Working in a Coal Mine?

Port Alberni Student at Coal Consultation

Someone out there in the world wants to bring a coal mine to the east side of Central Vancouver Island (Courtney Comox) to "harvest" raw coal and transport it to Port Alberni on Highway 4 via Truck (72 trucks a day, one way) and then ship it from Port Alberni to China where it's going to be burned as fuel to make steel.

As a "young person" I hope to fuck that those before me (and those currently in power) have figured out that Big Industry is no longer a goal for the future, for us, or even those after us. To me it's not even about arguing about details around environmental damage or the number of jobs or the "growth" of our local economy, it's that Big Industry is Bad Industry and denying Big Industry in our communities feels  like the only option.

Port Alberni is currently wrapping up the consultation phase of the Raven Coal Project. The community had the opportunity comment on the environmental concerns of the project until June 27th by going here, but really, filling out that survey is a shitty form of consultation (as was the public meeting that was so moderated it was like watching cable TV listings). My dad once told me a story about consultation. He was up against some Enbridge guys up in the Sacred Headwaters and said to the Enbridge person, "Is it OK if right after I'm done talking to you I go outside and key your car?" The Enbridge person said, "No". And my dad said, "Great! Thanks so much for your contribution to my decision making, but I'm going to go out and key your car now!" They Enbridge guy said, "You can't do that!!" And, my dad said, "Well, I just consulted with you so it must be OK now?". THAT is how Big Industry does consultations. And that's the process here.

If you live anywhere affected by the Raven Coal Mine and truly want to have as much of an impact as possible stop writing your dissent just on facebook! Write letters, make phone calls, and email our MLAs and MPs and civic councils and First Nations Chief and Council and tell them why you don't want the coal mine in your community / region. Here's some environmental info. Or you could explain that you're tired of the global patriarchy fuck of big/bad industry and you'd like a different life for you and your community.

Link to MLA Database
Link to MP Database
Link to List of First Nations

Tutorial: Game On! Scrabble Tile Earrings (+recipe)

If you are game crazy like me (I like to play games), you will have looked nostalgically at thrift store games and wondered what to do with all those with missing pieces. Scrabble tiles, like many other game pieces are easy to use for jewelery and decoration. Add magnets and use them on your fridge to make a message, label bathroom hooks so you won't forget whose towel is whose, or how about a scrabble clock? My favorite unexpected way to use them is for necklace pendants or earrings.

This project is super easy. Do I need to have numbered steps? Maybe not. Because this one is so easy, I've included a recipe for Long Island Ice Tea for you to serve at your next Game Night. Game On!

You will need:

scrabble tiles

glue gun and glue (or crazy glue will work)

clip on earrings or stud earrings

1. Remove the front from your earrings or skip this step if you plan on sticking the scrabble tile right on top.

2. Put some glue on the earring back, place scrabble tile on top, press and let cool/dry.

3. Clean up.

You will need:

1L iced tea* (brew strong black tea and cool, add sugar to taste)

1L lemonade* (lemon juice, water, sugar to taste)

2 bottles gingerale or soda (~1L)

1 wee bottle of whiskey

ice

funky glasses (optional)

So obviously, dump all ingredients into a huge jar or jug and refrigerate. Add ice to glasses and serve. Keep playing those Games!

*in a pinch, swing by the corner store but get ready to pay for the convenience!

Recipe: Apres *Life* Mac and Cheese

This meal is super fast, easy to clean up, and so delicious. Go ahead and try something new; choose noodles made from an ancient grain or use another cooked grain as a base. It is equally good when using rice or quinoa. Adding beans, nuts, or seeds to this dish can give you a complete protein if you choose well (read more here) though it will be healthy no matter what combination you use. I try to go classic uptown mac-n-cheese with cheddar and ketchup most of the time, then if I need a change or I'm missing an ingredient, I'll try one of my tried and true combinations. Really, you could make this with limitless combinations using whatever is in the fridge! I've added a few combos below the recipe.

I often come home after work, a workout, or derby practice (*life*) and only (only!) want to eat chips and drink beer, thereby negating any positive effects that my workout may have had on my body. So! before I have the chance to head over to the corner store, I put some water on to boil, hop in the shower, and before I'm cooled down, I'm sitting on the couch with a bowl of healthy yumminess. Give it a try! I've added [planning boxes] to help out. It seems simple, but sometimes we need a little help to treat ourselves well, right?

