Monthly Archives: February 2012

avgolemono soup

Egg Lemon Rice Soup

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One of my favorite at-the-office lunches is a mozzarella sandwich with a side of egg lemon rice soup from Cherry Street Coffeehouse. Delicious on all fronts. Sometimes I get tired of the mozzarella sandwich, but not the egg lemon rice soup, no matter how many times I order it. Trouble is, I can’t always enjoy the soup when I crave it. My work takes me away from the office frequently, and the soups rotate daily. Cherry Street used to have a Twitter account that announced the soup of the day, but it is not consistently updated. 

A couple weeks ago, I was craving the soup from afar. I had been wanting to expand my soup-cooking repertoire beyond heating tomato-soup from of a container, so I set out to try making it at home. I googled egg-lemon-rice soup and discovered the recipe is very simple. Half of the ingredients are in the name of the soup. I also learned that this is traditionally a Greek dish, increasing my love for the soup 4-fold. I love Greek food. I love Greece (I spent a semester abroad there in college). Then I remembered I had an un-used Greek cookbook at home. Sure enough, it there was a recipe for my egg lemon soup (avgolemono soup)!

If you’ve never had avgolemono (egg lemon) soup, give it a try. It is not a hearty soup, so you can easily eat it alongside other dishes. The lemon flavoring adds a refreshing aftertaste to the soup. And it took me 15 minutes to make. Boiling the broth and rice requires the largest chunk of time.

I already had eggs and rice on hand, so the biggest cost was the broth (8 cups for each batch). I’ve tried both chicken broth and vegetable broth. Tastes pretty much the same, although I needed to add more lemon juice to the chicken broth version to keep it from tasting like Chicken Soup with Rice. (Does anyone else remember that book? It was one of my early favorites to read aloud with my mom. ”I will eat it on the Nile, atop a crocodile.”)

The icing on the cake (or the seasoning in the soup, if you will) is the money I save in the long run by making this soup at home. With tip included, the sandwich-soup combo meal comes to around $10. If I order just a bowl of  soup and a side of bread, it still runs almost $5.00. Admittedly, these prices are in line with other Seattle downtown sandwich shops. And given the quality of taste and ingredients (mostly organic), I am not bothered by the cost of the meal.

Consider, however, that at home one pot gives me at least 6 servings of the soup. The equivalent of which would cost me close to $30 from the coffeehouse. I spent maybe $8 on the broth and the lemon juice (and I’ll likely get 3 batches of soup out of one small lemon juice bottle). Each bowl of soup I’ve just made costs me $1.00 to $1.50.

This isn’t to say I will stop eating at Cherry Street; I still love their sandwiches and some of their other soups. I have simply found a reliable (and tasty) stop-gap for my soup cravings that also saves me money for student loan repayment.

 

*Photo credit for Featured Image appearing on homepage: Avogolemono by bookchen (Flickr) via Creative Commons.

A Fork in the Road

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Let me tell you a story in which I zig and zag across Scottsdale, AZ  in search of a non-disposable fork. I’m going to go ahead and tell you the moral of this story now: Always pack your travel utensil set! It will save you time and money.

In an effort to save money on a recent trip, we popped into a Trader Joe’s and picked up a couple of microwavable dishes. My travel buddy was smart, she picked up a burrito (all  hands!). I, however, not being a fan of beans, opted for the chicken enchilada. During check-out, I realized I did not have the necessary eating tools for hot cheese. Unlike other grocery stores, this relatively small Trader Joes did not have any utensils available.

We considered stopping by a fast food restaurant, but we couldn’t find one that had forks just sitting out. Walgreens only had a box of 20 disposable forks and I didn’t need that many. We were already driving back to our hotel and we didn’t really veer far from our intended route, BUT what should have been a 25 minute drive, probably took us closer to an hour with all of the stops. I cringe at the thought.

Finally we spotted an Albertsons, which had a small kitchen-gadget section. VICTORY! There in front of me was one pack of 3 metal reusable forks. They weren’t expensive and you can feel the “cheapness” in their weight and construction. But they are sturdier than a plastic disposable fork. I will be putting one in three different suitcases, or maybe stashing them with the camping gear.

*Sigh*

My travel buddy showed great patience during my stubborn sustainability moment. That is true friendship–driving around a strange town so your college buddy can find a fork that won’t go directly to a landfill after she finishes her dinner.

Fur_clothing_1903

Friday Follow: The Good Closet

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Taking a page from Twitter’s Friday Follow (#ff), every fourth Friday I will share with you a blog I am following. Featured blogs will eventually be listed in the right-hand column.

