bluehouse Weblog

Firstly, we’d like to thank those of you who voted us as Baltimore’s best eco-friendly business!! We are very proud to be growing our roots here in Baltimore, and even more pleased to announce that we shall be opening our second location of Bluehouse in Kenilworth mall next month.

Also!! Be certain to stop in our shop this week and sign up for our mailing list. Those who do shall also be entered for our Friday raffling of David Sedaris tickets! The show will be happening this Sunday, October 5th at 8:00 p.m. at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

Lastly, now that it’s fall our cafe has been throwing in a lovely array of spicy treats. Try our pumpkin latte (we use real pumpkin!), have a yummy pumpkin spice muffin or get a bagel with pumpkin butter (mix it with cream cheese= heaven).

Green jobs..Helping the environment and saving the economy.

American consumers drive more economic activity than any other entity in the world, but during the past 3 decades the vast majority of American’s have seen their income stagnate or decline in real dollars. What started out in the late 1970’s as a desire to curb inflation - control wage and benefit costs - has now become the main tool for increasing corporate profits. This has created a need for consumer credit in order to bridge the difference between stagnated income, and the increased cost of living being assumed by American workers. Today with the credit crisis, this model has collapsed. To remedy this we need more income in the hands of the majority of Americans in order to sustain our economy, and reduce the need for credit. Our opportunity is to use the urgent need to rebuild our infrastructure, national energy system, and communities in a green, sustainable manner to provide jobs and income for everyone.

Here’s a little synopsis of the who’s, what’s, why’s, and where.

WHAT: Green Jobs Now in Baltimore
National Green Jobs Now Day
WHEN: Saturday, September 27, 2008
10:00 AM to 12:00 noon
WHERE: Clifton Park, 2801 Saint Lo Dr., Baltimore MD 21213, at the band shell
WHO: Nationally, sponsors are Green For All, 1Sky, and Al Gore’s We Campaign, together with many other organizations that work to combat global warming.
In Baltimore, sponsors at this date are the Entrepreneurial Training University, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters Educational Fund, the Network of Spiritual Progressives, and Unitarian-Universalists for Social Justice, and more will be added in the coming weeks.
COST: Free. Open to everyone of all ages.
WHY: The event will educate, encourage and empower the Baltimore community to increase participation in and awareness of the green jobs movement. Green-collar jobs can pull people out of poverty and improve the planet we all live on. Baltimore City’s economy standsto benefit tremendously both by training people for green jobs and developing green jobs.
DETAILS: The day will open with a job-training fair, where people will have an opportunity to learn about training for green jobs in Baltimore, and more about green jobs in general. Other organizations that work to stop global warming will also be present.
A rally will follow at noon. Speakers will include representatives of Baltimore City’s government, labor unions, and youth. This event corresponds with hundreds of other events planned all over the U.S. on the same day, and will send the message loud and clear that we want bold legislation for green-collar jobs in the first 100 days of the next presidency.
CONTACT: Frances Aubrey 410-319-7204, cell 410-814-1674

We’ve been in the kitchen this month. It started Labor Day; we usually get our lunch food orders from Zia’s Cafe in Towson, but they were closed for the holiday. In order to have tasty food for our customers, Amy and Rob put their heads together and pulled off a small menu of sandwiches, fruit salad and yogurt parfait cups. We really liked making our own food, so we’ve decided to really step up our recipe and supplier research and get cracking on pulling together our own menu. Our goal? To have a small, rotating, tasty selection of healthy foods, ranging from breakfast items to sandwiches, soups and salads. We’d love to get in season ingredients locally, and respond to the needs of our customers including vegetarians, vegan, and people with various food allergies.

Our first baby step was to make the yogurt parfait cups an everyday item. Right now we’re making them with low fat Brown Cow vanilla yogurt, French Almond Vanilla granola and chunks of fresh strawberries. For the winter, when fresh strawberries are waaaay out of season, we’re thinking of topping the yogurt with a fruit compote instead. However they are made we are happy to be offering our customers new tasty options, though we’ll make sure to keep stocking some of the same indulgent treats we’ve had all along.

Mother Earth Harvest Fair Call For Volunteers

The Mother Earth Harvest Fair (MEHF) is looking for volunteers!
Sunday October 5, 2008
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

MEHF is a celebration of sustainable living, held annually at Spoutwood Farm in Glen Rock, PA (about 40 minutes north of Baltimore). Modeled on old fashioned country fairs, MEHF will combine educational presentations about sustainable living along with entertainment, kids activities and lots of fun. bluehouse employees have been attending events at Spoutwood Farm for the past 7 years, and we are excited at the farm’s commitment to organic farming and its work at providing education about sustainable living our area.

The Fair depends on the help of volunteers, and the organizers are now looking for people who would like to sign up ahead of time to help out. Shifts run 2 hours and for your help you are reimbursed your entrance fee. Please contact Posie at fairyfestivities@yahoo.com if you are interested in volunteering.

You can find more information about MEHF at http://www.spoutwood.com/mehf.html