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Attila is working away to get the hole in the house closed in. He works in the shade on the north side of the house. The sun is shining on the south side and the temperature has risen ten degrees since I looked out at the thermometer just after dawn this morning. It is a good day for working out of doors. My bread is kneading in the machine. My laundry is washing in the machine. I am typing this on the machine. So much of modern life seems to be experienced through the medium of machines, for good or bad. I have noticed that I tend to write in the mornings. I am a morning person, so this makes sense. In the morning the day stretches out before me, and usually, almost always, what will happen during that day will be pleasant. Occasionally what will happen will be exciting. Rarely what will happen will be sad or bad. Today looks like it will be peaceful, filled with the sounds of hammers and saws, the smell of fresh baked bread in the kitchen and sun baked pine needles at the side of the road when I head out for my walk. Since Ariel had her bout with breast cancer, I have paid much more attention to such things as plastic. Plastics (estrogen) and breast cancer seem linked to Ariel’s condition, as her family medical history includes no cancer whatsoever. There is no way to know what triggered Ariel’s cancer, but it has been a wake up call nonetheless. Yesterday I spent my time removing food from plastic containers and repackaging it in glass mason jars. I was inspired to do this after making a pot of soup to which I added a “soup mix” consisting of dried barley, lentils, peas and beans. The “soup mix” had been stored for years in a plastic storage bin, the plastic designated as food grade storage. My soup was inedible, the taste of the plastic overwhelming. I flushed the soup down the toilet, to feed the septic system, which appreciates such concoctions regardless of the taste. This was the inspiration to eliminate plastic food storage. On Friday night we purchased two dozen mason jars at the Canadian Tire store, one dozen one liter jars, and one dozen one and a half liter jars. Of these only a few jars are now left empty. I have been searching for large six-liter jars, but have found nothing in the retail stores so far. When I find these jars I can complete my storage transformation, moving the larger bulk items into glass. For short-term, leftover food storage, we now use wide mouth mason jars to store acidic foods like tomato sauces and applesauce, and metal bowls (Attila’s choice) for low acid foods such as cooked rice, meats and vegetables. I doubt that we will ever be totally free of plastic storage, but we will minimize it. Now my cupboards open to neat rows of jars, whose contents are all different colours, shapes and sizes. It is so much easier to find what I want, and to remember what I have! |
RECIPES :: Cast Worldly Distractions  ...better window than a door. By the Easy Chair Dutch Interior by Frank O'Connor Weather Sunny Temp 14°C Press 103.5 kPa? Visibility 15 km Humidity 20 % Dewpoint -9°C Wind SE 15 km/h |
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