Happy Zero-Waste Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! But especially to my friend Jen, who sent me a lovely electronic Valentine in the form of a Facebook message with a link to The Zero Waste Home blog she saw on the news.

Made from scrap yarn pieces. Link to pattern before Heart Tutorial below!

I'm so flattered that she thought of me! Really digging this blog, and today's Valentine's-related post was a good one. I'm not at Zero-Waste. It sounds unattainable. I was really glad to read a response to that on their blog. It was encouraging - I hope you find it so, too! LAZINESS is not a valid excuse, and lies to cover laziness are just sad. What did Yoda say? "Do or do not - there is no try."

Commercialism, Consumerism, and Crap - the 3 C's of any North American holiday. Better throw in Capitalism, too, because thanks to the pendulum hanging on that end of the spectrum, we have to deal with the onslaught of the other 3 C's.

Where is (real) love? Where is handmade? Where is old-fashioned and vintage?

Hiding. These are public enemies # 1, 2 and 3 to the Capitalists. They want you to buy their Crap and make them wealthy. And they're very good at doing just that.

Make a single heart really quickly; link @ end of post

Go "Zero-Waste" and make your Valentine's card! Not much time left for today, but at the end of this post I've given 3 ideas you can do with paper scraps at the office or from newspaper. Pick up a bottle of wine and order-in dinner (buy candles!) if you're really running behind time!

I'm sure it will totally embarrass him, but my favourite Valentine's day of all time was last year, in full-swing of the winter Olympics. My boyfriend MADE me my Valentine's gift (excluding the dozen red roses - those weren't handmade. They did make me pretty happy, though!). He made his own origami paper box, with a divider for 4 compartments, and those compartments contained 4 different homemade chocolates and truffles he MADE himself from recipes he found online.

I kept it, roses and all. Plastic-free, too. Beautiful!

I have to say that they were the most delicious sweets I've ever received, and it really was because homemade tastes better. I've kept the box and dried the roses (the chocolates didn't make it, especially the homemade Turtles. They were the first to go!), and I'm thrilled that all of it is biodegradable. Call me un-sentimental, but I don't need a Valentine's gift from 2010 lasting longer than my bones or ashes. There's nothing beautiful about the plastic 3 C's outlasting you (in your lifetime or a long while after!).

So I know it's leaving it a little late, but if you are giving a Valentine's gift later today, consider the following:

• Homemade chocolates or cookies (sugar cookies are fast and easy, and you might even have all the ingredients already. You can cut heart shapes out of the dough with a knife, with or without a stencil - you can trace around a paper heart you cut out or do it freehand)
• Dinner you made yourself (candlelight strongly recommended! Beeswax/soy-based candles for extra credit! Comfort food like mashed potatoes or pasta is easy to make and satisfying to eat)
• Online donation (might I suggest a 'gift of peace' or a donation to "Give Love" helping Haiti?)
• If it has to be something tangible, stop by Ten Thousand Villages for something handmade with love
• Wine or fine coffee (a glass of wine a day is good for the ol' ticker!)
• The old-fashioned, handmade Valentine's card. All you need is red or pink construction paper. White paper doilies, glue sticks, markers/crayons, glitter, felt and trimmings optional, but also easy to do. Here's some quick inspiration I stole from the web:

Easiest to do AT WORK, RIGHT NOW: Bottom right corner-ish - the cut-out hearts from newspaper. Artist used Chinese character and roman lettering (i.e. english) newspapers for variety. All you need is tape or glue (or paperclips maybe? Could be cool!) and some string, and it can be any colour, any weight. Can use copy paper right out of the recycling bin.

My take on the idea in the web-inspiration collage above.

Newspaper, scissors, string and paperclips.

"Quit playing games with my heart!" (I couldn't help it)

(Save the paper scraps - you could use them on your Valentine's card. I was too lazy to form a phrase from these. Sorry.)

Turns out crazy ransom letter writers are very patient people.