You will need:

noodles (about one handful per person)

cheese (about 1/4 cup per person-white cheddar is the best!)

leafy green vegetables (kale, spinach, etc.)

other vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, peas, corn, onions, etc.)

pepper

sauce (ketchup, miso gravy, bbq sauce, etc.)

nutritional yeast

sunflower seeds (or beans or nuts. try pinto or black beans or almonds)

1. Put a pot full of water on to boil.

[SHOWER]

2. Put noodles in when the water is boiling. Reduce heat a little after it returns to a boil.

[GO GET DRESSED]

3. Prepare the rest of the vegetables: cut leafy green vegetables into strips, cube vegetables, get out the rest of the ingredients and your favorite bowl.

4. Strain* noodles and scoop some into your bowl, put cheese on top, then add vegetables. Add seeds (etc.) and put nutritional yeast on top, sprinkle some pepper to taste, and drown in the sauce of your choice.

5. Stir it up, add more sauce (I love sauce) if needed, and enjoy!

Mexican: Applewood cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, pinto beans, cilantro, chipotle mayo

Italian: Parmesan, Mozzarella/Boconccini cheese, tomatoes, spinach, basil, lemon, sunflower seeds

Middle East: kale, carrots, raisins, apricots, almonds, cinnamon, cumin

Thai: Coconut milk or dried coconut, cilantro, peanut butter, carrots, onions, cabbage

(you can also crack an egg on top of the steaming noodles, then add the rest of the stuff, cover for a minute, then stir it all together).

*A friend of mine saves her noodle and vegetable water to use for plants or to put on the garden once it has cooled.

Beauty in the Breakdown Giveaway!

Laura and Andrea from beauty in the breakdown are incredible incredible women and activists from Prince George. HOME SWEET HOME has been honoured to know them for years (through work, and feminisms, and roller derby, and crafting!) and are excited about this new project. They strive to create unique, socially conscious fashion. All beauty in the breakdown items are upcycled, the hope in doing so is two fold, firstly to minimize the store's direct impact on the environment but also to encourage others to re think ideas around fashion, trash and consumerism. The upcycled clothes are  painted with words or images that are meant to inspire,  challenge, engage, excite, contradict the world around. Please pay us a visit at http://www.etsy.com/shop/beautyinbreakdown

Since day one, Laura and Andrea have been big supporters of HOME SWEET HOME and we're excited for this giveaway! All you have to do is leave a comment with a message you want to put out in the world and they'll put it on a shirt for you! Don't forget to leave us a way to get a hold of you! DEADLINE: Friday, July 1st at 4pm PST! Good luck!  

Friday Favourites: Panniers!

I'm currently in the process of getting my hands on a commuter bike that's a cross over from a street bike to a cruiser. It's matte blackish grey and I'm in LOVE LOVE LOVE. It's going to be dolled out with a mirror, metal pedals, fenders, big cruiser seat, kickstand, and a rack to hold some panniers. Oh, panniers! I won't have to carry a bag around on my shoulder anymore. Yay! Here's a few that I'm eyeing up and might try to get my hands on since I got such a sweet deal on my ride.

These Cristobal Panniers are SO drool worthy. I'll feel like I'm an extra in An Education or something like that.

This Loop Pannier is pretty baller as a "work" pannier, a little more fancy then those old skool MEC ones.

These custom waxed canvas panniers come in a set and are very drooooool worthy.

Tutorial: Cork Board Birthday

Happy Birthday Mark!

I made this corkboard for part of Mark's birthday gift this year. Most of the bottles that the corks came from are those we shared. Some are from wine nights that we hosted or were at and all bring back mostly good memories. 'Le Vieux Pin' corks are from a couple of lovely bottles from Oliver, B.C. won at an auction and enjoyed months later (we couldn't wait any longer). 'The Show' is from Malice's ill-fated wine night, 'Painted Turtle' (bleck) from the wine described as turpentine by most, divine by two (who were ridiculed later).

