Here is Herbalist Will Endres' class gathering the blooms for tinctures using all methods known to herbalist, climbing, ladders, jumping, etc.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
mimosa time
mimosa flowers that is. this beautiful tree native to the savannahs and deserts of the world is in bloom in the southeast right now. Albizzia julibrissin is the latin and it is known as the tree of happiness. It heals sadness and meloncholy of the spirit, mind and body. It is a safe alternative for people who cannot take saint johns wort for various reasons. The flowers smell great and just being around them brings happiness into your heart.
Here is Herbalist Will Endres' class gathering the blooms for tinctures using all methods known to herbalist, climbing, ladders, jumping, etc.
Here is Herbalist Will Endres' class gathering the blooms for tinctures using all methods known to herbalist, climbing, ladders, jumping, etc.
happy birthday christinoo!
birthday weekend in asheville
its been a long time since i've been to a guilford jamboree
serious bocce action. simon and i lost.
wild hydrangea on the blue ridge parkway
its been a long time since i've been to a guilford jamboree
serious bocce action. simon and i lost.
wild hydrangea on the blue ridge parkway
Monday, July 28, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon.
well, besides trying to sell all my crap in craigslist, i am also making bacon. not the proverbial bacon, that is neil's job, i just like to eat it. here i am with my pig belly....rubbing it down with maple syrup, black pepper, sugar, kosher and pink salts. I totally messed up the recipe and have about 10x what i need on here. oops. But, it looks cool. I got it down to the right quantitiy and seeled it up in a plastic bag in the fridge for a little more than a week for the curing process.
Then, I rinsed it off and let it dry out in the fridge for a couple days. Forming a tacky surface on the now cured meat is the most important step pre-smoking. I forgot to take any more pictures, which makes this a little boring, but then i smoked the sucker. I used about 7 coals on the webber and a couple hickory chips and a chunk of aged wet cherry tree. I smoked it out there for about 2 hours until the coals all burned away and brought it inside to the oven for the last hour at 200 degrees. I was searching for an internal temp of 150 and found it shortly before three hours were up.
Slicing it thick and frying it. MMMMMMM. this thing is salty. too salty in fact, but it is so good. I love it. the fat tastes amazing and when you slice it how you want, in thick strips or cubed or in lardons you can taste all the salty flavor, the smoke and the real pasture fed fat of great bacon. This was really easy to do, and I highly recommend it to everyone to try once.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
In case you hadn't heard. From the Chapel Hill Newspaper:
Published: Jul 20, 2008 09:52 AM
Amy Elizabeth Rouse and Neil Alan Vittum
WEDDING
Amy Elizabeth Rouse and Neil Alan Vittum were married May 31 in the back yard of the Rouse home in Chapel Hill.
Will Endres officiated.
The bride is the daughter of Beverly and Jay Rouse of Chapel Hill. She is a graduate of Chapel Hill High School and Guilford College. She is an herbalist and nutritionist.
The groom is the son of Sally Hunt Vittum and Alan Vittum of Tamworth, N.H. He is a graduate of the White Mountain School and Guilford College. He is an ISA-certified arborist.
Herbalist, mentor and friend Will Endres officiated.
The bride was rowed in on a boat by Steven Cardello, her brother-in-law, and escorted from the dock by her father and mother.
The families attended the bride and groom. Their parents were joined by the bride's sisters, Sarah Rouse of Washington, D.C., and Nicole Rouse of Chapel Hill; and by the groom's brothers, Quinn Vittum of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Alex Vittum of Oakland, Calif.
Jasper Tyll, 3, led the procession as the bell ringer. Stanley Endres, 13, of Hillsborough burned the sacred ceder incense.
Flower babies were Ashyln Tyll, 18 months old, of Hillsborough, escorted by her mother, Jennifer Tyll; and Ruby Mellage, 5 months old, of Raleigh, escorted by her mother, Susan Jelinek Mellage
Ring bearer was the groom's cousin, Ahna Huntwood, 12, of Georgetown, Me.
Friends Peal, Ben, Alex, Scott, Simon, Mary, Miriam, Sarah and Gil played bluegrass waltzes and jigs.
The reception was held at the Rouse House garden, featuring music by friends, local food menu prepared by Amy Rouse and a dedicated cast of friends and family who spent all week at the house prepping food, climbing trees and hanging lights, planning the music, weeding the gardens, setting the tables, putting all the finishing touches on a huge event, camping and filling the event with love and gratitude.