Also using office supplies: shredded paper strips = quilling! Quick tutorial here: http://www.ehow.com/how_4900318_quill-the-basics.html
Make a heart, or even EASIER: Make several coils (spirals, as in you wrapped it around a pencil and that's it) and glue/tape them onto heavier paper or cardstock (or construction paper, etc.) in the shape of a heart!

Template for a paper heart out of coiled ('quilled') shredded document paper.
Glue onto a sheet of cardstock, etc.

More adventurous? If you have newspaper (any paper will do - coloured, especially! I've done one sheet black and white text newspaper & one coloured Valentine's Day advertisement newspaper sheet - looked cool), you can make a Scandinavian woven paper heart like my lovely Danish neighbour used to do. Tutorial (my own) below and a link to someone else's on YouTube. It's not difficult, but it is fussy. Skip if you have a short attention span/limited patience for fiddley things!

Here's one I just whipped up - the trick is to NOT use two different weights of paper. I did, and it shows. Oh well. Incidentally, it'll eventually be hanging from a bottle of something to drink, not volumetric flasks....

Leftover Christmas wrap,

pink and black construction paper scraps,

ribbon scrap, glue and chalk. Instant Valentine's card! Next step: buy booze!

Happy Valentine's Day, fellow Green & Broke folks!
Don't forget to show your love to the environment as well as your loved ones.

(No loved one(s)? How about giving anonymous Valentine's to some of the singles living in your apartment building? To have love, you must give love. A surprise like that might just make someone's day a million times brighter. Let that little light of yours shine! A single person has a lot of unused 'love' to give - no excuses not to share it with others! Give!).

My perfect fiancee: last year, handmade; this year, vintage.

Umm, if you're wondering about the copper jelly moulds, I should probably direct you here.

Links:
Crocheted Heart Garland link (not on Ravelry, amazingly enough!): Skip to My Lou's Heart Garland

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SCANDINAVIAN WOVEN PAPER HEART TUTORIAL

I'm actually sick at home today (of all the days to feel very unromantic...!), and the only thing I can seem to get done is making Valentine crafts and photographing them after wards.

Here's what I did to the depressing cover of the Metro today:

Break-up hearts. How joyous.

Way 2 B positive! Life isn't all bad!

Choppy Choppy! 2 long rectangles.

Fold long, skinny rectangles in 1/2

Measure across fold. Divide in 3; mark

Cut from fold up (3/4 of the way to top)

Trim uncut, unfolded end like this

Repeat (other rectangle). Preview layout

Weave. Start with uppermost 'finger'

Inside, outside, inside. Next: reverse it

Finished heart

Finished heart, backside

In words:


1. Cut two long, narrow rectangles of the same length from thin paper (newspaper and wrapping paper are good choices). Different colours are good, different weights/thicknesses of papers are not!


2. Fold each rectangle in half length-wise. You should then have two 2-ply rectangles (and not a 2-ply square - it won't work if the rectangles aren't long enough).


3. Save yourself some time by stacking the two folded rectangles on top of each other. Keep the folded edges towards you.


4. Measure the width along the folded edge. Mark equal thirds; for example, in my photos the width was 10.5cm, which meant each 'finger' I cut was 3.5cm wide. You can eye-ball this step if you don't have a ruler or tape measure, but I recommend measuring, particularly if this is your first attempt at making these! Mark both the top folded rectangle and the other one stacked beneath it.


5. Cut the 'fingers' at the marks (if you can confidently hold both folded rectangles firmly, you can cut through both folded rectangles at once. I don't recommend this if you aren't a skilled paper-cutter, and especially not if the paper is shiny and slippery!). Cut to about 3/4 of the way to the 'top' of the folded rectangle (bottom is folded edge, top is the two leaves of paper, open). Repeat on other rectangle, always cutting from the folded edge up.


6. Shape the ends as shown. You can tightly hold both rectangles on top of each other and cut through both (again, only if you're a wiz with scissors and paper!), or you can do the sane thing and grab a salad-sized plate or bowl and trace an arc on the 'top' edge of the rectangle (the uncut, loose leaved end) with a pencil. Cut along the lines (do the same for other rectangle).


7. Align your two heart-halves as shown (lay one on top of the other), to give you an idea of the finished shape. Make changes to the curvature of the top edges now, if required (often the case!).


