At 21, I'm at an age where I've started to figure out what my values are, and am trying very hard to live by them (idealistically and almost certainly naively, but that comes with the territory). It means that sometimes I find myself making choices that might seem sort of extreme, which is completely normal.

A decade from not I'll probably find myself with a more "mainstream" lifestyle (or the mainstream will change), giggling about the person I used to be. I'm fine with that, it's as it should be. But I'm not going to let it ruin the fun of this phase.

Right now I'm reading about handling money, because I realized that I know nothing about it (other than the very general "don't blow it all on candy and pretty toys," and "pay your bills on time").

The book, Your Money or Your Life defines money as "life energy" (which sounds cheesy, but really it's just trying to make you think about the time and energy they spend at work), and asks the reader to really think about what they value. What material objects are really worth the time and energy that goes into earning the money to buy them. The book also encourages the reader to take some time to write out a list of the things they value, so that spending habits can be better examined. This fueled a little writing session for me, as I thought about what I really want in my life.

I'm not comfortable sharing what I wrote, but here are the highlights:

• Creativity is important to me. I'm happiest when I'm making things, so I want to spend as much time as I can making stuff. I don't care if it's a story, a drawing, a knit something, or just a decent loaf of bread. I want to share what I make with others, as gifts or whatever. And I don't care about the number of people I share with.
• Being trustworthy/responsible. I want the people I care about to feel like they can count on me.
• Being useful and active. Having a wide skill-set and working to the best of my ability. I like feeling capable.
• Living up to my own values, even if it's difficult.

Everything else sort of falls under those 4 categories. As long as I'm living up to that, I'll be happy with my life. Everything else is just gravy :)

Kitchen Organization

I've been reading this article, and it has me thinking about pantry organization.
My food cupboard is mostly organized. I keep beans, rice, pasta, and popcorn in glass jars (I use 1q canning jars because they're airtight, clear, and inexpensive). I've got a tupperware container full of tea bags, and one with some garlic in it (I know I should do something about that, garlic ought to breath. But I like that it's contained, and I haven't gotten around to searching for another solution).

I became something of a stickler about not using original packaging a couple of years back, when I had a minor mice infestation. Once you've reached into a seemingly unopened box of granola bars and find that one has been gnawed on, you're a little reluctant to trust any container that isn't hard. Even if you know you don't have a pest problem.

I like my containers to be clear, because I'm lazy. I don't have the time or the energy to go through a cupboard full of opaque canisters. If they're labelled? Well... labels aren't nearly as apetizing as looking at the food itself. There's something beautiful about a cupboard full of jars of brilliantly yellow popcorn, brown rice, green dried split-peas, and mahogany kidney beans. It's gorgeous, it makes me hungry, and it puts me in the mood to cook.

Even with the glass jars, I like to label my food. It's helpful. I don't second guess myself when a jar is clearly labelled (sometimes it's easy to get jars of similar-looking beans and grains confused). It isn't hard or expensive to label jars. I use a piece of masking tape and a permanent marker. Easy peasy. And it looks cute.

All that said, there is definitely some room for improvement when it comes to organizing my food cupboard. I have opened bags of flour and sugar cluttering up the baking shelf (ripped paper is so MESSY), and I keep my baked goods in ziplock freezer bags (my rolls are too large for the 1 quart jars). I keep my cooking oils in their original containers, which are too large to fit in the cupboard and have to sit on top of the fridge instead.

I need to figure out a solution for all this. Here are some ideas:

• Store my flour and sugars in large airtight clear plastic containers. (I've thought about using glass canisters, but that'd be way too heavy and there'd be a risk of shattering. I've been looking at different types of containers, but I really need to measure my cabinets before making any major decisions on that front)
• Invest in a cookie jar
• Get reusable containers to devote exclusively to cooking oils. (They'll need to fit in my cupboards, have good lids, and be easy to pour out of. This would probably save money over time, because I could buy my cooking oils in bulk. Just keep the smaller containers filled, and store the larger ones someplace secure and out of the way)

I like to think I'm pretty well organized, but there's still a lot more waste than I'm comfortable with. Does anyone else have suggestions? How do you organize your pantry?





My food cupboard right now. It's not too bad, but there's obviously room for improvement.
 Top shelf: non-perishable staples like grains, beans, and canned tomato.
Middle Shelf: snacks, breakfast stuff. There's a bag of chocolate chips I need to put in a jar, and a plastic bag full of bread
Bottom shelf: baking stuff. Bags of sugar strewn all over the place, jars of stuff not set neatly at all.
On top of the fridge: The cereal and box of instant oatmeal aren't mine, the containers of vegetable oil and olive oil are.
On top of the cupboard left to right: thermoses, one of my tiny casserole dishes, sugary breakfast cereal (I was feeling indulgent this week), a container full of  "cheap white rice" for bulking up soups and such.

Turkey Broth

Today I'm making turkey broth, and lots of it. I had a turkey carcass in the freezer left over from Thanksgiving and I was sick of looking at it, so last night I threw it into a crock pot and covered it with water. It cooked overnight and all day I've been straining liquid into wide-mouthed jars, letting them cool, and then chilling them in the fridge.

The idea is that chilling the broth makes the fat rise to the surface. I then remove the jars from the fridge, skim off the fat, and store THAT in it's own special jar (labelled "schmaltz". It'll be fun to cook things in turkey fat). Then I pour the broth into ice-cube trays and freeze it. The broth cubes then go into a specially labelled freezer bag, for later use in soups and stews. I like this storage method, because it's easy to pull out a bag and grab however much I need. I don't have to worry about defrosting a huge block of broth, or about it spoiling. Win win.

I also organized my part of the freezer and found:

• a freezer bag full of the remainders of several bags of commercial frozen vegetables (there was broccoli, green beans, peas, and carrots)
• a freezer bag full of lemons, already halved and juices squeezed out
• a bag labelled with my name and the words "veg stock" it had some celery tops and the ends of onions in it.
• a bag of chicken stock
• a tupperware container full of cooked chicken pieces
• a tupperware container full of cranberry sauce
• an opened bag of frozen shelled edamame
• a container of yogurt, which didn't freeze to the consistency I expected and is now thawing in the fridge.
• half a gallon of ice-cream
• a serving of lentil soup

And now there's turkey broth and a bag full of cooked turkey pieces that I picked off the carcass.

One of these days I'm going to have a week where I just cook out of my pantry and freezer. I'm sure it would be good eats.

Handmade Holiday 2011

A couple of years ago I decided that once I had my own place and my own life, I wanted my holidays to be as simple as possible. I still feel that way. I want home to be a cozy place filled with things that I've created with my own hands, and the smell of food that I've cooked. I want the holidays to be about enjoying good food and good company, and maybe an exchange of small thoughtful gifts.

I've never been into the noise and stress of conventional holiday preparations. I hope I won't get caught up in all that as I get older. Simple, low-key holidays seem to be where it's at.

As a part of this commitment to simplify my holidays, I've decided to make all of my Christmas gifts this year (I can knit and cook). It's a lot of work, I'm about halfway through my knitting projects and the holiday is less than a month away, but I'm having fun with it. I love being able to design and customize every single gift, making it special for the people on the receiving end.