What Not to Recycle and What to Compost

I like to think of myself as a fairly recycling-savvy and compost-savvy person. As it turns out, I learned some things from an article posted by www.SaveSFBay.org. Here is a sampling of the full article by Allison Chan:

"One thing you can do to ensure that your city’s recycling program is as effective and efficient as possible is to keep unrecyclable products – potential contaminants – out of your recycling bin.  Many products that are commonly thought of as recyclable actually are not, and putting them in your blue bin increases the chances that they will contaminate glass and other recyclable materials at the facility.

Here is a list of non-recyclable products commonly placed in recycling bins:

• Compostable plastics (usually marked “compostable” or “biodegradable”)


• Waxed cardboard and paper (milk cartons, pizza boxes, juice boxes, paper cups/plates, and many to-go boxes)


• Soiled cardboard and paper (coffee filters, greasy pizza boxes, paper cups/plates)

The good news is that many of the products above are compostable.  Be sure to ask your city if you have a composting program and if it accepts items other than yard waste."

I have a pizza box sitting in my fridge - it's full of pizza at the moment - but when I go to throw it away, I now know with confidence to toss it in the big green compost bin, which for me is a nice little bit of clarification that clears up my head-space for much more important things like, "Should I order my next pizza with extra pepperoni?"

- Jocelyn Broyles
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Montara Mountain Hike

Otherwise entitled: Snakes, Natural Grass and Views, Oh My!












I have taken to hiking since my move to Montara in early May. For those of you who know me, this is akin to say, your 80-year-old grandmother telling you she's going skydiving with you for your birthday. i.e. I don't hike. Or, I didn't. That was BM - Before Montara. And now, all that's left is AF - After Montara, in which I like hiking.

Having cleared that up, I have always liked snakes. So my excitement and joy over a snake in the trail (who seemed to have just had a mousy-snack) is nothing new and relatively un-newsworthy, compared with the hiking thing. On my walk back down the hill, I stopped to gather some cat-taily like grass for my new vase that was sorely lacking in something to contain.

I thought I should verbally tie all those title things together for you, lest you worry about my sanity. Which, in all fairness, you could still do.

-Jocelyn Broyles

Operation Shoebox: Donations to Our Service Men and Women Overseas

Brianna H., one of our star employees, goes above and beyond on most jobs, but this one tops the list.

She is spearheading a month-long campaign this July to collect donated items and handwritten cards to send to service men and women overseas who could really use some comforts of home.

Canning Recipes (and Canning How-To)

[caption id="attachment_372" align="aligncenter" width="529"] Image © Ball Canning Jars[/caption]

I don't can. I love the jars, I love the stuff inside the jars, I don't love steps that have to be performed perfectly. I'm more of a, "Oh look, a pretty picture with a recipe! Hmmm, I don't have that ingredient, or that one, but I bet I can wing it. And I only have a round pan, not a bundt cake pan, but that'll be fine." kind of a cook.

So when it comes to canning, I tend to think, "I'll do that next summer."

But now I work for a bunch of family-run ACE hardware stores, and Ball canning jars are all over the place right now, which leads me to think, "Well, maybe this is the summer after all.

And come to find out, canning is actually pretty easy. You do have to follow some basic steps, but I can foxtrot, so surely I can can. Right?

Here's the canning how-to guide I'm going to follow this season, and it includes carefully marked steps as well as a video. I can do this!

[caption id="attachment_376" align="alignleft" width="300"] Image © Andrea Nguyen[/caption]

I happen to love pickles, I happen to have a good friend who grows cucumbers, and my family happens to hail from the Midwest, which predisposes in me a penchant for bread and butter pickles, so I'll start there.

This recipe is coped in its entirety from Freshpreserving.com:

Makes 2 (32 oz) quarts
For when you want to make just a few jars of Bread & Butter Pickles, use this recipe featuring Ball® Bread & Butter Pickle Mix - Small Batch with Pickle Crisp® Granules for crunchier pickles!

