The Householder's Grab Bag A Repository of Reflections on These Curious Times

Sacrifice Stew

Harriet Fasenfest — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:28:00 GMT

In a recent broadcast of Democracy Now, Amy Goodman told her guest, the award-winning investigative journalist and activist Allan Nairn , “The most hit word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is the word "austerity" in 2010.”

I acknowledged Amy Goodman in my recent book because her reporting, her show, has helped me demystify the odd and ironic measures taken by our political leaders to solve both the local and global issues of our times. I mean Washington's touting of such "austerity measures" as cuts in social programs for the poor is nothing but ...

Dear Smarty Pants

Harriet Fasenfest — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:51:00 GMT

I’ve been thinking about trust. How its the bedrock of all relationships. I’ve been thinking about the economy and the environment and the way our business and political leaders have been minding them. I’ve been listening to all the pundits and economic forecasters posit on when things will return to “normal” and how restoring trust in the American financial system is vital for a recovery. And then I think about how it will not be in God or the status quo of this economy the we will put our ...

Filling Up Your Stores

Harriet Fasenfest — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:56:00 GMT

When I first started making, teaching (as in how-to) and gifting jam, folks would invariable suggest I should go into business. Though I understood it as a compliment, I was struck how quickly folks suggested I should go to market. But I’m an old timer. I still remember when stuff made in the kitchen was just stuff made in the kitchen and not a way of seeing our products/ourselves. Think back a decade or more to a time when receiving a gift of jam or ...

We Should All Be Peasants Now

Harriet Fasenfest — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 22:23:00 GMT

We should all be peasants now. The phrase keeps returning to me. But what does being a peasant mean and why would I want to live that way? I think about this for a reason. It seems there has been a new round of colonialism spreading throughout the world. Peasants are being thrown off their land, their commons, in lieu of “investments” and modern agricultural systems, by and for developed countries in preparation of the encroaching food shortages that they say will surely arise from ...

Welcome

Harriet Fasenfest — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:48:51 GMT

Welcome to the householding pages. I will be writing from time to time. I hope you will enjoy it. For a while now it will be harvest and my attention will be split. Ahh, I have just cooked the gravensteins for sauce. But besides the harvest, I'm written out. What with the book and all. Still, writers write. It is here that I will post new recipes and thoughts on householdings systems -- home, garden and kitchen. But also ramblings. This will be my free zone. I have been a guest blogger. There I am more careful, short and sweet. ...