Lila Downs Video Showing Tortilla Making in Oaxaca

April 10, 2014

Food

...ngeles Bread Bakers sent me a link to this music video that shows tortilla making in Oaxaca. The song is “Palomo Del Comalito” (Dove of the Comalito) by Lila Downs. Note the huge corn tortillas, proof of the regional diversity of Mexican cuisine (and one of the many details I got wrong in my tortilla press post–thanks for the corrections Gloria). Lyrics in English after the jump. The beautiful people of this land Grind corn A miracle of their hand...

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Checking in on Kelly’s projects

Mrs. Homegrown

September 12, 2014

Miscellaneous

15 Comments

...his very ambitious project has gone on hold until the crisis arises again. Making a mattress is intimidating, just because of the sheer cost and scale of the materials needed, and as far as I can tell, there’s no one out there to help you do it. If I ever do make a mattress, it will be like summiting the Everest of homesteading. On the other hand, if I ever learn how, I think I could make a mint teaching other desperate people how to do it themsel...

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New Project: Making Bitters

Mrs. Homegrown

December 16, 2013

Domesticus, How-to

5 Comments

...I’ll share the recipes I develop as I follow this path. In the meanwhile, making your own bitters is really easy. You may be able to throw a few experiments together just using things you find in your spice cabinet. Since these are flavoring, not medicine, you don’t have to be as careful with the quantities and timing as you must be when tincturing herbs for medicine. Yet at the same time, it’s a great introduction to that essential herbalist’s c...

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A White House Vegetable Garden

Mr. Homegrown

August 4, 2008

Gardening, Thoughtstylings, Vegetable Gardening

3 Comments

...rnia’s Chez Panisse. Waters asked then president Bill Clinton to grow some vegetables at the White House. Clinton responded, “send me the seeds Alice” only to renege on the idea, claiming that it would interfere with the historic and formal White House garden plans. But what about that White House putting green? San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom broke ground this summer on a kitchen garden at city hall. Former mayor “slick” Willie Brown responded l...

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Hexagonal Raised Vegetable Beds: SketchUp Saves the Day

Mr. Homegrown

January 27, 2014

Gardening, Vegetable Gardening

11 Comments

I must again sing the praises of SketchUp, the free 3d modeling program that has been incredibly useful around the Root Simple compound. This weekend it was time to design some new raised beds and I didn’t want the usual rectangular configuration. SketchUp allowed me to quickly draw up a plan and estimate materials. Using SketchUp’s protractor tool I figured out the angle I needed to cut the wood. I suppose I could have looked up the angles of a...

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