Yarn Stories

2016 was the year of the Stash Yarn Story Collection. As the consumer it was a really fun project, with each month building to the release of an exclusive colorway with an indie dyer or spinner. Some I had already heard of and loved (hello Spincycle Yarns) and some were new to me. Either way, it was a special colorway, and an accompanying interview with the artisan to get a little peek into their process.

I can't even remember which social media connection brought Sonia Ruyts, owner of Stash Local in Corvallis, to my attention but I'm oh-so-glad that it did. Her genuine enthusiasm for not only fiber artists, but people pursuing their passions in general, is evidenced in her writing and via her podcast.

Once the last selection of the year was announced, I waited eagerly to see if she planned to continue the project into 2017, but she had something else up her sleeve. On May 15th, you'll be able to purchase the Yarn Story Collection eBook, as well as kits made up of a selection of the limited release yarns featured in the book. The book is a gorgeous collection of photographs, accompanied by interviews with the artists, and insight into Sonia's passion for the craft. I was actually able to purchase almost all of the yarns, and was surprised when I looked through Instagram, how many of them I had already incorporated into projects. If you search the hashtags #StashYarnStory and #YarnStoryCollection you'll be rewarded with a gallery of gorgeous projects.

My Prairie Glass Mitts from Huckleberry Knits and the Whitefish Ripples cowl I made with my skein of Bumblebirch Quill in the colorway Trailhead are two projects just waiting for the blocking mat. I'll be sure to share them when they're done!

But perhaps my favorite project from my Yarn Story Collection was Shannon Cook's Feyre Shawl. It had held steady in my queue from it's publish date, but I hadn't found the yarn I wanted to use for it, or the time to knit it. Then came the last two selections for the Yarn Story, and I knew I'd found my combo. Lomo Love by Sweet Georgia is a super deep, jammy purple, tonal in nature with some highlights of an almost bright pink. I wasn't positive they'd be the right fit when the Fiber Seed color was revealed, but I took a chance and was so happy when I opened the package and put the two skeins together. Serendipity is part moody grey, part creamy base with a riot of speckles and together they made the most beautiful shawl.

It took awhile to knock out my list of projects that were queued ahead, but she's off the needles now and all blocked, and I love the result. Shannon's patterns just don't disappoint. Ever. And the combination of color and texture made this crescent shawl such a fun knit that can be styled in a number of ways. (and I love the horn shawl pin!)

100 Days of Real Food: A Review

Fold massive pile of scrubs or peruse new cookbook? Tough Choice

I first saw Lisa Leake's blog 100 Days of Real Food, probably via pinterest, when I stumbled across a post that addressed packing healthful and varied school lunches for your kids. The topic of school lunches is one that I feel pretty strongly about, but that's for another post.

Leake's blog was full of great recipes, meal plans, product reviews and videos and had a very accessible tone so I added it to my blog roll and started following her on facebook. Be warned, though, people on facebook can get downright nasty in their comments to even the most innocent posts. Like the time she candidly showed her kids taking homemade uncrustables to eat at the airport. Holy nut allergy sensitivity!

As soon as I saw she had finished her first cookbook/guidebook, I pre-ordered it. That was back in January and a whole bunch of life happened in between, so I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived on my doorstep a week ago.

My first impression upon taking it out of the box was that this was no amateur job. There was clearly a ton of work and thought put into the content and organization so that it covers all the bases, gives you the tools and confidence to get started in your own journey to more healthful eating and food-prep for your family, yet still provides references to go out and learn more on your own.

Coming in at 339 pages, not including the reference section, this is one hefty tome. Yet, full of beautiful photos and a voice that is not at all condescending or pandering it invites you to bring it to your couch and flip through while you sip your coffee (with grass-fed cream, of course).

