The train ride at the zoo, with its psychedelic mushroom people peeking out of the ashe juniper trees, the satellite dish UFO and aliens, never fails to crack me up, no matter how many times I’ve been on it before.

They make excellent recycled dish scrubbies.  Knotted at one end, stuffed with more balled up plastic mesh veggie bags, knotted at the other end.  Cute and useful.  We can’t remember exactly where we got the idea, but we’re 90% sure it came from Mr. and Mrs. Homegrown, the writers of Root Simple.

• olive oil
• 1/2 cup popcorn
• 1/2 teaspoon masala powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Put an 8-quart stock pot on medium-high heat.  Add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot about half a popcorn kernel deep.  Add popcorn and masala then cover.

To stir, gently shake and swirl the pot, holding the handles with pot holders and using your thumbs to hold the lid on.  Stir every few seconds.  After a few minutes the popcorn will sizzle, then begin to pop.

Continue to stir every few seconds. Between stirring, vent the lid just enough to allow steam out but not wide enough to let a kernel fly out.

When the popping slows to once every 5-10 seconds, turn off the heat.  Continue to stir and vent.  When popping stops entirely, pour into a bowl.  Grind salt to a powder with a mortar and pestle.  Sprinkle salt evenly over popcorn.  Enjoy.

We began a weekly meals cooperative.  Our meals co-op decided to take a break just before the holidays, but we anticipate starting it up again soon.

We laid our beloved Great Dane Sam to rest.

We became a part of a growing children’s program with other members of Plum Blossom Sangha.

We began making our own yeast breads.  I’ve been making flat breads (pizza crusts and pita bread).  Nathan has begun making artisan breads and loaves of whole wheat.

We adopted an abandoned puppy.

We became new members of a cooperative nursery school community.  After nearly two great years, we decided to leave our own homegrown childcare co-op, the Free Radicals.

We took Ben and Maddie to the beach for the first time.

We drastically reduced the amount of money we spend eating out.  Nathan and I both enjoy food and cooking, but in 2010 we became better, more frequent, more efficient cooks, and the proof was in our budgets.

I completed birth doula training with DONA International and began my own doula practice, and thus we began our own family business.

We went on our first family camping trip.

We cared for two bright, growing children full time.

We began designing and building our garden in the backyard.

We hosted friends and family for birthdays and holidays.

We read books, played games, watched movies, made art, strengthened friendships, and played outside.

Yes! to an exciting, nourishing year.  :)  Next: setting intentions for 2011.

The day after Christmas
Turkey roasted
Hearts seasoned
Bittersweetly spiced

Ben avoided being recognized by wearing my sunglasses in the restaurant.

(For those who regularly make the trip between Austin and ETX, we stopped at La Pradera, which was unoffensive and forgettable.)

• 1 part baking soda
• 1 part borax
• 1 part water
• #

Directions:

Mix until baking soda and borax are dissolved.  Store in a sealable container.  Use about 3 Tbs per load.  You probably already have baking soda in your pantry.  Borax is a great all-purpose cleaning and deodorizing powder to have around the house, too.  Adding a few drops of orange or lemon essential oil or lemon juice to the mixture would make it smell nice, although it isn’t necessary.

This recipe works really well in our dishwasher.  I <3 it because it’s cheap, and it because doesn’t contain unpronounceable chemicals.

I couldn’t find my phone.  So I drunk-typed a message to Nathan on the computer that said something like, “sliced finger come home now.”  Blood dripped all over the keyboard.  My friend Holly called, I saw my phone and answered.  I was all like, “Oh good, I found my phone, Holly I can’t talk right now, I just cut my finger off.”

At some point while I was trying to wash and bandage my finger, Nathan came home and turned burners off and took toddlers off of stools.  He looked at my finger, determined that I didn’t need to go to the ER, and helped me put a bandaid on.  (I love that he has EMT training.)  I sat in the bathroom in the dark on the toilet and cried a little.  Ben came in and asked to kiss my finger, twice.

The next morning I had a little mini-breakdown, I broke a dish full of chopped bell pepper, and was just generally klutzy and unstable.

I took these events as signs that I needed to slow way, waaay down this weekend.

And that is just what we have done.

We ate homemade pizza and drank wine with friends.  We made shakers out of toilet paper rolls and scrap dried beans.  I went to yoga class, and I went on a couple of nice, long walks with Ash pup.  We cooked and ate nutritious food.  We cleaned out and reorganized our pantry.  Nathan made masala popcorn, and he and I watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Then we turned it off to go to bed early.  Nathan and Ben cleaned the water in the fish tank this morning.  I wrote.  The children are napping.  Nathan will go sit with Plum Blossom Sangha this evening.

Life is spontaneous, relaxed, and good, and I’d like to keep it that way for a while.  We’re beginning a family winter retreat next Friday.

Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup

(adapted from a recipe I saw on eclaire)

• 1 1/4 C green or black lentils, picked over and rinsed (I used green since that’s what I had.  Want to try black.)
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed (2+ cups)
• 1 bunch chard, stemmed and chopped (I used ruby chard.)
• 28 oz. crushed, diced, or stewed canned tomatoes
• 1 C broth
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chili powder
• olive oil
• grated parmesan cheese

#

1.  Boil 5 cups water and simmer the lentils for 20 min or until tender.  Drain and set aside.

2.  Sauté the onion in olive oil over med heat in a large pan.  Cook until the onion is softened but not browned.

3.  Add the squash, tomatoes, and broth and simmer 20 minutes, until the squash is soft.

4.  Add the lentils, chard, salt, and chili powder.  Simmer until the chard is just wilted, maybe 3 min.

5.  Serve garnished with grated parm.  Bread and salad on the side would be awesome, but we didn’t have any.

We ate most of the pot tonight, among just the four of us.

On a related note, Nathan and I watched Food, Inc last night.  It wasn’t as gross and scary as I expected.  I guess I’ve been around the organic/veggie scene long enough now that there wasn’t much information in the film that was new to me.  But it was gross and scary enough to renew my flirtation with vegetarianism and my desire to live as organically as possible.