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	<title>Housewifing</title>
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	<link>http://www.housewifing.com</link>
	<description>Attempting a Sustainable Life, One Day at a Time</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 19 May 2010 15:25:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Cutting Vegetables as an Offering of Love</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=365</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=365#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 May 2010 11:51:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[processing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[intention]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meditation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prayer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spirituality]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=365</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve recently realized, there aren&#8217;t many spiritual resources for a person juggling multiple responsibilities in life. I&#8217;ve read a lot of books designed for priesthood, warriors, spiritual seekers, advanced students, etc. I found very little reference, not to mention actual help, for someone who maintains a professional career, works 10+ hours a day, keeps a home in addition (including all such mundane activities as doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning, watering plants and feeding the dog), has a spouse, takes care of children (or elderly parents/other dependents, for that matter), volunteers on a regular basis, and desperately attempts to fit a few hobbies in there too. If one&#8217;s goals include attuning with divinity, personal growth, taking responsibility,  involvement in the community and helping others &#8211; then one is committed to a lifelong process of spiritual practice. However, there is a difference between committing to a lifelong spiritual journey, and devoting one&#8217;s whole life for spirituality. Most resources are written by the latter: fine people who dedicate every minute of their time for spiritual practice. Often, they are priests, teachers, or full time writers. Usually they have great insights, but sometimes, their perspective seems too narrow, at least for me. Not anything they [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Foods I Never Buy</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=361</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=361#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 May 2010 17:22:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[shopping lists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grocery shopping]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=361</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I try to cook from scratch at least 90% of the food that my family eats. This is part of my larger food ethics, of which I&#8217;ve talked about in the past. I work mostly with raw materials (fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, milk, eggs, grains, nuts, etc.). I do use processed ingredients that cannot be produced by home means (sugar, salt, flour, certain spices, some cheeses, dark chocolate), or that I don&#8217;t yet own the proper machinery to produce them by home means (pasta, ground meat from the butcher). Generally, I try to avoid ready-to-eat processed foods, or processed ingredients that I can make on my own (sauces, pickles, canned tomatoes, bread, cookies, etc.). This works 90% of the time. (I am, after all, as busy as the next 21st Century person). There are, however, some foods that I will never ever buy, and that simply do not cross the threhhold of my home. Canned mushrooms. For some reason, they cost more than the the wonderful fresh ones, and they taste like metal. Soy sauce. In my opinion, the black curse of contemporary cooking. Add it to food, and it will perform a hostile takeover of any other flavor. Too salty, too dominant, too industrial. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.housewifing.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=361</wfw:commentRss>
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		<item>
		<title>Every Day Is Blessed</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=339</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=339#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 May 2010 14:30:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[to-do lists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blessings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[magic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ordinary life]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=339</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday I wrote about the (Middle-Eastern Jewish) folk belief that the gates of heaven open up for special wishes on the eve of Shavuot. It made me think. Every calendar in every human culture has clues about special occasions and magical times: Christmas, Walpurgisnacht, Halloween, the last day of Passover, the eve of Shavuot, full moon,  dawn, dusk, midnight, the solstices, the equinoxes, and so forth. And yet, I do believe that every moment of our lives is special and magical on its own. Every second has the potential to become a crucial turning point. Every day is blessed. Every breath is an opportunity. Today, for the first time in my life, I accomplished a strawberry cheesecake. Yesterday I fed a tabby kitten. Nobody can deny the magic and power in these simple acts. No one can take  away the blessings of ordinary days.  I have six such ordinary days before starting a new job next week, and plan to find blessings in each and every one of them. 10 Things to do on a week off from work: Plant some rosemary. Take the dog to the beach. Make Shepherd&#8217;s Pie. Wash the windows. Bead new necklaces. Run 3 miles a [...]]]></description>
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		<title>A Story of Sheep Cheese</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=329</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=329#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 May 2010 14:30:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[story and history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shavuot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sheep]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=329</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Frank Antoine Bail, Two Milkmaids, 1906 The origin of cheese predates recorded history.  The earliest archeological evidence of cheesemaking was found in Egyptian tomb murals,from 2000 BCE. Cheese, however, is probably much older, dating back to about 8000 BCE, when goats were first domesticated. The ancient tribes of the Middle East used animal skins and inflated internal organs to store the goats&#8217; milk. The rennet from the animal&#8217;s stomach turned the milk into curd and whey, and so cheese was discovered, accidentally. Delightful accident, really. 10 thousand years later, cheese is still one of the most interesting foodstuffs around. My favorite is Israeli sheep cheese. My grandparents were sheep breeders and my grandmother Esther used to make the most fabulous cheese from their milk. It was snowy-white, delicate, firm but smooth, slightly salty, and absolutely delicious. Every few weeks she&#8217;d give my father a perfect wheel of cheese for us. My mother kept it in a special box at the back of the fridge, like a treasure. 10 years after my grandmother passed away, my mother went on a shopping trip with friends, and came home with a bunch of new home-made cheeses from a local dairy. One of them looked and tasted exactly like [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.housewifing.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=329</wfw:commentRss>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Eat some cheese and make a wish</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=326</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=326#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 May 2010 11:30:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[folklore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dairy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[festival]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[festivals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[magic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shavuot]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=326</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[These days I seem to be occupied with all things F. Food, fashion, folklore, friends, family, feeding people, feeling fabulous. I started a new job, closer to home, and now I have more time for cooking, baking, growing herbs, painting, and generally being actively kinder to myself, my body, and the people around me. This week we&#8217;re celebrating Shavuot, a festival of cheese, milk, honey, greenery, fresh fruit,  ripe vegetables and new grain. I have potatoes in cream cooking slowly in the oven as I&#8217;m typing this post. An intoxicating aroma of milk, nutmeg and garlic fills the house, mixing with scents of neatly folded clean laundry, basil plants growing on the porch, and fresh flowers that my  husband brought home. Creamed potatoes are the kind of dish you can throw together last minute and still end up with something wonderful for dinner. Because of the generous amounts of cream and whole milk used in the recipe, it&#8217;s not something I tend to cook every day. On special occasions, like Shavuot, on the other hand, I think creamed potatoes are totally worth it. They&#8217;re perfect with a big salad of leafy greens, red and white cabbage, halved baby tomatoes, fresh cucumbers, and some zesty [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.housewifing.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=326</wfw:commentRss>
