How to Safely Eat Amanita Muscaria Photo by Holly A. Heyser No mushroom presents more of an enigma than the fly agaric, Amanita muscaria. It is the most recognizable mushroom on the planet, and is widely known as the hallucinatory ‘shroom responsible for Alice’s trip into Wonderland and quite possibly our beloved images of a red-suited Santa Claus and his flying reindeer. I am not into hallucinations. Photo by Hank Shaw As we walked, picking porcini and other wonderful boletes, I began having a nagging conversation with myself: You know you can eat those amanitas, right? I filled a grocery bag in no time. I came up for air a few days ago and decided to do some research. This is where Santa comes in. Historically, the Siberians boiled fly agaric and then drank the pot liquor to get roaring drunk. But like I said, I am not into that sort of thing. More research turned up William Rubel, who knows his stuff when it comes to mushrooms. As food, fly agaric does need special handling. Back to my grocery bag.
Confronting Reality By Reading Fantasy Author Lev Grossman says C.S. Lewis taught him that in fiction, stepping into magical realms means encountering earthly concerns in transfigured form. By Heart is a series in which authors share and discuss their all-time favorite passages in literature. See entries from Claire Messud, Jonathan Franzen, Amy Tan, Khaled Hosseini, and more. “If you were in a room full of books,” Lev Grossman writes in his latest novel, The Magician’s Land, “you were at least halfway home.” For Grossman, no books feel more like home than C. The Magician’s Land concludes Grossman’s acclaimed and best-selling trilogy, which has been praised in magazines like The New Republic and The New Yorker for being a darker, grown-up, and more complex Harry Potter. Lev Grossman is a book critic and senior technology writer for Time magazine. Lev Grossman: I can’t say with total accuracy when I first read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. So the Narnia books had a special place for my mom.
How to Collect, Process and Store Acorns and Acorn Flour Photo by Hank Shaw I know this probably should have been the first of the three acorn posts I’ve written over the past few weeks, but before I got into the mechanics of working with acorns and acorn flour I wanted to whet your appetite for actually using them — not as some grim survival food or something old hippies eat, but as a worthy ingredient in serious, modern cooking. If you haven’t read my other two acorn posts, Acorns and the Forager’s Dilemma is an introduction to the use of acorns; the Forager’s Dilemma is, in a word, starch. Next I wrote about an interesting Acorn Honey Cake I’d made and how various world cultures have traditionally used acorns, cultures ranging from Korea to Japan to the Native Americans, Europeans and North Africans. Using acorns as food pretty much falls into three categories: Eating acorns as nuts (they are a lot like chestnuts), making acorn flour, or cooking in acorn oil. COLLECTING ACORNS First you need to get yourself a supply of acorns. Phew!
Kitchen Month – Family Dinner Favorites – FREE Printables Menu planning is a really hot concept right now. I would guess that either you are totally on board or don’t have time for it – am I right? The beauty of menu planning is that it ultimately saves you time, effort, calories, and money, but it can be really hard to implement in an already busy life. If you are up for trying your own menu planning, I have a couple ideas for you this week to get you started. First up? Family Dinner Favorites – aqua + lime Family Dinner Favorites – black + gray Family Dinner Favorites – brights Need some recipe ideas for Menu Planning? Click here to see all the posts in this series. I also have Menu Planning Kits in my shop, sure to give your menu planning a boost: {brights} {aqua + lime} {editable menu planning kit} also in the shop: Editable Recipe Pages Editable Favorite Recipe Page
SHROOMS free printables Looking for the perfect cleaning resource? Check out my book, The Organically Clean Home! Clean Mama everyday life. simplified. free printables Below you’ll find FREE printables for your personal use – I hope you enjoy them! Every month I give away a FREE cleaning and organizing calendar – get February’s calendar here. Want to try your hand at Make-Ahead Menu Planning? Want to jot down all those cleaning recipes? Looking for a cuter way to track your homekeeping? 4 FREE Seasonal Cleaning Checklists Company coming and house a mess? Curious what all those laundry symbols mean? Need to drink more water? 2 Cleaning Checklists for Kids Cleaning With Natural Cleaners Round-Up – 55 Recipes! Looming project? How Long Should I Keep It For (paperwork reminder sheet) File It….paperwork brainstorming page 5 FREE Checkbook Registers Kids’ Routines Checklists Quick Clean Ups Homemade Cleaning Recipes Printable DIY Homemade Cleaning Recipes – Labels 3 To Do Lists to Jumpstart Your Productivity Medical Exam Tracker
Why I became a Snacktivist By Audrey D. Brashich November 5 (The Washington Post) Dear everyone who interacts with my children anywhere at all: Please stop feeding my kids sugar. No more juice boxes after soccer practices and ix-nay on the candy-filled birthday party loot bags-ay. In other words, could we please agree to stop turning most kids’ events into free-for-all sugar sprees? I ask not because we are treat teetotalers in our family. Think about it: candy-centered holidays like Halloween, Valentine’s Day and Easter have turned into week-long marathon celebrations with multiple parties, each better stocked with sugary treats than the last. Part of the problem, according to Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD, author of Cooking Light Dinner Time Survival Guide: Feed Your Family. Kids today are getting about 500 calories daily from snacking, and most of their snacks contain primarily refined white flour, salt, sugar and artificial additives, which is a dangerous combination given how childhood has changed, too. Audrey D.
