Farm Bill... please help!

This was in the sidebar of Chocolate & Zucchini as an ad.
it is sooo important!!! please click on the link and fill in the info.

(I have copied it and linked it, since I couldn't find somewhere to make it a badge and link it that way.)



Our Food Policy Is No Spring Chicken



The Farm Bill is up for renewal. Now is the time to bring our nation's food policies into the 21st century.

It’s time to rethink food safety, health and environment.

Congress is about to act. Tell them to support local, healthy food in your community now!

(See what we do when 100 people act.)

Read more...

henna while in Maine?

I did this the other night, and love it! it came out nice and dark too.

I have been thinking about trying to do some while I am in Maine- while we are in Vinalhaven at the end of August, and maybe at least bring my things with me when we are up driving Eli to and from camp.

... so if you are interested in getting henna done, and you will be in vinalhaven or on sebago lake... I would love to do henna! email me!

I did tons of henna at a great little music and arts festival this past saturday in Collinsville.
This is me working on someone and creating a pretty floral to go up her hand.
I am loving doing henna and am making some good money doing it too :) yeah!

siblings?

you think we look alike?


me and my 'little' sister Sue....
She and John are in from Seattle. The boys were so excited. They came to their soccer games, and stayed for 24 hours. We hadn't seen them in a year! They are staying with my parents for a week, and drove up here for one night with us.

The boys were psyched to play games with Uncle John, and they all had fun.

fire henna

I loved this henna the other night. Part of it was the atmosphere, and part was what I created for my friend. We had 6 friends and neighbors over for supper the other night, and all had left except for one. We had talked about doing henna earlier, but then finally decided to later. It had gotten chilly so we had the chiminea going to keep warm. I did a somewhat moroccan one on her foot, then embelished it with some fun glitter. It was great doing the henna in front of the chiminea, and the heat helped get a good stain too.

killer salad

Ginger Spinch Salad

This salad is one of those yummy things that, when you make it, you need to give out the recipe with it.
I first had it in Maine at the annual 4th of July picnic near Four Winds, with Four Winds people. It was so damn good that I had to ask for the recipe (and now am subjected to such treatment every time I make it) It is great to go with the lobster picnic we always have there, but fared well also along with BBQ chicken and grilled portabello mushrooms.

Ginger Spinach Salad
This makes plenty for 4 bags of baby spinach..... which you may need- we ate that much with 6 adults and plenty of other food available. People would have eaten more if I had it! Be prepared to give out the recipe....

Spinach
Sharp White Cheddar Cheese – Grated
Red Onion – Chopped

Dressing:

3”-4” piece of fresh Ginger – peeled and minced
1/2 cup Soy sauce
4T Honey
Juice of 1 Lime
1/3 –1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 tsp minced Garlic
Salt and Pepper

Mince garlic and ginger. Put all dressing ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.
Toss spinach with cheese and onion and pour on dressing.

a little 'naked chef'

I do love Jamie Oliver....
and I know of others who cook in less clothing (no shirt, etc....) .....

but my 5 year old gives a more interesting take on being the "naked chef"

he was making brownies........
(and sometimes he makes mac 'n cheese this way too)

had to remove this photo... too many people looking at it.... weirdos!!!!

lots of noodles

Peanut butter noodles, aka sesame noodles, have been devoured in our house for years....
People ask me for this recipe all the time, as it really is yummy.


Cold Peanut Butter Noodles

This is a combination of several recipes that I have used and have fine tuned to get the best sauce. Serve over cold pasta (as in Cold Sesame Noodles from a chinese food place) but I like shape, instead of the long strands. Good garnishes are thin strips of cucumber, and / or carrot, and sesame seeds.

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I use a natural one, with no sugar added)
3 Tbsp sesame oil
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp honey
4 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 large clove garlic, minced

Mix everything together (add 1 thing at a time and mix well) and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve over cold noodles (cook then rinse in cold water to remove starches). Long strands, like linguini, are good, but shapes are easier for kids to manage.

Top with strips of veggies- cucumber, carrots, red pepper, etc. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Keeps in the fridge for at least 2 weeks.
Makes enough for about 1 pound of pasta.

yoga workshop

I am sore in all of the right places. a good thing. I did three days of classes with Doug Keller and it was great. I love going to the workshops as they really get in depth into much of what we do in practice. Doug is amazing in his knowledge of the anatomical aspect of how we function and how we need to be in certain asanas to have them really be done the right way. I did love the workshop that Betsey Downing taught too. She was fabulous.

With Doug I learned so much, and am hoping my practice can reflect that, and that I can keep much of it present in my head, as I keep working with yoga.

(megan's back with henna that I did)

new website

I am trying to get my henna website going...
it is slow going! As they say- the cobbler's kids have no shoes... yeah, well.... Adam does fantastic websites. He told me not to use a site builder or template, that he would do it.... I can work on it and upoad things and know a little bit of html coding and all of that, but need him to actually get it set up and do the pages, then I can figure it out from there. But he has only done the front splash page and that's it. So... hopefully a gallery and more pages will be there soon.

It needs to be done. I have been handing out business cards like crazy and have been getting more and more work. I also need a banner ad for being listed on the henna page website. There are no artists in CT on there except for Heather and someone else, but really they are in Providence. So I would love to have a banner on there and be able to get some business from that site!

Hopefully it will be done soon. I will be raffling off a full hour henna appt during Eggstock


Hopefully I will glean many names from that raffle of potential customers. This is certainly the season though with warm weather and more skin showing. Word of mouth advertising is good, and I am always showing some henna on me somewhere!

Megan's back

I did this one the other day.. I liked it. Meg went to the drive-through at the bank an hour later, and the teller there could see her shoulder in the camera. She asked her to get out of the car and turn around so that she could see the rest, and then requested a business card to be sent in the tube with her deposit! I guess I'll be going over to the bank to follow up...