I *heart* the Farmers Markets

Mmmm ... summer. We seemed to bypass Spring in Vancouver, but Summer is here on the calendar at least!

Today was my first trip to the local Farmers Markets for the year - just on the corner of Comox and Thurlow in the West End. Last week Sean and I went to the Trout Lake markets - still the biggest that I know of, but reasonably busy, and very long queues to anybody selling berries! This time, I went early, and local. I love living downtown, I really do.

I managed to pick up:
2 lbs of organic cherries for $14
1 lb of sugar snap peas for $5
2 zucchini for $1.50
2 lbs of red and yellow peppers for $6
A small tray of Shitake mushrooms for $3
1 lb of organic cherry tomatoes for $4.90
An organic eggplant at $2.50 / lb
An organic bok choy for $2.23
A pound of organic baby spinach for $2.50
And a large container of kalamata olives for $6
Organic strawberries and organic raspberries, for $4 each box

I actually paid attention to the prices this time, as in the past I just spend whatever then come home and adjust my budget accordingly. Now, I am trying to be a bit more ... proactive ...

I had fun too using my change to make most of the purchases - loonies, toonies and quarters, and some small notes - it let me get rid of a lot of our change, and helped the sellers too.

Mental note: remember next time to take my own produce bags, as well as my big shopping bag to carry everything in.

Now - to deseed and freeze a lot of the cherries, for the fun of winter smoothies. Tonight, I think the shitakes and bok choy are going into the quinoa miso stew. I have already troughed a lot of the sugar snap peas - they are just SO GOOD.

The Clothing Chronicles

So one of my main missions is to put together the optimal wardrobe. Yeah.

Sox and I have spent a fair amount of our adult lives being transient, which involves living somewhere for a while, then purging all unnecessary belongings before heading somewhere else. I have significantly streamlined the clothes that I own because of this. I got to the stage where if it didn't fit into my backpack, I was obviously never going to wear it again.

Thrift Stores have done very well out of me: both for donations and purchases.

Anyway, as I have streamlined this process over the years, I have worked out that separates are my friends. I owned minimal shoes. One pair of Doc Marten boots (black, eight hole) would last me daily wear for three years or more. I am now on my third or fourth pair, I think. I like them - A LOT. Really.

However, as an early-thirty-esque who now works reliably in an office, I have found that my wardrobe needs are changing. I work corporate. I go to the gym (well, I'm planning to). I hang out with buddies. I have two weddings to attend this year. But I still want to be able to shove things into my backpack and pull out a perfect variety of clothes at the other end. Old habits die hard.

But how can one fit these needs into my current philosophy of wanting to Do Things As Well As I Can ?

In no particular order, here is my agenda with clothing items. They must be:

Organic
Recycled
Low carbon foot print / made in Canada / supporting local community / fair trade
Economical
Sustainable practices
Durable / long lasting
Natural fabrics
Original
Versatile

I am trying to put these into a proper hierarchy, but essentially if it isn't organic, it must be recycled. Everything should have as low a carbon footprint as possible, which means that I want it to have tranevlled the least distance to reach me. I need to be able to afford it. I need it to be versatile and durable, as I am going to hammer it pretty hard and use it A LOT. Really.

I am planning to outline this in more detail later on, just wanted you to have the basics now.

Yes.

Costume making

As a stilt walker, I often get very specific requests for costumes. Most often, I am happy to oblige. I think the highlight was a last-minute zebra, created in an hour to wear that night. It looked great.

I enjoy sewing, but I am not fantastic. Basically, I am confident, and I can sew a straight line. The confidence is more important. So, I am going to try and outline the basics of how to make costumes - quickly, easily, and economically.

It's not rocket science, it's costume making.

Yes! New and improved vegan hair gel

Okay, so this is not the normal sort of stuff that I make, but you don't know that yet. This is my caveat that not all posts are going to be this non-linear, or adventurous. I don't think so, anyway. Time will tell.

