Pood

The local food movement has been big out here long before it really became a thing—which shouldn’t be surprising, since this region has a lot of agriculture and a fairly long growing season (and a lot of hippie types of all ages). Newly ensconced in one of the oldest sections of town one year ago this month, we were very happy to see that several homeowners nearby had converted their boring lawns into prime gardening spaces. A few have really invested in their urban gardening, constructing attractive raised beds and filling the area around them with warmth-hoarding rock.

And I have a mission for 2013.

I don’t recall if I’ve mentioned it here previously, but two years ago the snolfs and I started celebrating the winter solstice. Since I’m not a Christian, it seemed silly to celebrate Christmas, and to me personally New Year’s Eve is nothing special, since it’s simply a marker of time on one of many arbitrary calendars. I turned to my Scandinavian heritage and—not surprisingly at all—discovered that the winter solstice was a very important occasion for my ancestors. That made the decision to celebrate it very easy; but it hasn’t been until this year that we’ve been fully free to create our own celebration.

I have been deep in home-improvement projects of late—mostly painting the interior, although there’s plenty of outdoor work that needs attention as well. The very short days make that difficult to get to, however; by the time I’m done with work, the sun is low enough in the sky that I’d barely get started before it faded enough to make it time to stop.

The big project—and topic of discussion for the three of us—has been how to celebrate the solstice this year. We’ve celebrated it the past couple of years, but this is our first opportunity to go all out. I suggested a Scandinavian pagan theme for the festivities, which was warmly received, so we all have been exploring ideas. It’s been a lot of fun, learning about ancient customs and thinking about which ones to use.

There is another holiday tradition that I sort of fell into; and I would be greatly remiss if I were not to continue it this year.

If you eat paleo or primally, at least. For those of you not on one of those bandwagons, you may find some amusing items nonetheless ...

Well, stupid me, actually—but like any other big-brained ape, I need a scapegoat to point to.

I have always disliked "leftovers." With a few exceptions, most foods are just more appealing to me when fresh made. When I had a family, that was seldom a problem, but in the nearly 25 years I've lived alone, it has often caused me to struggle to balance between the frugal use of my resources and my food preferences.

As a charter member of the "old too soon, wise too late club," I think I finally got a handle on at least some of it. Better late than never.

I could have posted this at my own blog, but Sunni often features food-related topics.

New method for making human-based gelatin
Scientists are reporting development of a new approach for producing large quantities of human-derived gelatin that could become a substitute for some of the 300,000 tons of animal-based gelatin produced annually for gelatin-type desserts, marshmallows, candy and innumerable other products.

Have fun. [evil grin]

What a ridiculous question that is, right? After all, I’m quite certain no beavers or termites are among the seven regular readers here. Still, some of you might be consuming cellulose from wood and not know it.

Well, it’s actually a five–volume set of books. Even at that, the price is outrageous—upwards of $500 once sales tax is added. But I’m still trying to work a way to acquire it.

I like chili sometimes, especially on a wet, cold, windy day such as today, but I have never really managed to get the seasoning "right" unless I used the package chili mix. And, all too often, I use canned beans and sauces as well. Tastes good, and it's easier.

Today I decided to make chili and discovered I had no packaged seasoning. I also thought it was a good idea to use dry beans, since I don't always have consistent results and need to practice if I'm going to live on the things in the future.

I should have seen this coming—I’ve been pissing and moaning about how technology is destroying food quality, and while that can happen, technology can also improve some things.

For those of you wondering what I mean, it’s this resolution, begun later than intended. Tomorrow is the six–week marker, so I indulged my curiosity this morning and checked some stats.

Lobo recently sent me a link to a segment from a show titled How It’s Made. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and when it was over, YouTube helpfully suggested other segments. I should not have chosen what I did.

I’m not sure if whatever cheer you seven gain from my recent slump being so short–lived will offset my returning to a theme that some may find tiresome. Be that as it may; it’s a topic that is only going to be increasingly important unless (or until) the collapse comes.