brief dabbling at a friend's house in lip balm, but i think it went rather well. what i used:

2 parts cocoa butter
1 part shea butter
1 part coconut oil
.5 part Knotty Boy Dreadlock Wax*
2 drops lavender essential oil

*while waxing and rolling khary's dreads, i discovered that this stuff is amazing at moisturizing my hands and it has some serious staying power because of the beeswax. it's also all-natural, which is one of the main reasons i decided to use it on khary's hair, and smells wonderful. as i looked at the bowl i used to melt all my stuff together, i decided i needed another, more solid, addition, and it certainly fit the bill, so in it went! (which, btw, is why the proportions are all off, in case you wondered...)

after my bath last night, i slathered on this greasy goop with some trepidation that i was only going to manage to get my pajamas all gross and greasy without adding a bit of moisture to my parched skin. i awoke to more supple skin and non-stained pj's. sweet! it wasn't a one-shot deal; i'll need to keep at it and use it every night for my hands, especially. i think i'll add more wax and/or cocoa butter next time, and probably skip the coconut oil altogether. since i'm currently broke and refuse to put poison on my skin and have the basic ingredients for most body products, i think it's pretty damn awesome that i successfully concocted a body cream for zero expense.

go. me.

partially-cooled body cream

notice i mentioned deodorant above? i used angry chicken's recipe, only substituting arrowroot powder for half of the cornstarch, and poured it into a deodorant stick so i could use it even more easily. all was well and good until i developed a rash about a month into using it. a mean, mean rash. it looked like chemical burn. it ended up being because i have more sensitive skin than most, and the baking soda just makes that recipe so alkaline that my skin fuh-REAKED out. the same thing happened when i used oyin handmade's funk butter a year ago; also because of the baking soda, i presume. heartbreaking in both instances, since they worked like MAGIC. well, except for that red, raw, peeling skin thing. so  my search for the magic bullet deodorant began. and i found it, believe it or not. if the other stuff was magic, this is MIRACULOUS. terra naturals makes deodorant that is GOOD for you. GOOD FOR YOU--for real. and it works like...well, a miracle. besides all the other good stuff, i think one of the main reasons for its miracle-worker status is the prebiotics in it, which feed and promote the beneficial bacteria on your skin, thus helping those good guys outcompete the stink-producing bad guys. (even my husband LURVES him some terra naturals, and he has to stifle his scoffs at my attempts to minimize chemical/toxic exposure for our family.)

moral of the story? you don't  have to compromise your health OR your hygiene to be clean and green.

chili redux (and wine?)

thursday evening, i made chili for supper, no big woop. recipe:

1/2 large onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1lb ground beef
2 pkts chili seasoning
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 c cooked brown rice
pinch thyme
dash nutmeg
dash cinnamon* (*i think i'll omit this next time; i'm just not made for Cincinnati-style chili, i guess)
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
4 Tbs brown sugar
add water to achieve desired consistency

i split that batch into two--in one container, i added 2 c pinto beans. the other i put straight into the freezer, and will add beans (either black or pinto), if necessary, when we eat it. that batch we ate was pretty good--even dawud ate it without complaining. but we had tons left, even with the others in the freezer!

the beef is from a local organic farm that pastures its cattle; plus, by splitting the batch into two, we reduced the amount of meat we consume at a sitting without sacrificing protein since i added beans and (organic) brown rice.  and if you wanna talk "green"-ness, making multiple batches at once--not just the chili, but i also bulk cook my rice and beans--uses the same amount of energy as cooking one batch, plus only a little more to re-heat your frozen portion.

so tonight, after a week's worth of errands saved up for one (warm-ish?) day, when we were at a loss for supper, i had an epiphany: CHILI CHEESE FRIES!!!! we're talking divine intervention here. so i cut up some potatoes, fried 'em up, poured the heated up leftover chili on them, topped with cheese, and voila! supper. not just plain supper--novel supper, tasty supper, perfect supper to accompany some football playoffs.

okay, so i didn't think to take a pic until mine was almost gone. so this is what you get. it may not *look* good, but let's face it, chili cheese fries aren't really visual art. but you can tell by the nearly-cleaned plate that it sure as hell tasted good, right?!

also, one of my saved-up-because-of-the-never-freaking-ending-snowstorms-and-dangerous-cold from this week was to pick up my january case of wine from cellar rat wine merchants (happy birthday to ME!). and since i won't need ALLLLLL TWELVE bottles for my host month for wine club, i took an inventory and decided the Quinta do Casal BrancoTinto should be my wine of the week. uncorked, poured, allowed to breathe a bit, and omg, i am a new fan of portuguese wines. this stuff is so good--true to its notes (click above on "january case"), and soooo soft with just enough bite and complexity to keep you coming back for more.

not the recommended accompaniment to chili cheese fries, but whatevs.

urban window garden

http://windowfarms.org/

i want.

fo realz, tho. i have thought that the sidelights at the front door needed *some*thing to provide camouflage from the outside since before we moved in. we tried standing planters, but they got knocked over.

the new solution: hanging hydroponic planters for growing FOOD, by golly. FOOD!

and i think i could manage to keep the damned squash bugs and borers away from them.