You will need:

3 1/2 lbs pickling cucumbers (about 14 small to medium)
2 1/2 cups vinegar (5% acidity)
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup Ball® Bread & Butter Pickle Mix
2 Ball® Quart (32 oz) Fresh Preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:

1. PREPARE canner, jars, and lids according to manufacturer's instructions.
2. CUT ends off cucumbers. Cut into 1/2 inch slices.
3. COMBINE vinegar, sugar, and contents of pouch in a medium saucepan. Heat to a boil.
4. PACK slices into jars. Ladle hot pickling liquid over slices leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars. Apply bands and adjust to fingertip tight.
5. PROCESS in boiling water canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude*. For best flavor, allow pickles to stand for 4-6 weeks.*Increase processing time: 5 minutes for 1,001 to 3, 000 ft; 10 minutes for 3,001 to 6,000 ft; 15 minutes for 6,001 to 8,000 ft; 20 minutes for 8,001 to 10,000 ft.

-Jocelyn Broyles

Maker Faire 2012

A large congregation filled with explosive creativity, unique inventions, enthusiasm for knowledge, and countless fans certainly deserves an official event....maybe its own faire? Is it even possible to contain such diversity all in one place? Well of course! And congratulations if you guessed this event right because I am talking about the famous Maker's Faire; the perfect heaven for an invention junkie!

There are many reasons to attend such an event, and for those who have not had a chance, it is time to clear room on the calendar. Not only is this a perfect family attraction to attend, but it is also embedded with a dash of engineering fun and a pinch of science and technology. You can even learn how to pick a standard lock and solder together a ring! Inspiration is everywhere and those at the faire who had harnessed its capabilities really showed their success with flying colors.



Where else can you find a giant umbrella sculpture that whenever a listener of curiosity presses a button, flames shoot into the air with magnificent fury? Where else can you find two Teslas being fortified as a musical instrument while simultaneously sending out bolts of electricity onto a cage filled with enthusiastic children? Where else can you find motorized cup-cake cars manned by people zipping around in the crowd?

Whatever inspired the Making Warriors to create such oddities, it also helped foster the rebounding spirit of creating things by hand, not soullessly mass produced by machine. And that right there is the significant heart of what Maker's Faire is all about. Adam Savage applauded this current movement during his speech on the last day of the Faire. He used several stories from his “making” career as a foundation of encouragement to inspire listeners, especially children, to be resourceful and to take the pledge to create whatever they wanted. This pledge is meant to kick down any doors that would prevent someone from making, let's say, a giant, obnoxiously florescent, fabric covered, bike driven float that screams total awesomeness. Every single attendee in the faire had traveled to that event because somewhere, somehow, they have been touched by the magic of innovation. Not only can you learn from this innovation, you can also catch its fever and continue the making trend; from imagination, to engineering, and to production.

-Brianna Harbinson; All Images © Brianna Harbinson

Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Pie

I first saw this pie on Pinterest and was encouraged by a reader on facebook to hunt down the recipe. I think, in a move of sheer self preservation, I'd left the post at just sharing the photo and hoping that would be enough to quench my craving for a gooey, sweet, peanut buttery, hot fudgy, crispy cookie crusty bite of this delight.

But, as a I can't very well leave a sincere request hanging, I am compelled to post the recipe. Let us all be blessed with at least some willpower around this thing.

CHOCOLATE GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST
1 1/4  C  Natural Graham Cracker Crumbs, Fine (about 9 crackers)
1/4  C     Sugar
1/4  C     Cocoa Powder, Unsweetened
1/3  C     Organic butter, Melted

Make crumbs either in a food processor, or the old-fashioned way like my mom did, by putting them in a Ziploc bag and using a rolling pin.

Stir together the crumbs, sugar, cocoa powder and the butter until the mixture is combined well. You can also do this step in a food processor.