8. Weave! This is the tricky part, and where my tutorial is weak - a video would sure help! Starting with the uppermost 'finger' of say the right heart half (the one closest to the curved edge), put the folded edge of the 'finger' between the finger of the left heart half (i.e. - feed through the middle of the other 'finger'!). Now your same finger will be coming up to the 2nd (middle) finger of the left heart half. Do the opposite - feed the 2nd finger of the left half through your right heart-half finger that you're working on. Wiggle it along until your same right heart-half finger meets the 3rd (bottom) finger of the left heart-half. This time, feed your finger between the leaves of the left heart-half finger. In summary, you went INSIDE-OUTSIDE-INSIDE the 1st, 2nd and 3rd 'fingers' of the left heart-half.


9. Weaving continued! If you went INSIDE-OUTSIDE-INSIDE with the first (uppermost) right heart-half 'finger', then for the middle (second) right heart-half finger, you will do the opposite (OUTSIDE-INSIDE-OUTSIDE), in the same manner. For the final finger, follow the same pattern as the first finger (doing the opposite of the last weave) - INSIDE-OUTSIDE-INSIDE.


10. You're finished! You can use it as a basket, or glue/double-sided tape it shut for a flat Valentine's card (or placemat or coaster, etc.). You can do this with fabric (felt's a good choice), too!


Can't follow this?! JellyfishJelly.com has a great YouTube tutorial, and on their website PRINTABLE TEMPLATES for cutting out! Now that's easy! 

Granny Squares . . . for sale?!

A very, very brief post today...

Found a neat shop (House8810) off of the Design*Sponge blog. I don't usually follow sidebar ads, but there was this photo of 3 granny square potholders or dishcloths or something and I simply HAD to see if they were for sale, for real....!

Here's the link to the "Grandma's Pot Holders"! $16.00! If they have seriously become cool enough to BUY, then I suddenly have a perfect use for all of those skein-ends!

My hommage to sherbet. Since discovering gelato, I've never gone back.

Then again, there's always Knit-a-Square, which is a far more noble cause.

House 8810 sells other crochet kitchen items (all pot holders) - these and these! Is crochet COOL again?!

And check out the "around the house" category - vintage-looking granny square afghans ($120!) and pillow shams ($45)

Coolest thing I saw on House 8810: the Russian Matryoshka nesting dolls that are actually measuring cups! Too bad they're plastic and not aluminum or stainless steel.

Short post, but had to share it for the crocheters!

Hoedown for Heart Research - 2011

Yeehaw! It's back, and it's happening on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11th in Gastown!

100% of the proceeds (from ticket sales, raffle, 50/50 draw, and toonie tosses, as well as the corresponding Chilli Cook-off at our workplace this week) will go directly to The Heart & Stroke Foundation of BC & the Yukon.

It's heart month, so time to take stock of how you've taken care of yours in the past year. You can definitely exercise more. You can cut back on the saturated and trans-fats, too. You can even put away the salt shaker and cut back on sodium in your diet. All of these things are good for your heart and easy to do.

If your heart was broken (I'm sorry to hear if it was), well, not a lot you can do about that but allow time to heal those wounds. In the meantime, come out and meet some new friends this Friday at The Bourbon! I met my fiancee at the very first Hoedown for Hearts (ironically - I loathe country music and somehow found myself coerced into attending a fundraiser in Bur-quitlam on a cold February night! Can't complain, though!).

Can't say you'll have the same good fortune, but you could win a brand new Jackson Grills stainless steel portable BBQ and a $25 gift certificate to Choices Markets to go with it, or one of the many other raffle prize packages we have (one includes an iPod Shuffle, a 2 week unlimited YYoga pass (thanks Michelle & Sarah!) with all the bells and whistles like the infra-red sauna and mat & towel service, a wild mushroom picking tour with Swallowtail tours and more goodies!).