The idea came from a board that Sweet had at her old place, her mom had made it as a gift. Of course, I stored this little idea in my head for 7 years just to bring it out now. This is a perfect gift for wine lovers. Start saving your corks now because it takes a while, let me tell you.

You will need:

wood frame without glass (check that corks will fit into your frame!)

acrylic paint and brush

sandpaper (or something to scrape paint away with)

glue gun and glue

scissors and cardboard (if using a frame without a backing on it)

picture hanging kit (if necessary)

Lay out the corks inside your (painted) frame, start with the first row, then put a bead of glue down and move corks one at a time. Build on this row until all the spots are full, you may need to try a few combinations to get some that fit. Did you know that not all corks are the same length? I didn't! The last ones may be a little tight, depending on how wide your frame is. You can also play around with alternating horizontal corks and vertical corks.

Scrape or sand off some layers of paint around the corners, feel free to stab it with scissors and treat it badly. You can't really mess up this part. Add a personalized note. Hang and enjoy.

Cutting Board Picnic

Now you see it.

Super fast, inexpensive, and healthy lunch. I like to whip this up after coming home from the Farmer's Market on Saturday. Obviously this is easy to make up; cut up your food fare and place in sections on the cutting board as you go. Fill in gaps with a handful of crackers, raisins, or almonds. I like adding some smoked tofu and T insists on a pile of sprouts. Make sure you get some good carbs, proteins, and you can also add a few small bowls of dips (miso gravy would be awesome) and don't forget some dessert; I added a few cubes of banana bread to finish off this feast. Grad some pillows and head outside with a couple glasses of water and you have a fresh, fast, and raw lunch. Really fun, kids love it, and it's so-cial! We usually grab a few items at the Famer's Market specifically for this lunch. Yum!

Now you don't.

Knit in Public Day

I'll be hosting Knit in Public Day at Fort George Park tomorrow near the Bandshell.

Stop by 1-3pm. Bring a lawnchair, a big hat, and money to buy some fry bread. It is Metis Heritage Day AND Father's Day Show'n'Shine at the park as well.

Fry Bread, Dancing, Hotrods, Bikes, and Rollergirls! WOOP!

[[http://www.wwkipday.com/find_kip.htm]]

(If it is raining, we'll be crashing the Top Drawer SnB from 2-4PM.)

How I Shop, including a Weekly Menu Plan Template

I love to eat at restaurants. And I remember food and eating at restaurants was so cheap! I could get away with Dinner for myself for under $15 and now, it seems that as a family we can't go out for dinner without it costing at least $50 (not including drinks! We usually get water when we'd rather have beer). As a way for us to save money (to pay off debt! and maybe start savings!) I've really taken it upon myself to menu plan for the first time in my life. I also find it less time consuming because I go shopping once a week (usually Saturday morning, after the farmer's market) and hit up my favourite places for the food stuffs! We get our meats from Double R Meats, mostly, and our veg mostly from the Farmer's market. Then, I go to Extra Foods to do our shopping for everything else, and if they don't have some things, I go to Fairway to get the rest.

I chose Extra Foods after a lot of soul searching. I have this "don't spend money unless you're getting some kind of reward" thing going on and I was big on collecting AirMiles for a while. But shopping weekly at Safeway was just too expensive and we couldn't afford it. It wasn't until after a discussion about shopping at Quality Foods (also very expensive!) that our friend said they switched to Extra Foods and on average save around $400/month on groceries! So, I thought we'd try it out (and I shop with my Visa so we get RBC points!) and it has proven to be at least $50-$100 cheaper every week. The no-name or house brands are the same quality as those from the other grocery stores (Western Family, President's Choice), and because of our buying club, a lot of things I'd want organic I'm getting wholesale already anyway.

After the past three - four months of organizing my life so that I wouldn't be grocery shopping every day and ensuring we'll have food in the house and not be relying on eating KD for a few days to pay day, this menu plan is the template I use on a weekly basis. I've been handwriting mine on reused paper (from my Thesis drafts) and I recommend you do the same (SAVE INK!). I use it to primarily plan dinners and sit down with the sheet and my computer (for all my book marked recipes I've collected recently) or a pile of new or old cookbooks (some from the library and some from our own collection).

