I'm on a high :-D

I attended the downtown market for the first time today. I saw the PHX Permie Booth, I attended the first book discussion, and absolutely best of all I was able to put names with faces as I met people I have been networking with online for a year but had never met and I even got to see a few people I did know. As I was leaving I told Jennifer I'm not going to be able to stay away. I have used the excuse (and it is a good one) that it takes a lot of gas to get from Aguila (25 miles W. of Wickenburg) to downtown PHX. However, from where I live it takes a lot of time and gas to get anywhere. I'll have to work out a balancing act. In the meantime the next title for the book discussion is a great one - Coming Home to Eat by Gary Nabhan. I'm hoping to make it dowtown again for this discussion.Lindy

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  • Chompies bagels are made locally although they aren't organic. I have a major bagel addiction and I feel these are a better choice than my Einstein's stop. The best part is that they are availabe at the grocery store - I've seen them at Safeway and at Wal-mart. When I talk to people about sustainable eating I try to use different language. I appeal to their desire to eat healthy rather than the environmental aspect and it seems to be effective. Most people say that if a locally produced item is on the shelf with the rest they would buy it - they just don't want to go out of their way to do it. At my encouragement I've had several friends and co-workers change their bagels,bread, and milk to locally produced items they can pick up at the local market. I think for a lot of people the key is showing how to make small changes. If everyone made just those small changes it could make a big difference overall.
  • I have made bagels - definitely something you want to set aside plenty of time for. I also bake bread - grind my wheat berries for starters and go from there. I tried multi-tasking while making bagels and would forget the bagels that were in boiling water - TOUGH! I often make what we call breakfast bread. I just take my plain whole wheat dough and add cinnamon, raisins and other dried fruits plus walnuts. A slice of this with cream cheese beats bagels any day :-D Easier to make then bagels also.

    How 'bout sharing your recipe for zucchini/oatmeal cookies - sounds good and another way to get rid of all that zuc. Although this year I had none - got beautiful blossoms and absolutely no fruit. I have bees so don't know what the problem was. ???????????????????

    Kiddos have gone home for the day. Now I have to go and see if my principal has time to answer a multitude of questions regarding next school year.

    Lindy
  • Hi Casey, You can still have your bagels and coffee. You just need to rethink how you are going to go about this situation. I order coffee from Just Coffee located in Douglas, AZ. Their website is: http://www.justcoffee.org/ I've been buying coffee beans from them for going on 6 years with absolutely no problems. You can get whole bean or ground - your choice. You will have to make this up at home and use a thermos but you will be getting organically grown, fair-trade coffee. As for bagels - find a bakery that makes whole grain bagels using as many organically grown ingredients as possible. Buy a dozen or two at a time and freeze them. Take your bagel/cream cheese and thermos (or traveling mug) of coffee with you. It won't take you any longer to prepare this at home and take it with you every morning than it takes you to stop somewhere and buy it. Think of the money you will be saving - a lot! You will be helping a very good organization by buying their coffee (or you can get organic, fair-trade coffee other places as well). You will have whole grain bagels with lots of fiber. Get your coffee ready the night before so that your pot begins brewing automatically at the time you preset.

    You can do this Casey - you can have your coffee and drink it too :-D

    On another note - I am totally geeked :-D - people who talk my talk - people who understand the books I am reading and know what I am talking about when I use the word "sustainability". I mentioned the "S" word to someone and she said, "What is there to sustain? We already have everything." :( Then there was the woman who bragged about having a green grass - Bermuda - front yard. This is our job - to make these people aware - to educate with patience, tact, diplomacy :) but sometimes we really need each other to bolster our reserve and keep our motivation up. We also need that place where we can scream! I have to keep reminding myself that I was there once myself. When I first came to AZ a very long time ago (we won't go into how long ago) everyone had green grass lawns; no one even considered water as a problem - not even a possible future problem. There was always talk about how far we could see - 100 miles or more. AC wasn't needed or even thought about until mid-June and then only in the afternoons because nights cooled off up until early July. We only needed AC for 2-3 months a year - and this was in Mesa. Heat island wasn't even a term. I could go on but I suspect you get the picture.

    BTW - I do like your idea of a potluck book club. I wonder how many would be willing to come all the way out to my place? :-D

    It's lunch time here at school and my kiddos are outside playing - I have a few free moments which is how I was able to write this during the school day - 2 weeks and we will be done until the first of Aug - then back at it again.

    Namaste, Lindy
  • Fantastic! Having Nabhan speak would be a tremendous draw not to mention the huge amount of information and motivation he would bring to those in attendance.

    Those turkeys really are something else. I had no idea brains had been bred out. I wonder what will happen when enough people start breeding the heirlooms and the brains return? These guys are a whole lot bigger than chickens. :-D

    Lindy
  • I have had Coming Home to Eat on my shelf for quite awhile but had not gotten around to it to reading it. And so I began reading it last night after dinner. I am devouring this book - sounds like a pun in there. I have had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Nabhan and when I told him I owned nearly every book and article he had ever written all the way back to Geography of Childhood he actually gave me a few more booklets and 1 book (not this one). This title is an excellent choice Victoria - and I was most pleased to meet you yesterday. BTW - it also seems to be a good choice to follow Kingsolver. Jennifer - you mentioned being angry with BK for moving to VA rather than staying here in the Sonoran Desert to raise her food. This book acts as a corollary in as much as it seems to follow as a natural (for us) result of having read AVM first. Dr. Nabhan talks about the pain and pleasure of trying to eat from the desert - quite a contrast to AVM.

    Now - back to the book and my laundry :-D

    Lindy
  • Sounds good to me - I'm really going to try and be there.

    Lindy
  • Lindy,
    It was a pleasure meeting you today! I had a great time at the book discussion as well, and came home with lots of motivation and new ideas to try out. Hope to see you at the next one!
    Judy
    • Sounds fine to me. I agree--the company and conversation are so wonderful, the location hardly matters. :-) The only date I would *not* be able to make it is the 19th.
      Judy
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