One of my favourites includes dark chocolates (also good for your heart!) generously donated by Rudie of The Chocolate Bear Shoppe in Tsawwassen (incidentally, the only place in all of the Lower Mainland I've been able to find Victory V's!), as well as a selection of local and not-so-local wines, and a wine tour and tasting for ten people at the super quaint and lovely Township7 winery and vineyard in Langley. Red wine's good for your heart, too! So is fresh air and light exercise - I recommend a daytrip for a wine tasting and picnic at Township 7; you can walk off the picnic along the lovely boardwalks at the nearby Campbell Valley regional park.

There's more prizes, of course! You'll have to come and see them to win them! LUSH products, salon gift certificates, and lots more!

If you're interested in buying a ticket ($10 each - incl. cover and a drink before 9:30pm), please comment below and I'll put you on the guest list or arrange a way to get the tickets to you before the big day!

Seriously Yummy Yogurt (Liberte)

A quick disclaimer: I have not been paid (or threatened!) to give this product recommendation. I just honestly like it this much!

For the record, I've never been paid or bribed or otherwise reimbursed for any product review or anything like that. If I was, I'd probably have to change the name of this blog from "Green, Broke & Living in Kits" to "Green, with Variable and Unreliable Income, & Living in Kits".

I like to keep this blog ad-free, mostly because I HATE advertising. It's everywhere - it was even in the bathroom stall last Friday night at a pub on Granville Street. Bad enough having a poster in those NewAd holders staring at you while you're on the bog - now it's video of car commercials. I can't escape advertisements. When I finally come to power, . . . ! In the meantime, I will continue to boycott products whose commercials annoy me (which is probably about 90% of all television advertised products and services). I find the best things aren't widely advertised, anyway. And that's why I write this blog - to spread the word on worthy products and services you may not be aware of. Join the anti-ad revolution!

Back to happy things - how about AWESOME YOGURT! Unfortunately not free but very, very tasty (see my previous post for the cheap-nearly-free DIY yogurt which is good for making raita for Indian dishes). Liberte yogurt has become *the* staple at our place that we just can't seem to go without lately.

For him, the Mediterranee range. It's full fat, sugar (no aspartame or other creepy substitutes or artifical sweeteners), and gelatin-free (great if you're a conscientious vegetarian!). His favourite is Wild Blackberry, but it comes in 12 other flavours (Plain, Vanilla, Lemon, Coconut (yum!), Mocha, Strawberry, Mango & Oranges, Plum & Walnut, Peach & Passionfruit, Black Cherry (I want to try this next!), French Hazelnut, Wild Blueberry, Apple Pie and Dulce de Leche).

Mediterranee (Lemon). Creamy, creamy sweet goodness.

Pour madamoiselle, the Greek Yogurt. 0% milk fat (unbelieveable!), lots of protein, and thick, rich goodness. In fact, 18g of protein per serving. I've decided it's the perfect apres-gym snack. It is, sadly, not easy to find. I've looked on their website (front page advertises 2 new flavours: strawberry and fig & date. I can't wait to try the fig & date!), but I can't seem to find a page for their full range. (24 Feb Update - They've changed their whol website - full range, full page on this here).

I was so scared that it meant that they were phasing out the Greek Yogurt (Yoplait did buy them in Dec 2010 after all), that I emailed them. Neurotic, maybe, but it's crazy good yogurt. You can thank me later for this tip (I accept copper jelly moulds).

Found another fan of Liberte Greek 0% m.f. Yogurt on Blogspot (Appplecheeks - deliberate misspelling there). It was originally recommended to me by a friend, so I suppose I should reference her as well (Thanks Karen!).

I've only tried 'plain' and 'vanilla'. I'm optimistic there's more exciting options out there!

Another great thing about Liberte is their commitment to Sustainability. Okay, alright - virtually all companies are realising that tooting the eco-conscious horn is the easiest way to boost sales these days, and we should probably keep this in mind when choosing a company based on its environmental footing. (For example, Liberte boasts "Energy Efficiency" which is further defined as 'diagnosis and implementation of measures identified'. Talk about a meaningless phrase!).

So it's not any cheaper than the other commercially-available yogurts, and it's probably only slightly (if at all) 'greener' than the other brands (there's an Organic range as well). But it's so yummy, I wanted to share. That, and if you start buying the Greek yogurt, demand will increase and hopefully supply will follow!