I first stumbled onto Elizabeth Cline’s writing through her column on the Etsy.com blog. Her “History of a Cheap Dress” explored the explosion of apparel options over time. Consumers (in this case, explicitly women) went from making their own clothing to having access to mass-produced goods. We are now able to stuff our closets with clothing, but Elizabeth Cline asks “at what cost?”

Explosion of Fashion (From Etsy Blog, Illustration by Lena Corwin)

Overall, Elizabeth Cline’s column for Etsy, her Tumbler blog (The Good Closet), and upcoming book seek to explore “the global impact of fast fashion [and] how to dress ethically (and fashionably) on a budget.” (She also writes about ”cheap chic fabrics” and the cultural and economic forces that put us into blue jeans). I like that her blog focuses on the environmental and the social/labor issues behind the fashion industry. I do wish that her blog posts had a few more “citations” so I could delve deeper into some topics, but maybe her book will have a list of additional references and resources to help us be more conscious consumers.

The blue jeans and t-shirts article reminded me of an article we read in an anthropology class, about the history of fabric. Most of the academic details are gone, but I remember that England had a trade deficit because luxurious and color fabrics from the East were imported, overpowering the local textile market. Black was pushed as a “fashionable” and “good” color in England because the English were very good at dying wool black. The powers-that-be portrayed the luxurious and colorful silks and velvets as decadent, sinful, and just plain undesirable.

Being an archaeologist, I really appreciate her exploration of material culture and the behind-the-scene forces. I’ve seen those old Sears & Roebuck catalogs, full of all kinds of pre-made goods that you can buy from a distance. When people were making all of their possessions, they had a greater investment in the items. They were more likely to try to repair the item and if they moved, they were more likely to take their most valued possessions with them…leaving less for us archaeologists to find. But think about your last move. How much stuff did you donate or throw away? How much of that was clothing? How much (and what) did you really take with you to your new home?

If you are looking for a short and interesting read this weekend, take a moment to read Elizabeth Cline’s thoughts at http://thegoodcloset.tumblr.com/ and her Etsy Blog posts.

Featured image: Fur Clothing 1903. By H. Kirstein, Leipzig [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Image from washington-apa.org

Waste Not, Need Less

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Sometimes I think amidst climate change, carbon footprints, and other ”sustainable” buzzwords, we’ve lost track of the first environmental phrase we learned as kids: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

Western society seems to have embraced ”Recycle,” the easiest and (if I recall) the 3rd most crucial of the steps. Call me cynical, but I think recycling allows us to continue to consume products at the same rate we always have, except we can feel less guilty because we have found a “better” destination for the trash. Energy and material still went into the production of that product and the packaging.

“Reduce” was always meant to be the most important action we can take to protect the environment.

  • REDUCE how much stuff we buy;
  • REDUCE how many natural resources we consume; and
  • REDUCE how much trash we produce (through reuse and recycling);
  • to REDUCE our impact on the world around us.

Last year’s Sustainable-Me Challenge was focused on finding eco-alternatives to things I already bought or wanted to buy. But it had the unintended effect of reducing the amount of stuff I bought. Higher pricing and more difficulty finding some eco-alternatives caused me to just pass on some purchases. It made me aware of how “unnecessary” some of my purchases were, at least in relation to my general day-to-day survival. I have to begrudgingly tip my hat to the marketing and advertisement design teams out there. They have convinced me to buy a lot in the past.

I was again made aware of my past consumption habits when we were cleaning out the closet and the garage at the end of last year. The Goodwill pile was so big it required two full car trips (plus a third trip while I was home for Christmas and emptied a few large boxes in my parents’ basement). There were so many clothes that didn’t fit or didn’t coordinate with other wardrobe pieces. Again, I tip my hat to the manipulative ”SALE!” emails and in-store displays…

I think I want to reduce the amount of stuff I discard. I am embarrassed at how much unused stuff I donate each year. And then there was the entire batch of stew I just tossed out because the mold got to it before I did. I can continue to buy less stuff, but that is not the only behavior that produces waste. I want to know where the wasted stuff is coming from. So for the next few weeks I will keep track of what I throw away and how I dispose of it (garbage, recycle, disposal, compost). This will provide me with some baseline data for comparative purposes down the road. I’ll let you know what I find out.

 

iPad Slip Case

Did it myself: iPad Case

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During my 2011 Christmas handmade gift blitz, I made an iPad slip case.

I used the tutorial provided by Dixie Mango. I found this project in Tip Nut’s list of 40+ DIY iPad and Kindle cases. If you haven’t checked out Tip Nut, it is a great source for a wide range of DIY project and craft ideas (Tipjunkie.com is another resource). Both sites link to outside blogs; like a yellow pages for craft ideas.