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		<item>
		<title>Quick Note on Getting Dressed</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=322</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=322#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:56:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[processing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[art]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fashion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[style]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=322</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s nteresting how getting dressed is gradually and steadily becoming a preferred medium I use for self-expression. It is now almost as fulfilling as painting or writing. Come to think of it, fashion is, and always has been, a form of wearable art. Each and every day, fashion lets be to be a canvas and a painter, and make wordless statements about myself and about the world. Of course, it can be argued that fashion designers are the true artists of the field. Nevertheless, I do think there&#8217;s a lot to be said for the people who wear the clothes (as well as the jewelry, the accessories, the smile and the attitude). Dressing well is an acquired skill. It&#8217;s a talent. It involves creativity, innovation, and understanding of the medium. There&#8217;s a lot of art there.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.housewifing.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=322</wfw:commentRss>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Softest Laundry</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=320</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=320#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:06:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[to-do lists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[43things]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[farmville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[frances de pontes peebles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[skills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the seamstress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=320</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles, sewing is a skill that saves the lives of two sisters. This made me rethink the list of skills that I personally want to acquire and perfect in the next few years: Bake a perfect cheese cake. Grill a perfect steak. Grow vegetables. Plant flowers and keep them alive. Cook for my family. Draw old buildings. Learn Italian. Paint walls. Practice piano. Make a skirt. Knit a scarf. Raise healthy children. Learn ballroom dancing. Wash the softest laundry. Be excellent at work. Shapeshift. 43things is my favorite website for setting personal goals and following them. (Farmville is my favorite place for wasting time.)]]></description>
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		<title>Best Book: The Seamstress</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=317</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=317#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:45:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[book reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brazil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[frances de pontes peebles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sewing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the seamstress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=317</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Once a bookworm, these days I rarely have time to read any books. Yet, I simply couldn&#8217;t put down The Seamstress. The novel is by Frances de Pontes Peebles, who tells a story about two sisters, the history of Brazil, feminism, womanhood, sisterhood, motherhood,  family, deep poverty and graphic violence. This is also a book about the power of sewing, and the usefulness of this craft in a harsh world. Emilia and Luzia dos Santos are two orphaned sisters from a small village in northeastern Brazil in the 1920s. After the death of their seamstress aunt who taught them how to sew,  their lives take two very different paths that eventually come together again. &#8220;The Seamstress&#8221; is a fascinating, exotic book,  heartwarming and heart-wrenching at the same time. I loved it. It reminded me how lucky I am to have a family, a right to vote, pretty clothes, a warm bed and food to eat. It also reminded me that the only thing I can sew is a button, and that that should probably change.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.housewifing.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=317</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>3 Books about the Ethics of Fashion</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=314</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=314#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:00:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[lists of bests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brands]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[child labor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ethics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fashion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fur]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[garment industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[naomi klein]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[no logo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[third world]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=314</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[No Logo by Naomi Klein. Published in 2000, this was a pioneering work in brand resistance and a criticism of the adverse impacts of globalization. Klein examines the true story of the products behind the brands, especially in the clothing and shoes industry, including tales of child labor, exploitation and corporate censorship. The End of Fashion by Teri Agins. The author tells the story of fashion designer house in the 20th Century: how they stopped being professional ateliers and started focusing on marketing, branding and advertising. The Cultural Politics of Fur by Julia V. Emberley. An examination of fur as viewed by different cultures around the world: a proof of gross cruelty to animals, a source of income and survival to the Dene and Inuit, status symbol, fashionable item, political issue, sexual fetish. Unlike the other two books I recommend here, this one is an academic text, and the (obviously political) viewpoint of the author on the subject is not really heard. Nevertheless, a fascinating, encompassing work on the complexity of wearing fur.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.housewifing.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=314</wfw:commentRss>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>3 Books about the Ethics of Eating</title>
		<link>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=312</link>
		<comments>http://www.housewifing.com/?p=312#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:00:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Housewifed</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[lists of bests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eating]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eric schlosser]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ethics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fast food nation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[In Defense of Food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael pollan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nutrition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the ominvore's dilemma]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.housewifing.com/?p=312</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[These three books have affected my way of life and eating habits tremendously. They&#8217;re all very well-known, but I think they&#8217;re worth another mention anyway. Eric Schlosser &#8211; Fast Food Nation. This is an alarming and eye-opening journey into the meat industry in the U.S. The book pressed most of my eww buttons when I read it, despite being a meat eater, an offspring to a family of farmers, and a granddaughter of sheep breeders. Michael Pollan &#8211; The Omnivore&#8217;s Dilemma. Michael Pollan tracks the sources of three meals along various food chains:  processed, organic, local, and personal (hunted and foraged by the author himself).  Pollan starts with a very simple question: what to have for dinner, and discovers there isn&#8217;t a simple answer to it at all. The Omnivore&#8217;s Dilemma is a lengthy book, covering much detail about the history and current practices of the agricultural industry and the food processing industry in the United States. Due to globalization, a lot of what the book describes is valid for other countries as well. Having read it, I will never look at corn the same way again, or meat, or a McDrive. Michael Pollan &#8211; In Defense of Food. After [...]]]></description>
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