Week One Over

One week's gone. All's well. Though, I really would love a biscuit. I was pointed to this article the other day, which led me to eatonlyirish.com. As for mr. o'connell's "participation", I struggle to empathise with anyone finding challenge in a diet of any kind that lasts 3 days. Seriously, "living off"? I've cooked dinners that have lasted 3 days. Obviously I'm just moody from lack of sugar and caffeine.

Anywho, will be checking the site for some recipes and tips. I'm not sure how much of it I can avail of though. For me, I've found the bigger hurdle, and personally the more relevent in terms of ecological matters, is finding foods not wrapped in plastic. This is especially a problem being a vegetarian. I avoid shopping in healthfood and eco stores, as practically everything is wrapped in plastic bags. There used to be the Olive Green delicatessen in George Street Arcade, which served grains and pulses and dried fruits in big sacks, scooping whatever you needed into bags yourself. It was run by Claudia and Brendan, who are quite passionate about the ethics of food industry (they also own Matchabar in Powerscourt, a lovely little tea emporium). It moved to No. 12 South Circular Road, and though the shop is still there in some form, under different management and name (can't remember the new name), it doesn't maintain the same quality in regards it's dried goods and grains and again most things are plastic wrapped. Worth going to though if you find it, nice little spot. A few of the markets sell loose grains, one I would still go to on Cows Lane on Saturday's Temple Bar Food Market.

All of this is still pretty irrelevant to my current position, as such foods would be predominantly sourced overseas. I would think oats and maybe a selection of seeds would be Irish grown. I'll check at the weekend.

Have started to keep a record of my days' eats.

Tuesdays meals

• breakfast Very plain porridge in milk
• lunch Home baked bread, toasted, with soft-boiled egg with mint tea
  
• midday snack Apple and oat bake with hot cooking apple water (as a drink. surprisingly tasty)
  
• dinner Boiled potatoes, carrots, steamed broccoli
• tea Rest of midday snack

Sold a few pictures today (including the one below), which means trip to Dublin to get some good farmers market grub. Woohoo.



Like this; John Salminen via curiousities & clockwork

Honey and the Hiltons

I'm thinking of temporarily changing the blog title to "Invert This Plate".

How do you make biscuits, cookies and sweet things without sugar? Answers please. Would like to make some form of cookie/oat bar that still tasted like a cookie/oatbar, sans sugar. Must get some honey. There are a good few Irish honey farms (according to their websites, enquiries in the mail; bunratty fine foods, mileeven) kelkin also do one, but they're a UK company so that probably means double the millage. Obviously when it comes to luxury foods like sugar, chocolate and honey, it's purely a matter of limiting my own demand than any sort of criticism of industry (not that that's what this is about...ish).

Things are starting to grow. Lettuce is of edible size as are a few herbs, potatoes and peas survived the ridiculous winds. Random hint I learned; snails don't like walking over broken eggshells, scatter them around the base of plants. Other thing I was told recently. Grow Calendula Officinalis, it can be eaten as a herb with nutritional benfits similar to tumeric. It's a type of marigold. not the african or french variety that you use in companion planting to keep bugs away. Mine's just sprouting;



Spent the weekend volunteering at Flatlake festival, with the delightful Eilis Een, who saved me after my food rations ran out, arriving with a pocketful of hard-boiled eggs. Fantastic idea. In saying that, it being the hippy side of festivalia, there were a few home grown veg on offer. Oh, and mint tea from the Eco Bus Cafe (runs on its own vegetable oil). There were many great acts. Saw the Amazing Few twice, cause they are that much fun. Henrietta Game, four-piece bit of an Amiina/Mum vibe (though one of the singers verged uncomfortably close to Damien Rice territory from time to time), "ou"s, "aa"s and twinkly sounds, but some nice solid songs. Playwright and poet Tom McIntyre, just one of those voices that fills the air with meaning and stories that make you nostalgic for an old Ireland. His recital of "Miscarraige" was particularly poignant. And The Strypes, four very young boys who played as tight a set as any other act that weekend, with an absolute killer song choice. Possibly the only time I've heard a covers band do Summertime Blues justice.

Of course, I just have photos of trees and houses... I don't try to be this uncool.





I'm awful talkative these days, hope you don't mind. Will start putting together food-related lists later in the week, make this ranting some way useful.

Need Flavour

Phoned some slightly paranoid jam producers, to figure out the source of the fruits they use. They didn't seem too keen on those sort of questions. Found myself answering more than I was asking. Went for G's Gourmet Jam, blackcurrent flavour, berries grown in Wicklow, or was it Wexford... There is sugar in there though of course. I had hoped sugar might be safe enough, but Ireland hasn't produced it's own sugar since 2007. I haven't opened the jam yet.

Undecided for now on how fussy I'll be on ingredients of products like jams and chutneys. Allowed myself a bit of sugar in my own baking (at least till i get my hands on some honey), but I could start making all sorts of excuses for myself if I start letting things by.

