Tina Nixon

David Huang wrote:

Thekla McDaniels wrote:I haven’t eaten much pasta in the last dozen years, because of the phytic acid in the grain.

I don't know if your issues would still apply, but thought I'd share that my girlfriend avoids gluten and thus looks for gluten free pastas.  One we use a lot is a brown rice/quinoi pasta.  Personally I find it just as good if not better than traditional pasta.

Piling on here - we had to switch from supermarket brands like Ronzoni GF because of the weird taste to an Italian brand named Rummo - luckily it isn't expensive, but we can only get it at one of the stores in the area. If you can find it, it makes any GF pasta dish taste a lot better, and it doesn't shed quite as much starch into the cooking water.

Rasili O'Connor wrote:I add mustard (e.g. French mustard) and horseradish to the sauce. Gives it that tangy (flavoursome) taste.

1000%!
Always a little mustard, even for the mustard-haters. It's like fish sauce: essential for the dishes it enhances, and as long as nobody has an actual food sensitivity, just do it & don't tell them. I've had too many bland mac and cheeses because I left out the mustard, and too many bland Thai dishes from leaving out the fish sauce.

I've gotten super lazy and now just use a can of evaporated milk and shredded cheese, and that's it! Initially, this was because gluten free mac and cheese made with a roux can get either crumbly or rubbery, but we've come to really prefer the lack of starch in the sauce. You can do this in the microwave or oven, and it comes together within a couple of minutes.

Since it’s now August and autumn is around the corner, I’d like to mention one of my fave energy conservation gizmos: a bed pig. It’s a stoneware jug with a screw-top & you fill it with hot water. Ideal for warming the bedsheets, but also perfect for setting your feet against while sitting in a chair. Not to mention, my bf has restless leg issues, and heat along the inside of the instep seems to help minimize symptoms.

I attached an image of ours to this post, but I’m not sure if it worked. There’s a decent selection on Etsy right now. The prices might seem high, but they’re all about 100 years old, so it kinda makes sense. I have found that the bed pig saves money & energy by increasing personal heating, and it can do it as long as there is a way to heat water (which means it works even when the power is out), so it was worth it for us to invest in 2 back when I had a corporate job.

A caution: I’d discuss proper packing for shipping if you order one - I received one that was in shards because the seller incorrectly assumed that it was solid enough to handle shipping without an interior box & padding. Considering that these are out of production, that was a crushing loss. I wonder too, if an enterprising potter could make money by resurrrecting this no-tech warmer?

Grant Hawkins wrote:Hi all,

I'm working on a simulator game that includes aspects of permaculture.

It's based on the Stanford Torus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_torus), a design done by NASA in the 70s for a self-sustaining rotating space habitat for 10,000 people. It includes agriculture, raising animals, using fish to recycle nutrients -- all with a very small atmosphere (compared to Earth). The basic iteration will have generic "plant" "animal" and "person" categories, but v2 will be broken down into Dairies, Beef, etc.

I'll be posting videos from time to time on my Youtube channel (http://youtube.com/granthawkins88), and if you ping me on Twitter (@granawkins) I'll send you a link to the current project!

I'm doing this because (1) I'm a huge fan of space exploration AND sustainable agriculture, and (2) to teach myself to code. It's going well so far. I'm only marginally familiar with this stuff, and am looking for feedback on my approach.

Cheers,
Grant

Hi Grant - this is cool! I’m not on Twitter or FB and was wondering if there’s another way to get a link from you. I used to work in corporate UX & I study game design as a hobby & work on tabletop RPG materials with my BF, so I’m interested as hell in seeing what you’re able to do with this!

There’s a lot of great info on YouTube these days as well.
I love this video on hand-finished seams:



There are also these awesome people on YT these days working on historical costume, some of them as an alternative to buying fast fashion/disposable fashion (the cheap clothing made unsustainably & with poor labor practices)

- Morgan Donner is a hoot & her video on drafting a gored tunic is pretty interesting (to me - maybe also you, who knows):
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- Constance Mackenzie is a historical costuming consultant and lives 24/7 in Edwardian times: no electricity, antique sewing machine, makes her own ironing starch - she’s pretty awesome.
Here’s her channel link:[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ClFJYwA3lDagY4igPKddg[/youtube]
And from there you may run into the rest of “costube”, the world of costuming on YouTube, which is a rabbit hole and if you find yourself in there....I’m in there, too, so say hi.


The great value of these sources is less that it’s about making costumes, but more that they tend to focus on older methods  of sewing, pattern drafting, fabric use, etc, that’s a lot more permies than much of the modern fashion channels I’ve seen, but of course YMMV.

T Melville wrote:Do you have an aquarium? I suspect you might be able to overwinter one by rooting a cut off top in water, then dropping the roots in the fish tank to get it out of the way. I'd keep the rest above the surface. Some terrestrial plants don't mind going aquatic, but I don't know if that includes sweet potatoes. I'd let the vines grow as high as they would grow upright, but cut them off when they tried to lay down. That way they could gather light, but with a minimum footprint.

This definitely works - I have aquariums and use a terrestrial plant like sweet potato or Malabar spinach to help consume excess nutrients in the water & the leaves are great as a cooked vegetable.
I also just grow sweet potatoes in a container of soil & can either just use the greens or plant some out in the late spring if I want to try and get tubers from them. Sweet potato vines are beautiful, so they’re truly a multi-function plant.

This is great to know! We have slowly acquired some vintage cast iron pans, but are still missing some handy sizes. I’ll check them out!

I’m growing yacon - it’s been multiplying nicely for the last 5-6 years; crosnes for the last 3 or so, skirret, and runner beans & dahlias. This year, I added winged beans, which also have edible tubers. We have tons of day lilies around, but I hesitate to eat it in case I am prone to its surprisingly laxative effects. I’ve been a big fan of yacon - the yields are huge, they store through the winter easily as dormant tubers much like dahlias do,and everyone in the family likes the taste.

I have been through many pairs of flip flops and have found the Sanuk  yoga slings to be the most affordable & I find the back strap to be crucial.
If your feet & gait allow you to wear flip flops, my faves were Chacos - they have a nice arch support built in and they’re sturdy. They generally lasted me multiple seasons for each pair.  However, as a personal trainer, I’ve personally found & advised clients to try to not wear flip flops, mules, or loose slides,because the tendency is for the toes to clench & hang onto the shoe, which alters walking gait. So even though I loved my chacos, my foot & calf musculature responded much better to the Sanuks. Everyone’s gait is different, of course! There are certainly people wearing flip flops without any issues.
I saw that Teva was also making some styles with back straps that weren’t crazy expensive, as another choice. My BF wears Oboz sometimes & seems to like them, but is also transitioning to sandals over flip flops.