Free Rice and Flour

For a little thinking and giving, check out these sites:

http://www.freerice.com/

http://www.freeflour.com/

The Snopes pages gives a bit of interesting history on Free Rice.

Happy Easter

Sending love your way...

Easter Bunny Bread

As you can see, i found this recipe in Good Housekeeping in 1992. I'm happily still making this bread, and now sharing the fun of it with my children. Sorry about the bad handwriting.

Happy First Day of Spring

Not thinking about it being the first day of spring, we made our way to Squak Mountain Nursery. It is a sweet little nursery. We were on the hunt for more Jiffy 7s and some lemon verbena starts. Naturally, we found a few other fun things along the way. I'm already looking forward to going back when they have even more starts out. The cashier suggested pineapple sage -it attracts butterflies and turns a bright red in late summer.

I meant to hit Daffodil Day at Pike's Place Market for this holiday. I love the thought of 30,000 bright yellow daffodils!  Next year...

Happy Spring to you! I hope that your garden is starting to come alive for another year.

Local Farms, Healthy Kids

Washington State just passed the most comprehensive local foods program in the United States. This is pretty cool. Here is an overview of the bill SSB 6483.

Student Gardens

Today was a pretty inspiring day. I started it by taking the ferry over to Bainbridge Island's IslandWood. It is a magical spot. A stunning eco-focused learning center, and a place that i'd like to return to as a family.  The lunchtime meal was beautifully presented and absolutely delicious. The head chef spoke to us briefly about our meal and eating locally. This guy cooks with a lot of passion and it shows.

I was attending a day-long summit for the Puget Sound School Gardens Collective. The summit brought together people from all over the Sound, particularly from Seattle and on the island, who are working to build and maintain student garden programs. There were representatives from many other schools, Public Health, Seattle Tilth,  UrbanSprouts, Full Circle Farm, etc. The summit was inspiring, energizing and rewarding. It made me really appreciate the existing program that is at our neighbourhood elementary school. And that i found my way there, as it is opening new 'garden gates' for me.

After my day away, my family rode bikes and scooters up to the school to look at our school's student garden.  Last week, the children finished their spring plantings.  The radishes are already popping up. The clematis, which hangs over the student garden sign, is fragrantly in bloom. The garden program is a simple thing but the lessons are so wide and life-long.

It is a day where you just sit back and reflect on the 'places' that life takes you. Today, getting beautiful views of Seattle from the ferry, walking through the greenhouse at IslandWood and watering at our student garden, i feel so very fortunate.

New Death Cab

"I Will Possess Your Heart"

Death Cab for Cutie have a new album coming out in May. They just released a single, which you can find on their My Space page.

Thanks John!

Manning Park, BC

We just had a great weekend at Manning Park Ski Resort in BC. The kids had a blast playing in the snow with their cousins, etc. This was Mina's very first time XC skiing! Yes, Miles is asleep in this picture. :) We are rather excited to be getting more into winter sports as a family.

Grounds for Change

Check this out Grounds for Change. This is now an option in our weekly CSA box! They have a beautiful website and more importantly, mission. I just want to sip some of the java!

Black Gold

The other night, coffee-less but awake, we watched Black Gold. The movie focuses on the Ethiopian coffee market and the push for fair trade practices. It was quick glimpse into the lives of coffee farmers and their communities. Although not surprising, i was surprised at how very poorly the coffee farmers are treated by the open market.  Yesterday, I drove by a "McCafe Espresso" sign and wondered what pressure, if any, this will add to the general market. The Black Gold web site now highlights the progress that the fair trade co-op has made post-film.

The movie also made contrasts between North American and European coffee consumption. In Europe, everyone was sitting with friends or family, drinking espresso in ceramic-ware. In the American shots, there were several clips of the "to-go culture" of Starbucks, etc. 

Inspired by all the 'espresso shots'  in the film, i tried making myself an espresso today. Hmm. I can make a reasonable-good cafe latte but have definite room to improve in the espresso craft. I'm hoping to find my grandparent's espresso cup in my treasure trunk (inherited grandmother's hope chest). I'm not sure which grandparent used the cup, or if it was purely ornamental.  If i can work to make a reasonable-good espresso to sip in their blue cup, then i'd really have something to savour in the morning.

I buy my fair trade organic espresso beans at the nearby Tully's Coffee.  Based on management issues, I'm worried that Tullys won't be around forever.  I've gravitated to their beans because my taste buds are happy,  i don't have to go far, and I'm not getting them mailed to my house. Timely marketing or not, I dig their compostable cups and the fact that they are now using organic fair trade beans for all their espresso-based drinks.

I should go look for the cup, or go to sleep. Good night.