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So, this is the last couple of weeks of the semester, that really suck.  It's amazing how many opportunities to do fun things have come up, when I really don't get to do much of anything except work on my paper and grade papers.  Fortunately this misery will be over in a couple of weeks, one way or the other.  I've got several things in mind to post once I have time. 

For those who don't read Brian's blog, he's doing something cool next week.  I totally agree with him that electronic communications technology has fundamentally changed how we relate to each other, in ways we don't really understand.  He's decided to abstain from it for a week and instead try to interact with people via more traditional means.  I'm not a full participant in this project, but I definitely endorse it, and I hope we do have some people stop by to say hello.  (Anybody who needs to contact us in some major emergency can still call me.)  Go, Brian! 

Our family's current dairy arrangements involve a gallon of raw milk a week.  We pick it up at our CSA, which is probably the next most convenient thing to home delivery.  It's a little more milk than we can conveniently keep up with drinking, but we've discovered ricotta cheese and the joys of baking with sour milk, and are just getting the hang of making yogurt, which I suspect may be the tipping point.  Raw milk is expensive, $10/gallon.  When we joined this program, it was more of a trial basis than a wholehearted commitment, so we've been reviewing our options. 

Today I found out that Oberweis Dairy offers delivery service in our area.  This sure would be handy.  They have a decent if not fully comprehensive menu of dairy products, plus some logical additions like eggs and ice cream, plus a long list of other random convenience foods.  Delivery is weekly with a flat delivery charge of $3.  Their regular milk is ~$6/gallon (no mention of bottle deposits) -- I'm not quite sure how that compares to the going rate. 

Pros and cons: the Oberweis milk is in glass bottles which they collect and reuse.  It would save me a dollar, apparently.  What about product quality?  Their website is full of feel-good rhetoric; whoever wrote it knew all the things I wanted to hear, and said them all very vaguely.  The only concrete fact they can put out there is no rGBH.  Similarly, they're happy to give tours, but only to organized groups, and the tour actually consists of a "behind-the-scenes video presentation."  One of the prime markers of trust for me, in the producers who sell to our CSA, is the willingness to have you stop by and check out their operation.  I've never actually done this, mind you, but (perhaps illogically) it's still important to me.  Our raw milk is in plastic jugs (I should ask them if they could reuse them, which just occurred to me) and comes to us from Newburg, MO, which is a bit over 100 miles, so it's not like our arrangements with them are 100% as environmentally friendly as they could be. 

All the same, without doing any more research, I don't have any real indication that Oberweis is running an operation that I'd approve of  significantly more than any commercial dairy.  Also they seem like a pretty large-scale outfit, and the raw milk comes from a person.  While I don't feel really strongly about raw milk from a philosophical standpoint, I'm pretty keen on eating food that is good, and in that category it definitely does beat out the other stuff.  We've really been doing well recently about eating things that conform to our theoretical standards, and I'm reluctant to do anything that sounds like moving backwards.  Definitely not to save a dollar a week. 

I tried to like that last style, but couldn't manage it.  This one is better.  Also, I've enabled anonymous commenting, since somebody pointed out to me that otherwise only Livejournal users can comment.  I would have fixed that earlier if I'd noticed. 

A condiment of which we are fond.  We're also resistant to spending money and generally inclined toward doing things ourselves.  And, as it happens, we have a source for buying mustard powder in bulk quantities which makes the following cheaper than buying jars of mustard. 

-Mix equal parts mustard powder, vinegar, and water in a small saucepan.  Add more mustard, maybe 50% more, to something like proper consistency.  Simmer a few minutes until everything is thoroughly combined and slightly thickened. 
-While simmering, stir in any of the following, to taste: some salt, a little red pepper, a spoonful of horseradish, some whole or coarsely ground mustard seeds.  Brian invented this recipe, so in the original spirit, throw in whatever you feel like. 