The couple went on a wedding trip to Maui and Honolulu. They plan to move west in the fall.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/community/wed_eng/story/15702.html
Published: Jul 20, 2008 09:52 AM
Amy Elizabeth Rouse and Neil Alan Vittum
WEDDING
Amy Elizabeth Rouse and Neil Alan Vittum were married May 31 in the back yard of the Rouse home in Chapel Hill.
Will Endres officiated.
The bride is the daughter of Beverly and Jay Rouse of Chapel Hill. She is a graduate of Chapel Hill High School and Guilford College. She is an herbalist and nutritionist.
The groom is the son of Sally Hunt Vittum and Alan Vittum of Tamworth, N.H. He is a graduate of the White Mountain School and Guilford College. He is an ISA-certified arborist.
Herbalist, mentor and friend Will Endres officiated.
The bride was rowed in on a boat by Steven Cardello, her brother-in-law, and escorted from the dock by her father and mother.
The families attended the bride and groom. Their parents were joined by the bride's sisters, Sarah Rouse of Washington, D.C., and Nicole Rouse of Chapel Hill; and by the groom's brothers, Quinn Vittum of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Alex Vittum of Oakland, Calif.
Jasper Tyll, 3, led the procession as the bell ringer. Stanley Endres, 13, of Hillsborough burned the sacred ceder incense.
Flower babies were Ashyln Tyll, 18 months old, of Hillsborough, escorted by her mother, Jennifer Tyll; and Ruby Mellage, 5 months old, of Raleigh, escorted by her mother, Susan Jelinek Mellage
Ring bearer was the groom's cousin, Ahna Huntwood, 12, of Georgetown, Me.
Friends Peal, Ben, Alex, Scott, Simon, Mary, Miriam, Sarah and Gil played bluegrass waltzes and jigs.
The reception was held at the Rouse House garden, featuring music by friends, local food menu prepared by Amy Rouse and a dedicated cast of friends and family who spent all week at the house prepping food, climbing trees and hanging lights, planning the music, weeding the gardens, setting the tables, putting all the finishing touches on a huge event, camping and filling the event with love and gratitude.
The couple went on a wedding trip to Maui and Honolulu. They plan to move west in the fall.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/community/wed_eng/story/15702.html
Saturday, July 12, 2008
too much time at the pope house
a couple of pictures i found from the old days.
yet another amy rouse impression, this time done by yet another sarah, cleaver to be exact.
alex helps me out with one of cleave.
yet another amy rouse impression, this time done by yet another sarah, cleaver to be exact.
alex helps me out with one of cleave.
Monday, July 07, 2008
wilhelmina rise
quinn and selina's house on the hill
diamond head on the left, and waikiki on the right.
check out their awesome business at www.reusehawaii.org
mountain apples found on a hike
a waterfall and swimming hole found on same hike
diamond head on the left, and waikiki on the right.
check out their awesome business at www.reusehawaii.org
mountain apples found on a hike
a waterfall and swimming hole found on same hike
kayak
sea kayaking, tandem style
harder than it looks to paddle at the same time.
( i hear this is the beach cameron diaz and oprah live on)
the shaka
twinny twin twins
harder than it looks to paddle at the same time.
( i hear this is the beach cameron diaz and oprah live on)
the shaka
twinny twin twins
Sunday, July 06, 2008
China Town in Honolulu
Dim Sum, Sashimi, Pecking Duck and lots of packed stalls.
A family business butcher stall.
squids
banana flowers
unloading pigs for the meat counters
squash greens
A family business butcher stall.
squids
banana flowers
unloading pigs for the meat counters
squash greens
Sunday, June 29, 2008
are you all tired of beautiful beach shots yet?
this red sand beach was made when the rhiolite cliffs seen here were eroded into beautiful reddish purple sand you see here. Volcanoes are amazing. The hike here was tracherous, drawfed only by the drive here that was even more treacherous.
The bottom line is that most things worth seeing and doing on maui are a little dangerous. But, rounding the bend on this place was not what we expected and was totally worth the wondering and questioning of, "is this really a good idea?"
the rocks make a protective cove here keeping the real waves and changing tides crashing on the outside of the cove while the calmer waters inside offer swimming with marginal pull.
The bottom line is that most things worth seeing and doing on maui are a little dangerous. But, rounding the bend on this place was not what we expected and was totally worth the wondering and questioning of, "is this really a good idea?"
the rocks make a protective cove here keeping the real waves and changing tides crashing on the outside of the cove while the calmer waters inside offer swimming with marginal pull.
botanical treasure hunt
infinity pool dropping into a waterfall and overlooking the ocean at seven sacred pools.
Dioscorrea batata!