Maybe there is no truly altruistic action after all.

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14 February update - We tried the black cherry and the pineapple flavours this week. Freaking fantastic!

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24 February update - President's Choice is now advertising 0% MF Greek Yogurt as well (just saw the ad on TV tonight), so check out Superstore. I haven't tried it yet, but if it's cheaper, I will!

Locally, Central Gourmet at 1st and Cypress, is carrying several flavours of the Liberte 0% MF Greek Yogurt now, including Fig & Dates (Fig & Dates also available in Mediterranee as well). It's delicious, in a prune-like way - bet it will be great with some chopped nuts and granola.

I have also changed all the links on this page that previously went to Liberte, as they have completely redone their website (it's much better now). 

What STINKS?! Junk the funk with homemade, natural air fresheners

Have dried-out, shrivelled citrus fruit? Make air fresheners!

A blend I won't be buying again. Tastes bad, but smells good!

A gorgeous-smelling trinket box from my Mom at Christmas

You can't go wrong with fresh flowers . . . unless you're allergic.

Make an old fashioned pomander, or a quick knock-off like this one

Don't listen to the television commercials about transforming your humdrum house into a spa by plugging in a scented oil diffuser. Refuse to drop a toxic chemical bomb in your bathroom just to give it that artificial floral smell. And run screaming from scented candles, flameless or otherwise!

Harken back to all those crazy fads of yesteryear that we mock for the very reason that these practices endangered lives when they were meant to improve them! It's so easy to look down on your predecessors and think, "Well, at least I'm not that stupid to ______!" (fill in the blank with things like: spraying DDT on your home garden without any protective equipment; wearing make-up that contained lead which was slowly making you insane from heavy metal poisoning; playing with 'quicksilver' (liquid mercury) on your bare hands in science class; taking thalidomide for morning sickness since the mice were fine in clinical trials while the chickens had severe birth defects; using leeches or blood-letting to make yourself well, etc., etc.).

Let's face it - fads come and go, and many of them are quite simply TERRIBLE ideas. Don't get me started on 'cleanses'! Please don't fall for this stupidity!!! I won't rant long on this, but I will refer you to YouTube where you can watch a colonoscopy of a typical adult human. Do you SEE 'toxins' lurking there? No. There is nothing lurking in your guts that needs to be purged!!! Nothing in your blood, either - your kidneys take care of that, so take good care of them by not drinking things to make you ill. Learn your anatomy and basic biology and THEN reassess whether or not you want to give yourself diarrhea. Better read a bit on biochemistry too and learn about the role of electrolytes....!

So speaking of terrible ideas from our era, let's get straight to the air fresheners!

Who’d have thought Martha Stewart would be on the health-conscious, eco-friendly ball? Check out this very interesting and thought-provoking article on scented candles, plug-in diffusers, and other noxious chemicals. And this one, too! Well done, Martha! (Ever noticed that ‘marthastewart’ can be alternatively broken down into mart-haste-wart? Was it just me?).

Many, many, many of the 'natural' and 'pure' labelled air fresheners contain HIGH LEVELS OF PTHALATES. You definitely don't want to be breathing these in! Pthalates have been linked to everything to hormone imbalances and endocrine disruption, birth defects, infertility, and weirdly enough, obesity! It could be that the pthalates disrupting your body's normal balances of hormones and other signalling molecules can screw with your metabolism.

If you're one of those people who avoid drinking out of plastic cups, but has a Glade plug-in at home, you're dangerously close to the 'hypocrite' designation! Get smart - purge your home of these awful chemical stinks.

Furthermore, it's good to point out that air fresheners (and products like Febreeze) are designed to mask odors, or replace them. Does this make your place feel clean to you? No! Go to the source of the stench and get rid of it! Stale air in the house? It could be high in dust particles, low in oxygen, and maybe even have deadly radon gas building up (which is a causative agent of lung cancer).