Starting at the beginning of her journey and walking you through the changes she made for her family without getting totally bogged down in the details, Leake leaves you with the understanding that this is not an all-or-nothing proposition. By first simply looking at the ingredient lists of the foods in your pantry to better understand what may or may not have been great choices to using her meal planning (even broken down by season so that you can utilize farmer's markets if you desire) and grocery shopping list templates you can start building your own whole food life. The first 123 pages focus on giving you the information you need, while the second half has the promised 100 recipes, broken into the following categories; breakfast, lunchbox, snacks and appetizers, salads and sides, simple dinners, special treats and, finally, homemade staples.

I love that there are examples provided of what she adds to the given lunch box recipe in order to pack a full meal for her kids.

Pizza bites made on mini whole wheat pitas; H will love these.

Breakfast tacos

Eggs in a Basket

These cinnamon apple chips will make a great addition to the rotation of after-school snacks (and sweet treats for me) this fall!

I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but yet another thing I really like about her approach is that she does not shy away from the fact that committing to a more healthful way of eating definitely involves planning, organization and work, but that it's worth it.

In reading the book, you better understand that this is not an extreme 'diet'. You aren't ordered to immediately open your pantry and pull out the dumpster to rid your house of these dirty, dirty foods that are clearly killing your family right now. There also aren't a ton of rules to follow, calories to count, or food groups to eliminate, it's simply about understanding what you are eating (and feeding your family) and how those foods can either benefit your overall health, or not, then eating controlled portions of those foods (which Leake also addresses).The guiding principle, adopted from Michael Pollan, is that you should eat foods that are more a product of nature than a product of industry.

Dairy, gluten and legumes are all whole foods and the elimination of them from a lot of trending food plans has been a real turn-off to me. Seeing great whole wheat bread recipes, the use of home made corn tortillas and real cheese made my heart sing.

That said, she also has several recipes that would accommodate people who need/want to eliminate those foods and there is even an index in the back that organizes the recipes by dietary need so they're easy to find.

Don't you just want to sit down at the table with her?

I especially appreciate that she candidly addresses the issue of budget. Her family's second round of the 100 Days of Real Food Pledge, involved her doing so on a budget that was voted on by her readership. For a family of four, she had $125 a week to spend on groceries. In her state, a full food stamp allotment for her family size would have been $167/week, so it was definitely a challenge, but they achieved it! You can read her posts about how she did that in the hyperlink above. A huge, and very real, barrier in a lot of people's minds when they think about making the change. Bottom line: eating whole foods certainly doesn't mean you have to/should shop there.

The only sections I skimmed (and they were small) were the ones addressing strategies for eating at friends' houses or when you're on vacation, or how to share the whole foods love. I'm just never gonna be the girl who eats before she goes out to eat, or offers to bring something to a friend's house as a guise, or is the huge party buzz kill talking only about Monsanto and GMO's. While these things are important topics to explore and research for your own personal benefit, it's a huge turn-off to me when people are trying to overhaul their eating habits and it's all they can talk about. Blech.

Overall, Leake's book is a great addition to any collection of resources on the whole foods movement, especially because it provides the specific help of meal plans and recipes to add to your rotation so you have not just the research, but the practical application. If you haven't already, definitely read Michael Pollan's books including The Omnivores Dilemma, In Defense of Food and Food Rules. There are additionally some really great documentaries available, most of which you can stream on netflix, such as Food, Inc., King Corn and Food Matters.

Now go forth and meal plan; school starts in two days!

Apples to Apples

What's more fun that a sink-full of apples that need peeling? Answer: Pretty much everything

This year, part of J's gift basket from work was a bushel of apples. Fuj's and Galas and Granny Smith, oh my! I had been buying my weight in 'squeezy applesauce' from costco, and had seen that you could buy diy squeeze bags, so off to amazon my fingers flew. After researching, I realized that most of them were intended to be reusable, but let me tell you what I don't want to spend time rinsing out and sanitizing; yup, plastic bags with a teeny, tiny hole. I found this 50 pack of bags (single use) by Infantino and read the reviews, which mentioned you should spring for the 'squeeze station'-although you could probably fill the bags with a baster, but that would be ridiculously tedious. Spend the twenty bucks on the filling station. Between the bags and the filling station, it works out to slightly less than a dollar a bag (the squeeze station comes with ten bags), and the produce was a gift. It's still a bit more expensive than the GoGo Applesauce I was buying before but you'll only buy the station once, and you have greater control of your ingredients.

