i am locavore...

so, i am not a big ranter... overall, i tend to avoid conflict whenever possible - i mostly just want everyone to get along...that said, this is a rant - and not surprisingly it involves one of my two great passions: food... it was inspired by a friend - our conversation made me realize how seldom i talk about some of the things i really believe in... so you all get a rant...i am an advocate of local food - or as much as possible in a place like BV city... i believe quite passionately in the importance - to all levels of society - of buying your food locally... it is one of the most important food choices you can make - and it effects all other dietary choices... this does not mean that you have to give up all foods that don't grow within a 100 miles of where you live, which is good, 'cause i would starve here, it just means buying locally whenever you can - let's be real, i am not going to be giving up good dark chocolate anytime soon, and everyone is better off for that decision... but i can get my tomatoes and squash locally, eggs and beef, too.there are so many good great reasons to eat local...eating local means more for the local economy - dollars spent locally support the local community twice three times as much as business owned by outsiders...locally grown produce is fresher... and as a result, local food just flat out tastes better...locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen - less spoilage - less waste...eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic - organic food is often shipped hundreds and sometimes thousand of miles, using so much more fuel and energy to get to you, and thus polluting more...buying local food keeps us in touch with the seasons - you eat what is fresh when it is harvested, instead of imported out-of-season food...eating local protects us from bio-terrorism - you know where it came from and who had access to it before it when on your plate - and the opportunities for tampering just aren't feasible in a market which is so much smaller...local food connects you to your community - you get to know the people who grew your tomatoes and baked your bread...local food equals more variety - smaller farms can try crops that you would not normally see in your local agri-business run supermarket, and things like zebra tomatoes and purple string beans become available for anyone to try...supporting local providers supports responsible land development - land being used in a sustainable manner for farming will not be sold to developers to build McMansions - and the variety of crops helps to keep the land continuously productive and in use, without damaging it or leaving it fallow...and if you do eat meat, you know how the animals were treated before they were killed, what, if any, chemicals and hormones went into their diet, and how fresh the meat actually is...one of the best resource (for the US readers), no matter what your diet choices are, to find locally produced food is an organization called Local Harvest... you can find all sorts of sources for locally produced food, including CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) - which are kinda like a subsidy - but instead of the government paying farmers to grow (or not) what they think should be on the market, the consumer pays the farm directly for the food, ensuring that they make a fair amount for their products without government intervention - a fresher and more varied product than what is available in most stores... the one that i am looking at is Grant Family Farms, which is just across the border into colorado...i really could go on for quite some time, but as i stated at the beginning, i am not big on rants and this one covers most of the main points...it is really just a logical iteration of the maxim that to effect change you have to think globally and act locally...

food, food, food...

i have found a new food blog that i absolutely love, so i just had to share - even knowing that i am probably the only person who reads this blog who is interested in food blogs...it is called Tea & Cookies, and beyond being as much in love with food as i am, she is a fabulous writer, really worth checking out... here is one of her early posts that made me happy ... and here is one that is more recent ...don't worry, i know that the interest here is less than the sqee-ness that i am feeling... but because of that squee-ness i had to share...

life and whatnot...

an update on my life... and stuff... grad school - it's great! i love my classes, even when i don't want to go... theory is not sucking nearly as badly as i was afraid it might... i am actually really liking it *gasp*... i know, crazy, right?... poetics is often very theoretical, as well, but with a direct connection to the poetry we are reading, rather than text in general... and really my classes are made that much better by the rather brilliant people by whom they are populated - the comments of my classmates are something i look forward to as much, if not more than, whatever topic is under discussion for that day... on a note related to grad school, i am also putting together my reading list... for those not from the world of literary academia, i compile a list of works encompassing at least three categories - in my case, time period, genre, and approach - read them and then next fall i will have to synthesize them in a reading list test, an oral exam given by the committee approving the list... i have decided to specialize in the medieval - probably not a surprise for those who know me - so along that line i have chosen to read medieval french lit, 19th and early 20th century fantasy, and cultural studies theory... my list is not yet complete and approved, but i am excited for it anyway... also, i have applied for a teaching assistantship for next year, and, should i get it, my internet time will be significantly reduced... and i might get an office... how odd... in the kitchen... well i haven't actually been in the kitchen that much recently... yesterday was the first time in ages i had cooked, and it was lovely... i suppose there is a combination of reasons for that... my kitchen style tends to be slow food for large groups, and while i am living with a large - relatively - group, the various dietary choices and restrictions of that diverse group make slow food somewhat difficult... most vegetarian and vegan food actually happens rather quickly... and slow food often involves meat of some kind... and timing has also been an issue - time to cook when i don't need to be doing other things has to be balanced with the time that other people want to use the kitchen... it is not a single-butt kitchen, but the flow does not work really well for more than two or three people... as a result, very little of my time has been spent in the kitchen as yet this year ... and that is sad, because i love food, making and eating it... one of the things that has been taking away my kitchen time is fitness - largely, bellydancing and hula hooping - and i really love it... i am nowhere near the level of skill that i would like at either of them... but, i am gonna keep working on them both, even though this week is the last week of bellydancing class - no more security of having a teacher to tell me what to do... i am hula hooping a lot and i am finally starting to try some tricks - tricks which will need much more practice before they are made public... the result of all this jiggling is that i have finally started to lose the weight that i want off, though, again, only a start on a much bigger project... so, overall, life is good... and now you know...

february...

as readers and fellow flock members know, february and i have a mutual distrust and hatred for each other - i try my best to endure and the longest month of the year does its best to defeat me... as an antidote to the dismay imparted by this interminable month i have complied a list of moments... happiness is... ...cooking with my grandmother ...the perfect glass of pinot grigio ...medieval french poetry ...blood oranges ...a hot cup of tea on a cold day that i don't have to be out in ...shopping with my sister ...summer stars in the high desert ...slow food ...my mountains ...the sound of the ocean ...dancing until i can barely move ...hula-hooping ...soup and sourdough ...happily ever after ...the sound of the rain ...late night conversations ...green growy things ...visiting someplace i have never been before ...heirloom roses ...ripe, summer peaches ...other peoples stories ...red carnations ...old, character-filled houses ...cooking for the people i love ...a list as fleeting and incomplete as happiness itself...

a holiday list...

tacky or not, the holiday wish list is making an appearance - it is by no means a complete list of my desires, and if you feel inspired to get me something not on here, feel free... and if you don't want to give me anything at all that is fine, too... but several people have asked what i want, so here it is in all of its greedy glory... fun, writer-type stuff: anything from here, cause they are fun: http://www.ninthmoon.com Scrivener Curio kitchen stuff: le creuset cookware a digital kitchen thermometer a mandolin slicer - talk to squid first, though cause she said she might =) and the ubiquitous book category: Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Restaurant Reviews, Articles, Memoir, Fiction and More by Dianne Jacob The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller More Great Good Dairy-free Desserts by Fran Costigan Rejection, Romance and Royalties: The Wacky World of a Working Writer By Laura Resnick any of the Andrew Lang Fairy Books this category could go on indefinitely, so i am stopping... that is more than enough greediness for the year... and really i don't need presents from anyone, but honestly, who doesn't like presents... my nod to the commercialism of the season has been fulfilled...