Time to open all the windows and even turn on the fans! Get some fresh, clean, oxygen-rich air in and push out the stale stuff! Don't even consider adding more aromatic chemicals (and VOC's, many of which cause cancer) in the form of scented sprays or oils - your lungs won't thank you, which means your bloodstream won't, which means your brain and the rest of your organs won't be happy about it, too.

One other quick point - candles aren't always a good idea to use indoors. Not just for fire safety, but mostly for carbon monoxide. I like candles on the dinner table and when I'm entertaining, but I do try to crack a window somewhere to ensure fresh air is coming in as quickly as the flame is burning up the usable oxygen and spewing out carbon monoxide. Keep it in mind - this is the same reason why emergency responders do NOT recommend keeping matches and candles in your car in the case of a winter emergency. You'll asphyxiate before they get to you.

I have a few alternative sources of pleasant scents to spice up your atmosphere. These are REALLY all-natural; they didn't come out of a plastic package, you probably won't find them advertised in flyers, and they work without poisoning you slowly in the process.

Pleasant smell #1: Coffee

Here's an excellent way to use up coffee beans that you don't like! Fill a small bowl or container with coffee beans and set them anywhere - on the table, in the bathroom, or next to your computer. Give it a shake every so often and enjoy the smooth aroma of roasted coffee.

I was given a cute fridge magnet at Christmastime that came in a really sweet little package. It seemed such a waste to just throw it in with my containers, hoping it would make the 'recyclable' cut (which is very unlikely in North America - seems like Europe has us beat in that respect).

So I hung onto it for a few days, and eventually it dawned on me that the mesh container would be great for holding coffee beans. I'm on the look-out for a strong magnet I can glue to the back - then I can keep it on the fridge door. Each time it swings open, I'll diffuse my kitchen with the smell of a coffee shop.

In the meantime, it's sitting next to my partner's computer. He likes it - I might not get to move it to the fridge!

Yet another example of why you should have a 'craft bin' or box for containers that just might prove to be useful later on! Don't forget the 'reuse' part of the 3 R's!

Use your imagination - don't just throw the container away!

Affix a magnet & scent the kitchen when opening the fridge

Pleasant smell #2: Flowers

If you're not plagued by pollen allergies, consider growing fragrant flowers in your home. It's extremely easy to get bulbs like paperwhites (a member of the narcissus family, like daffodils) to flower. All you need is water and a bulb-forcing vase (shaped like an hourglass - the bulb sits on top and the water is below and just touching the bulb and forming roots), or a bowl full of rocks. That's it! Easy, and beautifully fragrant - a good way to bring on spring early in your home.

There are other scented flowering bulbs, too. Martha has more suggestions for you here: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/five-fragrant-flowers

Day 1: last year's Paperwhite bulbs, aquarium rocks from the Thrift Store, and a bowl

Week 1: Doesn't take long!

Week 1.5-2: Already blooming and smelling fantastic!

You don't need to grow flowers from bulbs for a natural floral scent - consider buying regular, inexpensive bouquets of flowers from a local florist. It will really beautify your home, and it'll freshen the air at the same time! Nice smelling choices include tuberose, lilac, freesia, and carnations (cheap and smell wonderfully spicy!).

Dried flowers can also be helpful - try tying together a bunch of lavender and hanging it upside down in a dark (but dry) area. It smells good and you can use the dried lavender again in potpourri or sachets for in your dresser drawers or hanging from hangers in the closet. You can also eat lavender flowers, and lavender-infused salts and honey are delicious. So is lavender with tea (i.e. Lady Grey tea).


Pleasant smell #3: Garlic, Citrus, Spices and Food Smells

Nothing makes your place smell more warm and inviting than the aroma of hot, roasted garlic in your kitchen. Now in my case (I can't eat garlic), I simply enjoy the scent. But for people who aren't cursed with my enzymatic woes, you can spread roasted garlic cloves straight out of the bulb while warm onto crackers and serve them up. Apparently garlic is good for your immune system, so it might be the perfect appie for a mid-winter soiree.