We were thrilled to see this relative of the Eastern Wild Yam (Dioscorrea villosa) with all this reproductive potatoes in full swing.
we kept our eye open for kava kava the whole time we were on maui -- hoping that we would know this plant when we came across it, even though we have never seen it before. it was on the road to hana, coming back the same path we had previously braved earlier that morning when i screamed, "stop the car neil, its kava!" Check out its lizard's tail -- almost like Saururus cernuus, a plant called Lizard's Tail in the South East. Actually that and Anemopsis (Yerba Mansa) are the closest relatives of the Piper Family, of which Kava is a member (also Black Pepper aka the stuff we grind on our food). Kava is a super important plant that is native to the Polynesian islands and has been transported all around Polynesia and Miconesia for many hundreds of years as people moved and explored new lands roots of this were always taken; used as medicine and for ceremony Kava is the center piece of many of the islands traditional ways.
Anyways it seems to have turned out that it is not real Kava afterall, but rather the false kava aka Root Beer Plant. The leaves didnt smell like rootbeer as they are supposed to, but some kind person has directed us to the veination of the leaves as a tell tale marker for distinguishing false from true kava. the search continues.
Piper auritum
And it has knees -- giant knobby knees and much more leggy & stalky than i thought it would be.
Dioscorrea batata!
We were thrilled to see this relative of the Eastern Wild Yam (Dioscorrea villosa) with all this reproductive potatoes in full swing.
we kept our eye open for kava kava the whole time we were on maui -- hoping that we would know this plant when we came across it, even though we have never seen it before. it was on the road to hana, coming back the same path we had previously braved earlier that morning when i screamed, "stop the car neil, its kava!" Check out its lizard's tail -- almost like Saururus cernuus, a plant called Lizard's Tail in the South East. Actually that and Anemopsis (Yerba Mansa) are the closest relatives of the Piper Family, of which Kava is a member (also Black Pepper aka the stuff we grind on our food). Kava is a super important plant that is native to the Polynesian islands and has been transported all around Polynesia and Miconesia for many hundreds of years as people moved and explored new lands roots of this were always taken; used as medicine and for ceremony Kava is the center piece of many of the islands traditional ways.
Anyways it seems to have turned out that it is not real Kava afterall, but rather the false kava aka Root Beer Plant. The leaves didnt smell like rootbeer as they are supposed to, but some kind person has directed us to the veination of the leaves as a tell tale marker for distinguishing false from true kava. the search continues.
Piper auritum
And it has knees -- giant knobby knees and much more leggy & stalky than i thought it would be.
'Ohe'o Gulch
Waimoku FALLS
through a bamboo grove, up the mountain to the last and biggest of the waterfalls.
taro plants growing in less water than they need -- this is where poi comes from.
through a bamboo grove, up the mountain to the last and biggest of the waterfalls.
taro plants growing in less water than they need -- this is where poi comes from.
more maui wowis
first time anywhere 29!
a hike in Waihe'e Valley -- check out these suspension bridges, they were really scary -- like right out of indiana jones and every other movie every made were the bridge falls apart and you are left hanging by a rope...or where your foot falls through the rotted out boards, i would have taken a picture of said boards, but i was too busy clutching the wires.
cayenne vervain in flower -- taste like mushrooms. vervain is also a bach flower remedy and an excellent nervine.
nakalele blow hole. neil says this was the highlight of his trip.
a hike in Waihe'e Valley -- check out these suspension bridges, they were really scary -- like right out of indiana jones and every other movie every made were the bridge falls apart and you are left hanging by a rope...or where your foot falls through the rotted out boards, i would have taken a picture of said boards, but i was too busy clutching the wires.
cayenne vervain in flower -- taste like mushrooms. vervain is also a bach flower remedy and an excellent nervine.
nakalele blow hole. neil says this was the highlight of his trip.
the feast at lele --- neilio's 28th birthday!
mustache turns 28.
Hawaiian hula & Polynesian fire dance.
white ginger blooms-- one of the best smells in the world.
passion flower vine -- makes a deilicous fruit known as the passion fruit, it ranges in color from green when unripe to yellow and brownish purple when ready to pluck. the pulpy pod is filled with seeds surrounded by a flavor sack, kinda like a pomegranate, but unbelievably fruity, crunchy and delicious.
the passion flower
Hawaiian hula & Polynesian fire dance.
white ginger blooms-- one of the best smells in the world.
passion flower vine -- makes a deilicous fruit known as the passion fruit, it ranges in color from green when unripe to yellow and brownish purple when ready to pluck. the pulpy pod is filled with seeds surrounded by a flavor sack, kinda like a pomegranate, but unbelievably fruity, crunchy and delicious.
the passion flower
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