| Issue 11 Summer 2002 Edition | A mirador is "A turret, window or balcony that commands an extensive view" |
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Cool Treats We have both a manual and an electric ice cream maker. They both work on the principle of freezing a cannister overnight, then pouring your ice cream mixture into it. Then paddles are turned, scraping off the frozen ice cream. For the manual one, you turn the handles every few minutes for about twenty minutes; the electric one does this for you so you can be doing something else. If you are vegan or just do not want to use dairy, non-dairy ice "creams" using soy, rice or other non-dairy milks can be made in these ice cream makers. There's also a book available with dozens of delicious recipes. A very popular item with kids is our Lickety Sip popsicle maker. With these you can make non-drip popsicles in your freezer. Many of our customers make popsicles using fruit juice for a more healthful treat. Preserving Your Harvest As usual, we have a full array of food preserving tools, gadgets and supplies. From canning jars of all sizes (4 ounce to 3 liter), canning kettles, apple slicer/peeler/corers, food dehydrators and of course the necessary accoutrements like jar wrenches, wide-mouth funnels and jar lifters, we have probably the most complete selection of preserving supplies in the city. New this summer is a Magic Vac Elite Vacuum Sealer. Vacuum sealing is great for freezing food it extends the length of time you can freeze items and prevents freezer burn. It is also good for storing dry goods such as coffee, rice, flour and nuts. This sealer even comes with an attachment that allows you to vacuum seal wide-mouth jars, a great way to store dry goods. It also comes with a roll of bagging material and 20 pre-cut bags; we also carry extras of these when you need them. Cocktail Time For many of us, having a drink after work on the patio (deck, backyard...) in the summer, surrounded by a garden or potted plants, is a great pleasure. To help you enjoy your summer evenings this way, we are now carrying stainless steel cocktail shakers and strainers, shot glasses, martini and wine glasses and a manual ice crusher. Barbecue Woks Last year some friends of ours asked us to order a wok that was designed to work on a barbecue. After we had some food cooked on this wok, we ordered one for ourselves. It was especially good for us as vegetarians, as barbecuing vegetable kabobs was always such a hassle. With the wok, you just cut up some vegetables, with tofu, tempeh or meat, marinate them, then stir-fry them on the barbecue. Amazingly delicious and you have leftovers for pasta, sandwiches or salad. This year we decided to carry some of these to sell. We have three types: a round one, a square one and a rectangular one. One of these should fit your barbecue needs perfectly! We have been asked so many times for appliances because people want to buy them from a local store, that we have decided to carry a few. Vita-Mix Blender The Vita-Mix blender has a two horsepower motor, a metal gear drive, a thermally protected motor and carries a five year warranty. It is so powerful that it can crush a half-gallon of ice in three seconds! It is designed to pull ingredients into the blades for maximum blending efficiency giving you the smoothest textures (no stringy residue or unblended chunks) in just seconds. It works equally well on small amounts and large amounts (up to 64 ounces). It comes with an unbreakable polycarbonate container. Girmi Appliances Girmi is an Italian company that has been making small appliances since 1947. All their products are designed and manufactured in Italy and all come with a three year warranty. Two Blenders The Girmi blender comes with a 42 ounce container, a 330 watt motor, and five speeds. In addition, there are three functions: shaker (constant speed), anti-splatter (gradual increase in speed) and pulse (maximum speed with hands-free pulsing). For more modest needs, the Girmi hand blender may suit your needs. It is simple and practical perfect for sauces, soups, smoothies, mayonnaise, milkshakes and other lighter tasks. With a 120 watt motor and stainless steel blade, this is a good buy. Hand Mixer The hand mixer has a 130 watt, 2 speed motor and two sets of beaters a wire beater for beating, emulsifying and whipping, and plastic beaters for light batters. It is great for mashing potatoes, whipping cream or making cakes or other light desserts. Chopper This chopper has a 550 watt motor and specially designed steel blades for efficiently chopping herbs, garlic, onions, cheese, meat, chocolate, nuts, dried and fresh fruit. It can be used with both large and small quantities, up to 1/4 pound of food. Food Processor The food processor has a 320 watt motor with two speeds plus pulse. It comes with six accessories: a universal blade for cutting, chopping and mixing, a multi-setting blade holding disk with blades for slicing, mincing and cutting potatoes, a whipping cone, and a dough kneader. It comes with not only an instruction book, but a guidebook to the use of the accessories. Other Appliances Also available is a combination coffee mill/blender. The 2 1/2 cup blender container has its own set of blades so there is no coffee residue in whatever you are blending. Coming soon is a hand-cranked blender powerful enough to crush ice! Garden Items We've tried something new this summer garden accessories. We have both garden art and tools for gardening. Garden Art Much of the art is made by metal artists Mark and Tamara Fountain, who live in the country outside of Eugene. They are incredible artists you may have seen some of their work already in the store: metal and stone tables, luminaries, etc. Their garden art consists of dragonfly, frog and hummingbird stakes, six foot cat and