But first, before we get ahead of ourselves, you must make the apples into sauce. I've had a simple apple peeler, corer, slicer that you suction to the counter and operate with a hand crank for years, but for whatever reason it's not been working very well, so I got to move between peeling with a vegetable peeler and paring knife until I wanted to stab my eyes out. What started as a fun little Saturday morning project quickly morphed into what amounted to a pile of apples that reminded me of a giant plate of spaghetti; no matter how many I peeled and sliced; turn around and they're still there! 

Pretty much the only apple that worked correctly.

I cooked a batch of applesauce on the stovetop by filling up my beloved Soleil with mixed apples, one-half cup of water and some cinnamon, I let it bubble away on medium heat for twenty minutes (I only know that because I set a timer lest I forget about it while trying to organize my vortex of a closet) gave a stir then let it go for twenty minutes more and removed from the heat. After mashing and picking out the peel that I could-and burning my fingers-I read the directions for the handy squeeze station and went to fill my first three bags. Turns out, the applesauce needs to be really smooth, or you just get super hot apple sauce gushing back up from the plunger onto your hand and arms. Which feels awesome, thanks for asking. 

After the first round, I used the immersion blender to get it super smooth and all was well. My only other tip is to unscrew the 'filler' from the bag before pulling up on the plunger, or you'll suck some of the food back up into the cylinder, which is not where you want it. Even if you push down and pull up several times. Or slowly. Or quickly. Vacuums are sneaky little bitches. 

The second batch was all granny smith. I filled the crock of my 6 quart slow cooker to the brim and topped it with a glug of 100% pure maple syrup, then cooked it for about four hours on low. The two batches made about twenty-five bags of applesauce. Jack-attack was my taste tester and he proclaimed it delicious. 

(Because the bags are not insulated or airtight, it's important to remember that you're not preserving your food, but rather storing it. According to the packaging, you can store them in the fridge for about 48 hours and in the freezer for a few months. I plan to thaw them overnight in the fridge for lunches the next day. Or in a bowl of warm water the morning of when I've forgotten to pull them out the night before.)

Since I was already in stab-your-eyes-out-if-you-see-another-apple mode, (seriously, I would never make it in factory work) I decided to make three apple pies as well. My mom's (technically my mom's bestie's) recipe is still my favorite, mostly because imperfections only lend to its 'rustic' nature. Perfect for half-assers like me. 

Don't get too excited, this is for three pies. Only one stick of butter for each.

a little on the crispy side, but who has time to babysit the oven?

Heritage Apple Pie

Filling:

6 c. sliced apples (granny smith work great!)

1/2 c. sugar

2 t. cinnamon

1 9 inch pie crust (unbaked- I like Marc Bittman's pie crust recipe the best)

Topping:

1c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 softened butter (I used salted, if you don't, add about 1/2 t of kosher salt)

Line a pie pan with the crust and flute the edges. Mix together the apples, cinnamon and sugar and fill up the pie crust. It will be heaping. This is good. For the topping, mix the flour and sugar and then cut in the softened butter with forks, a pastry cutter, or by massaging the flour into the butter with your hands; pick your poison. Top the pie with the topping (duh) and then bake at 400 degrees for 50-55 minutes. I used my convection function so I do it at about 380 for about 40 minutes. Cover crust edge with a pie ring or tin foil to prevent it from burning. Enjoy a la mode or all on its own.

Lighten Your Load

Are you interested in cutting your laundry costs and lessening drying time, while single-handedly saving the planet?! Okay, maybe that went overboard just a little, but still-check out my review of wool dryer balls on Knitty Reviews.

Cooking and Canning and Eating, Oh My!

I love my birthday. I know that at a certain age you're supposed to start being blase about it, and not care if you get gifts or not, but I really, really love my birthday. It's the one day that you get to have all to yourself, where people think of thoughtful things just for you, give you well wishes and essentially make sure that you feel special. This year was no exception. I think my family is starting to sense a theme in my current interests: Home decor, running and cooking, with a string of manic knitting sessions thrown in.

