| Fall Equinox 2009 | A mirador is "A turret, window or balcony that commands an extensive view" |
| Especially for Fall New Bakeware from Chile Let's Do Lunch! Employee News Tip of the Month – Freezing in Ball Jars Free the Mirador Mural! Choose Local Card Muddy Boot Festival Full of Life Farm at Irvington Farmers Market KBOO Board of Directors Election Gift Registry Well, it's not Fall yet, but right now it sure feels like it – coolish temperatures; clear, sunny days and a good rain in the night! And, by some miracle, we're getting the newsletter out early. It's been a busy summer for us; canning and preserving supplies are flying off the shelves so fast we can't keep up. It's incredible to see how many people are preserving their food for the first time, as well as, of course, the "old-timers" who come in for more supplies. Cheesemaking Supplies Another exciting recent development is the creation, finally, of a cheesemaking supply section. In fact, our vendor, Claudia Lucere, is a Portland local who couldn't find cheesemaking supplies and so decided to start Urban Cheeseworks so that other people would be able to find them. We are carrying complete kits for making mozzarella, ricotta, goat cheese, panneer or queso blanco as well as rennet, cheese salt, citric acid and real cheesecloth. Blog We also have started a blog recently, in hopes that we would be able to post snippets of information about new products as well as tips related to our products. It is hosted on our website and is the old-fashioned style where we can post items but online comments are not supported. Check it out here. Lynn & Steve Especially for Fall! There are some products at Mirador that are geared particularly to Fall and here are just a few. Pickling Crocks Canning and preserving are still going strong, and will be for a few more weeks. Particularly relevant right now are pickling crocks. We carry 1,2, 3 and 5 gallon ceramic crocks made in Ohio, as well as Harsch fermenting crocks, made in Germany, that are designed to make mold-free sauerkraut, pickles and other fermented vegetables. Perfect Pickler has come out with a kit to convert wide-mouth canning jars into fermenting jars but they have not yet reached our wholesaler. We hope to have them soon and will announce it on our blog when they do arrive. Canning Kit Special This year we are offering a "canning kit" special. Get a water bath canner with rack, or a stainless steel dual steam/water bath canner, plus jar lifter, stainless steel canning funnel, and lid lifter for $69 for the water bath canner package or $93 for the dual canner. These are all the tools you need to get started canning high-acid foods (fruit and tomatoes). Other Food Preserving Items In addition to canning products, we also carry Excalibur Food Dehydrators and a number of books on canning and other food preserving methods such as drying, fermentation and alternative storage methods. We are now carrying the 3000 line of Excalibur food dehydrators (see the Summer issue for more details on those). While supplies last, we have reduced the price on the 2000 series substantially, so you can get the same dehydrator we've been selling for nine years at a great price. Rental Items for Preserving We rent out a steam juicer (good for juicing grapes), a juicer/strainer (good for processing tomatoes, cooked apples and grapes), and, for the first time, we will be renting out a large Excalibur food dehydrator when we get more of the 3900s in (we sold the first batch out fast). This is a good way to process your food without the expense of a purchase or to try one of the items out to see if you like it (we apply the rental fee towards your purchase, should you decide to buy one). New Bakeware from Chile As reported first on our blog, we now have ceramic bakeware and cookware handmade by artisans in Chile. It is certified by the Fair Trade Federation, so the artisans can maintain their traditional lifestyle (well, they probably have cell phones now like everyone else) and not have to move to urban areas and get sweatshop jobs to survive. For more information, see our blog. Let's Do Lunch Many of us have been conscious for quite awhile now that how we & our families "lunch" can make a big difference in the calories & nutrients we consume, as well as our finances. In 2004, The Center for Environmental Health tested over 200 children's lunch boxes and found a large number of them testing positive for lead. This caught the attention of many Moms & Dads; they were making an effort to send a healthy lunch to school with their children only to learn that they were perhaps foiled by what it went out the door in. With all of this in mind, in 2005 we started carrying Laptop Lunch products designed by two moms in California. We have expanded our product lines from there as we experience demand for more options as, indeed, packing our own lunch is part of our health maintenance program! Here is an overview of the products we offer and while at first you might be shopping for back-to-school, keep in mind that they can help Mom & Dad take their lunch to work too.
