Growing Oyster Mushrooms

Last month at the Humboldt mushroom fair I bought a box of ready to grow oyster mushrooms.

Mushrooms are super weird. They grew way faster then I ever expected. I think they doubled in size every day. All I had to do was spray them with water a couple of times a day. It was really fun!

Honestly, I had more fun growing them than eating them :p

Homemade Gingerbread House

Merry Christmas! To celebrate Christmas this year I made a vegan gingerbread house from scratch, well except for the candy. There was extra dough left so I made a family of bears to live in the house, a Hansel and Grethel meets the three bears sort of thing. The house was way studier than making one from a kit, and it was fun designing the shape and picking out candy accessories.

Gingerbread Recipe:

http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/recipes/vegan-gingerbread-cookies.aspx

Kentucky Derby Truffles & Rocky Road Bark

For Christmas I made Kentucky Derby Truffles and Rocky Road Bark gift bags.

Kentucky Derby Truffles were made of pecans, bourbon filling dipped in dark chocolate.
Rocky Road Bark was made of peanuts, Dandies vegan marshmallows, and dark chocolate.

Thesis Defense

After years of researching I finally defended my thesis on students knowledge and attitudes towards trans persons. My study found that both knowing a trans person or increased exposure to different types of media that discussed trans issues (such as TV, books, internet) related to lower level of trans discrimination. It was highly recommended to bring food for the professors to snack on during the defense. So, I went with an afternoon tea theme with bottled black tea, vegan cupcakes, mini sandwiches, and chips.

Thesis:

http://humboldt-dspace.calstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/2148/693/Kooy%20Thesis%202010.pdf?sequence=5

Owl Painting

I celebrated turning in the final draft of my thesis by breaking out the paints. I painted this guy to take my mind off school and to brighten up my DOR cubicle.

Childhood IQ & Vegetarianism

In 2006 the British Medical Journal came out with a veg friendly article, IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood: 1970 British cohort study. The researchers found that children's IQ predicts their likelihood of becoming vegetarians as young adults, thus lowering their risk for cardiovascular disease.

Full text article:

http://www.bmj.com/content/334/7587/245.full?sid=a03367d4-7eec-4f94-8d94-c2fe24bd9045

Happy Thanksgiving

Mushroom Fair

The Humboldt Bay Mycological Society presented their 31st annual Mushroom Fair today at the Redwood Acres Fairground in Eureka. There were about 300 species of edible and toxic mushrooms on display. As always the Mario inspiring Amanitas were my favorite (pictured below). I had the last shift selling tickets so I know we had over 1300 pople troughout the day. I stayed late to help clean up and was rewarded with a variety of fresh local mushrooms for dinner.

North Star Quest Camp Fundraiser!

Talisman (a local shop) sets up this great fundraiser each year, and this year North Star Quest Camp is working the raffle. Tickets are just $1 for a chance to win one of several incredible ornaments made by local artists. If you buy 10 tickets, you get a bonus set of 6 of these cute handmade magnets. Christmas is just around the corner. For the person who is impossible to shop for, here is a chance to give a donation in someones name, enter them in a raffle, and give them a set of one of a kind magnets. Can you feel the love?

Every girl deserves the self-confidence to follow her own star

http://www.northstarquest.org/

Talisman Beads

http://www.talismanbeads.us/wordpress/

Cthulhu Cupcakes

Lovecraft would be proud with these evil and possibly non euclidean vegan cupcakes. Fun to make but even more fun to eat. Mmmm tentacles.

Office Meeting

Since there are only few people left in the office, I was asked to make a snack layout for the directors visit. I had a lot of fun, it was the first time I ever made food for the office. I made orange cream, coconut and cookies and cream cupcakes, an organic fruit plater, vegan cream cheese with locally made blackberry Sweet Heat and crackers, along with a bowl of veggie booty. I was probably the first vegan spreed ever in my office.

Sweet Heat website:

http://dianessweetheat.com/default.aspx

Death of a Jack O' Lantern

I caught Burt in the act of defacing my jack o' lantern. For someone so small he had quite an apatite. Now the pumpkin is terrifying in all the wrong ways. At least pumpkin is a healthy snack for bunnies, and I have time to carve another one before Halloween.

Glow Stick Canopy Tour

At midnight I climbed and zip lined across redwood trees 70 to 120 feet off the ground. I didn't take any pictures since it was dark. Just to give you an idea of what it was like, the picture above is Redwood Park in Arcata where the tore took place. I still can't believe I made it all the way through.

Corn maze & Pumpkin Patch

Today I made the journey to Blue Lake to Christie's Ranch on a rare sunny Humboldt day. I got to ride in a hay ride, picked up some lovely pumpkins, and completed the corn maze in 20 min.

Big Brothers Bis Sisters

Big Brothers Bis Sisters puts on an annual taste for kids sake. Locally made wine, beer, and delicious vittles. Supporting charities has never been so much fun.

Three Cups of Tea

I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Relin. It was amazing! It was Humboldt State's book of the year last year, and I am kicking myself for not meeting the authors when they visited the school. The book is so sweet, and exciting. It mixes Greg's mountain climbing stories and pertinent life experiences, with his 10 year long journey of building schools in Pakistan. I learned so much about rock climbing, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. I am so inspired. Definitely pick up a copy if you haven't read it yet.