As I said before, the Fourth is my favorite holiday. I forgot to mention that that could have a tiny bit to do with the fact that my birthday is right around it, leaving me in the post-birthday high just in time to watch the fireworks, eat food and bask in the glow of family togetherness. Three of my gifts were cookbooks; Canning For a New Generation (which I reviewed here), My Father's Daughter and The Family Dinner and I have loved spending time pouring over them and riddling them with sticky notes for recipes I want to try. I love them all for different reasons, but the one thing they have in common is that they're not a strict cook-book but have a lot of side stories to share. 

The Family Dinner is all about establishing routine, getting your kids involved in the preparation of the meal, and things to do during the meal so that you have a lot of variety and a lot of starting points to tweak and make it our own ritual.  I had already started incorporating a lot of things she mentions, but the one thing I did at the author's suggestion was offering only water at dinner. 

Every night, I felt like I was constantly up and down getting each person the beverage of their choice and now I just have a big ole pitcher of water in the middle of the table. Sometimes I throw in a couple slices of lemon or lime, or muddle some mint, but most of the time it's just crisp Walla Walla tap water. I know that this wouldn't work for every family, because sometimes it's the chance for you to make sure your kids drink enough milk if they're not good at it, but I'm home all day with my kids and I know what they drink. The last thing they need is more sugar. With the blazing temps here, some extra agua at the end of the day never hurts, either.

In My Father's Daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow pays homage to her late father, Bruce Paltrow, in creating a book of recipes and ideas for creating family togetherness through simple goodness and nutritious meals. Plus, I'm a sucker for Gwyneth, so I would love it no matter the topic.

The 'family dinner' is something that has increased in importance to me the longer I'm an at-home mama, which started last year with not creating a separate meal for each person. Since we've moved, I've been successful at all of us eating together at least five nights a week; no exaggeration. J is obviously not always able to eat with us, but when we were in Mass, I had gotten into the habit of feeding the kids quickly and rushing to shuffle them off to bed only to sit by myself and eat whatever meal I pulled together in my exhaustion from the day spent running them ragged. 

Now, I spend the later afternoon hours that the boys are playing quietly running around the house and (glorious) fenced yard like hooligans to get dinner going and on the table by five, five-thirty at the latest. Having my meals planned out at least a week in advance helps keep this task going smoothly. This leaves plenty of time to eat, bathe them, read stories and get just one more (read: 800) drinks of water and still have time to myself. Something that I have found to be very important to me. With such early risers, I take the time that some people get to sip their coffee quietly in the morning when it falls into my lap, which just so happens to come around 7:30 each night. 

As it's now 7:12, the bath routine is winding down (J is home, which means no bath routine for me, yay!). One load of dishes to put into the dishwasher, with a delayed start of 4 hours so I can watch Season 5 of Dexter on demand without the swish and hum to distract me, counters wiped down, change into jammies, wash my face, contacts popped out of my currently drying eyes, feet up and I'm a happy girl. Oh look: 7:19 and the only thing I hear is the ocean waves of their sound machine (and whatever game my beloved has decided to play at almost-too-loud levels on the PS3). Bliss.

Now to cast-on some yummy yarn for a new hat pattern and the evening will be perfection.

It's another MotherTalk review! Click over to Knitty Reviews to read about Beside Still Waters by Tricia Goyer.

Check out my review of the last installment of the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, over at Knitty Reviews.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


There is so much to say about this book, but I'll try to limit it to non-spoiler comments. The first 50-60 pages really suck you in, and then there's a slight lull in the middle. After finishing, though, I feel like the majority of what was in those pages was necessary for plot and character-development. A coming-of-age tale that spins in some magical realism (or does it?) and also provides a great social commentary, this is a great book club pick because I felt like it was after discussion that I realized how much I liked it.

