Well, I've finished my candymaking.

I realize that I haven't been posting much. The holidays have swallowed me whole, frankly. Currently sitting in my apartment are:

1 batch homemade from scratch caramels, neatly separated and put into containers.
1 batch chocolate dipped glazed apricots, still sitting on their wax paper until I find the energy to deal with them. (and not incidentally, where I put the roll of wax paper...)
1 batch candied apricots, drying until they are dry enough to get their final sugar coating.
1 triple batch dark chocolate cherry fudge, cooling.
1 quart homemade apricot preserves
Surprisingly few dirty dishes from all this (Thank you, dear!)
Several fabric gift bagged little gifts of candy and nuts for the dreidel game to be played at my husband's aunt's house.
Several origami fabric pouches.
Another yard of fabric to be turned into gift bags and pouches.
A mostly finished silver crocheted necklace with art glass beads
A few CDs for gifting by some independent artists I really enjoy. (Hi, Christine!)
A printout of some of the poetry and essays that I think a friend of mine will enjoy who does not have online access.
One wiped out fool who is enjoying a break by blogging and listening to music by Lorcan Otway and by Christine and her husband.
One messy livingroom that will have to be attacked this week.
One husband who is beginning to do that.

The joys of public transit

My legs ache from the uphill walk to Metro this morning and my shoulders are complaining of the hike last night with a banjo. And if I'd just give in, I could walk a couple of blocks from my office and have a car again while I wait for mine to get out of the shop. Instead I'm considering taking Metro on Thursdays anyway, even once the car is repaired, at least while the weather is so nice.

If that consideration were based solely on my wish to help the environment, it would likely be a tough sell to my aching limbs, I confess, but there are other compensations, even aside from the slow toning my legs are getting.

Yesterday, as I went to pick up the card that would allow me to use the Zipcar system (which I'm enjoying. I use a car when I absolutely have to, but otherwise don't have to worry about it - no getting a guest pass for my building, no looking for parking in my neighborhood. Pure genius.), Craig and I met on a train platform. We emerged from the tunnel into warm late afternoon sunlight. A couple blocks down to the Zipcar office, and I notice that the actual street it's on is closed for a farmer's market. Score! After I get my Zipcard, we began wandering around, looking at the goodies on display.

I wound up with a quart of really *good* yogurt - this stuff reminds me of the yogurt my mom made for me as a kid, some tomatoes, some greens, a block of feta from the yogurt guy, half a boule of really crusty bread - nicely yeasty and chewy, 2 perfect Asian pears, just wanting a day or two, 2 portabellas, with an extra stem thrown in ("It's good for soup - just chop it up real good"), and a head of organically grown garlic. Back down into the Metro, plotting my purchases into a tasty dinner (portabella steaks with chopped garlic and a little white wine on toasted crusty bread, a salad with heirloom tomatoes, feta cheese, and a light dressing. For dessert? Yogurt and honey.), I take a few moments as the train emerges from the tunnel into the light to do a little quick birdwatching - you see, the train comes out behind a shopping center, and where the parking lot ends is a bit of a swampy area, where I sometimes see herons. I saw one on Monday, but not last night.

I think breakfast tomorrow may be mushroom soup with crusty bread, since tonight, a friend is holding a birthday gathering and I've been wanting that soup for nearly a day now. I'm thinking next week of looking at the mixed mushroom boxes, seeing if any cooking greens are looking good (one of the few things that improves mushroom soup is adding a few chopped greens), checking out the mixed grain cider bread (in little loaves), picking up the dried mushroom mix and some more of that amazing yogurt. Maybe even a quart of cider by then... And some green zebra tomatoes, because they're just so nifty looking...

Comfort food

Mmmm. With the rough day that has been going on, I decided I wanted vegetarian comfort food, but I couldn't decide what - hot dish? Welsh rarebit? Indian stews sounded good. Wait.

Stew. Yeah, soup. With potatoes, and onions, and garlic, and carrot, maybe some leeks if they have any that look good... And some hearty bread, preferably of the sourdough persuasion, from the Great Grains bakery. And more garlic as a dip - boiled then caramelized garlic. And some salad - with vinegar and oil and radishes. (Lentil soup would be good if I had time for it. Maybe this weekend.) Hmm.

A day at home

Yesterday, the federal government's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) made a really bad decision - they kept the government offices open despite the fact that several bus routes were closed and some major arteries were still not clear. This took the cost of staying home and put it on those least able to afford it. My husband took the train to work and discovered that only perhaps a third of the staff were there at all. The roads that were cleared quickly clogged up, and the whole thing was apparantly a mess. And those train routes that were primarily above ground ended up being single-tracked. Just bad all around.