I decided to make my own hair gel. Not just any hair gel, but a vegan one. One that's organic. One with a small list of ingredients (now THAT's hopefully a recurring theme in the making: "Small list of ingredients"; keep an eye out for that one). My aim was to make something to give me a bit of bouce, and help contain the frizzies. I get a lot of frizzies.

I have a book by Barbara Lord, called "Green Cleaner", or something like that, which has a gel recipe using gelatin. When I read that, it slowly dawned on me what hair "gel" may be made of. Yes, I know, sometimes I am slow on the uptake. So, what's a vegetarian substitute for gelatin? I can think of two: pectin, and agar. To the best of my limited knowledge, pectin works on reactions with fruit juice, which moved it further down the list of useful possibilities. Bearing in mind there were only two options on the list, that made my next choice rather simple: Agar, or agar? I chose the latter.

I dutifully mixed my agar powder with hot tap water, and some lavender oil (the recipe called for eucalyptus oil, but I didn't want to smell like a koala, even if it was a koala with stylish fur). I kept a patient eye on it, while it sat in its pyrex jug, returning to room temperature. Please note, I have not experimented with agar in the past, and eating it has always grossed me out, so it's not like I had much experience to go on. The agar packet indicated that it could be used 1:1 to replace gelatin.

I was doing this quietly in the kitchen while Sox was in the lounge. Our place is small. After a while, he asked what I was doing in there (it's not often that I am suspiciously quiet). When I replied honestly: "I'm whisking my home-made hair gel to check the consistency". He had to come and look; and prod it, like I did.

The recipe in Lord's book had directions that involved the word "pour". Once this agar-and-hot-water had returned to room temperature, I can tell you that "pour" was not an option, but "tip the container upside down until it all flops out in one mass" was. This seemed a less likely version of the desired end result. [Insert small yet untrue visions of me plopping a full yoghurt container of goop onto my head here].

It became obvious that I should also have made a control batch following the recipe accurately, in order to get a comparison. But no, I don't tend to work that way. Besides, I was trying to avoid gelatin in the first place. However, I am able to acknowledge my limitations. I am aware that this is one of those instances where it would have been useful to try doing things properly, to find out the success of substitution. (That's going to be another recurring theme: the success of substitution).

I tried using it for one day. I scooped (not poured) a small agarous mass from the yoghurt tub and rubbed it through my hair. Not overly rewarding, a little bit chunky ... basically it was a lot like cheap hair gel. It did indeed hold my hair in place, though. I'd say 5 out of 10.

It was time to experiment. I plopped the mass into a larger bowl, and added more hot water, and whisked again. I discovered that agar - unlike gelatin - does not simply remelt when one adds more hot water. My sister explained it to me nicely: she's good with scientific stuff like this. She said it was like trying to uncook an egg. I liked that. I could understand it. So experimental batch #1 made it to the garbage, and experimental batch #2 began - now with more hot water!

Much runnier. One might even say it could be poured. Hrm. I transferred it from tacky yoghurt container to empty liquid soap bottle. Now it has a pump pack. Classy. I didn't want to put the gloopable version into the pump pack, for fear of the way it would probably have to hack it out to get anywhere...

The verdict on the updated pump-pack version: Now it's too runny, but probably much more like the original recipe. I am pondering the try-and-add-a-little-bit-more-agar-powder approach until I get the consistency, but I just know that's going to make it too hard again. Best leave it alone for now, and simply make the next batch with a middling amount of water. I would say 7.5 out of 10.

It's nice to have the faint smell of lavender, though. Very subtle.

Al makes a(nother) blog

Many moons ago, I created a blog here on blogspot. I merrily typed away, storing all my ideas, as much for my own benefit as for the chance of anyone else reading it. I liked the idea of having random thought available as long as I had an internet connection.

Then, you know, I kinda got over it. Not over the concept, just over the actual posting aspect of it. "I'll do it later" was a common phrase in my head.

Until I left it for so long that I have completely forgotten the password to get in there. As well as the email address I would have given them in order to retrieve my password.

Good work Al.

So, here is the new and improved version (meaning: I have now written down the password). Yay! Welcome!

I still don't promise to have anything useful to say.

Thanks for sticking with me!