So we’re just days away from another one of those fantastic consumer holidays, Valentine’s Day.  It’s always been a hard day for me to digest.  You’re an absolute schmuck if you don’t subscribe to the Valentine’s Day practice of getting your honey something special.  But at the same time, I hate feeling like I’m bowing into the pressure of some greeting card company sponsored holiday by showering my lover with gifts!  Hmm, what to do?  Give in because it’s always fun to give and receive gifts and besides, my girlfriend already knows I love her.  She hears me say it probably a dozen times a day but that’s another post.

Because Valentine’s is such a consumer frenzy, it’s hardly anything but eco-friendly.  But that seems to be changing a bit as the green movement gathers steam.  Sam’s Club has announced that they are now selling Fair Trade Certified roses.  These roses are sold directly from the farm to the store so there’s no middle man waiting for his cut of the profits.  However, these roses are grown in Ecuador.  That’s a major problem for me!  How much energy are we wasting just to get those damn roses to the United States?  Sure, we’re benefiting the children and villagers in Ecuador that work these rose farms but we’re doing little for the environment.  I guess it’s a good step but I’d rather buy roses at least grown stateside.  If there isn’t a rose farm in your neck of the woods you could purchase a different type of flower from a local grower.  After all, who said you need to bow down to the pressure of buying a dozen red roses for Valentine’s Day?  It’s over done!

Here’s some simple tips:

1)    Think homemade.  Make your own card this year by hand picking some scrap booking supplies.  It will mean a lot more to your significant other.

2)    Just like you might be conscious of the food your purchasing at the grocery store, be conscious of the flowers and chocolates your purchasing for Valentine’s Day.  Is there a small, local chocolate shop where you can pick up some cocoa delights?  You’d be supporting a small business and saving precious resources at the same time.  Is there a flower farm nearby where you can purchase locally grown flowers?  That too would save precious resources and support your local farmers instead of buying those awful roses transported all the way from Ecuador.

3)    Make a romantic meal at home using organic and sustainable produce.  If your community still has a farmer’s market going this time of year, see what you can put together.   You just have to spend a little extra time shopping instead of grabbing whatever is the first thing available on the shelves of your local store.

For the love oozing between the sheets, I personally enjoy TreeHugger’s guide on How to Green Your Sex Life.  They have all kinds of links to sustainable sex products and other fine things that might get you in the mood.  If you’re looking for some “hot” green underthings, you should check out Inhabitat’s Sustainable Skivvies Blog.  My comment was, who knew going green could be so hot?!

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We’ve been hearing a lot about genetically modified produce these days. “GM” produce is the end result of bio-technology tinkering with the natural world. Scientists discover traits and genes that do certain things like protect a plant from herbicides or a particular insect or predator that might devastate the crop. They then take these traits and genes and in the lab, breed them into whatever plant they’re trying to genetically modify. According to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in 2006, a total of 252 million acres of transgenic crops were planted in 22 countries by 10.3 million farmers. They also suggest that bananas producing human vaccines against infectious diseases like hepatitis B, fish that mature more quickly, cows that are resistant to mad cow disease, fruit and nut trees that yield years earlier, and plants that produce new plastics with unique properties are currently on the horizon as scientists are tinkering with them.

Now I don’t know about you but the idea of genetically modifying natural plants and animals, especially ones we’re going to eat is pretty bothersome for me. I think it’s as bothersome as cloning. It could reduce bio-diversity or the natural distinctions between different varieties of a plant and animal. On top of that, the foods have only been in our markets since the 1990’s so we don’t know if there are any long-term health risks from eating “GM” food. Avoiding them in the produce department is as simple as looking at the little static stickers stuck to every piece of produce these days.

A four digit number on the produce static sticker means it’s conventionally grown. A five digit number beginning with “9″ means it’s organically grown. A five digit number beginning with “8″ means it’s genetically modified produce. I will now be paying close attention to those little stickers the next time we’re shopping!

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So our huge winter storm is in the process of moving into the mountains of Arizona this morning.  We got about an inch of snow and now it has switched over to rain.  It’s all part of what’s expected to be a gloomy day here.  I’m already considering plans for dinner tonight and I think one of my favorite bloggers, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, triggered my desire for a nice warm roast enjoyed by the fire tonight.  If you’re not sure how to cook a really good pot roast, check out her recipe.  That’s the technique we use and always seems to generate the best results.  You could pair the roast with some of her Buttery Thyme Bread too.  Yum!  I’ll have to see if there’s any bison roast left at the natural food store when we run into town today.

Why not just buy beef you’re saying?  Well, bison meat is better for your heart because it’s low in cholesterol and fat but high in protein.  It’s also high in iron and other essential minerals or vitamins your body requires.  And, if it’s grass fed bison that’s even better because the meat wasn’t fattened on nasty fillers and feed lot grains.  If you Google search for natural buffalo meat or natural bison meat you’ll end up with several different web suppliers.  Your local natural food store should also carry a selection of bison meat in the butcher department.

