Homemade Party

So we finally had our housewarming party. After a week of cleaning & organizing, 2 trips to the farmer’s market, 2 stops at the Ralph’s, and 2 passes at the Whole Foods, we were ready. We had a mostly local/organic/homemade menu: 2 pitchers of Bloody Marys made with my own tomato juice, a pitcher of Mojitos, Mimosas, onion dip, a plate of fromage & charcuterie from Joan’s on Third (our favorite gourmet deli in Donny’s old hood – not local food, but a great local vendor), smoked salmon tea sandwiches, pretzel rolls, red velvet ice cream cone cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, brownies and a fruit tart.

I also purchased compostable cups & straws made out of corn, sugarcane plates and silverware made out of vegetables from BiodegradableStore.com, of Eco-Products. Please note**these products are not local. In fact, they are not even made in the US. After many hours of research I have found that almost every single option for biodegradable or compostable tableware come from Asia. Many companies will confuse you by saying they are distributed in the US, but do not be fooled. Those that are honest and upfront about where they manufacture are also forward that they have all fair trade workers. Greenfeet does sell Nat-ur Corn's silverware that is made out of corn from the US, but since I was making a last minute purchase, it was cheaper to buy everything from just one company. Now, there is still a question about where to dispose these products once they are used. Most of them call for commercial composting, but others say you can cut them up into small pieces and throw in your own outdoor composter. One company called, EATware, even boasts that you can eat their products. If you are not in the mood to snack on your plate – they claim to have a composting turnover of only 2 weeks if you leave it in water. Since local is not an option, here is a list of the other websites I compared products/prices: Branch, Treecycle, and Earth-Friendly Home. I can’t comment on any of these companies, but I can say that Biodegradablestore.com was very helpful and easy to order from. They also seem to have the largest selection of options and quantities.

All of our guests responded well to our request to consider the environment when gifting. We excitedly got some potted flowers/cactus, a fish named Milkshake and several bottles of California wine. Katie & Junio even recycled a book to us. Though it did travel 3000 miles from their home in Brooklyn, NY, we were its fifth recipient. And our favorite was a gift certificate to Whole Foods.

Alcohol

I woke up this morning, excited to make homemade moonshine. The recipe, which I give Junio credit for finding, had too many steps. All I wanted to do was pour everything in a mason jar. And that is exactly what I did. 2 small containers of blueberries (frozen) from the Culver City Farmer’s Market, ¾ cup pure white cane sugar that we already had in the cupboard, 1 ½ cups + unidentified extra topper Sky Vodka we have had in the freezer since we moved in. Oh, and I also picked a lemon from our dwarf lemon tree and sliced off pieces of zest to add in. There is a blueberry lemon martini at the Whisper lounge at the Grove I hope to replicate. This will sit on my counter to turn for weeks to come. Donny and I have decided to have a housewarming party and I’d like to share my moonshine with our guests then. I called my mom today about said housewarming party. We are about to send out the invitation via email to our intended guests. I’d like to put a line on the invite that says something like “Please consider the environment if gifting.” I wanted to get my mother’s opinion on the matter. When I called her and started to explain the invite: black & white architectural photograph, yellow type that is straight to the point with only the necessary information, i.e. date, time, our address. She said she immediately knew I was going to ask her about this issue. Here is the thing. I like gifts, but I don’t want people to feel so obligated to get us something that the need to pause for the environment is lost. I told her about the wedding invitation etiquette I read about online that said even the mere mention of gifts was taboo. My mom agreed the way we worded the invite seemed appropriate and necessary. If we left it off then potentially we would leave ourselves open to guests getting us anything and everything, which is a waste we don’t want to incur. I also think that it is valuable to try starting the conversation with our friends. Most of the people we know do not have composters in their house. They do not recycle regularly and they do not buy mostly organic and local foods. It will be an opportunity to share ideas on projects and see what other people are doing in their homes. I hope to find out things I didn’t know.