I called in to my office and said that if a major emergency happened, I'd take the train, but otherwise I'd be home, and set about making bean soup and homemade pies. Since it was Valentines day, I dug out the individual pans in the shape of hearts that I keep in my bread making bowl, and made steak and mushroom pies, to be served with green pea soup. (I got this idea from a Terry Pratchett novel - apparantly, it's a famous dish in Southern Australia.) It was really good. With sweet pie for dessert. Now, bean soup takes two days to make, so tonight will be bean soup (with potatoes, onions, carrots, and plenty of garlic.)

I didn't get much work done on the blanket, though I'd hoped to, because my shoulders and arms were aching from all the crocheting I've done recently, so I took a fallow day. Just read, made soup and pies, and visited with my husband when he got home. Got a couple squares added, but not much. Still, I'm down into the teens, waiting for my last package of squares to arrive, with 2 more. And that's it. 2 squares to edge, and about 14 to attach. And the extra squares I now have will either go to Afghans for Afghans or to a pillow to go with the blanket. (If it looks big enough for a baby blanket, it's going to Afghanistan. If not, I cover a pillow.)

And I thought about the pace of my day, and the really bad decision to send people out onto icy roads, making the job of deicing those roads harder. How much was accomplished that absolutely could not have waited until the snow cleared? Especially since several police departments were asking people not to go out unless they really had to. What was the hurry? Why did the government force those who take certain bus lines to take a day of leave since they could not come to work?

To me, this is a further sign of how far we have moved away from taking time out. Ice storms had knocked out electricity for many people, the roads were not cleared, and even the train lines were iced over, yet the government decided that people should come in to work. It was a natural day for drinking cocoa, having bean soup and bread, and waiting for the snow plows to do their work. Given the amount of productive work that I suspect happened yesterday (how many people stayed home? How much work gets done on such days?) couldn't we have saved all the fuel that went into turning roads from sheets of snow and sleet to sheets of ice, heating nearly empty office buildings, etc.?

And as an update, I did take some of my yarn stash and make a pretty bright pseudosphere at a 3 to 1 ratio - which is looking like the most cuddly brain coral ever thought of.

Meatless Mondays?

Today I read an article on the environmental benefits of vegetarianism (comparing it to the Prius). Now, I'm not sure that the approach taken in the article is the best one for most people. Yes, vegetarian foods are better for the environment, and often for the person consuming them. (As much as I love Worthington Foods Little Links, I do concede that they are little bundles of fat and salt.)

However, if I were to say to my husband, "So, how about going veggie, then?" he might well go and eat a steak just to prove he could. And I don't think he's all that unusual in that reaction. On the other hand, I know he's looking forward to tonight's dinner of bean soup. And he also likes Worthington Foods stuff. Or going to Tiffin for benghan bartha, dal, and palak paneer with naan and aloo pratha. Oh, and fresh lime soda. And almond halwa for dessert, please. (Or their nearly as fabulous carrot halwa. Hey, when you've got a place this good just a few blocks away, you get to know their menu.)

Even assuming the soup is non-vegetarian, we're still not looking at a lot of meat in it - maybe a hambone and a couple pieces of chopped up bacon in a potful of traditional bean soup. As for the Indian dinner, maybe a couple tablespoons of ghee and 6 oz. of cheese in a meal for 3 or 4 people. (I'm presuming the environment can't tell if I'm keeping a dairy cow or a meat steer.)

Such a meal, even if not as virtuous as, say, locally grown greens with squash and potatoes and a cup of home canned peach juice for dessert (not that this sounds un-tasty. Just an example.) is still better than 16 oz T-Bone with bacon and blue cheese on top per person, with an enormous dessert to finish. I just worry about the either/or sense of the article. Either eat "virtuously" or "badly" with absolutely nothing in between. How about reducing meat and dairy consumption?

In the comparison with the Prius (or my Honda Civic Hybrid), they seem to have forgotten that the hybrids don't completely get rid of the gas engine. They reduce usage. The hybrids are not as good as walking, biking, taking the train, or whatever, but they are an improvement over taking the Gargantuan Hummer when you don't need the power or carrying capacity.

I've mentioned before that one of the things *I'd* have liked to see post 9/11 is a real look at how we can, as a country, conserve energy. If you're not in the room, turn out the light. If you can, use energy-conserving lights. Turn down the heat and the AC. Consider carpooling, going public transit, or going to an efficient car. Unplug. Walk someplace local to catch a sandwich, and spend a few minutes visiting with the neighbors while you're at it.

And maybe we could consider Meatless Mondays. Even if the rest of the week, you want that T-bone or whatever, how about considering one day a week having lentil soup and a salad? How about thinking along the lines of reducing how much meat is in an individual meal... You know, instead of half pound burgers around, making casserole or a smaller sandwich and a bigger salad...