Clare's Baby Shower

Last week I took the long ride down to Ventura County, CA and attended my youngest sister's baby shower. Here are some highlights of the actual shower.

 Mom-to-be Clare and my sister Meredith.

 Clare and Meredith's daugher, Erin, with the adorable bibs Erin made.

 Clare with mom, sisters, and nieces, sort of. We missed Helene!

 Most who attended. Thank you so much Charmaigne Hanna-Baker for taking all the photos!

 Second cousins Kyson and Daisy. 

 Meredith and her beautiful daughters Stacy and Erin.

 My dad's sister Dorothy and my mother Sharon.

 The hostesses: Kelly, Corinne, Cindy, and Rachel.

 Rhiannon and Kyson.

 Clare and Rachel.

Amelia, Daisy, Stacy, and Erika.

Joblessness and Home Economy

Well, something new and hopefully exciting (the good way) is coming along for us. Allan was laid off on Friday and a new chapter in our life has begun. 

The Bremerton office of his company has been steadily shrinking, and the work he has been doing has been going to other workers in other offices around the country. Ah, well, the end of an 18+-year era. 

What does this mean for the immediate quality of life of our family? We have money to meet our basic needs/bills. Very basic! We have some food stored for events like this. I have skills to use this basic food (prepare it, make it palatable!). I am thinking I will make all our bread from now on, which will make some people around here really happy. 


There are other areas where I can work harder on economizing, too. I can stop my random thrift store shopping, and remember how to tease apart needs from wants. I can be more dedicated in my menu/meal planning, even just for myself. The phone and cell phone bills could be looked into and possibly changed for the better. The cupboards are full of materials that I can turn to in moments of creative necessity. 

What kind of changes will be a result of this bout of unemployment? No more allowance for me, that's for sure!!


Where do you find yourself in this economic climate? Have you needed to economize? What are your tactics for saving money or doing without? 

Traditional Foods

Have you ever heard of this book? It's all about presenting the truth about "research" around healthy eating and teaching us how to eat real food. It's touted as a cookbook (there are tons of recipes), but it's really full of information, stories, ideas, and instruction on how to eat well. And what exactly is eating well? 


Let's just put it this way: I am buying raw milk at about $5 per half gallon. (I think I may be the only one in my family drinking it, but that will change with time.) I have not been a big milk-drinker in the last couple decades, but this milk is delicious!


I have followed a few of the recipes in Nourishing Traditions to make my own dairy products. The first thing I made was yogurt. I am not a big consumer of yogurt, but it's easy

to make and was VERY delicious. I added strawberries and a little stevia powder. Later I tried buttermilk, which I don't really drink straight (though I bet I will--it's so good!), but use mainly as an ingredient in baked goods and dressings. In looking through and old Danish cookbook from the '40s I found a recipe for buttermilk soup. It was actually delightful. And just the other day I made my own creme fraiche (pronounced "crem fresh"), which I use in place of sour cream. Heavenly!


A by-product of some of the dairy products is whey, which can be used to acidify grain and vegetables for preparation and/or preservation. I am looking forward to more experiments with this type of eating and preparing my own food. 


Do you have anything new you're trying in the kitchen?