As I go through the books I sticky the recipes I'm interested in for the current week and future weeks, to save time down the road. I pick recipes thinking about the week ahead: What nights do I have Roller Derby? What nights is my partner working night shift and won't be home to help watch the baby while I make dinner? What do I have in the freezer? What's left over in the fridge? What's in season? What's super on sale at the grocery store? What could I make extra of for cheap and use for lunches? Am I hosting Sustain-a-table this week? Are there any family dinners happening or plans to go out?

With all this in mind I write down DINNER recipes only on the days and if it's from a cookbook or the internet I make a note about the source and the page number. Then, as I'm going through, I write down what I need in the groceries section. I *never* write down things I already have. After I've gotten all 7 days done, I write down where we're having Sustain-a-table in the Sustain-a-table section and if we're hosting I write the menu there (and the ingredients I need in the groceries section). I also only write down ingredients that are dire. Like, I don't add Fresh Dill for Tzatziki if I have fresh oregano, and I don't buy lemons for dressing if I already have apple cider vinegar in the fridge.

Then, in the "Extras" or "Make in Advance" portion I write down what from the above list I have to make on the weekend before the week starts (e.g. a pizza with a pesto, do I have to make the pesto in advance? Do I have to roast peppers for the tacos? These things go on this list). I also write down the extra things I want to make for lunches or snacks during the week, like hummus or vegetarian chopped liver or peanut butter cookies. And I write the ingredients I need in the groceries section.

After my dinners are picked out, I have Sustain-a-table sorted, and my "extras"/advance work have been determined I write down FRUIT under groceries and often add things like soy cream and chips and hotdog buns for veggie dogs. And then I sigh in RELIEF that it only took me 20 minutes because I was able to do it while the baby was napping, because most often I do 5 minutes a day to get it done.

DOWNLOAD THE TEMPLATE HERE

Friday Favorites: BBQ!

The head chef at Hummus has this on his arm, sans flowers on her dress. BBQ pinup, oh yes!

I love to grill me some meat!

Today I went to Roger's Custom Meats here in PG and got some locally made (by Roger himself, I'm sure) tube meats. The meat comes from nearby and they are so fucking delicious.

I'll save you the backstory and tell you instead that I eat flesh AND a lot of vegetarian fare. There is something really comforting about a really nice hearty grain salad! Even though my family and I eat a lot of meat including beef from Vanderhoof, chicken and eggs from Beaverly Creek Farm (PG), and salmon from the B.C. coast, I do teach my kid about meat and where it comes from, I do make a lot or vegetarian food for my family, and I do make sure that I've made vegetarian AND vegan dishes for potlucks and bake sales that I attend.

And with that, on with the BBQ!

In case you were wondering...the 6 best Vegetarian Burger Recipes have been decided. It's official! Find them here.

Try this homemade BBQ sauce from smitten kitchen. Why? because it just makes sense.

I found this on Justin's blog, JustcookNYC.

Mark and I were in Vancouver a while ago and stopped in at Memphis Blues BBQ (got the most stuffed ever and almost yakked all over YVR security when they opened up our take-out container [barf] and made us throw out the best BBQ sauce ever. Apparently you can't take gels, liquids, or BBQ sauce on a plane).

But honestly, the best best best (best!) ever BBQ in vancouver has got to be from Pekinpah in Gastown. Surrounded by hipper than hip hipsters, Mark and I shared the most reasonably priced meal we had for the whole trip there. They serve the meats straight from the smoker/bbq and let you do all the saucing you want. It was most excellent.

Oh, I found another bbq pinup. She's so hot she's gonna burn up!

Project Version: Molipop's Dry-Erase Board

We love Molipop's May Flowers post where she shared her dry erase board project. We loved this idea so much that we knew we had to make our own as soon as possible. This project is really great because it reuses something beautiful (vintage material), it is practical, and can be done on the cheap. So cheap!

So Diandra and I figured we would 'Home Sweet Home' this idea. Here are our versions.

Diandra made up a print and colour background for her version. Download from here and print to the proper size for your frame. Colour it as you wish or leave it blank to be coloured again and again.

Here it is printed to regular size and put in a standard frame:

A welcome home gift for T.

I've been thrift-hunting for a big enough wood frame with glass since Molipop posted her project. Then I remembered my leftover window from from last week's tutorial, 'Somewhere to hang your hat'.

