Posts from — March 2010

(20 Minute Jim) “Wholesome” is the word I’d use if I had to sum up the Lenten Fish Fry at St. Sebastian’s in Dearborn, MI. And if I was describing just the operation, I might even say “efficient.” St. Sebastian, I learned, is the patron saint of athletes so it seemed particularly fitting that the meal was served in the gymnasium/lunchroom of the parish school. Near the ceiling, the room was ringed with home-made banners featuring, presumably of the other Catholic schools that St. Sebastian plays.

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One of our local coffee shops, Sweetwaters, does a nifty, generous, earth-loving thing on a regular basis.

Sweetwaters packages up the used coffee grounds in the large bags that their beans come in and puts them out for customers to take home to feed their gardens, indoor plants, or compost piles. Whenever we see a bag or two available, we are happy to pick them up and bring them home. Coffee grounds and paper filters break down pretty fast and are excellent additions to our compost piles.

We drink coffee at home too, and we habitually put the grounds in our compost. For a while, I was organized and conscientious enough to bring home grounds from the coffee hour at church too. Imagine if people made the effort to practice in their institutions, like school and work and church, the good habits they undertake at home, like recycling, reducing, reusing… and composting. Like all “little” bits of change and effort, the effect adds up. We need to be watching for ways to make our own small contributions. The opportunities are out there; we just need to notice them and then make habits of them.

And to acknowledge small acts of kindness, like Sweetwaters taking care of the earth by not putting coffee ground into the landfill wast system and instead taking the time to package up those grounds “for garden goodness,” as they put it.

Thanks, Sweetwaters!

Believe it or not, this is the best thing I made in the Rec & Ed Ceramics class that 20minuteJim and I took last year.

You might be wondering “Why?” as well as “What the heck is that?”
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I grew up in the Detroit area and heard much made of Stroh’s “fire-brewed” beer. Now that I make my own beer, I realize that this claim was far less exotic than it seemed, but ever since I got the woodstove, I’ve wanted to attempt a batch of beer on it. Last Sunday afternoon the weather was beautiful, and brewing seemed like the perfect excuse to stay outside. I had *most* of the ingredients for this recipe, but I figured since this was an experimental batch anyway a bit of careful variation would be tolerated.

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Imported used to mean something, she says in her most curmudgeonly tone of voice…
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