Dinner today was potato, swede and tomato stew type thing, in a stock of nettle, fennel, chives, oregano and bit of basil. It was edible (i'll not offer a recipe though). It could do with salt. Pepper. Onion. Garlic. I'd gotten the swede(turnip) more out of curiousity. Will be eating a lot more root vegetables, and I haven't eaten one of them since I was about 5. Its still an unpleasant vegetable. The nettles were purely for nutritional value. I make nettle tea every now and then. Never for the taste.

Heading to Flatlake festival for the weekend....I may be fasting for a few days.

Here's a watercolour, almost finished;

No Plastic No Air-miles

So, I'm going on a diet. No plastic, no airmiles, for the month of June. I had also planned on giving the blog a break for the month as well, but a friend asked me to keep a diary of how things go, so i'll blog about that, maybe put up a few recipes, if i come across anything interesting.

The basic rules;

• nothing flown/shipped from over seas - (so irish produce, local as possible)
  
• no plastic packaging - (which is everything!)
• no heavily processed foods - (mainly because the more processed the more unkown ingredients)
  

I've been planning this a while, as a long term way of eating, and been buying food with this in mind for about a year, since the BP spill and from spending my days learning about gyres and landfills, but more as a vague guide that conveniently avoids things like teas and sugar and salt and bisuits (all those things that make food tasty...).

i've a few exceptions, for the time being;

1. Milk/buttermilk - tetra paks are 22% plastic. plus i'm not too sure of the sources of ingredients involved in the pastuerisation process or feed for the cattle. Will try source some local producers, that maybe use refillable glass.
2. Butter - not entirely sure this is an exception, wether or not plastic is a component of the foil packaging.
   
3. Reduce to clear sections in groceries - Only if there is an abundance of produce. Hate food wastage, especially when its because of a date printed on a package. But mostly I'll avoid buying things here too.



Things I'll want to source;

• Honey - there are plenty of irish honey producers.
  
• Nuts, seeds, grains - i'm a veggie, i needs me minerals.
• Wild herbs/edible weeds - so far my forraging skills amounts to nettle tea and dandelion rissotto (alas, no more rice...) And its not quite berry picking season
  

So yes, going to focus the blog on this for the next while. Might make a seperate page for it, somewhere to list food produce and recipes and things. For now, here's some random little sketches;



my niece and nephew made me some geometrically awesome birthday cards;

Feeling listless

on the grounds of st davnet's monaghan

pure stubborn
watercolour on recycled card 19cm x 24cm

RCNI | RAWA

"The HSE has informed RCNI (Rape Crisis Network Ireland) and SAFE Ireland that all of our core funding will terminate, in its entirety, on June 30th 2011."

RCNI and SAFE are seeking to reverse this decision, requesting people contact the Minister for Health, Dr Reilly (drjamesreilly@gmail.com or james.reilly@oireachtas.ie ) and an Taoiseach, Enda Kenny (enda.kenny@oireachtas.ie).

Follow link for more info.

RCNI: http://www.rcni.ie/real-rape-crisis-help.aspx


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A total of 2,765 cases of violence against women and girls were reported in Afghanistan last year.

"The incidents included 144 self-immolation, 261 attempted suicide, 237 forced marriage, 538 beating and 45 murder cases. The self-immolation attempts left 75 dead and 20 others disabled. Twenty-two individuals recovered after treatment."

RAWA: http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/rawanews.php?id=2239#ixzz1MS5CexBp


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Sham boxes

I was helping mr john harrison make some boxes. here's a few i put together this morning from some old pallet wood.

this wonderful painting is by kaiser caimo

Also, new page on the website.



Music :: nina hynes on repeat.

treasure hunting

emily has plenty eyes and ears for learning and enough hands for doing, but little needs for taking.

watercolour on 19 x 24.5cm reclaimed card.

Shelter from the Storm

haven't much to show you. so i'm mostly going to talk about music. there is this though, graphite and house paint on random bit of wood (unfinished);



Check out the latest New noise podcast. A special listen out for the opening and closing tracks. Sweeeeet! That Fixer track may be a new fav.

Great gig in Whelans on Thursday; Catscars, Ilex and Angkorwat. had yet to see ilex or angkorwat live, so was especially looking forward to them. Can generally be the case with that sort of synthy, laptop music that the live performance just doesn't translate, but they were brilliant. Just quality tunes, and major dancing urges. I probably talk enough about ilex on this blog, but if you haven't heard her, i recommend Bells W/ Nobs On as a good place to start. (Then i recommend you pay the neat little euro each for the rest of her tracks up there and hope she makes an album soon).

And this, a lovely film about a lovely teacher. short simple little piece but beautifully shot and edited.

Shelter from the Storm from John X. Carey on Vimeo.

Shop updates

Two new drawings in the shop. Painted on recycled card. Check it.



and this in the works;




Also, the blog title image was in much need of changing. We like?


Oh, and in case you haven't seen this yet. Lykke Li, being her delightful self. Lovely vid;

Lykke Li - Sadness is a Blessing (Director Tarik Saleh) from Lykke Li on Vimeo.