I made this one using another salvaged window frame:

I'm really pleased with how this turned out. I chose to cut my cardboard backing to the frame size, not the glass pane so there is tons of space to glue all kinds of crafty crap. I just started pulling stuff out of a craft drawer and found a bunch of stuff that mostly matched the material I chose. Then I added a few buttons and some measuring tape leftover from the 'Fabric Sampler Wall Hanging' tutorial. Done and done. I was finished (including clean up and photo-taking) in 45 minutes. I really like how there are sections (divided by bias tape) for lists and other messages. I don't have any dry erase markers but washable felts should do the trick, of course this will turn my board into a wet-erase board. Meh!

Late Nite Vegan Pizzas!

I'm a sucker for pizza. Every Friday around these parts is homemade pizza night (including homemade crust), and we sometimes mid-week will order pizza from Venice (so good, so cheap!), and most often I readily crave small homemade pizzas (like on english muffins). I'm a pizz-a-holic, that's for sure.



So, after a long day harvesting arugula, making pesto from it, getting over a cold whilst pretty much single-parenting all day (partner's at work for so long it seems!), and getting my shit together to make sure my week goes smoothly, I realized that I had a strawberry lemonade from sbux for lunch, and veggie dogs for dinner, and was HUNGRY. And then I slapped this together!

Late Nite Vegan Pizzas 
serves two! (or one hungry you).

Ingredients
2 naan breads (made without ghee)
2 heaping tablespoons vegan pesto
1/2 cup of shredded vegan cheese (I'm using daiya, but not yet sure if I like it)
2 pinches of nutritional yeast
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
10 grape tomatoes, quartered lengthwise

Directions
Preheat oven (with pizza stone if you have it) to 400F. Using naans as the pizza dough, spread one heaping tablespoon of pesto on each naan, leaving half inch "crusts". Sparsley sprinkle both naans with half the cheese, and top with one pinch of yeast each, 1 tbsp of seed each, and 5 tomatoes each. Top both naans with remaining cheese and bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes (depending on how crispy you like your pizza).  Serve with hot sauce (of course).

The Great Tattoo Conundrum, and a Craft!

Today my mans showed me a picture of this garland that spelled out "FUCK EVERYTHING" and in the process said something about how (I'm conservative) and wouldn't make it or put it up in our house. I laughed and said I would totally make one (I made two) and then my friend who is here from Vancouver mentioned something about how her motto in life is "Fuck Everything" as a representation of people telling her how to live her life and getting in her way. So there was an opening at a local tattoo shop and she decided she wanted to get it tattoo'd (! fun !). To make a long story short, we get to the shop and they won't do it for moral reasons, which is fair. But we were stunned, so we sat there, and I assumed they started rationalizing their decision because we looked at them so blankly. The basic gist was that "girls are pretty" and shouldn't have "swears" tattoo'd on them and to boot that we're young and we'll change and regret getting "FUCK EVERYTHING" tattoo'd.

Any tattoo artist can have any policy they want about who they tattoo and what they'll tattoo, but the rationalization that girls are pretty and tattoos with swears are ugly is more than a little sexist, and a man in his early 40s telling girls in their late 20s that he knows more about them than they do is even more sexist than the latter. It's frustrating, but nice to be reminded how sexist the tattoo industry is and how patronizing both male and female tattoo'rs are to people who want to get tattoo'd. Albeit, people in our small town get lots of bad tattoos and shops do lots of cover ups, but being steadfast ("we don't do it") without having to explain the backward logic, would be more welcome.

I made the garland out of construction paper and fingering weight yarn. I free cut the letters (!!) but you could draw them on in pencil first if you're a bit more tentative. Happy Weekend!

Thrift Store Finds

My oh my! What lovely finds I found today. There were a bunch of painted wood chairs that I passed up, a whole bunch of heels in my size, and a glass based lamp with a metal eagle on it. I didn't want to overdo it so early in the season. Besides, I am mid-purge and need to make some space for my future finds. Here are a few that I'll make room for now.

I have a thing for these birdhouses ($.50), they remind me of Mark. He has birdhouses all over the place! As soon as I get them home I paint them up and take them over to him. They look pretty cute on his mantle and piano or amidst the books on the shelf.

