We watched “Fresh” today. It’s a terrific indy documentary about food – real food. It is reminiscent of Food, Inc., but it really focuses positively on the organic farmer. Vote with your wallets, people. I know this film convinced me that a few “cheat” items are going to be banished from my house. We do pretty well around here, I think, but there is much, much room for improvement.

The movie’s trailer is below, but I warn you: it is not for little eyes. There are some scenes of animal factory farming that I simply could not watch. My son watched, however, and told me when it was safe to look. (I am not kidding.) I know where bacon comes from and as a confirmed vegetarian, I don’t need to see that part again.

On that note, this film in no way condemns meat eaters. In fact, juicy burgers from a grass-fed, humanely raised, pastured cow are featured and indeed, celebrated. What the film does condemn is the unnatural factory farming that results in sick, diseased animals who live and die in horrible conditions before ending up on someone’s plate. (The monoculture farming that is resulting in more and more herbicide and pesticide use on plant crops is prominently included, too. This covers it all.)

All in all, Fresh is a celebration of good stewardship – an appreciation for the gifts and bounty we have been given – and a call to return to real food.

My friend Cindy Hosea (see her terrific photos at www.upstateparent.com) journeyed to Iraq in late 2010 with several Gold Star Moms. The group met with Iraqi moms who had also lost their children in their country’s fight for freedom from tyranny. Cindy’s photos are featured in the video below. The moms (on both sides) are braver than I can imagine.

Giveaway in the post below – scroll down for Yuletide pleasure…

The boy’s study of fungi in biology happened to coincide with a dearth of decent mushrooms in my local store. I figured homeschooling was the perfect excuse to order a kit from Back to the Roots, something I’ve wanted to try for a while.

Man, oh man, these things are tasty. Mushrooms are a little like snakes to me. I am perfectly happy to interact with them as long as a genuine expert can assure me they aren’t poisonous. I don’t trust myself to identify either of them, so until we grew these, I’d never had a truly fresh ‘shroom.

BTTR kits grow pearl oyster mushrooms on a substrate of recycled coffee grounds. Super green stuff, here. And it’s all pretty easy. (Don’t follow my instructions! Be sure to read and follow the steps in the kit.)

We sliced open our bag of yuck (no smell, just unattractive) and soaked the bag in clean water for 24 hours.

(It  helps to weight your bag down with Fiesta bowls. Maybe that’s just me.)

Mist your bag two or three times a day and wait ever so patiently.

About two weeks later…

Mushrooms as big as your head! (More or less.)

We sautéed these with onion in olive oil and served them over spaghetti squash. Oh, so tasty! We then resoaked the bag and started the process again – our second flush of growth (from the same side) was a little smaller, but just as yummy. Those were eaten in a burrito, with leftovers tossed in homemade veggie soup the next day.

We are currently awaiting another crop from the other side of the bag.

These are a lot of fun for homeschooling (all ages) and make a terrific green Christmas gift. They are available online (I ordered mine from Abe’s Market) and I have since found them at my local Whole Foods. Yum!

First the words:

Some December words are online at www.upstateparent.com and www.palmettoparent.com. Check out the new online digs.

I am a little late on this one, but you can read about manners for kids online. I got some great reminders from that one and I hope you will, too.

I had a great time connecting with folks from my hometown as I wrote several stories for the current issue of Pee Dee Business Journal. I am a swamp girl, through and through.

Now the music:

‘Tis the season for new Christmas music, people. This one from FFH is a lot of fun. It has delightful takes on some timeless classics. Can one have too many versions of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”? I think not. A real treat is FFH’s version of “Glorious Impossible.” Remember that one?

“Praise, oh praise Him, praise the glory
Of this lavish grace so full
Lift your souls now and receive the
Glorious Impossible!”

This is a great set for an evening in front of the fireplace, basking in the light of the Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas, peeps!

I received a download for review. Opinions and potential warping of Gaither lyrics are all mine. Gracias, amigas.

I enjoyed the penultimate Twilight movie. “Breaking Dawn, Part 1” was well done, with more laughs than I expected and a nice maturing of the series and the actors.

SPOILERS BELOW

As I’ve said here before, I haven’t read the books, so I can’t speak to how well the movies follow along. However, I do rely on my daughter for that info. She was perplexed as to how this movie could be made with anything less than an R rating. They did it, but just barely.

My bottom line on this one: It was a lot of fun. It is not for the littles. While not an R-rated film, this one is more in the neighborhood of a PG-15. I don’t think 13-year-old kids are ready for this content. Moms, by all means, enjoy.

