Cooking Tips and Life's Wisdom Served Here

Brenda Rhodes Miller, author of The Church Ladies’ Divine Desserts: Heavenly Recipes and Sweet Recollections and The Church Ladies’ Celestial Suppers and Sensible Advice will be signing books at the Anacostia Community Museum from 11am to 1pm on Saturday.

You can go for some friendly advice on life and swap recipes for free, but you need to make a reservation! For reservations, call (202) 633-4875 or email jctolson@si.edu.

Environmental Film Festival Begins Tomorrow!!

They are all over town.
They are beautiful.
Some are free others are not.
They are about honey bees, evil corporations, and Bhutan.
<--- that one is about environmental pirates. no joke. The website sez it all. Just go get educated about the world around us.

Free Intellectual Stimulation: Vandana Shiva Says, "Soil Not Oil"

March 2, 6-8:30 p.m.

Dr. Vandana Shiva will speak about her new book Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis Busboys and Poets at 14^th and V. St NW , Washington D.C.

How can you resist a woman who's written books like this:

Monocultures of the Mind: Perspectives on Biodiversity and Biotechnology
Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge
Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply
The Seed Keepers

Get Down and Dirty: Urban Gardening Workshop

Speaking of green, it's time to start thinking about what you're going to plant in your recession garden this spring!

Rooting DC is hosting its Annual Urban Gardening Forum for free this Saturday, February 21st. You get a free lunch (yeah, I know, they don't exist) but you have to register. This is the freevolity that keeps on giving.

Remember, if you've got too much zucchini this summer you can drop them in my Mt. Pleasant mailbox...

Green Jobs for Freevoliters: Bring home the organic bacon!

Oh, Freevoliters, these are uncertain times!

We gotta plan for the future. Maybe you ought to check out this seminar on green jobs. Find out how the new administration is going to allocate funding and how that will affect career opportunities. Sounds interesting, but I've got a green collar job, so I don't think I'll be there.

It's on Monday, so start the week/the rest of your life off right and go! Tell me how it is!

All the Green that fits in the Convention Center

A mere 4 days after free ice cream, the Green Festival is taking over the Convention Center (a.k.a my neighbor). Films, yoga classes, exhibitors, speakers, green building, and everything else green you want to know or celebrate (including organic beer!).

(It isn't free, but there are discounts for seniors, college students, bikers, public transit users, and union members. Who wants to compete to see who can fit the most categories?)

Green Hump Day

So Bethesda is out of the District technically, but it's still on the Metro. So ride over to the launch of Bethesda Green, a new environmental non-profit.

Check out this swanky little networking opp at the Hyatt Regency Wed September 24th! There's going to be sweet jams from 94.7 the Globe (the self-proclaimed green radio station of DC) who plays some kickin' classic rock. There will also be some free nibbles from Organic to Go and a cash bar (come on that doesn't need a link!).

Make your humps green and get to Bethesda.

More transportation fun!

Now that you've enjoyed your solar cab ride, be prepared to ditch your car completely. September 22nd is Car Free Day. The goal is to give everyone a glimpse of what our neighborhoods would be like with less cars moving around. Even if you don't own a car, take the pledge and show your support...

...then five days later, break out the old cruiser and take a ride with WABA for Bike DC (on September 27th for the math deficient). It's a meandering 17 mile ride (not race), touching on a number of interesting places in the city and will be car free. Sure it's $35, but is a great way to support local biking and sweat off the Friday night hangover.

Not a Kareoke Cab, But Pretty Cool!

So the energy crisis is a little disheartening. I know some of you would prefer I didn't call it a crisis, but let's just put that aside and put a little sunshine in our lives.

The Swiss are ingenious (think Ikea and hot cocoa). One of theirs (or should I say ours - yes- I'm part Swiss!) is cruising across the world for the last year giving people rides in his Solar Taxi.

You can find him, and Carmen Sandiego in these spots this week:

George Washington University
Wed. Sep. 3: 11 am - 2 pm, 21st & H St NW

Woodrow Wilson Building
Wed. Sep. 3: 3-4 pm , 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Capitol Hill
Thur. Sep. 4: 11 am -1 pm, Maryland and 1st St SW
(Garfield Circle, betw. U.S. Botanic Garden & Capitol Reflecting Pool)

Ride On!

Acquired Tastes

Well, I'm glad to see you all enjoyed Screen on the Green with lots of Cheese and Wine. The Thao show was rockin' though not as much as usual. Someone want to tell me why DCists don't dance? It's a sickness I think.

It's time to move on to something more refined than wine and cheese in the grass and indie bluegrass. I know a lot of you are foodies, so I thought I'd start throwing in some free tasty tidbits from around DC. These are not your typical Pentagon City Costco samples!

Coffee Cupping in Adams Morgan
Counter Culture puts on these steamy trainings and tastings weekly. If you ask nicely they will tell you about their policies on fair trade and organic too!

Farmer's Markets all over DC
Mmmm, just go there and nibble on juicy samples of this season's peaches and tomatoes. I hear that the 14th and U street market has Argentine gelato these days. The Dupont one's always hopping, and last week in Mt. P they were cooking up Indian food on the stage.

Bon Apetit and let me know when there are free French lessons!

Backyard Gourmet

Summer in the City is all about the food, the shirtless runners, and the sundresses for me. The extensive network of farms in this region does nothing short of rock my socks. I've met some farmers here: they are innovative, progressive, fun-loving and very attractive. Now it seems like the farming frenzy has hit the city and everyone wants a piece of the action.

Check out Liz and Susan's 7th Street Garden down in the Shaw neighborhood.
They are always having workshops, volunteer days, and events all over the city. Everyone has a right to delicious, nutritious, and locally grown food, right? Yeah, I thought so. and have you seen their sexy Metro-Tees?

Tomorrow night you might want to wash the dirt off your hands and put on your seer-sucker for the Garden Party at Poste Moderne Brasserie courtyard. The event will feature food grown on-site and prepared by Executive Chef Robert Weland. The coolest part about this is that the $10 cover gets you two cocktails, nibbles, and benefits the Trust for Public Land .

Do you guys love DC? I do and I'm hungry.

MONDAY: Population, Nature, and What Women Want

Well this sounds sexy! Maybe that's just the green in me talkin'.

Speaking of talking...Meet me at Busboys and Poets on Monday night for a book talk and live music. We'll hold hands and sing songs like a bunch of hippies.

Bob Engelman will be discussing and signing his new book, More: Population, Nature, and What Women Want, and performing songs inspired by the book, at Busboys and Poets in U Street, June 30, 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Peace...love...and guitar.