Sustainable Happy Hour

scleaver — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:01:39 -0400

I had an organic beer the other day and it was delicious, but after a hard week, let’s face it, sometimes you want something a little harder. Enter Eat. Drink. Better’s review of organic vodkas, and not a moment too soon! Here are the four organic, sustainable vodkas highlighted:

Vodka 360 The World’s First Eco-Luxury Vodka is “four times distilled, five times filtered.” The recycled glass bottles come with caps that you can mail back to the factory to be reused. Recommended for use with mixers.

Square One Organic Vodka is made from organically grown American rye and the byproduct ends up as food for cows at nearby dairy farms.

Vodka 14, The Height of Purity, is made in Colorado, 80 proof, distilled with Deep Rock water.

Prairie Organic Vodka is a corn vodka, after the vodka’s made the leftover corn is used as energy to run the factory. Apparently, corn-based vodka has more apple, pear, and melon tones with more creaminess than a rye distilled vodka.

How to drink vodka? Freeze the bottle overnight, let the vodka warm slightly before swirling and tasting. For more tips visit Vodkaphiles.com. And, for specific taste and flavor advice, see the Eat. Drink. Better. eco-vodka blog post. Cheers!

Photo from DK Images.

What Will You Bring?

scleaver — Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Looking for something to do on Friday night? Well, who doesn’t love a potluck? You choose one dish to bring and, in return, you get to eat a whole buffet and enjoy the company of friends.

Four couples in Woodstock, OR, the self-proclaimed Green Team, are taking potlucks to a new level and celebrating the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) in the process. They hosted their first sustainable potluck in September—the peak of harvest. Everybody brought an all-local dish and came ready to explain and defend their green cooking, from how they chose the veggies to how they disposed of any waste created during cooking.

The menu: lamb casserole with eggplant and applesauce, tomato and cucumber salad, roasted carrots and potatoes, wheat berry salad, and peach cobbler.

The conversation: solar energy, recycling, how to store food without using plastics, and organ donation.

And that was only the first dinner. Since that first harvest, the Green Team has added couples, dishes, and changed it up at their monthly meetings, hosting a brunch in January, and a pizza party using canned tomatoes from their 2007 gardens in March.

So, as this year’s growing season gears up, how are you going to enjoy the bounty?

Photo from a vegetarian potluck of Southern Californian Vegetarians.

entertaining

Sustainable Happy Hour

What Will You Bring?