Roasted garlic is also an excellent soup-base additive (or mix it into mashed potatoes!), so get a big pot of soup stock simmering on the stove - this will also make your house smell heavenly! And making your own soup is a very healthy eating option (provided you keep the oil and salt to a minimum! Tempting to load up on those!). For poor suckers like me who can't do garlic, simmering garlic-free soup stock is just as nice to sniff!

One of my favourite scents is lime and other citrus fruits. Whenever I find a hardened, brown lime lurking in the back of my fridge (or in the above and below cases, a very over-ripe grapefruit), I slice it up and just let it sit on the cutting board. The fragrance of the citrus oils naturally diffuses within the apartment.

You can also dry out slices and use them as Christmas tree ornaments or for other decorative purposes. A bowl or basket of dried citrus slices would be a nice contemporary alternative to the old fashioned potpourri.

Old fashioned pomanders are lovely, but a quick and dirty version smells just as nice! All you need is a small orange and whole cloves. Just push in the pointy ends and voila! A stem helps to hang it, but there are other options. Here's a link to a video about making pomanders. If you take the time to make a proper one like Betty did in the video, it makes an excellent and unusual Christmas or hostess gift. Martha, of course, has some great pomanders - here's an overview article, and here's a brief tutorial for pomander-making. (If anyone finds "orris root powder", please let me know! This is the one material I'm never able to find!).

Another use for an overripe citrus fruit? Plug it full of cloves for use as a pomander!

And don't forget the perennial favourite - baking bread! You don't need a bread machine to bake bread. It's a great Sunday afternoon undertaking that will make your kitchen smell heavenly. Here's a link to a recipe for a beginner's loaf - give it a try!

It's still winter (sigh), so it's still hot apple cider season. Simmering apple cider with all the spices (cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice berries, etc.) on your stovetop is a lovely fragrance, and a good way to get a boost of vitamin C, too! Mulled wine is the same - it will release such a lovely smell and give you something nice and warm to heat you to the core. Try Jamie Oliver's version here. I really enjoyed the gluhwein at the German Christmas Market this year - maybe I'll try my hand at it myself this weekend!


I hope this post has given you a few ideas on natural scents that you can incorporate in your home, and I hope you've been inspired to:

• quit the commercial scented products habit (and save much $$$ in the process!)
• try your hand at cooking (roasting garlic is idiot-proof; give it a try tonight!)
• clean your place and open the windows to flush out any radon gas, carbon monoxide, dust and dander that's built up in your recirculating indoor air

Go natural! You'll be better for it!

Sarah on Eating Animals, and my Sari Bari bag arrived!

You may recall the name "Sarah Jamieson" from one of my earlier posts on by-donation yoga. She's a lovely friend of mine who has an excellent blog, and today's post is on vegetarianism. Her book club recently reviewed "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer, and she has some interesting thoughts on it.

I also left a gigantic comment with lots of bright yellow smilies (I didn't realise that my compulsive usage of simplistic smilies was going to translate into colourful, goofy grins) on some ideas I have about being vegetarian or going vegetarian, or even just test-driving vegetarianism!

So I'd better get going on that raw food post (ooh, exciting! No really, trust me - surprisingly exciting!) and some ethnic cuisines that make being a vegetarian a joy. Oh alright, a pescetarian (I've got great seafood tips, too)!

IN OTHER NEWS.....

 

My Sari Bari bag came! It's lovely! It's yellow and cheery! It's HUGE, too! Too big for use as a purse, but absolutely perfect for my gym bag! I tried it out at the gym tonight - just perfect. It even has a side pocket for a water bottle so I won't forget to bring it for a change!

The bag is actually very well made - there's a magnetic metal snap closure, a zippered pocket on the inside (metal too - not flimsy plastic), and a nice heft to it in general. I love it.

Rohima made it. Here's what the Sari Bari website says about Rohima:

Rohima 

A natural leader, full of patience and kindness. She brings the community together with strength and her compassionate heart. She now leads full time as the Assistant Manager at the new Sari Bari Unit.

Freedom Birthday: February 2007

Thank you, Rohima! And congratulations for your four year anniversary at Sari Bari. I'm really thankful for the people who started Sari Bari, and I'll bet you are, too. And thanks for making such a lovely bag! I love it!