Am I the last foodie to get on this salt train? Finishing salt? What the heck? I don't get out enough. I use kosher salt for everything. I made the switch a long time ago and besides being a bit bummed that the grind doesn't fit in cute vintage shakers-I love it. Before then (10 years ago?) we got really into pepper and got a great super heavy and very small grinder that we would take with us to the beach (seriously) but I am slow to the fancy salt thing. Well, no more! While strolling around N. Mississippi last night we stumbled into this wonderful shop The Meadow, and left with a lovely everyday grey salt and a fancy finishing salt to try. Amazing. The owner was so nice and informative and told me of a salt they carried that is smoked and when sprinkled on vanilla ice cream, tastes lake caramel. I will have to try this soon. They have a blog, which I just found by accident while linking to their shop site, I love that. And wow, after reading it, I guess there is a lot to know about salt.
Here's some fresh rosemary from our gargantuan rosemary bush for making rosemary oil. Rosemary bushes grow huge here in the NW, like the size of a small car. I am in full bore apothecary mode now with herbs, tinctures, oils, salts, and empty containers all over the place. I used to make this stuff a ton when we lived in Eugene when I was still in college and got really into it. I had a few disasters, like on the 95º day when I tried to emulsify oil and beeswax together to make lotion in our one and only kitchen blender. I used to make soap then too, real soap, with lye and everything, not the glycerin kind. This was, for the most part successful, but I ended up with a lot of soap. A lot. It was a family joke for awhile and almost ruined the scent of lavender for me forever.
Thanks for all the herb shop tips! The Herb Shoppe, here in Portland, was the winner for me. They carry Mountain Rose Herbs, (from the online shop which I highly recommend) most of which are organic, and this shop has a lot of turnover, so I know they are fresh. I actually called them and got most of it packed over the phone so the girls wouldn't freak out when we went, which was a good idea. They stayed interested just long enough to get muslin bags. So, soothing herb baths, vapor rub, and homemade chap stick. . . here we come. Delia has a really runny nose today, just on time.
Unrelated, I saw this book made from the art project at the website Learning to Love you More by Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July, and am excited. They give 63 assignments on their website then post the submissions. You have to read the assignments and take a look around to see the genius of this, it's really amazing what people come up with. You can get a feel for it in the synopsis here. It sounds like much is lost from the website to the book, but still, I think I might have to get it. Is there anything cooler than participatory art? I don't know if there is in my book, I dig it so much. So, Harrell Fletcher is having a signing tonight at Powell's (he lives in Portland) and I really hope to go, but who knows.
The new camera is a Canon Rebel XTi EOS 40D. Sweet. I am still figuring it out, but so far so good. And the Local Pride aprons for Tie One On are due this Thursday!!