United States Citizenship Test — Citizenship Test Civics Writing Exercises This citizenship writing exercise is designed to help you prepare and pass the written part of the US Citizenship test. The vocabulary that is used comes from the 2011 USCIS vocabulary list for the writing part of the Naturalization Exam. Although we do not know the exact sentence that you will be given during the interview, every effort was made to use all the vocabulary to create meaningful sentences. The USCIS writing vocabulary for the Naturalization test is divided into people, civics, places, months, holidays, verbs and other words consisting of a total of 75 words. All of these words are used in this writing practice. A sample of those words are: Washington and Lincoln (people), Father of Our Country and President (civics), Washington D.C. and United States (places), November and July (months), Independence Day and Thanksgiving (holidays) is/was and lives (verbs), and fifty and first (other).
untitled The first 100 days at a new job Starting a new job can be overwhelming. Between meeting new colleagues, mastering new skills, and tackling new responsibilities, your first three months might leave you feeling exhausted and burned out. To help alleviate some of that stress, we’ve put together a First 100 Days plan that will help you avoid rookie mistakes, impress your boss, and endear yourself to your colleagues. So print out the plan below, set up some auto-reminders, and hit the ground running! Before you start Review all of the research you did on the organization when you applied. Day 1 Today is all about absorbing as much information as you can, so stick to a 90/10 rule. The First Week Ask your manager to set up getting-to-know-you meetings with people who know your work area well or have specific institutional knowledge to share. The First Month Study up on your new home away from home. The Second Month The Third Month Improve a process. Go back to our resources. Share on Pinterest There are no images.
How to Budget Your Money: The 50/20/30 Guideline When it comes to money, there’s certainly no shortage of ways for us to spend it—food, rent, retirement accounts, a down payment on a house, gym memberships, gifts … you get the picture. In fact, it’s why LearnVest Planners are often asked one key question: “So where should my money be going?” When it really comes down to it, the answer is different for everyone. You may be in a hurry to pay off debt, so you’re willing to spend less on eating out in the meantime. So what’s a budget-perplexed person to do? Whether you’re a parent with two kids or a recent college grad working your first job, this 50/20/30 guideline can help you not only figure out how much you may want to allocate to each area every month; it can also help you determine the order in which your money can be allocated. 50/20/30 Broken Down The 50/20/30 guideline can be easy to follow because instead of telling you how to break down your budget across 20 or more different categories (who could possibly keep track of that?) 1.
25 Things Everyone Should Experience In Virginia At Least Once Old Rag is a challenging climb, but it rewards hikers with some of the best views for hundreds of miles. Virginia was the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America more than 400 years ago, but would not officially become a state until June 25, 1788. To celebrate more than two centuries of statehood, we have compiled a Virginia “bucket list” full of Old Dominion activities that area residents should try to experience at least once. (Of course, if you prefer the Free State, we posted a Maryland bucket list earlier this year.) If the Capital Beltway and I-66 represent some of the worst driving conditions that this area has to offer, then Skyline Drive surely represents the best. Luray Caverns is an undeniably beautiful attraction — and quite a contrast to the green areas surrounding it. If the great outdoors aren't your thing, a trip into the renowned Luray Caverns represents something of a departure. Of course, we couldn't list everything there is to enjoy in Virginia.
Nikon D3200 Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm NIKKOR VR Lens - Black Take your photos and videos to the next level. Unrivaled 24.2 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor for truly dazzling photos and Full HD 1080p movies in any light. Innovative Guide Mode to help you master the camera. HD-SLR power; point-and-shoot ease. Don't let the D3200's compact size and price fool you—packed inside this easy to use HD-SLR is serious Nikon power: a 24.2 MP DX-format CMOS sensor that excels in any light, EXPEED 3 image-processing for fast operation and creative in-camera effects, Full HD (1080p) movie recording, in-camera tutorials and much more. What does this mean for you? Take your photos and videos to the next level 24.2 MP DX-format CMOS sensor and EXPEED 3 Why do photos and videos shot with a Nikon HD-SLR look so good? Master the camera simply by using it Guide Mode ensures success It’s never been easier to create HD-SLR quality photos, thanks to the D3200’s Guide Mode. Capture the best of every scene Six Scene Modes and Scene Auto Selector Create cinema-quality HD videos
Quick Check, Slow Read - Jon Martin Photo Almost all of the camera equipment I have ever owned was purchased used. While this isn’t something to be proud of, I do like to think I know a thing or two about cameras and lenses. I have run into the occasional problems with lenses, but I made sure I had the option to return them if they had issues. Camera Check There’s not much that can go wrong with a DSLR camera that you can’t check in just a few minutes other than maybe a future shutter failure. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Lens Check 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Most of all, know what you’re buying before you buy it.