It may be one that I read again, but not for awhile. There's a lot to think about and digest, but it's wonderfully written, and there are so many places that give the reader pause. Will you get sucked into Ava's voice and naivete, or will you remain skeptical with all of your adult knowledge? I definitely found that I'm a cynic (but only because I've seen the worst too many times). Travel deep into the swamp to be introduced to a world that will seem magical, if only because it's foreign, Swamplandia! is sure to make you start googling alligator parks you can visit in real life!



View all my reviews

(Not So) Guilty Pleasures

I love, love, love the food blog 101 Cookbooks. Over the last couple of years, I've become more interested in having a 'natural kitchen.' Ms. Swanson's books Supernatural Cooking, Supernatural Everyday and Cook 1.0 are on my amazon wishlist. I'm gradually switching my kids over to Adams Peanut Butter instead of Jif, honey and maple syrup and sweeteners instead of white sugar (my cryptonite) and the idea that yogurt or fruit with some whipped cream is dessert. This is as much for me as it is for them. Well, actually it's probably more for me than it is for them. I love sweets.

The Game On challenge has been very good for me in helping me to identify the times I eat, the things I eat and, aside from my day off and meal off, eliminating butter, white sugar and white flour from my diet. I am not saying that nobody should use the above ingredients, I'm just saying that I grossly overused them in my daily life. There have been many meals where I found that a spritz of olive oil cooking spray did the job just as well or better than a pat of butter, and meals where I found the opposite. My attempt to make a butterless whole-wheat pie crust was edible, and better than having no pie crust at all on my roasted vegetable tart, but really, I'd rather save pie crust for a day of indulgence and blend those lovely crumbs of butter in.

The contest only goes for four weeks at a time. As we're settling into the third week, I've been trying to prep for ways that I can still implement a lot of the principles of the game in my everyday life in a way that's sustainable. Drinking three liters of water a day is something I should have been doing all along, and one of the facets I'll definitely keep. Drinking black coffee, or no coffee at all? Not so much. However, I've definitely developed a much lower threshold on the sweet factor and am satisfied with a lot less; one tablespoon of creamer is just fine in my coffee instead of the two or three that I would have used before. Also, and I'm admitting this even though it makes me ridiculous, if I were eating grape nuts or a similar cereal before, I'd have sprinkled a little sugar on top. I know. But, I don't anymore, so that's that.

I love to bake, so have been looking for ways to feel fulfilled in that area without feeling like I'm just filling my house with sweets. You can only bring so many treats to the school, afterall. 101 Cookbooks to the rescue again. I found a Peanut Butter Cookie recipe that is not only fairly healthy, but it's a recipe you can make for a vegan friend without having to make any adustments, and it fits into the parameters of the game (if you eat one and count it as your fat for the meal.)

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did! I think the biggest trick is in underbaking them a little bit so that they don't get dried out and crunchy. I had my neighbor taste-test them without telling her they were 'healthy' and she liked them. I didn't have whole wheat pastry flour, so I just used regular whole wheat flour and it just adds to the nuttiness of the cookies. Lastly, I measured out almost a cup of the Adams creamy (no salt added) and then topped off the cup of peanut butter called for with some Mara Natha Almond Butter. Yum! My kids loved them as well, and were able to taste-test the batter since it's egg-less. Bon Apetit!

Splish, Splash!

Head over to Knitty Reviews to check out my review of the Johnson's Natural line of baby care products. A good time was had by all!

Smash, Bang, Crash!

Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas

My review

So far, there are a couple of reasons I really like Smashed. (I'm only 30+ pages in, so bear with me.) First, she's exactly my age, so when she's talking about things that happend in highschool, etc, it's kind of fun to see the social parallels, but secondly,she's from New England. I'm more than a little obsessed with all things New England since I'm a transplant. (I've watched The Departed and the Dennis Lehane movies more times that I can count). Her bio says she grew up in the 'suburbs of Boston', but when she's talking about a girl who goes to her regional high school andsays "Billie lives in the bordering town of Clinton..." I gasped in excitement, because that's just up the road!

It's a bio that I'm hoping doesn't turn out to be bogus like that of James Frey.