My hail of bullets:

• I hope Bella’s stunning, modest, elegant wedding dress sets a new trend. Wow, oh wow, it was glorious.
• Kristen Stewart really came into her own with this movie. She had a nuanced performance that I didn’t expect. Robert Pattinson also rose to new heights here, in my opinion. Taylor Lautner (forever known as Shark Boy at my house) took his shirt off approximately 3.2 seconds into the movie, making me laugh out loud. Unlike the last installment, however, I didn’t hear any open weeping once the abs appeared on screen.
• Parent, ESPECIALLY parents who haven’t read the books, you need to know that this is a darker story than in movies past. And my praise for Stephanie Meyer’s “abstinence until marriage” insistence continues. Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving young people something that shows this is not only possible, but honoring for both people. However, they get married in this one and thus, the pay off comes for the angsty couple. The honeymoon scene shows no overt nudity, but this is no “kiss and cut to black” scene. It is prolonged and way over the top for kids. Don’t expect vampire honeymoon sex to be anything less than torrid (in a PG-15 sort of way).
• The CGI wolves still make me think, “Oh! CGI wolves!” There were a few cuts in this movie that pulled me away from a compelling moment with the happy couple into CGI-ville, breaking the lovely stride Stewart and Pattinson shared here. Ack. How can you do that aspect of the story without CGI? I guess it’s the best answer.
• Stay through the credits! This is important. Do it!!
• There is a real goodness to this series. I am looking forward to the final chapter. Love, family, commitment, chivalry – all have prominent places here. That’s something we can all celebrate.

Ladies, I was given a chance to review Rebecca St. James’ new book, “What is He Thinking?” and I want to give you the chance to win your own copy. If you’re an old married lady (like moi), you should probably know what he’s thinking, but those still in the dating stages might not have that insight. (Clue: My husband says his love languages are bacon and pie.)

Rebecca St. James (yes, the singer) has compiled a survey of sorts, asking men to reveal their thoughts on dating, love and marriage. What she ends up with is a great reminder to young women that men mostly want what women do: someone of good character who is honest, fun and sure of their place as God’s masterpiece.

I am passing this along to my semi-adult girl child, even though I think she knows most of this anyway, a fact that is reflected in her choice to date a very nice young man who seems to cherish her for who she is. There are some good reminders here for anyone who is dating or newly married, I think.

Have a look at Rebecca’s site at www.rsj.com. Preview the first part of the book here.

I received a copy of the book for this review. My opinions are 100 percent my own.

And don’t forget, today is World Prematurity Day. Know the signs of preterm labor! Click over to March of Dimes to learn more about the life-saving discoveries taking place. Babies are being saved at 23 weeks (earlier?) now. That was a pipe dream just a few years ago.

Winners!

Christmas Lodge DVD:

Susan in SC writes:
No. 1 — November 4th, 2011 at 5:50 pm

Looks like a wonderful movie!

Math games:

trish writes:
No. 6 — November 10th, 2011 at 8:41 am

I would love to win this. we do a lot with dice to help with adding and numbers.

After using a conventional co-op for a bit, we tried a local organic produce co-op.

The food was over-the-top wonderful, including fresh baby salad greens, grapes and more.

Note to self: DIY allergy testing with eggplant (or anything) is a bad idea. I believe I have confirmed this newly acquired allergy and lived to tell the tale. It’s sad when a vegetarian can’t have eggplant, especially the yummy Asian ones used in curry.

In any event, the food was great. The price is a consideration, though I will use this, especially in winter. The pickings are pretty slim then elsewhere for local stuff, unless you want to eat kale every day. This particular co-op includes produce from a hydroponic farm, so they have local, organic tomatoes and such, even in winter. (There were some items in our basket that I could not have gotten at Whole Foods or Earth Fare at any price.)

Hidden amongst the other goodies there are parsnips and leeks. I had never cooked or eaten parsnips before this and they were quite good. I used this recipe and it was a simple, wonderful dish. Even the boy liked it. I used the remaining leeks in a basic quiche, which was also a hit.

Don’t forget to scroll down for giveaways…

We had a fun day at the South Carolina State Museum recently. I get a bit obsessive over miniatures and these are part of a large display. (Oh, the irony.)

Can’t you imagine yourself there?

Or as one of Doolittle’s Raiders?

Free stuff below…

We’ve been trying a produce co-op for the past few months. I have friends out west who have been using one with great success, but this is a fairly new thing in our area of the country. These photos are from a September basket. As you can see, the food is plentiful. 

It has been an interesting experiment, having someone else dictate what’s on the menu for the week. I do like that aspect of it and it has certainly challenged me to try new things with meal planning. We are taking a break currently because this particular co-op isn’t able to offer an organic option right now and we are trying to focus on eating organic and local produce as much as possible.  (We tried an organic co-op last week. More to come on that…) If you usually buy conventional produce at the grocery store, this is a terrific option. Essentially, the food comes from the same folks who supply our local stores, but at a significantly reduced costs. (I believe most produce co-ops work that way.) I can’t say that I never buy conventional produce, but I try to limit it and certainly not buy the “dirty dozen,” so I needed to make a switch until some other options are available.

Have you tried a co-op? If so, did it change your meal planning?