Stacie is going back to school to study anthropology at PSU but will still be working part-time for us. She has turned into our main receiver and is quite busy just keeping up with all the shipments we get. Lizz is continuing her schooling at PSU, still not quite sure what she wants to end up with. I can tell you that she really likes languages, having taking Vietnamese in the spring and Burmese this summer. Adam has turned out to be exactly what we were hoping for; actually even beyond what we were hoping for. He's already doing most of our accounting work and has started to place more and more orders. Whew – it sure takes a big load off of us! His partner just started an Americorp job and they found a house within biking or busing to both of their jobs. Do they know how lucky they are? Tip of the Month – Freezing in Ball Jars We've been freezing our leftover soups and whatnot in Ball quart jars for years. Every once in a while a jar breaks, even though we are careful not to fill it too full. We've had customers who've told us that they have jars break frequently and we've been mystified about that. Recently a customer came in and told us that she had heard that Ball only recommends freezing in jars that have straight sides. I looked on Ball's website (actually called FreshPreserving.com) and that seems to be the case. So, the Ball jars that you can freeze in are the wide-mouth pints, and the regular-mouth pint and half-pint jars as well as the 4-, 8- and 12-ounce quilted jelly jars. Mirador
mural with it's artist, Gwyllm Llwydd
Free the Mirador Mural!(photo by Terry Carnahan)  As many of you know, the mural painted on the garage doors of our building has been in the middle of a controversy between The City of Portland, Clear Channel and the folks who paint & love murals. The good news is that there is a new mural permitting process for Portland and we are in the last steps of it and then we can take the plywood boards down that have been covering up 2/3 of the mural since 2004. As part of the permitting process, we are required to have a community meeting to allow neighbors and other interested parties to give us feedback on the mural. That is scheduled for September 22, 2009 at 5:00 in the Mirador parking lot. After that meeting, it's another brief contact with the City of Portland and we'll be getting our permit. Click here to read a blow by blow account of all that has happened with our mural since it was painted by Gwyllm Lloyd in 2002. Choose Local Card
Mirador is one of a good number of locations that offers a discount when presented the Choose Local card and that also has cards available for free to customers. The Choose Local people only ask for your e-mail & name when we give you a card. You're then set to get online and find out where you can use the card to obtain bargains at participating organizations which will include restaurants, art & entertainment events, retailers and services. Next time you come by, ask for your free "Choose Local Card" and start saving some money! 2009 Muddy Boot Organic Festival We're looking forward to the 4th Annual Muddy Boot Organic Festival, September 11, 12 & 13th at St. Philip Neri, 18th & Division in Southeast Portland. This year's theme is "2009: Connecting Communities in a Changing Climate". The weekend kicks off Friday the 11th at 7:00 p.m. with the keynote address by Author, Educator & Environmentalist Bill McKibben. The next two days the festival will offer exhibits, workshops, food & drink, kid's activities and entertainment. This is a great festival – check it out! My sister's brother-in-law, Bernard Smith, and his wife Michelle, moved from California and mainstream jobs to a farm right next to Bernard's parents farm and down the road from his sister and her husband's place near Champoeg Park. They are farming using the principles of Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm, which those of you who have read Michael Pollan's The Omivore's Dilemma will recognize. They are offering their pastured chicken eggs, pastured chickens and grass-fed and grass-finished beef for sale at the Irvington Farmer's Market, on Sundays between 11:00 and 3:00. If you go, say "Hi" to the 14 year-old boy who will be helping out at the booth – he's our nephew, Robin, in his first job! For more details on Bernard and Michelle's farm, see their website, Full of Life Farm. KBOO Board of Directors Election We have been KBOO supporters for many years and can't imagine when we wouldn't be. We feel that the Portland is a more vibrant, progressive and informed city because of the presence of this community radio station. Recently we received our ballot for the Board of Directors Election that culminates in the annual meeting on 9/26/09. This is a particularly contentious election as we could tell from the ballot and due to KBOO bylaws, the station cannot communicate any of the background to members, but individual members can. If you are a KBOO member and want to inform yourself about the issue in contention, please go to: http://kboo.fm/node/12533. Gift Registry 
If you would like to register at Mirador for an event, here are some instructions on how to do it. This is a great way to get what you want and support a local business that shares your values. Nepalese Wedding Invitation Close-out We are closing out our Nepalese Paper wedding invitations at 25% off either $50 or $60 per box of 25, depending on Bodhi leaf color. Sustainable Tableware If you are looking for sustainable tableware for a special event, check out: Earth-Centric, 6017 NE Sandy Blvd, http://www.Earth-Centric.com. Plates, cups, flatware, garbage bags: they have it all. Nepalese
Wedding Invitation
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