From the inside flap:

"Koren's story is that of thousands of girls like her who are notalcoholics-yet-but who routinely use booze as a shortcut to courage, asstand-in for good judgement, and a bludgeon for shyness.

A crucial book for any young woman who grew up under the allure of booze, orfor anyone who is concerned about someone locked in a pattern of dangerousdrinking, *Smashed* is eye-opening, wise, utterly gripping and destined tobecome a classic."

I wanted to read it before sending it off to my 15 year-old niece as a'cautionary tale' (yep, I'm *that* aunt) and have found that it's really good, frank, and I think that most parents would benefit from reading it even if your kids aren't there yet.

She says in her preface "I grew up in the Northeast, a white, middle-class teenager among other white, middle-class teenagers, which plunks me down in one of the highestdemographics of underage drinkers..." and...

"I am fourteen, which is the norm these days, when the mean age of the firstdrink for girls is less than thirteen years old." *

*Devon Jersild, *Happy Hours; Alcohol in a Woman's Life, 96.

Even though the 'times are different' it hasn't been all THAT long since I was in high school, but I feel like I've forgotten a lot of the nuance. Oh yeah, and I never drank in high school.

I'll post more when I finish the book...

The Buck(s) Stops Where

Over the last year or so, I've been getting the distinct impression that I'm getting a little less coffee each time I go to Starbucks. It started when I was getting ready to take Sherri to the airport on one of her visits here and we got coffee the night before because we were damned if we'd get Dunkin Donuts in the morning as Starbucks didn't open that early. We had them use the flat lid and then put them straight in the fridge and heated them up in the morning. I know! So not the same as freshly steamed milk, but I'm telling you, we are hopelessly devoted.

Imagine my surprise when I took my lid off before re-heating the next morning and saw that there was over three inches g.o.n.e. gone. Did I order a bone-dry cappuccino by mistake?! Nope, I just got robbed.

Every so often after that I'd pluck my coffee from the counter before politely returning the cardboard sleeve and plopping the cup into one of my own creations (plug, plug, I know), and the cup was suspiciously light. I just get a non-fat latte, so I want every stitch of milk I'm supposed to get!

By coincidence I overheard someone asking them to use minimal foam, so I started doing the same. But should I have to? Is there really supposed to be that much foam in a latte? Any baristas reading my blog?

My usual drink now is a non-fat latte. Plain and Simple. But occasionally I order a flavored latte and have to channel Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally or it's a syrupy mess with a full head of whipped cream. In a time when I'm trying to simplify my life should I really be paying $5 to say Triple Venti Nonfat No Whip Two Pump Pumpkin Spice Latte? Now I have to add Light Foam?!

If I were making a pro/con list the cons may win but alas, I know I'll be standing in line again before the week is out.

I feel like Jake Gyllenhaal and Starbucks is the late, great, Heath Ledger; I wish I knew how to quit you!

Party Time

I saw this post on Rockin' Mama and found the one sentence that should be in every training resource: "Someone once told me that everybody they’ve ever known is potty trained, which means that our chances of being successful with our son are pretty much guaranteed."...If only it were that easy to keep the perspective when you're in it.

I am very happy to announce, however, that the pity I mean potty party at our house is winding down...stickers are now only awarded for successful number 2's as numero uno is under control once he realized it's an activity where he not only gets to stand up, but that he is sanctioned to hold and aim his parts while doing so.

I was wiping off the outside of the toilet bowl with some of the GreenWorks wipes that I'm testing out for MomCentral, and the realization that this is just the beginning of the bathroom messes struck me. Oh, the joys of raising boys!

Purl One, Knit Two

It's Here! It's Here! It's Here! I got my kit in the mail today, along with two skeins of yarn for hats for my nieces for Christmas...

After looking over the pattern again, rest assured, there will be tears worked into this sweater o' mine.

Speaking of knit two...head over to Knitty Reviews to check out my review of the new Friday Night Knitting Club novel Knit Two by Kate Jacobs.

Ghirardelli LUXE bars

Today I posted about Ghirardelli's new line of Luxe chocolate bars on Knitty Reviews. What a lucky taste tester am I!

