How To Make Hoshigaki (Dried Persimmons)

...stringent varieties such as Hachiya. Ideally, choose fruit that still has part of the stem. There is a workaround later in these instructions if you can’t find persimmons with stems. Use firm fruit, though a few soft spots are ok. Slicing and peeling The first step is to cut the top off, while carefully leaving the stem that they will hang from. Note the knife trick you use to do this. Turn the fruit, not the knife: Next you peel the skin off the...

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Picture Sundays: US Postal Service Creates World’s Ugliest Stamp

...mminent collapse of the US empire or just evidence that the email thing is making the post office go broke? Either way, you’d think the Postal Service would be embarrassed by this graphic design nightmare. How do we get them to reissue this one? I may not be a big fan of the American Poultry Industry, but that sure is a fine looking stamp. Thankfully the post office lets you make your own stamps. So how about one with that beekeeping donkey from y...

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Alternatives to the Funeral Industrial Complex

...e’ll begin to see more changes. Either that or the funeral industry will start marketing fake green burials (they probably have already). What prompted this rant was a comment from a Root Simple reader asking if I knew of any green burials in Southern California. I don’t. If any of you know of any alternative funeral services in Southern California, please leave a comment. I’m also interested in hearing about the experiences of readers outside of...

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A Review of Masanobu Fukuoka’s Sowing Seeds in the Desert

...a book steeped in a passionate Buddhism. The real desert is in the human heart. It’s our hearts that Fukuoka is trying to heal and by so doing, bring about that second Genesis. When people try to grow crops using human knowledge, they will never be anything more than farmers. If they can look at things with an empty mind as a child does, then, through the crops and their own labor, they will be able to gaze into the entire universe. Those unfamili...

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Saturday Linkages: Alphabet Birdhouses, Ancient Cheese and the World’s Worst Cookbooks

...oes-it-cost-to-decor.html … Archaeologists Find Ancient Evidence Of Cheese-Making http://n.pr/TUyVLZ New Research Links Pesticides in Tap Water to Rise in Food Allergies http://inhabitat.com/new-research-links-pesticides-in-tap-water-to-rise-in-food-allergies/ … The world’s worst cookbooks: http://yuckylicious.blogspot.com Does Costco Destroy Baby Manatees? MoJo’s Eco-Doom Headline Generator http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/12/mother-jo...

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