Announcing Our New Solar Cooking Initiative

...r can create meals of the same quality as those I turn out with my kitchen stove. Not “It’s not bad for solar” but “Hey….this is scrumptious!” More than that, I want to figure out what solar ovens do better than real ovens. I want to master the vocabulary of solar cooking. I figure the learning curve is going to be high–it’s like having to learn how to cook all over again–but I’m excited to have the Solavore Sport on hand for these experiments, be...

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Coffee Roasting Demo at Summer Nights in the Garden July 8

...t. We’re going to show you how to roast your own coffee with a Whirley-Pop stove-top popcorn maker. Sweet Maria’s Home Coffee Roasting has generously donated the green beans we’ll be using. We’ll be repeating the workshop 6 times throughout the evening. There is a separate, free reservation system for the workshops that you can sign up for once you are on site. But show up early as the workshops fill up quickly. Black Rock Observatory. If the coff...

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My Marie Kondo Obsession

...hoot a web series with Takahashi. At least you get to see her DIY, foaming stove cleaner tip. Last night, in our nightly YouTube hole viewing experience that’s part of Kelly’s recovery process (and mine too!), we watched Kondo take on an American family with kids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21sWodZgFxM As usual the kids and the man of the house seem to have disappeared while the decluttering was taking place. In fairness, Kondo addresses this...

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The Secret of Tidiness Revealed

...thrift store first may be necessary for the more wayward members of the untidy tribe. What do you think? Tidy tribesters–are you laughing? Untidy tribesters–are you weeping/making excuses/confused/skeptical? And I haven’t even touched on the issue of a tidy person living with an untidy mate!...

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Julian the Apostate’s Sleeping Advice: Sleep on the Ground and Your Mattress is Freeeeeeeeeee

...pains later in life. It’s possible that the softness of our mattresses are making our muscles and bones weak, just like the terrible running shoes and orthotics that ruin our feet and collapse our arches. It turns out that the last pagan Roman emperor has ideas about how we should sleep. Ammianus Marcellinus’ Roman History Book I, contains a description of emperor Julian the Apostate’s austere sleeping habits: And when the night was half over, he...

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