Archive for October, 2007
Pumpkin is The New Mocha
Am I the only one around here who’s noticed that pumpkin is totally in this season? Bath and Body Works, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are all advertizing their fancy new pumpkin-flavored wares like it’s the hottest new thing. As if pumpkins haven’t been around since forever or something. (more…)
Free Rice
I just wanted to post a link to this site – http://www.freerice.com/index.php - it’s a super cool idea and a great way to get people interested in hunger issues without being a total downer.
Indoor Greenery
As my outdoor plants wither and die before my very eyes, I’m trying to keep it together by moving some things indoors and “greening-up” my apartment. (and yes, I still plan on making the little greenhouse, maybe next weekend…). I haven’t gotten very far with my indoor gardening, but I thought I’d share this much:
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Fall Camping in the Catskills
This past weekend, Boyfriend and I had the pleasure of going for a one-night camping and hiking trip. It was a great opportunity to get out of smelly New York, breathe some real air and check out the fall leaves at their peak colorfulness. (more…)
Extreme Makeover Goes Green (once)
I was pleasantly surprised last night when I saw an ad for the next episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition, (a fine family program for cheese-loving do-it-yourselfers like me). And no, it wasn’t the spikiness of host Ty Pennington’s hairdo that got me riled up, but rather the announcement that the next episode is going to be totally green. (more…)
Squash Sauce
It’s a rainy New York Friday, but that won’t stop us city-dwellers from hitting up the farmers market. The gray sky is a bit of a downer, but it’s nice to see people weathering the weather to get the very best in local produce.
Days like this call for hot meals. Here’s a recipe for one I like a lot, featuring the noble squash. (more…)
Conservation Nation
OK, time for a bit of a rant. Here we go.
I’m at a pharmacy picking up a few necessities (Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, Tom’s Toothpaste, and non-organic (oops) feminine products (double-oops)). I get in line to check out, and while glancing around the store in boredom my eyes fall upon this atrocity:
Disposable hand sanitizer packets.
This item may not mean much to most of us, but to me it represents the heart of the American environmental dilemma. And it fills me with rage. RAGE!
Ew.
Yesterday, in a moment of weakness and hunger I did something kind of reprehensible.
I was at Washington DC’s Union Station, on my way back north after spending the afternoon at the Solar Decathlon (which was AWESOME – more about that later), and I missed my train and had to wait an hour for the next one and I was hungry and frustrated with myself for missing the train and basicly ended up sinking to my ultimate low – the #7 crispy chicken sandwich with a coke and a medium fries.
It was delicious.
But that’s beside the point. I probably could have walked to the other end of the train station and found some more wholesome – and ideally more sustainably-produced – food. But I didn’t, and now I have my conscience to pay for it. I would also like to issue a formal apology to my degestive system, which didn’t deserve this.
Delicious Dish Soap
I’ve never wanted to drink dish soap as much as I do now. I actually got this soap as a freebie when I ordered something from drugstore.com, and was pleased to find that it’s all-natural and smells like paradise. Seriously, it smells so good that after I do the dishes I just want to hang out in the kitchen and breathe deeply. Plus it works great and leaves my dishes sparkling clean!
Check it out: Mrs. Meyers Clean Day products – they’ve got hand soap and lotion, too (I haven’t tried them but recommend them anyway).
And yes, that’s a ziplock bag drying in my dish rack. As a child I was embarassed by my parents when they washed and re-used ziplock bags, but now I do it all the time and embarass my friends. Oh, and I promise not to drink the dish soap.
Crafts for Cats
I don’t know about your cats, but my little ones just LOVE doing crafts. Finger painting, knitting, making little cabins out of popsicle sticks, you name it – they’ve tried it!
And I’ve got a great project that your kitties are sure to enjoy. It’s called the catnip birdie:
This is a fun one that my youngest, Denzel, and I invented over the weekend. (more…)
