As the JibJab look back at 2008 quips, “McCain has many houses, but none of them are white.” Obama does (or will) have a White House, and with great real estate comes great responsibility. Or so says an organization urging Obama to take the presidential residence on a left turn (notice the traffic signal) into the world of organic gardening. As heard on NPR, the WhoFarm project–which drives around this nifty bus with a garden on the top–is one of the groups encouraging Number 44 to go organic. They started even before we knew who would get the office, taking a cross-country tour and ending up in D.C. just before the election.

Michael Pollan is in on it, as is Kitchen Gardeners International. According to former White House executive chef Walter Scheib, previous presidents did grow and eat organic. Continue reading →

No, this post is not about inexpensive freeze-dried Apollo chili. While NASA’s working on innovative space food and recycled pee, I’m dealing with my own space challenge–cooking small.

When I first laid eyes on my current kitchen, the first word that came to mind was “mini.” I noted how the stove crowded four gas burners onto a range the size of a place mat, and that the cabinets looked like something you’d see in a fun house “skinny” mirror. The rest of the apartment proceeded to charm the pants off me, though, and I started to think of the kitchen as cute and livable. (At least it had actual cabinets with doors, which is more than I can say for my last one-person place). Once I moved in, I started thinking about how to continue to do the cooking I love in a smaller venue. With a little thought and a lot of trial and error, the kitchen really is becoming livable and cookable. I thought I’d share some of my space-saving fixes here. Continue reading →