local food potluck

this saturday (8/11), ryan and i are hosting a local foods potluck at our house at 931 idlewild ct. starting at 5pm. all are invited. bring friends and let's talk about ways to eat better and live more sustainably.

cheesemaking party

lisa graham and i will be making cheese sometime this thursday (7/12). let us know if you're interested in joining us and we can decide times based on interest.

article in financial times

here's a quick link to the article in financial times that jp was commenting about. pretty interesting read.

i love cheese

here's a link to a recipe for 30 minute mozzarella from the kingsolver book. this is my next undertaking.

what is local?

when it comes to foods like coffee, tea, dried fruit, etc., how can these fit into a local diet?

for fun...here's a place where you can enter your zip code and find out the areas within a 100-mile radius of your home. 100milediet.org/map/

eating local

in what ways are you trying to eat locally this summer or do you have specific hopes on how to have a more local diet? or do you think this is a load of crap?

local eating discussion

some of us are reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by barbara kingsolver and i can honestly say that i'm being inspired to become a locavore. starting today, i'm going to open my blog up for discussion of the book and eating locally. please feel free to comment and let me know if you'd like to facilitate any of the discussion. i look forward to our get together on august 11th.

trying to do better

fat baby and big feet
Originally uploaded by jodesterkoch

i haven't had much time to blog, but i'm going to try and put more pictures up on flickr as this guy fattens up. maybe i'll do better about blogging in the future.

new photos

Asher
Originally uploaded by jodesterkoch.

our friend erin labelle is a wonderfully gifted photographer. she did some belly shots for us and some 3-day old asher photos. we've put some new shots on our flickr account if you want to check them out.

sleepy baby

sleepy baby
Originally uploaded by jodesterkoch.

if only he would do this during the night.

baby mama

well, we've brought home a cute, little coneheaded kid. he's already starting to get too long for some of his newborn clothes. ryan says that he liked asher better when he was smaller. but he also says alot of stuff. here's a link to asher's hospital photo. the password is KOCH. i'm trying to get some photos up on my flickr page as well. here's a link to our flickr page. hopefully i'll get a chance to put some on soon.

photo shoot

jod20
Originally uploaded by jodesterkoch.

our friend erin labelle came over and took some prenatal shots last week. hopefully she'll do some birth and post birth shots. after this i won't post any more naked belly shots, i promise.

bare belly

dscf0038 (2)
Originally uploaded by jodesterkoch.

sorry if this is too immodest. i find it quite impressive!

the sphere of love

DSCF0042
Originally uploaded by jodesterkoch.

still waiting

i've been taking a break from blogging as we prepare for our urchin to arrive. please keep us in your prayers as it comes down to the wire! april 2 is our due date, but from what i understand that doesn't mean very much.

move along al gore

just wanted to give a shout out to the matthew sleeth article posted at the ashram. link. it isn't until now that i actually trust and respect someone who defends the reality of global warming.

james cameron and the davinci code

so, titanic producer, james cameron, has a documentary claiming that some folks found the remains of jesus, (his wife) mary mags, and a junior? the funny part is that i just watched the davinci code a few days ago. i wonder if he's read or seen it. it's like deja vu. you know, one day we'll figure out this whole God thing and we won't have to ask any more questions. is that what we desire? so now that we've found jesus's body (how many guys were named jesus during his time?) and some dna tests show that he might have been married to mary magdalene we're almost done. i'm still trying to get over the fact that king david makes me so angry yet God loved him and allowed him to be powerful. i can't handle this davinci code ripoff right now. does jesus have a moustach in that picture?

baltimore sun jesus article

fish fry and lent

last year ryan and i talked about going to a fish fry during lent, but didn't ever do it. this year, we're definitely going to take one in. every friday during lent, mary queen catholic school off of clays mill road is doing a fish fry from 5-7:30pm. link.
let us know if you're interested any fridays.

harry potter and the deathly hallows

i must confess that i'm a big fan of the harry potter and i'm excited to read that the last installment of the series is coming out on july 21. but are these books BAD? EVIL? that's to be determined.

are christian people bad drivers?

well, the only way that people can know that is if you put one of those jesus fish things on your car. if you're going to drive like an ass, just don't do it. for the sake of us who want to be christians, but still drive like maniacs...avoid putting the fish on your car.

sam's and costco are evil

i've been watching the today show this morning while waiting for king biscuit to awaken. they did a little blurp about the crazy (enter gnarls barkley) astronaut lady who attacked her lover's lover. astronut is what she is. they also did a segment on how costco runs. for those who don't know, it's like sam's wholesale. you can buy large amounts of mayo, toilet tissue, plasma tvs, grand pianos, rotisserie chickens, twizzlers, etc. they can cut the cost quite a bit when you buy in bulk like this. maybe almost half of what you would pay at a normal grocery.