Some material for bags, a skirt, and a knitted basket (left to right, $1, $2.50, $2.25).

A couple metal flowers ($.50 ea) that will be decoration for my new bike basket (I found a black milk crate amongst my gardening things today). Some bling stud earrings ($1.00), someone hot glued some gems together, the rectangular ones make them look vintage, yea!

I didn't know that this game existed! Scrabble Sentence Cube Game?! Come on! All the cubes have words on them, and the players take turns dumping the works on the table then they make sentences within the time given. The timer was snapped in two pieces, I just love that. Anyone up for a game? You'll have to be pretty smart because I sure am.

I can never pass up these vinyl binders ($.50), my mom has one from the when we were younger that I love. It's like 70's flower camouflage, so trippy. I'll donate this small white board ($1.50) to RPGRG for displaying jam/bout scores during next season's games.

And just as I was leaving, I spotted these lovelies ($.50 ea) crammed in with the plastic jewelry. I promptly ripped the extra stuff off and added them to my stitch marker collection. I may have to give the little person one away, it is gummy and freaks me out. I can't really handle that texture.

May the thrift be with you!

Friday Favourites: Summer Drinks!!

Today on my way home from work I was fantasizing about all the cool and slushy/icy summer drinks I wanted to drink when I get home. MMM, I love summer drinks! Lots of ice! Pina Coladas double strong in buckets. Mojitos! YUM! Here's a few of my favourites!

 I die for whiskey sours and texas lemonades made with whiskey. So good. So summer! THIS is what happened the night we had texas lemonades (my birthday 2009!).

Norwegian-style Saft Sparklers! I've made this syrup recipe a few times, it's my definite go to.

 

 

Ginger Mojito made with Santa Cruz Gingerale! You can also muddle in some grated ginger for more zing!

Ice Cold Tom Collins after work? I must make some simple syrup, get a bag of lemons, and bottle of gin! You could also make a pitcher?

How to Start Your Own Sustain-a-table!

Sustain-a-what? That's right, Sustain-a-table. 

Cabbage Roll Feast!

Last summer our new friends Erin and Richard had me over to pick their pears (from which I made jam!) and Erin started telling me about how where they used to live (they're also recent transplants to Port Alberni) they used to have weekly dinners with friends that would be like dinner parties, but low key, vegetarian, and would rotate from house to house. She asked if I would be interested in doing something like that. I probably screamed YESSS!!! but within a few weeks our first Sustain-a-table was born (don't ask me how I came up with the name). And pretty much every single Sunday afternoon since then the host of families that have shown up have each taken a turn at hosting and making dinner for each other.

So, why do we do it?
Me and my family participate in Sustain-a-table like it's the lifeblood to our very existence. We rarely miss a Sunday and I love to host and most often go overboard when we do! For me, feeding people and being fed is crucial to my understanding of community building and sharing my home with "outsiders" (who are now "insiders") as a way of promoting dialogue, community activism, and healthy eating. Also, from a feminist perspective, Sustain-a-table is the perfect way for me to take my beliefs around activism in the kitchen and making it a public, political, act. The food I choose to make (local, vegetarian?), the way I cook it (SLOW), and how we serve it (reusable plates and napkins, people sitting on the floor or wherever they can find space) culture jams with the perfect Dinner parties women in the Western World are expected to throw as a way to entertain the cohorts of busy career-oriented husbands.

Almost a year in, the other reasons I live for Sustain-a-table just abound. First being that this ramshackle group of strangers are now our bonafied REAL DEALS friends!! wahoo! There are also a handful of babies for Seth to play with and the spin off projects are inspiring and kind of unreal. We've started two book clubs, a food buying club (bigger buying power equals cheaper goods for wholesaling and buying from farms), Sweet Avenue was started by members who met and know each other through Sustain-a-table, and everyone kind of works together to make things happen in our communities, families, and jobs. Talk about a quick way to build a solid network of friends and cohorts in a small community where it feels like it's harder to get "in".