This is so easy to make.  And it contains no carrageenan, sodium benzoate, yellow #5 or any other crap I can't identify.  And it makes me feel like a genius.  Look at that! 

I'm going to try mayonnaise next.  We switched several months ago from some god-awful chemical-laden generic miracle whip to actual mayonnaise, on the basis of its containing fewer ingredients we can't pronounce.  There's a perfectly good recipe for this in the Joy of Cooking, which can't be that hard.  I am horrified by the contents of commercial Thousand Island dressing, which Brian likes; turns out it's easy to mix up out of other stuff.  I've posted here before about our efforts to put stuff on pancakes other than pancake syrup.  We've even discussed trying to make ketchup over the summer.   I suspect homemade ketchup is a tasty tomato-related condiment which you'll like just fine if you don't pretend it's the same thing as Heinz.  We'll have to make up a recipe for that, though, since the only ones I'm aware of are the "can 30 pints" variety, and I want to try it before I commit to all that!  

This reminds me, actually, of a thought-provoking post by jedimomma a few weeks ago.  It's completely true (once I thought about it) that most condiments don't actually need to be stored in the refrigerator.  But if they were made from food, I wonder if they really would? 

Today it is spring!  It's supposed to be in the 60s for almost a whole week, and only rain once.  I'm so excited.  This morning we went to Bayer's Garden Shop and got some stuff, so we can spend the weekend doing garden-y things.  Tomorrow we're going to bottle our beer (assuming it will finally be done fermenting).  In any case, the wonderful weather has me feeling very energetic, and among other things I really want to clean.  Alas, between grading and all the fun stuff we have planned for this weekend, I don't know when I'll next have both time and energy.  Maybe Sunday, when it's raining.  Oh well.  I did bike to work this morning, and it was wonderful.  Hooray for spring!

What do you find to be really, deeply satisfying?  I was thinking this morning that I should take inventory of these things more often.  I suspect I waste a lot of time on other stuff. 

Not a complete list, but the things that currently spring to mind:

growing, cooking,  & eating really good food
loud techno music
having things neat and organized (not that I'm good about doing this)
anything to do with France
relaxed time with friends (just the right amount)
19th-century literature

What about you?

Chocolate Raspberry Clafoutis     Gourmet magazine, March 09

Somewhere between custard and cake lies the clafoutis, a simple French country dessert traditionally made with cherries.  In this version, your blender does most of the work.  Active time: 15 min.

12 oz fresh raspberries (2 3/4 cups)
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 to 3 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

-Preheat oven to 400 with rack in middle.  Butter a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. 
-Toss berries with sugar and let stand 15 minutes.
-Blend rest of ingredients except chocolate in blender till smooth.  Scatter berries with juice evenly in baking dish, then pour batter over top.
-Bake until slightly puffed and firm to the touch, about 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chopped chocolate.  Cool to warm, about 20 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature. 

I found this yesterday and think I might make it tonight.  I have some frozen blackberries that ought to do the job.  I love simple, fruity desserts like this.  

Okay, I guess not everybody loves brussels sprouts as much as I do.  But come on, just look at the picture on this recipe. 

Damn.  Can't figure out how to lift the picture.  You'll have to go look at it yourself. 

Anyway, from 101Cookbooks.com: 
Brussels Sprout Salad
very finely shredded raw sprouts
toasted hazelnuts
shaved Parmesan or other hard salty cheese
simple olive oil & lemon juice dressing

Sounds delicious. 

It was supposed to be sunny and 50 degrees today.  I carpooled to work with B, but brought my bike, intending to enjoy the nice weather while riding home.  Instead it's turned out to be 40 and drizzling.  In terms of what to wear while bicycling, that's a much different proposition. Stupid thing. 

In other news, we're going to do some brewing this weekend.  We haven't done that in a long time, so it should be fun.  And it'll be our first attempt at all-grain brewing, starting with real grain instead of malt extract, which may be an adventure.  All-grain has more steps and requires more equipment, but in theory is considerably cheaper, so I hope it works out well. 