you'd think that it would be great for organic farmers to be commissioned by one of the wholesale clubs to sell organic produce at their stores, but does that sacrifice the quality of the organic product? i mean, to grow anything in the bulk quantities that they would ask for, wouldn't that make the product fauxrganic? i guess organic standards aren't that high anyways.

don't these places exploit our consumerist society? who cares if the employees are offered fair wages. the people who are producing some of the shit that people buy probably aren't getting payed fairly at all.

so, even though it's tempting to shop at these places (good, cheap alcohol for one), i want to encourage us to forego that temptation and shop locally. yes, it's more expensive. but, why in the hell do we "need" half of the stuff in that store anyways? we're suckers for a deal.

p.s. i shop at target sometimes and love chick-fil-a. i don't always eat organic or locally. and frankly, sometimes i don't care. but, i want to do better.

learning from books

ryan and i were having a discussion this morning about fiction v. non-fiction readings. i was figuring out (out loud) that i seem to get more out of a meaty fiction book rather than a non-fiction. actually, i loathe non-fiction. possibly b/c i don't like people telling me what to do. well, maybe i don't loathe non-fiction. i can get into a thomas merton or henri nouwen book. but to me they seem old and wise. they have lived lives close to God. maybe i have some sort of mistrust for "new" and "modern" thought when it comes to spirituality. i'd rather read brother lawrence than philip yancey.

anyways, all of this to say that i'm listening to "to kill a mockingbird" on cd. i might be learning more from the words of harper lee than i have from any other book in a long while. i want to parent like atticus finch. i want to respect all humans like atticus finch does. i want to cry at hatred like dill does in courtroom when tom robinson is getting questioned by gilman. like miss maudie when her house burns down, i want to be able to let go of things beyond my control and be open to what life brings next.

if i can only open my eyes to see the traits in those around me that i want to emulate, then maybe i could learn to appreciate the non-fiction as well as fiction.

why starbucks?

i heard a blurp on npr this morning that was saying something about starbuck's stock rising and more shops being planted. my question to those who like starbucks...what is the draw?

joys of the mall

on monday biscuit and i went to play at the fayette mall. for those of you who don't frequent the mall like i do, you may be surprised to find out that there's a kids play area right, smack, dab in the middle. zach plays with other germ-infested children and i people watch. and sing along to the muzak. well, guess who was at the mall with a buddy. none other than steve zahn. the local celebrity. it's always a treat to see that fine actor. the muzak channel also played the worst song ever overplayed on the radio. "i touch myself". sorry if it's stuck in your head now. but seriously, it's a party at the mall. no wonder so many people love that place.

maybe a good film will actually win

one of the best movies i've seen in a while," little miss sunshine", is surprisingly up for four oscars. alan arkin (the grandad) is up for best supporting male. abigail breslin (cutest little girl) is up for best supporting female. best motion picture. and best screenplay. in the last two, they're up against "the queen" which will probably win, but i'm still hopeful. by the way, if you haven't seen "little miss sunshine", do so immediately!

the delicate art of southern food

today i've been so hungry. i had some scrambled eggs, cheese grits, and toast for breakfast. then another piece of toast. then some yogurt and granola. some orange. oh yeah, and a small, corner slice of pizza. all of this has been consumed within the span of four hours. dang. maybe i really am eating for two. no. that's no excuse. i love to eat. i love food. all types of food, but especially southern food.

the southern foodways alliance has an interesting "oral history" section on their website. you can follow the BBQ, boudin, gumbo, and tamale trails as well as learn more about the food culture that happens in a number of southern states. alabama's focuses on the birmingham greek restauranteur population. those greeks know how to cook. however, i must say that our family friends in b'ham that are lebanese make the best baklava. by far.

for those interested in the "greek" (not the country, but the fraternity) scene might get a kick out of the "ole miss cooks" section. it's all about cooks at fraternity and sorority houses at ole miss (university of mississippi).

for example:

Sigma Chi Fraternity: Willette Booker, Cook
“[Every Friday] is Fried Friday; that’s what we call it--Fried Friday…Tomorrow [for example] we have macaroni and cheese wedges--I will deep fry them. It’s--it’s breaded. It’s a breaded macaroni and cheese and it’s real good.”

this is why i always wanted to date a fraternity guy.

if you appreciate the south and our food, this website is worth a look.

some info on engine idling

now that it's cold, i often ask my sweet husband to warm the car up for me in the mornings. he does this and rides his bike. what a saint. maybe we should think twice about the whole warming up the car bit. union of concerned scientists article on idling. i guess i'll just ask him to scrape the windows now.

the gift

if i could get this as an anniversary gift for my husband, i would certainly do so. is this animal style? can you tell me what the big deal is about this meal? maybe you have to be a californian to appreciate it.

3 years of marital bliss...

happy anniversary to my sweetest husband!