30 Days To Natural

Come over to Knitty Reviews to see my post on the 30 Days to Natural website.

Jooners Review

Read my review of the new FREE organization and planning program Jooners over at KnittyReviews.

Ringling

See my Post about Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey over at Knitty Reviews!

A Lighter Shade of Green

When I was about six months pregnant with C, and was scouring the tub, I realized that I don't love the smell of the bathroom cleaners that I'm using. Or the fact that I feel like I have to leave the vent fan on for several hours after completing the job...or that I felt slightly light-headed, which could have been the pregnancy alone.

I decided that it was time to start investigating more earth (read: small children) friendly cleaning products. After asking the opinion of several of my amigos verdes, I came home from the market with a bagful of replacements. I did not, however, toss my others, I used them first...sorry, it's the new fiscally conservative Sally HP.

I kept asking people if they would work better, since they were generally more expensive, but then just settled with the fact that as long as they worked as well, I'd be happy with it.

I was watching the documentary King Corn the other night, and the cattle rancher being interviewed stated that if people wanted only grass-fed beef, they'd be happy to supply it, but the demand for cheap corn-fed beef is outrageously high.

I started to think about it and (now, I am not a business major, so please feel free to comment if I'm wrong) I realized that if more and more people buy the green products, then it may result in an eventual decrease in price. Obviously this isn't the case for all things, just look at our outrageous fuel costs right now, and demand has certainly not decreased. However, if it's a domestic product (like beef or cleaners) over which we maintain control, my little purchases may someday make a difference in the eventual price.

In this same vein, I was recently offered the chance to try Recycline Preserve toothbrushes, which are made from high quality pre and post-consumer recycled (BPA and pthalate-free) plastics. In addition, to help keep the cycle going, Recycline will provide a postage paid label on their website so you can send the used product to be made into recycled plastic lumber...pretty cool. The good thing is that they really aren't more expensive than normal brushes, coming in at just over $2 at Target.

If you'd like a chance to be the proud owner of your very own Preserve toothbrush, leave a comment for me with something that you do to be a little more 'green'. In order to have a real test for the efficacy, I'll add a $5 Starbucks card (nothin' like tea and coffee stains) to each of the two winners who will be selected on July 25th.

If you don't win, click here and you'll be taken to MomCentral, where you can find the full Recycline information, along with a coupon for $1 off the purchase of two brushes.

This blog was cross-posted on my review blog; Knitty Reviews. After August 1st, all reviews will be posted on that blog only.

Strawberry Fields...

Having a birthday so close to the Fourth of July has always been fun for me, both because of the fun pool parties, but more because I love summer. Summer food, summer activities, water sports, everything summer. Although, if we're being honest here, because I'm a very sweaty person (and self-conscious about it) it was not until recently that I've learned to just embrace the heat.

I was shopping at the grocery store the other day, looking for a good dessert as I was hosting the board meeting for my mom's group that night. When I first entered the store, the produce section was calling to me with brightly colored sale signs. The first stand I came to had strawberries; buy one get TWO free! Sweet, strawberry shortcake it is!

I had recently received an email about the plentiful harvest that California growers are experiencing this year, so glanced at the package and noted that, sure enough, they were grown in sunny California. I got home and started slicing away, placing the pretty berries in my prized brightly colored nesting bowl from Crate & Barrel. After adding a tiny bit of sugar and stirring them to get a little juice going, I covered the berries and left them on the counter to 'mellow' until the meeting started.

When everyone came, I had a store-bought pound cake arranged in pretty slices on my Fiestaware bread plate, the bowl o' berries and a can of whipped cream. How is it that something so simple tastes so good? I love that summer is all about simplicity, and when you start with something yummy and sweet like a strawberry, you really don't have to add much more.

Never one to forget about the kiddies, the California Strawberry Commission has a section of their site called Strawberryville full of games, facts and fun. The strawberry 'school' has sections designated to kids aged 5-7 and 8-12.

This post can also be seen at Knitty Reviews