I'm partly brainstorming and partly calling for suggestions here.  We've given up buying pancake syrup, on account of it contains no actual food and isn't that tasty either.  I've been working on coming up with alternatives. 

-Maple syrup: a bit pricey (though you naturally use less) but delicious. 
-Honey: hmm...a bit too sweet.
-Molasses: ...not quite sweet enough.  
-Butter and powdered sugar: B likes, I don't mind, but it's a bit dry.  Don't inhale.  
-Powdered-sugar frosting: solves the previous problem, but deciding what I think of this one.
-Vanilla yogurt: I like this.  Good in combination with:
-Jam: always good.  Gets melty and wonderful when you warm it up.  
-Fruit: one of my favorites.  Works well with berries, homemade applesauce. 

Could a person make their own syrupy substance?  Plain sugar syrup wouldn't taste right, but would be made from cane sugar instead of chemicals.  You could flavor it with...vanilla?  Cinnamon?  I don't know, orange or mint?  That might be weird.  Maybe sugar syrup could be used in combination with honey or molasses to make something just right. 

Any thoughts?

I've been having a crappy couple of days.  B is sick.  I got the car stuck in the snow yesterday.  I had to spend all day yesterday reading a book in too big a hurry, writing a review of it when I really hadn't read it, and not finishing said review in time for class.  I have piles more reading to do for next week.  We have too much to do this weekend.  The house is a wreck and there's nothing to eat.  

But somehow today everything turned around.  I went to the coffee shop with B this morning, as I often do.  I had a cup of coffee, ate a bagel and made a giant list of all the stuff I have to do.  I meditated grumpily on all the stuff I have to do.  Then I went to school.  I attended a department event, which was more pleasant than I expected.  Then I taught my second class of the week.  This was probably where my day turned the corner.  My Friday class is going to be really good this semester.  It's so gratifying when they've done the reading and are willing to talk about it.  It was so nice.  After class I finished yesterday's review, which after the pressure was off only took about half an hour.  I stopped working to eat lunch and read a magazine.  This afternoon I've accomplished more than I expected.  I took a break a little while ago to socialize with my co-workers.  Somebody made a pot of coffee to share.  It was so pleasant.  Now I'm going to go to a lecture, where hopefully I'll stay awake on account of the coffee, and unless I'm totally mistaken about its subject I've thought of a question to ask (this is an important skill, and I'm not good at it).  After this I'm going to go home and drink some beer.  Life really isn't that bad. 

This was the first week of classes!  It's always exciting to get started off on a new semester.  I've been feeling amazingly relaxed and friendly this week, and have had good conversations with many of my co-workers.  So far it looks like it may be a comparatively easy semester.  I tried hard to set it up that way, but without real confidence of success.  The big news is I have fewer than half the normal number of students, and will only be teaching two discussion sections instead of four.  (This is good news because I still get paid the same.)  I'm only taking two classes, but I have to write papers for both of them.  But they're each only 20 pages, and I think I have topics in mind already, which is always the hard part. 

We have family visiting this weekend -- our last Christmas celebration of the season.  B's sister couldn't make it from Kentucky for regular Christmas, so we're doing it all again.  This will be the second year we've hosted this family Christmas, which I think means it's now a tradition.  We're going to cook all sorts of fancy stuff and have a really good time. 

It only got down to 1 degree overnight, not the -1 they were predicting, and by now it's already up to 4!  I was completely frozen by the time I got to my office, but am mostly thawed out now.  Guess I should get to work. 

So far, it's been a pretty cold winter.  Without much snow, alas, just cold.  I've only made about two trips anywhere on my bike in probably the past month.  We've done a half-assed job of winterizing our house so far, but as I keep telling myself, there's still plenty of winter to go. 

