The 3/50 Project

A colleague shared some information with me about a new project.
It's called the 3/50 Project, and its grassroots campaign designed to "save" independent businesses.

Participation is really simple. Choose your three favorite locally owned businesses, and at those three shops combined, commit to spending $50 a month.

If half of the U.S. population did this, we would generate more than $42 trillion in revenue. For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays local.

With Seward Co-op, CorAzoN, and Mezzanine Salon all located within walking distance, spending money on locally owned businesses is a treat in my neighborhood.

The list below represents the participants and supporters who have signed up in Minneapolis (this doesn't mean that these are the only locally owned places where you should shop):

Minneapolis
Auntie Em's
Birch Clothing
Birchbark Books & Native Arts
Brown & Greene Floral Market
Caffe Amore
Castle Building & Remodeling
Cayenne Company
Clancey's Meats
Covered
Drama
Electric Fetus Co.
Favorable Treats
Freewheel Bike
Hang It
I Like You
Indulge & Bloom
Industrial and Residential Lighting Inc.
Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Gifts and Foods
Inizio Gifts
June
Kitchen Window
Lights On Broadway
Lightworks
Linden Hills Co-op & Natural Home
Linden Hills Florist
Local D'Lish
Mother Earth Gardens
Needlework Unlimited
Nielsen Framing Studio
Nine
Nokomis Shoe Shop
Olive Salon
Rewind Vintage
Ribnick Fur & Leather
Robot Love
Rosenthal Contemporary Furniture
Sacred Rearrangements Shop & Healing Center
Sigh Yoga + Boutique
Soderberg's Floral & Gift
Steamworks Coffee & Tea
Tangletown Gardens
The Green Goober
The Lounge
The Warren-An Artist Habitat
The Wellness Center
Thyme to Entertain
Twin Cities Green
Vern Carver & Beard Art Galleries
Wilde Roast Cafe

[where: Minnesota, Food, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, 55406]

Homemade Pasta is No Longer Mine Enemy

We have a couple of attachments for our Kitchenaid mixer that allow us to make different types of pasta from scratch. We've been experimenting for about 6 months or so, and are finally feeling somewhat confident in our pasta-making skilz.

The above KitchenAid attachment presses the dough through an extruder. This dough was made with 2.5 cups of organic semolina flour, 3 organic eggs from Larry Schultz's farm, a pinch of salt, and 2 tbsp of water. This attachment works well for tube shaped pastas and round pastas, such as spaghetti, penne, mostaccioli, and rigatoni.

The other attachment rolls the pasta, and cuts it if you want. It's ideal for flat pastas such as lasagna, ravioli, and fettuccine. The recipe we used for our lasagna dough used: 4 cups organic semolina flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. basil, ½ tsp. oregano, ½ tsp. salt, and 1 ½ cups warm water. The key to rolling pasta out was to let it rest before rolling it.

Cooking the fresh pasta requires a pot of boiling water with a pinch of salt. As soon as the pasta was added, we did a quick stir to avoid any clumping,. Within 5 minutes or so, the pasta can be drained and eaten. We made that batch of spaghetti above in about 30 minutes, from dough to plate. Gerg and I agreed that it was tasty.

[where: home made pasta, kitchenaid pasta dough, 55406]

On Graduating from Grad School

Dear Grad School,

It was pretty cool getting to know you over the past 5 years.

Remember that one summer when I always came to class in velour warmup suits? Yeah, I was really into the Notorious B.I.G. that summer.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll stay in touch. I've still got piles of your books at our house, and I've already applied for a fellowship.

Check ya later,
Reetsy



[where: Minnesota, Food, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, 55406]