chinese character poles and blue heron sculptures. As always, all the Fountains' work is made from reclaimed materials. Other garden art is American flag stakes from Resource Revival (made from old bicycle parts) and cats and dogs made from old football helmet guards and springs from Circles of Steel. There is also an extensive selection of windbells and windchimes for your aural delight. Garden Tools We don't have room for an extensive inventory of garden tools, but we did get a number of items we hope are useful. These include trowels, rakes, dibbles, plant markers, vine supports, hats, bandanas, tiki torch fuel, gloves, watering cans, neem oil, baskets and more. Hammocks We have two types of hammocks for sale. One is dyed in a multi-colored Mayan design and is the traditional type that hangs between two trees or posts. The other is a hammock chair and can be suspended from a tree branch, porch or ceiling (yes, indoors!). Relax in comfort! ViewPoint ViewPoint is a regular column in which we discuss Mirador's relationship to our lives, to our community's life and to the life of the wider community of the city, state, nation and world in which we live. Creating Community in SE Portland Two recent events that ocurred in our community have made us really aware of the incredible energy that is happening here in Southeast Portland. The Earth Day celebration at Abernethy School in Ladd's Addition, focusing on localization, was a great event with lots of people sharing information on different aspects of sustainability (the electricity used at the event was all generated by solar power including that used for the music), dancing and just celebrating being alive. We were amazed and elated that all this energy was in our community. Then we went out to see what the Natural Building Convergence projects were like and were even more amazed. This conference chose eight sites in the HAND and Sunnyside neighborhoods to build cob structures (cob is a natural building material made from mud, sand, straw and water). Many people learned about cob and helped to build these projects. These structures are beautiful: curving lines, built-in benches, niches for flowers, inset mosaic tiles and stained glass. We were stunned that our neighborhood is home to these amazing artworks. (See www.cityrepair.org/nbc for details on these projects.) These two events are just the latest and most visible of the many things that are happening in SE Portland. There's a large, vibrant community of activist citizens making a Home here a great place for work, living and fun. It feels like people are realizing that it's up to us as citizens, and not the city or some other political entity, to make the place we live in reflect our values and nourish us as we go about our daily life. Many of us work, shop and play almost exclusively in SE Portland and want it to be a place that contains locally-owned businesses providing the necessities of life and to have gathering places in the neighborhoods where we can meet friends and neighbors for talk, play and enjoying the weather. There are two groups that have really helped to create the energy that is going into SE Portland The City Repair Project (which is involved in many projects in Portland) and Southeast Uplift. The folks from these two groups have spent countless hours brainstorming, planning, encouraging citizens to get involved and doing the physical work involved in the projects. How lucky we are to have them here! I encourage anyone who is interested in these issues to contact these people and ask how you can help them. out. It will give you a real feeling of belonging and accomplishment (and it's fun!). Even more heartening is the fact that these kinds of things are happening all over east Portland on North Mississippi, Alberta Street, Lents, etc. Portland may become a national leader in community development by the community; in fact, I am reminded of the '60s flowering of community-centered businesses and organizations. Perhaps the seeds of those times are finally coming to flower in a garden that has been tended and fertilized (and that many of us have at times despaired of ever seeing bear fruit) for the last 30 years. Yes, it's true Mirador will be three years old July 21. It seems a looonnng time ago when we looked at each other one Thursday afternoon and decided it was time to hang out the "Open" sign at our first location on Market Street. Three years and we are close to supporting ourselves, have become an integral part of our community and are still having fun! Nourishment is a food truck located in the Mirador parking lot MondaySaturday, 11:00 - 3:00. Ramona, the owner and cook, prepares what she likes to call "organic comfort food". Most of the ingredients are organic and as much as possible direct from local farmers at farmers' markets around town (as a matter of fact, you can also catch her at the Portland Farmer's Market Thuirsday evenings in the North Park Blocks). In addition, most of her food is vegetarian or vegan. Having already eaten numerous meals from this food truck, we can attest to their great quality. Her cooking is delicious, and knowing that it is organic makes it even better. As the print version of the newsletter was being printed, Ramona's trucks' engine blew up. As it was too expensive to fix, we decided to let Ramona tow it to our parking lot. So the truck is a permanent feature of Mirador now and has been attracting even more business! Here's a sample of her menu items (not all items are available every day): Vegetarian & Chicken Pot Pie Vegan Shepard's Pie Macaroni and Cheese Risotto (vegan, vegetarian, chicken) Fresh Salads Soups (different every day) Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado. Tomato Sandwich Facon (tofu "bacon"), Lettuce, Avocado. Tomato Sandwich Cookies and Daily Specials |