Robyn posted recently at Adapting In Place about their efforts to save energy on home heating this year, which got me thinking.  Right now we keep our thermostat at 65 during the day and 60 at night, but I'm convinced these numbers in different residences with different thermostats can't be compared in any meaningful way.  We keep the house on the chilly side of comfortable, I might just as well say.  I do not know how I feel about wearing hats in the house.  I was familiar with the Japanese kotatsu or heated table, but it never before occurred to me that anybody you know (or I) might have one -- what an idea! 

We have a kerosene space heater that we use some of the time, and it works great.  My parents had one when I was little that they used for years.  I was getting ready to recommend one, but I realized I actually don't know very much about their heat output or efficiency.  I looked around a bit and the most informative site I found was this one.  The guy seems to be a crazy survivalist but very knowledgeable about various features and models of kerosene heaters.  I found the assertion that these heaters have efficiency ratings upwards of 90% corroborated in several other places.  Some sites rave about the dangers of these heaters, but my experience indicates that if you're smart enough to operate them correctly, they're perfectly safe. I need to check the price of kerosene -- if I recall correctly, around $6.50/gallon when we bought it last -- and do the math.  

...AND I need to make draft stoppers for our three outside doors.  And use rope caulk or plastic to seal up our leaky windows better. 

Now, a pair of fingerless gloves -- despite my comments above about hats -- that might be nice.  Maybe I'll look into it. 

Okay, at this point I haven't posted in four months because I haven't posted in four months.  

I had every intention of posting on December 14 to say, "Wendy says I never post on my Livejournal.  Well, she's wrong, so there." 
But evidently she was right. 

Maybe this will get the juices flowing again. 

Evidently I was much too busy this summer to post on my blog.  I had two summer jobs I really liked -- about one day a week at the coffee shop, and about three days a week at the bike shop.  I started learning how to work on bikes -- that was awesome.   I did no schoolwork.  I hardly had time to play a lot of video games.  In May we spent a week in Canada.  We went camping twice, once on the Katy Trail. 

We did a lot of different things this summer in our ongoing efforts to be more environmentally friendly, healthy & sustainable.  When I look back on the summer, that's what stands out in my mind.  

• We had great success with our garden.  We ended up with lots of tomatoes and as many cantaloupes as we could eat (maybe slightly more).  The peppers were a total dud, but the brussels sprouts are still going strong.  
• Our compost experiment continues.  It's not at all clear to me whether we're producing compost that will be a quantity & quality to really benefit our garden, but I can definitely report that it's a magical way to make kitchen scraps disappear.  A couple of weeks ago it got kind of gross, I think due to an excess of kitchen scraps (or just moisture?) relative to the grass-clipping substrate, but I added more grass clippings and it seems to be back on track. 
• Between the produce from our garden, and what we've been getting from Fair Shares, we ate a whole lot of fruit & vegetables.  It can be pretty hard to keep up with a steady stream of vegetables.  In particular we learned about ten more uses for zucchini.  We failed in the cucumber department, and our eggplant performance remains hit-and-miss, but we have done well in green beans and summer squash. 
• We made our first forays into canning this summer.  We made salsa with some of our tomatoes.  That was so much fun that a couple of weeks later we went and picked a batch of blackberries and made them into jam.  We haven't tried any of the salsa yet, but homemade blackberry jam is the best thing ever.  Vanilla-with-blackberry-jam has (at least temporarily) displaced chocolate as my favorite ice cream flavor. 

Altogether, we learned a lot this summer, and it was pretty cool.  I normally dislike summer vacation, but this one was one of the best on record.  Now that school has started again I think I'll be doing fewer interesting things but posting more. 

I just had the best dinner.  I got home late and was tired and eating by myself anyway and didn't feel like cooking.  This situation seldom results in a meal to rave about, but this time accidentally it did.  I had a grilled cheese sandwich with bread baked yesterday at the Missouri Bakery (four blocks from here), real butter, and some Green Onion Cheddar cheese we got from the CSA.  I'd stopped at Local Harvest on the way home, one of the reasons for my delay, and picked up, among other tasty things, the first homegrown tomatoes of the season.  I picked out a small one, quartered it, drizzled on a little balsamic vinegar along with salt & pepper, and ate it with my fingers.  I had a glass of milk -- the Heartland milk we've been buying lately is so much tastier than the supermarket variety -- also we'd been out of milk for several days and I'd been missing it.  For dessert, I had a peach.  I tried dunking it in some of the leftover balsamic vinegar on my plate and decided that's pretty tasty too (I knew it was good on strawberries). 

