Foodie food.

There are some hot new trends in the foodie world. Local, wild, heritage this and that, traditional, full fat, organic, sustainable, fair trade are all the buzz amongst those interested in food and a lighter way to live on the planet. Almost all my meals are glorious expressions of these new trends. I feel inspired to share some of the more exciting examples of this way of eating and obtaining food. So, this is the first installment of my new foodie series.

This morning, on the menu was, poached eggs on toast, with roasted and refried root vegetables.

The eggs (organic, free range [they go right outside and run around], from the farm I live on), were poached to perfection in water heated by the wood stove that also heats my home. The vinegar in the water to keep the eggs from being diluted into the cooking water was pressed from surplus apples picked last fall on this island and fermented by a friend of mine.

The bread for the toast was baked by my lover, Kate. A traditional German whole grain rye, called Volkenbrot. It is a sourdough bread with sunflower seeds, whole rye kernels, rye flour, wheat flour, pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds. This was toasted on the surface of the wood stove.

On this toast was wild cultured butter from the cream of the milk of the cows I milk on the farm I live on. On top of this was a cheese made by straining the whey out of yogourt made from milk from the same cows. Then the pesto went on. This came from the freezer, made last year of the basil grown on this farm, garlic from the island, sunflower seeds from i-don't-know-where, sea salt.

On top of this pile went the eggs and topped with salt that I made on the woodstove from water from the sea and pepper that I got from the freestore. And a sprinkle of raw spring garlic shoots, chopped, and a blob of steamed nettles that were dried from last year completed this part of the dish.

At the side of this creation was a little pile of potatoes, parsnips, onions, squash, garlic greens all grown by myself and others on this land that I live on. They were roasted the night before in cow fat rendered from a cow killed on the farm, and then refried.

I was researching the eating of garlic greens when I cam across a foodie blog about just that. And I thought, pshaa!, I can beat that. And this wasn't even an effort. These are just the natural combination of the fabulous ingredients that I have surrounded myself with. It's easy. ... Hot shit.

Sally Fallon, eat your heart out. (??What an expression??)

L!fe is good.

Freedom is a free-store.

Cortes Island, where i currently live, is one of the few communities on this planet that is fortunate or enlightened enough to have a free-store.

A free-store is a like a thrift shop, run by volunteers, where nothing costs anything and everything costs nothing. It's all free. And this is a great, great thing.

You can get almost anything you need from the free store. I've gotten cast iron cookware, animal furs and skins, shirts, jackets, belts, rubber boots, books, shorts, socks, CDs (including Dance Mix 95, oh yeah!), movies, backpacks, fanny packs, beer (in the form of coopers beer kits), spices, blankets, and some other stuff I can't remmeber.

The free-store allows us to cycle the things we no longer need around our community. One need never buy another article of clothing so long as we have a free store. We can fulfill our modern need to shop and consume without destroying our beloved planet in the process.

We can clothe our children who outgrow things before they wear them out without spending a dime. We can get them new toys and bring them back once they're boring. We can get all manner of fix-it projects or materials for our next great invention.

If you are lucky enough to have your own free-store, or if you visit ours.. here's a couple of tips:

1. If you aren't sure, take it. try it for a week or two. if it doesn't work for you, you can always bring it back.

2. Shop out of season. People get rid of summer stuff in the winter and winter stuff in the summer, so plan ahead.

3. The 'rags' box in the corner is where all the best t-shirts are. I've gotten three of my favorite shirts from this box.

Happy hunting.

L!fe is good.