Food and Plate Art

Playing with your food may be something unheard of at the dinner table in your house but, it's now a thing of the past for Casa de Perrin, which creates beautiful works of "plated food vignettes."

These plates of art food art bring a bit of fun, joy, and excitement to the average dinner plate.  It might even make you rethink the plating of your food each time you sit down to eat.

To see the full spread visit Oh Joy! 

Photo Credit:  Andrea Bricco via Oh Joy!

Eco-Tip:  Picture taking has come a long way since the first camera to grace us with it's presence.  Digital film has become the staple in some households, but film is still used by some.  When it comes to film cameras remember to recycle the film cartridges when it's processed and go with film brands that allow recycling of their own film.  If you aren't sure were to start, give Fuji Film a try.  For more tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

    

Road Trip: Kickin' it at the County Fair

A few weekends ago we took a drive over to the Linn County Fair here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. We always like to make an appearance every year at the county fair so that we can pretend for a moment that we live in the country.  It helps us forget about the city noise and "issues" for that brief day.  We saw a lot of animals, heard the goat auctions, saw some rabbits and chickens, and even ran into one of Skylar's buddies from school.

They were setting up for the rodeo and Skylar wanted to watch the tractor raking the dirt.  He couldn't remove his lips from the snow cone long enough to get a good shot, but I will say, it was a pretty good snow cone though.  :-)

The black and white cows have always been my favorite.

Skylar's pal from school (Trayvon) showed us his "soft as a cotton ball rabbit" he was showing at the fair.

After seeing the chickens and rabbits, we headed over to the tractor display.  Skylar even found a table showcasing LEGOs and we all got to color a quilt square to add to the blankets for Project Linus.

The LEGO At-At Walker was Skylar's favorite.

Jeff was pretty proud of his firetruck quilt square to add to the blanket.  He even labeled it with the LFD (Lebanon Fire District) where he works.

We found us some Rangers.  

And a cow with pink hooves.

Setting up the stage for Sawyer Brown to preform live later that night.

It was a pretty good day overall.  After the fair we hit the local burger joint here called Burgerville and had us some locally-grown, organic food.  

Rosemary chicken sandwich!  My favorite!

Skylar colored a picture to add to the coloring wall while we were there too.

Then he headed off to his first EVER sleep over at a buddy's (Lucas F.) house.  I have to cut the apron strings eventually, right?  :-(

Eco-Tip:  When making the switch to a more eco-friendly lifestyle, picture what life was like for Pioneers and the like.  Pick "hand crank" items over electronic ones.  Dipping slowly away from electric dependent items throughout your home is a great way to live a more greener lifestyle.  For more tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

Our Garden Currently: Growing Potatoes

We are a "sometimes" meat and potatoes-type of family here, so we wanted to give a go at growing the potatoes part of the meal.  Under my kitchen sink has always been a prime growing hole for many things...potatoes, onions, ginger, and I even grew a family of field mice under there once (yeah, I know, gross), but nonetheless it was a great area to start a few potatoes and once they shot out their tentacle eyes we carted them out to the garden and began planting them.

Planting them straight into the ground is the best approach I do believe.  We have tried the planter-type of planting before, but never had good results with it.  The picture below is from last year and we never got any potatoes from it.  I think it was because the roots of the potato couldn't spread in the planter like it can in the ground, but that's just a "amateur" yard gardener's point of view.  

I found a few clever potato goods though in my hunt for the best potato growing items.

1.  Kiddie Gardens 2.  Liebermann Pottery 3.  The Garden of Eaden 

4.  A Growing Tradition  5.  Farm Natters 6.  Gardening-Advice 

After doing some online investigation, we still decided to shove them straight into the composted soil mix and take our chances in the ground.  

Hopefully these little guys will give us brown Russets all the way till fall.  My hopes are high!  

For more ideas on growing potatoes, check out the article at Sproutabl.  It goes into great detail about soil requirements, watering, companion plants, etc. Great way to give you a head start on becoming a potato farmer! 

Spark of Loves this Week

Life's changes bring about wisdom and experience, but it also brings forth some loves that you can brag about.  Learning new cooking skills, a new baby, or even a new car can bring forth some present loves that are worth sharing.  Here are a few of the things I am loving lately and have to share.

Blue Sky Ginger Ale.  Made with organic, all-natural, REAL ginger.  Love it!  All the Drink Blue sodas are a amazing though, by the way!

Appreciating the little things in life.

 

Learning to forgive and move past trauma and abuse through yoga training and practice.  It's taken awhile, but I am THERE!  Forgiving someone does not okay their behavior, but it allows you to move on and carry on.  Yoga is a great way to help you cope with the issues that life throws your way.  

Living a more meaningful, eco-friendly lifestyle.  

Trying out new items that are Mother Earth approved.  I'm still on the fence with this one.  :-)

Traveling a lot more.  I hate plane rides, but I am loving the trips!

Giving up Facebook as one of my "necessary" social networks. Sorry Zuckerberg, it is what it is.  

Watching Skylar become an in depth, 'for the love of Star Wars' fan.  I've learned a lot about Star Wars in the journey as well.

Cherry Tomatoes.  I will be so glad when my cherry tomato plants have the little treasures for me soon.

Making the switch to better purchases.  This one is still a work in progress, but every little bit helps.

Shopping and depending more on my local Co-op.  

Smiling.  Instance mood lifter!

This quote.

LC's Crafty Creations Video Series.

Reaching out to understand other cultures and beliefs.  There's a lot to learn out there!  Knowledge is an endless playground.

Falling in love with oatmeal!  Every morning, people!  (Hint:  Blueberries are amazing paired with oatmeal)

Decorating more with the Arkansas Razorback!  Red never looked so good!

What are you loving lately?

Eco-Tip:  Mail-order magazine subscriptions can be costly and waste a lot of paper in the process.  If you're an avid magazine reader consider an e-Reader.  Some brands cost under $150 and provide the same great magazine at your fingertips without all the paper waste.  For more tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.