NPR Sunday - my radio fare during my early morning travels - is featuring a series on economical holidays. Yesterday's item was about saving money on novelty cupcakes using cake mix and canned frosting purchased at the supermarket and 7-11. It was appalling, and I notice there are no positive comments on the web site, where I left my remarks, too - much tempered from the cussing I was doing in the car yesterday...

Here they are, for those who don't want to click through

There's nothing environmentally friendly about cake mix and the 7-11 - unless it's that one can walk instead of drive to the neighborhood convenience store. Local, seasonal ingredients - and where local isn't an option, organic - prepared in energy efficient ways would be the best choice. Haven't you been reading Michael Pollan or Barbara Kingsolver? Canning what I can grow and gather in summer and fall as jams, chutneys and salsas is my choice.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98240418&ft=1&f=10