It may be that the moral of this story is, if you mainly buy fresh, local, organic, & otherwise splendid food, even if you can't really think of what to eat, you'll probably end up with something good. 

Here's a really interesting blog entry from The Ethicurean on lard, how to render it and what to do with it.  I've been curious about this for a while, because I'm pretty sure lard is less bad for you than Crisco.  All the lard I ever see for sale at the grocery store, however, is partially hydrogenated (WTF?).  It turns out some like-minded folks out there were having the same thought, and the linked post and its comments discuss the two kinds of lard, two or three methods for processing it at home, and how to use it in baking.  Interesting!  I'm unlikely to do anything about this anytime soon, but want to be able to find the information again. 

We had a conversation yesterday afternoon about the possibility that parabens, a group of chemicals found in many personal care products, have been linked with breast cancer.  I was intrigued by this and looked it up.  I wouldn't call this exhaustive research, but here's what I did find:

An article with copious footnotes on Wikipedia about parabens.  Who knows about Wikipedia, but I followed the links in the footnotes and found this other stuff. 
Two articles in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on the issue.  (The second one is in the footnotes to this one.)
One of several articles on www.breastcancer.org.  
One of a selection of more or less random people writing on the Internet (as far as I know) about it.

A rumor about parabens specifically in antiperspirants being linked to breast cancer has circulated widely through mass e-mail.  The first mention I found was in 2000, and the www.breastcancer.org article, which dates from 2007, says there still isn't any real evidence to support it.  There were two reasons advanced on how antiperspirants might cause breast cancer: a) because they prevent your armpits from sweating and the toxins that aren't sweated out in those locations get bottled up and turn into cancer or b) parabens have some properties or effects similar to estrogen, which is known to be somehow involved in the formation of breast tumors.  Based on what I read, I don't think either one of these is especially credible.  The breastcancer.org article does an excellent job of refuting argument (a), and the Wikipedia article, in a paragraph that cites four studies in scientific journals (though I didn't read them), states that the estrogenic effect of parabens is extremely weak -- for example, 2.5 billion times weaker than the estradiol found in birth control pills. 

Interesting, anyway.  Anyone who has other evidence of why parabens are bad that I ought to consider, please comment. 

No Impact Man just made a really useful post about green cleaning.  He points out that although there are "green" cleaning products available commercially, you still don't know what's in them.  He remarks, "We began making our own household products during the No Impact project, both to avoid the toxicity to both people and the environment but also to avoid buying the same throwaway plastic bottles over and over again."  And, of course, these homemade solutions are a tiny fraction of the price of commercial cleaners.  It's my favorite when you can be green and thrifty at the same time. 

He also mentioned an organization I hadn't heard of before, Women's Voices for the Earth, based in Montana.  One of the big things they're doing is sponsoring home green cleaning parties, just like the (independently conceived) one I'm going to this afternoon!  Woohoo!  Thanks, tracyblevins! 

No Impact Man's post also contains a lot of simple, concrete recipes from WVE, and links to his own and other ones. 

A couple of the things we planted in our garden didn't take, so we went to get a few more bedding plants this morning to fill in the gaps.  We came home with a little rosemary plant, since the rosemary seeds didn't come up, which I'm going to plant in a pot next to the porch.  Also we got a 4-pack of cantaloupe plants.  Now I'm a little nervous, having read about it, as it seems like cantaloupe plants are finicky and prone to bugs and mold.  Anyway, we'll plant them and see what happens.   I did think this article from Mother seemed useful.