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/

Happy Squid Bento

I haven't been making bentos for a while. It was fun to get back into it. The top tier is spice sweet vegetable covered with mung bean noodles dyed purple with a vegan ham squid and a spinach rock.

Burning Man 2010

I just got back from my very first burning man! It was amazing. The picture above is the man the night of the burn. There were a lot of dust storms all day, but luckily it cleared up and the burn wasn't delayed.

The picture above is the Temple. Each year has a different theme, but they are always shorter then the man and burned the day after. The picture below is just a small slice of the typical scenery. There were so many art cars, themed camps, and interactive art installations I wish there was enough space to give proper credit to them all.

RENT

This was the very fist time I have ever seen RENT, as well as the first production I have ever seen in the Ferndale Repertory Theater. I saw it with some lovely ladies from North Star Quest camp. It was awesome. It lasted about 3 hours. The acting, singing and set design were Terrific. There were parts where I had to try really hard not to cry. I totally recommend seeing it if you get the chance.

http://www.ferndale-rep.org/

Humboldt County Redwood Roller Derby

I did not have my camera so I had to take this picture from the Time-Standard article. The first bout of the night was between the Redwood Rollers (the local team) and the Silicon Valley. The KillaBytes won 259 to 121. The second bout was between the Humboldt Roller Derby All-Stars and the Silicon Valley Dot.Kamikazes. The HRD All-Stars won 125 to 75. Yeah!

http://www.times-standard.com/sports/ci_15857545

The Pirates of Penzance

Humboldt Light and Opera Company put on The Pirates of Penzance. The show itself was terrific. Before the show even started there was a pirate variety act outside to entertain people waiting in line for their tickets. Honestly, I went a half hour early on purpose just to see a friend of mine play songs from Muppet Treasure Island on the accordion (with all the children singing along of course).

Due I think in part to my excessive enthusiasm for the pre show I was invited to go back stage after the show. I got to clime all over the pirate ship "Tender Heart" in high heals, and learn how all the props were made. It was an awesome night.

Humboldt Light and Opera Company:
http://www.hloc.org/index.php

Humboldt County Fair

I left work a couple hours early to go to the first day of the fair. It was so much fun. I saw bunnies, cows, sheep, goats, fiends, Guy Fieri (Food Network star), a bird show, skateboard tricks, all sorts of locally grown plants and hand made arts and crafts. Plus I got to eat curly fies made in front of me with a drill, and learn about tsunamis. Supposedly there was turkey racing but I missed it :( There is always next year.

Humboldt County Fair

http://www.humboldtcountyfair.org/fairhome.htm

North Star Quest Camp

I just got home from a wonderful week at North Star Quest Camp. I got to meet amazing people, watch shooting stars cross the night sky, eat tasty vegan meals, and dress as a clown. Who could possibly ask for more?

The Dollar Shirt

Origami isn't just for squares anymore. Want to jazz up a graduation or birthday card? Well a shirt shaped dollar is here to save the day. I am terrible at origami but I followed the simple instructions posted below and I made these two shirts in no time.

Instructions:

http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/shirt/

NSQ Fundraising Cold Call

As a last effort to raise money for camp, I visited local businesses with North Star Quest pamphlets and homemade magnets. Only time will tell if my promotional gimmick worked.

You can donate to NSQ online at:

http://www.jessicurl.com/Donate-to-NorthStar-Quest-Camp-pr-680.html

Blue Fairy Gifts

North Star Quest Camp is almost here, and there is a lot of work to be done. Each night of camp the girls find a present on their pillow, that has been mysteriously delivered by the "Blue Fairy". This is a sneak peak of just one of the gifts the Blue Fairy will have up her sleeve.

To make these adorable keepsakes: I painted the wood stars, glued bar pins on the back, painted NSQ and the year, and sealed them with a layer of sparkle Mod Podge. It took 2 afternoons, but I finally have 90 pins completed to give out to campers and counselors at camp.

The World's Largest Pistachio

On the way back to the El Paso airport, we hit the best detour imaginable. A giant faux pistachio nut, pure genius! Needless to say I snacked on pistachios the whole trip home.

Family Photos

This is what makes the trip worth while. Here are my 2010 reunion family photos.

Mountain Annie's Dinner Theater

Friday night my whole family went to Mountain Annie's Dinner Theater where they serve one meal for everyone, chicken and steak. Fortunately I called ahead and they custom made me my own vegan dinner. I had a salad, baked potato, bread, veggie sticks, green beans, watermelon, and banana.

http://www.mountainannies.com/

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I am leaving McKinleyville at 8pm flying all night to arrive in El Paso noon the next day, and then driving for 3 hours to Ruidoso for my Waide family reunion. Such craziness!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! Ii is a beautiful day here in Humboldt. I started the day fundraising for North Star Quest camp in Arcata. Me and the crew worked in the Joke Box, selling over 100 jokes for charity. It wore me out. I will never again underestimate how exhausting it is to tell strangers jokes for hours at a time :P