When I first moved away from Alaska nearly 5 years ago, there was one thing I wasn’t anticipating having to deal with: allergies. For years I was allergy-free living in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. That all changed quickly upon making my new home in the Middle West.

I tried over-the-counter remedies, which left me feeling speedy and just “off” until one of my pals told me about the solution: locally made honey.

Honey has anti-microbial properties and has for centuries been used for medicinal purposes of all sorts, including as a dressing for serious wounds. It’s also high in antioxidants and tastes real good on cereals, in sauces, lemonade and all kinds of stuff. Still, the most interesting use I’ve ever heard of for honey is as a natural remedy for seasonal allergies. According to various natural health practitioners, pollen found in locally-grown raw honey works over time to desensitize the body to allergens much like traditional allergy shots work.

It’s working for me. The season so far has been allergy-free, even amidst rumblings from pals that it is unseasonably allergy-ish, and I would like to thank the East Side Co-op for selling multiple varieties of the stuff – it’s saved my sanity and made my summer completely enjoyable again. Thanks, bees and beekeepers out there : )

David Byrne is spot on with his thoughts for a perfect city:

A Talking Head Dreams of a Perfect City
The Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2009
By David Byrne

There’s an old joke that you know you’re in heaven if the cooks are Italian and the engineering is German. If it’s the other way around you’re in hell. In an attempt to conjure up a perfect city, I imagine a place that is a mash-up of the best qualities of a host of cities. The permutations are endless. Maybe I’d take the nightlife of New York in a setting like Sydney’s with bars like those in Barcelona and cuisine from Singapore served in outdoor restaurants like those in Mexico City. Or I could layer the sense of humor in Spain over the civic accommodation and elegance of Kyoto. Of course, it’s not really possible to cherry pick like this—mainly because a city’s qualities cannot thrive out of context. A place’s cuisine and architecture and language are all somehow interwoven. But one can dream.

>>> read the rest via DavidByrne.com

Stop.

Click on the image below.

Read it.

The WHOLE THING

Author Michael Pollan says:

The tulip, by gratifying our desire for a certain kind of beauty, has gotten us to take it from its origins in Central Asia and disperse it around the world. Marijuana, by gratifying our desire to change consciousness, has gotten people to risk their lives, their freedom, in order to grow more of it and plant more of it. The potato, by gratifying our desire for control, control over nature so that we can feed ourselves has gotten itself out of South America and expanded its range far beyond where it was 500 years ago. And the apple, by gratifying our desire for sweetness begins in the forests of Kazakhstan and is now the universal fruit. These are great winners in the dance of domestication.

How to handle a whole side of beef:

Our fave pizza place in MPLS is making quite a splash all over.

Good thing, too, because they serve delicious pies made with fresh, organically grown ingredients all produced within 30 miles of here.

Go Galactic!!!

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Our pal, Jennie the Potter, works with a group of other folks on Powderhorn Empty Bowls, a community-based, volunteer-driven organization who’s goal is to eliminate hunger from the neighborhood in and around Powderhorn Park in MPLS.

They throw each and every bowl by hand. Then, for an in-kind donation they fill your bowl with homemade soup. Eat the deliciousness and then keep the bowl. The funds generated go to neighborhood resources to help put an end to hunger in MPLS. They have already made a significant impact in their short history so far.

This is the stuff this country SHOULD be more about.

You can check out their great work [and donate!] at powderhornemptybowls.org

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My friend Jennie the Potter hooked me up with my first sourdough starter and i’ve been waiting patiently for it to stabilize so i can feed it to double it in size in prep for baking.

you can make a starter from scratch or acquire one from any number of places.

once you’ve got a starter going, it’s much more straightforward to keep one healthy than i thought. here’s the basics :
every week, feed it one cup of flour and 1/2 to 2/3 cup lukewarm water. mix it up well and put back in fridge if it’s not going to be used right away.

from what i’m told, it’s tough to kill a starter, even if you leave it neglected in the fridge for months. you can usually bring them back to health easily.

so, if i can do this, you sure can! making homemade bread is just a satisfying way to spend some time – it pays off huge in flavor and is better for us than store bought bread.

once you’ve got a good starter going and you’re ready to bake some fresh loaves, you can use the following as a guide :

1 cup starter
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups water
mix
fridge overnight
next morning take out
let sit for 2 hours or until it is bubbling
add a tbsp of salt and a tbsp of sugar
work in 2 cups flour
knead until satiny
oil it up and let set until it doubles
cut in half
using cornmeal on parchment, shape the loaves [should make two]
oil them
cover with plastic wrap
let sit til doubled
slash loaves
bake in preheated oven at 450 for 20 minutes
bake for 10 minutes and turn
brush tops with butter
loaves are done when tapping bottom sounds hollow
for rye we can sub 1/2 cup rye flour, too if preferred

that’s all there is to it – thanks, Jennie!

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