KELLY EGAN

1. Your parents are not your future. Speak well, keep your chin high and be polite. People will notice this first, despite the mud caked on your shoes.

2. Find your talent, seize it, own it, and never give up.

3. The best revenge is winning an Oscar, an Emmy, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and a Laurel…all in one year.

4. If the man you’re working with turns out to be the love of your life, consider yourself lucky. You’re killing two birds with one massive, insanely vocally talented, stone.

5. Be a fucking lady.

I’m sitting in my living room surrounded by an organized mess of fabric, beads, leather bits and strands of festive LED lighting. Between my legs is a well-packed hookah. The nozzle of which is stuffed up my shirt, hanging over my collar for easy hands-free access because my hands, you see, are busy.

They are sewing together strips of leather I’ve ripped from an old bomber jacket my grandfather gave me many years ago. The panels are all separated, cleaned up, now just waiting to be sewn and glued into something remarkable, with a high chance of resembling a Waterworld revive frock I’m afraid.

We’ll see.

Last summer, out of nowhere, I took a huge interest in Coco Chanel. I read every book on her I could find, watched every film that portrayed her life, and poured over picture after picture of her work. She always worked with a cigarette in between her teeth, glasses to her nose, standing up. The ease and simplicity of her designs just hypnotized me into a moment where I suddenly needed to express myself through fabric.

So I attempted to make a blazer, a very precise garment usually requiring a mannequin to complete along with good deal of stitching by hand. That blazer hangs, unfinished, in my closet. Unfinished because half way through I realized I hated it. Why would I wear this? Honestly?

No, this wasn’t me.

Currently, I am piecing together a very Steampunk looking leather floppy skirt with honey hemp round stitching around the belt. I fucking love it already. My choice of fabric glue is the only thing holding me back from completing it. A matching crop jacket is already cut and pieced, waiting.

I will never be Chanel, nor do I want to be. I’ll leave that to all the side-parted fashionistas coming out of FIDMA. But only now do I realize what I really took away from Chanel.

Not the product; but the process and attention during construction.

I may not be sucking a cig standing up in a room hand stitching a hem, but I am laboring over this little skirt with a pipe and a tumbler of whiskey. And I am happy.

By God I am happy.

It was a snowball effect really.

First it was learning I had a mild case of Celiacs back in 2009, and removing wheat from my diet strictly for a year. Then falling off the wagon in January 2010. It was signing up for PETA, only to receive all their pamphlets, newsletters, brochures, assorted reading material, etc. It was watching documentary after documentary regarding our food production, shipping, growing, business and consumption.

It was the culmination of workshops and word of mouth from Green festivals, hippies and close friends.

All of a sudden, I just didn’t crave it anymore. Meat was tasteless.

But to add going “Gluten-Free” again to my diet in addition to cutting out all meat had me a little nervous. Surprisingly enough, it’s been way easier this second time around. Turns out, in the past year there have been loads of new products that are Gluten-Free and (most importantly) delicious. I found a bread, Edi, that rivals most whole wheat breads I’ve tried. It’s mind blowing.

What the Vegetarian blogs and starter pages don’t really go into is what happens to your body during those first two weeks. Trust me, shit goes down. Literally. It’s like a subtle cleanse that only you know about, like the pain your feel in your fingertips when you try squeezing the last bit of toothpaste from the tube. Then, all of a sudden, energy.

I mean huge, huge bursts of energy.

Now, I’m not the exercising kind of girl. In my few years spent upright I’ve never had the deep desire to, idunno, run. Or stretch my limbs and torso out on a little rubber mat in front of a wall of mirrors. But recently, all I want to do is move, jump, run, break a sweat, climb trees, fight large alligators in mud pits with a hunting knife between my teeth.

What ever and where ever this change has come from, awesome, keep it coming.

Meanwhile, I love eggplant.

I’m so excited for the return of Lightning in a Bottle. The line up this year is sick and I can’t wait to see all your pretty faces out there among the beautiful Southern Californian landscape!

Click the image above to buy tickets!

I love to camp. Simply, in love with sleeping outdoors. Lately I’ve taken a closer look at food preparation and cooking while out on trail. My prior experiences with camping and cooking were often messy, time consuming, and exhausting.

So earlier this year, I took an REI class with a friend that delved into just that: cooking outside. Specifically on trails where time, the elements, and weight all make or break your trip.

The best advice I can offer when packing food for back country trips: Prep a head. The use of so many zip-lock bags may seem excessive, but  on trail you’ll need to use them to pack all your garbage back home. Boy you’ll be glad they seal tight then.

This recipe is a great meal for day 1 or 2 on trail, as the greens will begin to wilt in pack after that.

Mac ‘n’ Greens

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

2 packages of Mac ‘n’ Cheese. (In this version I used Gluten Free Mac ‘n’ Cheese)

1/2 a bag of Arugula

2 packets of tuna fish

1 tbl. dried oregano

1 tbl. dried parsley

1/2 tbl. garlic powder

1/2/ tbl. onion powder

1 tsp. salt  & pepper

Prep: Before you leave

Mix all the dried ingredients and noodles together, seal in zip-lock plastic bag. Label.

Pack cheese packets and tuna together, keep arugula separate.

On Trail

Cook noodles accorinding to box instructions. Add cheese and tuna and arugula at the end. Stir.

Dig in!

Note: In the image above, there are mushrooms in this dish as well. They were left overs from lunch that I tossed in. Very tasty.

Stir fry is a great dish to make when you have a bunch of vegetables and assorted meats from other meals that don’t quite make a new dish on their own. Solution; throw it in the wok with noodles.

The secret to a good stir fry is in the sauce. I use a mad scientist mix of seasoning and sauces for this dish. Personally, I always try and avoid making a stir fry too salty. This is easy to do since their is a lot of sodium in soy sauce and udon seasoning. Balance the sauce out with heat and sake

Ingredients

1 pkg of udon noodles (frozen or sealed) OR

1 pkg of flat rice noodles

2 tsp of cooking oil

3 oz of mushrooms (shimeji)

2 heads of broccoli

1 bunch of spinach

2 carrots (sliced thin and narrow)

4 oz of thinly sliced pork, in strips.

2 Tsp each of soy sauce and sake

Salt and Pepper

1. Remove udon from freezer. Bring pot of water to boil and cook noodles. Set aside.
2. In a medium wok, add 1 tsp cooking oil and saute the broccoli, carrots and mushrooms. Heat until the carrots are limp.
3. Add spinach to medium wok. Spinach will cook down dramatically. Turn heat to low.
4. In a separate pan, add 1 tsp cooking oil. Heat oil.
5. Cut pork into thin slices and saute in hot oil. Salt and Pepper lightly.
6. When pork is white, add to medium wok.
7. Toss in the udon noodles. Bring head up to medium and saute with vegetables.
8. Finally add pork to medium wok with soy sauce and sake.
9. Saute for 3 minutes, until all the juices are soaked up and the noodles turn a light brown.

Plate, serve, eat!