Ok, time to get ready for the slow, slushy drive into town.

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As we move from the Christmas holiday into the New Year, you might be thinking about hostess gifts or party favors to dole out at all those New Year’s parties your headed too. If you’re over baked goods, why not consider whipping up some homemade liqueurs and cordials. I home-brew my own beer and have been happily handing out a pale ale I brewed this summer. Beer and wines require advance planning though, so unless you have some ready to be bottled up, I suggest homemade liqueurs. The tasty and sometimes exotic concoctions you find lining the shelves in the local liquor department can usually be made at home with little effort.

I have about three very old paperback books that are filled to the brim with just about any liqueur recipe you could think of. Any fruit, nut, herb or otherwise worldly flavor can be steeped into just about any neutral spirit. The main player is vodka but there are also recipes dealing with whiskey, brandy and other liquors. Most recipes consist of making a simple syrup to sweeten the liquor and the addition of something to flavor it like vanilla extract, chocolate extract, etc.

Tracking down usable recipes can be a quandary though since homemade liqueurs seem to have been little more than a passing fad during the cocktail heydays of the 1930’s through the ’60s. While there aren’t many liqueur recipes spread about the internet, you can find plenty in a book that’s currently offered called Cordials from Your Kitchen . That should have plenty of recipes for any aspiring homemade-liqueur maker to dabble with. I found my small collection of liqueur making books at used book stores and thrift shops…places you can easily find things several years old that people don’t want anymore. All you have to do is find some nice bottles to dress up your liqueur and you’ve got a great gift to hand out while wishing a prosperous and happy New Year. Below are a couple of great recipes you can try out:

Ginger Honey Liqueur

A spicy, full-bodied liqueur. Try it warmed up on a cold winter night.

• 3 tbs. finely minced, peeled fresh ginger root
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1, 3-inch long cinnamon stick broken into pieces
• 2 whole cloves
• 3 cups brandy
• 3/4 cup honey

Combine ginger root, lemon zest, cinnamon stick, cloves and brandy in a large jar. Stir well to mix ingredients. Cover tightly and let steep in a cool, dark place for 1 week. Shake jar occasionally. When steeping period is complete, strain and filter the liquid. You can use filters found for filtering wine at your local home-brew shop or you can just use a coffee filter. Combine honey with the filtered brandy mixture. Pour into bottles and cap tightly. Let age at least one month before serving. Recipe found in The Village Pantry’s Treasury of Homemade Liqueurs by Janet Reda.

Pear Liqueur

A tasty treat with flavors of the winter season

• 1/2 lb. mature, ripe, firm pears
• 2 apples, peels only (any variety will work, but Red Delicious works good)
• 1 clove
• 1/2″ cinnamon stick or pinch of ground cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 2 coriander seeds
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1.5 cups vodka or brandy

Cut the pears into strips (don’t pare) and place in a jar with all the other dry ingredients including sugar and the two apple peels. Add alcohol to cover. Steep two weeks, shaking the jar every two days to mix the ingredients. Strain and filter. A coffee filter works great. If you’d like the liqueur to be sweeter, add simple sugar syrup in small quantities (about 1 oz. to 4 oz. of liqueur) to establish a sweetness ratio. Then add to the whole bottle accordingly. When the recipe tastes perfect and you’ve recorded it in your recipe book, purchase more pears and make larger amounts for cooking, drinking and gift giving. Mature pear liqueur about 2 months. Recipe found Homemade Liqueurs by Donna and Mel Meilach.

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While my yard is blanketed in white, the onset of the gardening catolog season is already beginning to flush our post office box with fun new catalogs. I’ve already spent more than an hour pouring through hundreds of tomato varieties in the Totally Tomatoes catalog that arrived two weeks ago. I probably earmarked about 30 different varieties I’d like to grow but I guess I better think about slimming that list down!

I’ve also spent the morning relishing over a couple of food blogs that do a great job of combining gardening information with some delicious looking recipes. I quickly became a fan of Kalyn’s Kitchen blog and the myriad of healthy recipes she’s concocting and sharing with readers. I also got a lot of great ideas from reading her summer blog post on the bounty growing in her backyard garden and the recipes utilizing it.

I now have food blogs on the brain too. Maybe it’s the delight of eating yourself silly during the holidays that’s got me on the subject. I regularly read Farmgirl Susan’s Rural Food Blog and enjoy every single post. It’s partly because I’m jealous of her life on the farm. She also suggested some great food blogs including Nami-Nami from Estonia, Garlic Breath from France and Lucullian Delights from Italy. I think they’re enough to transport you to another country, if only for a few minutes!

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