I chose to attempt Dixie Mango’s design for two reasons: 1) the envelope shape was simple and straightforward, and 2) I wanted to make something that could be used to protect and carry the iPad without being too bulky or drawing too much attention. There were some designs (by other creative bloggers) that provided a foldable support stand or a book-like cover, if that is what you are interested in.

I used a former microsuede curtain (acquired from my boyfriend’s mom) as the exterior, a layer of canvas for support, and an awesome dragon print for the inside lining. (We do play Dungeons and Dragons here, after all.) I hoped that with the suede-like appearance, this case would be discrete in a work or Ren Faire setting, should the bearer of the iPad wish to tweet during the jousting match. If you recall, the microsuede curtain was part of the Thanksgiving weekend fabric haul.

The dragon fabric was a serendipitous find at the Northgate store of Pacific Fabrics & Crafts. I overheard another a customer and a sales associate as they were looking through a drawer of fabric remnants, I overheard them say “dragon fabric”. They were actually referring to the colorful dragon print on the left (“Tale of the Dragon”). I picked up the final yard of this fabric (I think I have a plan for it…just wait and see) and during my small chat with the sales associate, she mentioned that this fabric designer (Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection 2010) had another dragon print. She showed me the “dragon silhouette” and I fell in love even more, so I picked up a couple yards.

I recommend looking through Dixie Mango’s tutorial. Her instructions are clear and her photos show how you should be progressing. The pattern is also scalable, meaning it can be increased for a laptop case or shrunk for a smaller e-reader or tablet device. The only changes I made to her design were:
  • Selecting canvas instead of interfacing for the internal stiffness (because I had canvas left over from my corset class, and I was trying to save money on new materials); and
  • Clipping off the point of the “envelope” flap, for stylistic preference reasons.

I had the most difficulty with ensuring the exact location of the velcro (and I still was a little off) and topstitching the edges to secure the case. My needle had to go through 4 layers of fabric and 2 layers of canvas for the final steps. It was almost too much for my machine. I tried using a thicker denim needle, but that left big holes in the fabric and didn’t really help me (or my machine) power through the stitch. Ultimately, I just turned the knob on my machine to advance the fabric and move the needle up and down.

Even though that final step took a while, I still completed this project in a day (while the recipient was out of the house playing D&D). And for only the cost of the the velcro and the dragon fabric.

My Battle Against Junk Mail

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I just took steps to reduce the amount of physical junk mail that is sent to my house. Too long have these credit card offers, coupons, and catalogs crowed my small mailbox and filled me with false excitement about recieving mail.

EDIT: A loyal reader has brought it to my attention that I failed to properly attribute my inspiration for this “freedom from junk mail” action. For more than a year my boyfriend has been subtely (and not-so-subtely) suggesting that I opt-out of junk mail. He had already freed himself from the junk mail deluge, yet he continued to haul unwanted mailings on a daily basis because I was too lazy (or busy, or forgetful) to opt-out myself.

Facts about junk mail:

  • Four million tons of junk mail produced a year in the United States alone;
  • 44 percent of all junk mail goes unopened and is put into a landfill, eventually;
  • 250,000 homes could be heated from burning a single day’s worth of junk mail in the United States;
  • Dont fill out warranty cards-that is how marketers get your information;
  • Paper production (general) annually uses 28 billion gallons of water and 100 million trees a year used for paper (Source: How Stuff  Works)

How Stuff Works (a podcast and blog) has a good article about the problems of junk mail and how you can reduce the amount you recieve: How Junk Mail Works. The Today Show webpage also has information about junk mail solutions.

I went to www.optoutprescreen.com and www.dmachoice.org and entered my information to stop credit offer solicitations, magizine offers, unwanted catalogs, and coupons from filling my mailbox. (CAVEAT: Opt Out PreScreen does require a social security number, because most of the credit marketers already have it…that is how they find you. You can choose not to provide your SSN to Opt Out PreScreen, but they can’t guarantee they will be able to find your records to remove them.) 

The online forms are short and easy to fill out. I did this all over breakfast. This opt-out process does not stop mail from groups you have business with. For example, I buy stuff from REI so this opt-out won’t stop their coupons or catalogs. Nor will charities I have donated to stop sending me mail…unless I specifically write to them and request it. So, if you have a lot of catalogs from companies you buy from, you may have to contact them individually. DMA Choice provides contact information for many companies.

It will take at least 30 to 90 days for these “opt-out” requests to take effect. Until the then, if you are feeling creative, why not turn that junk mail into some art? This woman did.