Saturday Tweets: Cast Iron, Astroturf and Testing Your Microclimates

.../t.co/qj0S6jL5Z2 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) November 10, 2014 Silver Lake urban farmers get into turf war over artificial grass http://t.co/7Ce8xODsTK via @TheEastsiderLA — Root Simple (@rootsimple) November 14, 2014 From Farm to Patient Tray: Retrofitting the supply chain to meet hospitals’ demand for local food https://t.co/aPU7iE7ewJ — Rachel Surls (@RachelSurls) October 24, 2014 Drought: Beverly Hills is big water user; East L.A. is the lowes...

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Loquat Season

...ces, the parkway and people’s front yards making them prime candidates for urban foraging i.e. free food. The tree itself has a vaguely tropical appearance with waxy leaves that look like the sort of plastic foliage that used to grace dentist office lobbies back in the 1960s. In short it’s a real tree that looks fake with fruit that nobody seems to care about. The loquat tree invites considerable derision from east coast types. Blogmeister, extrem...

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Solar Oven Triumph: Fluffy Egg Strata

...track of the exact quantity. Also, I used an equal mix of half n’ half and water because I didn’t have milk.) • 1 teaspoon sea salt (This was a smidge too much, probably due to the Parmesan being salty. I’d use less next time, unless my cheeses were more mild.) • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Equipment: You need one lidded cooking dish for solar cooking. I made this recipe in one of the 9″ round enamel pots which come with the Solavore...

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SurviveLA Food Review: Mary Jane’s Farm Organic Buttery Herb Pasta

...tead of a foil pouch, which is nice). All you do is add 3/4 cup of boiling water, reseal the bag and wait for ten minutes. I used a Pepsi can stove to boil the water, incidentally. It cooked well, with only a couple of the elbow noodles escaping hydrating and ending as crunchy surprises on my fork. The pouch claims that it holds 1.5 servings: a Mary Jane’s Organics eccentricity. I scarfed the whole thing down without difficulty and I’m a girl. I t...

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Quick Tip: DIY Decaf Tea

...tea as you normally would, but start counting as soon as you pour the hot water. After at least 30 seconds but no more than 1 minute you pour off all of what has brewed so far. And yes, that’s all the good stuff. It’s sad, but being all headachey and jittery is sad too, so I do it. Then you top off the tea leaves with fresh hot water and start the brew again. This one you drink. Commercially decaf tea is lower in caffeine than this homebrew–just...

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