So, how do I start my own Sustain-a-table?
My sister recently started a Sustain-a-table in Victoria and it's about 6 weeks in and going strong. Basically what you have to do is make a list (in your head on paper) of about 15 people who don't really know each other but you know would say YES to coming to your house for a FREE dinner on a specific night (we do Sundays, she chose Sundays, pick whatever night works for you and a few of your guests, the others will start to organize their lives around that time, that's dedication). Tell them what you're making and when they ask if they can bring anything say NO! (unless you want to do BYOB because it's OK to share beer costs!) Once you have a list of people, cook a tonne of food (within what you can afford!). We've had spaghetti and salad nights, and homemade sushi nights, and even a Caribbean Feast! Sometimes there is lots of beer and wine and the night goes on and sometimes it's just dinner and some dessert and people take off and get ready for their busy weeks.

You can invite people by phone (recommended) or email or twitter or facebook or whatever. But remember to remind them on the day of in the AM (or the day before). When you have everyone over for dinner (try to do something non-intimidating the first dinner to encourage future hosts!) and while everyone's eating loudly and awkwardly ask, "so, who wants to host next week?" Someone will come forward, promise! If they need help cooking or with $$ maybe two people can split the night, but remember there's no pressure to EVER host and you can just keep coming for free dinner!

We're now PRINT FRIENDLY!

While at HOME SWEET HOME we'd be the first to tell you to not print anything to save paper and money, sometimes it's nice to print things out, like recipes and tutorials! On a whim (and because I just discovered this today) I decided to install Print Friendly on our here Blog Sweet Blog! Even though you'll still maybe be printing, print friendly helps condense the content and remove the comments (and then you can pick and delete what you don't want from their version!) thereby saving paper and ink!

To use this option on HSH, you must be viewing the blog post in it's totality (not off the main page). And then just scroll down to the bottom and click the cool little "print friendly" button.

Happy HOME SWEET HOME-ing!

WIP Wednesday

Community: We PG Rollergirls are in full fundraising and recruitment mode. The gals headed to RollerCon are hosting a Garage Sale this Saturday. We've put a call-out for donations, have an ad ($40-totally worth it) in the paper (Thursday Citizen-Garage Sale map), and are planning to do a hotdog lunch at noon. The derby brats (our kids) will be selling iced tea/lemonade too. so there is lots to prepare before then. So, I'll be raiding the house for stuff to sell...vaccum, yoghurt maker, stash yarn, furniture, needlepoint, vintage luggage, books, kid stuff...

As for recruitment, look for us at the Father's Day Show 'n' Shine June 19th at Fort George Park and in the Pride Parade on July 9th. We'll be the ones in our underwear.

Oh yeah, this is something I snagged before it ended up in the garage sale and some yahoo tries to give us $5 for it. It is a large china cabinet with full glass front doors. My plan is to paint it up (a patina is the word I think), then put all my lovely dogwood serving dishes, bowling glasses, and my Grandma's china set in it.

Community: Bike to Work Week wrapup. What an awesome and successful event! We had 71 teams register and I don't even want to think about how many people we fed at our (locally sourced) BBQ at the Farmer's Market on Saturday! Phew, the kms are coming in, now comes the fun part: data entry, reporting, writing...PRIZE GIVEAWAYS!

Craft: Tattoo care. Handsome did this spoon-inspired design on Friday. Yeah, that's right. A spoon. I've been having all these great conversations about finding beautiful in everyday objects. Handsome and I were confessing about our collections and discussing how dangerous thrift shopping can be when everything you see is too beautiful not to buy. Cat was saying that if you collect things, you are probably an artist. I like that. pssst! Cat has a show coming up at the Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George. She has been making some beautiful household object art. Love it!

Kitchen: I've been moving a bunch of strawberry plants around, mostly into planters and better spots than the garden (too much shade once the birch tree leafs up). This one by the back door has some little green berries coming in already. I can already taste them. This is an ongoing WIP: Lots of planters. Everywhere.

Craft: Moving perennials and planting more seeds today. I've got peas to go in here. I'm going to transplant some lupine plants at the ends, I think.

Kitchen: Eating Bread. I've vowed that this bread will not get stale! I was up early and at the Farmer's Market and was able to score some bread before Monica at Red Rooster sold out. They use a wood fired oven on their property to make the best bread ever. Get yours early at the Prince George Farmer's Market or at Cimos where it is used it in their daily offerings.