Ugh - I just finished this book.  I did it.  I'm a better person for it.  I was a hard read.  It was also a slightly depressing read but I feel like I read something real and deep and wide and rich.
There is simply so much to take in while reading that I feel like I need to read it again.  I never ever ever read books twice unless I'm researching something (which is not the case here).  I've got a thing about it and always have.  I must have been 10 or 11 yrs old when I first articulated the idea in my mind.  When the idea became more than just random preferences.  I was wandering around in a bookstore and found my way (inevitably) to the 'classics' section.  I didn't know where to start.  I had to start with the oldest thing there (that I knew of at least).  I'm trying to remember what I walked out with - possibly Nathanael Hawthorne or Jane Austen and definitely not the 'oldest' thing in the section - but I can't recall.  I had this sense of just how much was out there floating around in the world at large and that knowledge held me back from taking the time to read something again.  At the time it seemed like stealing from the next great book - and I guess in a weird way it is a little like that.  Of course now I know that I'll never read through everything out there, not even once... probably.  But this book... well, it feels important enough to read again.
I think that what has made a most lasting impression is the idea that we need to stop looking at this planet from the perspective at the top of the pyramid or the top wrung of the ladder.  In fact,  looking at our world as something that has a top and bottom wrung at all needs to exit our brains.  If we could get our heads around the idea of just being another animal in the cycle that is life and death, participating fully in the taking and giving of it... well that would change everything.  What if every time I 'took' (a breath, an animal life, nutrients from the ground) I thought about how to 'give'.  Ultimately, of course, giving my body back to the ground to feed the life around it again.  The book has made me think long about how much we've (I've) extracted with no thought of giving back.


I'm going to change gears abruptly here and start talking about mayonnaise.  I haven't bought mayonnaise in years.  D hates it.  Passionately.  And no one else actually likes it except me.  I just couldn't justify having this stupid jar hangin around the fridge and then not getting used quickly enough and then... aw... you know.  I hadn't even ever thought about making my own which is dumb because I make almost everything else.  It just never occurred to me and when it did I thought it would be difficult.  And then I found this recipe and it changed my life.  I have now made mayonnaise.  And it was easy.  And totally worth it.


I used olive oil this time around and apple cider vinegar.  Didn't work for me exactly.  I found the olive oil too strong and the cider vinegar not strong enough.  In future I'll use some other oil with less taste and a vinegar with more taste but preferably just lemon juice.  I was pretty generous with my salt and dijon as a result but I think you should go easy and add extra only if you taste it and find it lacking.
This recipe will take you no longer than a minute.  Yup.


I'm finding some great ways to use the mayo up... this was my first thing.  Oh yeah.
Now that I've finished the book I've got to find a way to move on.  To continue deciding on a daily basis whether I want to be radical about this or just nominal.  I think that this is something that deserves being decided on a daily basis because it's so counter to everything that we currently live in every conceivable way.  It's not something I can just decided today and it will stick forever and ever.  It's huge.

Homemade Mayo adapted from 'Well Preserved' and Gordon Ramsay
made about 1 1/2 - 2 cups mayo

2 egg yolks
200 ml of oil (I used olive but I recommend using something with less taste - canola or something)
1 full tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice (I used apple cider vinegar which I found a little too subtle so I ended up using more regular vinegar - start with maybe 1 1/2 tbsp regular vinegar  - or something strong - and see if you need more)
1 1/2 tsp salt

Immersion Blender Version:
Throw all the ingredients into a tall, narrow container (I used the one that came with the blender).  Starting with the blender at the very bottom begin to blend on low speed and slowly work your way up.  It took about 20 seconds for everything to happen.
Taste and adjust if necessary.  You can blend again for a few seconds or just whisk in by hand.
Put the mayo into a jar with a lid and refrigerate.
Will keep for about 1 week.