Press the mixture onto the bottom of a buttered 10-inch pan.  Bake at 180° C (350° F) for 5-7 minutes.

Cool, covered, while making the filling.

Note: Safeway usually carries Open Nature, a 100% natural graham cracker brand.

[caption id="attachment_313" align="alignright" width="300"] © yummyluv.blogspot.com[/caption]

WHIPPED CREAM FOR PIE FILLING
1 1/2 C organic whipping cream
1 tsp organic vanilla
1/4 C organic powdered sugar

Whip with mixer or by hand (the mixer is much easier) until fluffy and peaks form. Stop there, or you'll make butter.

Divide in half. You'll use half in the pie and half on top.

KELLY’S HOMEMADE ORGANIC HOT FUDGE SAUCE

1 C organic butter
1/3 C + 2 Tbs organic cocoa powder
1/2 C organic raw sugar
1/2 tsp organic vanilla extract
pinch sea salt

In medium saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the cocoa, sugar and salt. Keep stirring until all sugar dissolves, boil gently for a few minutes, being careful not to let it burn. Remove from heat, add vanilla and stir. Sauce will thicken as it cools.

This makes about 2 cups, and you'll only need about 1.5 for the pie (then again, use it all if you want, we're certainly not counting calories with this baby!).

Divide.
Set aside 2 Tbs for topping. Put in a plastic baggie to use as a frosting tool.

PIE FILLING
1 C organic creamy peanut butter (set aside 2 Tbs for topping. Put in plastic baggie for frosting later.)
1 package (8 ounces) organic cream cheese, room temperature
½ C sugar
1 1/2 C whipped cream (from above)
1 1/2 C organic hot fudge sauce


PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

In large bowl, beat peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar until creamy. Fold in one half of whipped cream. Spoon the mixture into the crust and smooth to edges.

If your hot fudge has cooled and hardened, reheat just until soft enough to spread. Spread on top of peanut butter layer.

Refrigerate pie until just before serving.

At serving time, carefully spread remaining whipped cream on top of pie.

Knead the reserved hot fudge in baggie with hands; cut a tiny hole in the corner of the baggie and pipe over pie. Repeat with the reserved peanut butter and pipe on pie in opposite direction.

Serve.

Mother's Day Gifts

Mother's Day is just far enough away that if I start shopping this weekend, I'll be able to find something just right, wrap it up all pretty, and get it in the mail, all in time for Mom to have it in hand on Mother's Day. That's a fairly big if, as I'm moving this weekend, and as any of you who have moved before know, that takes about 35 hours a day.

[caption id="attachment_296" align="alignleft" width="229"] [/caption]

Lucky girl that I am, I work for a group of ACE Hardware stores. I know, I know, that doesn't exactly scream pretty gifts for mom. Except, it does!

Until I started visiting the stores on a regular basis, I didn't realize how many girly-type gifts we carry.

[caption id="attachment_301" align="alignright" width="150"] [/caption]

I am a big fan of garden art: bird baths; pretty pots; those silly little dragonflies or butterflies or ladybugs that sit atop a wiggly pole and look really sweet amongst the pansies; birdhouses; garden-dwelling figures; really, just about any bauble you can hang, stake, sit or otherwise use to adorn your garden.

[caption id="attachment_297" align="alignright" width="240"] [/caption]

I'm also a fan of local, handmade goodies; art supplies; pretty aprons; cute do-dads for the bookcase; hanging plants; and fun carry-all bags.

And, still luckier girl that I am, my mother also likes these things and I get to go shopping for her right in my own backyard (read: hardware store).

[caption id="attachment_299" align="alignleft" width="129"] [/caption]

So if you're a mom and like the same things I do, or if you have a mom who likes the same things I do, you might just check out what we have at our stores and save yourself that trip to the mall.

Happy Mother's Day!

- Jocelyn Broyles

Editor's Note: All of our stores, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Willow Glen and Half Moon Bay have great gifts, not all stores carry the items pictured here.