1st Tiny House Jamboree Wrap Up

I returned to my cozy little home here in the woods yesterday. Feeling a bit down. Not because the Jamboree was bad, but because it was so amazing that it's sad to have had to leave!

 I am very glad I was able to attend even though my plans were made a little last minute. Here is some of what I was able to experience totally aside from looking at all the cool houses. My next post will just be all the amazing tiny house photos. But here are some of the other things that went on. 

First, there was crazy long lines for everything, starting with getting in the gate which you can see above. I still don't know final numbers, but I heard a rumor that almost 40,000 people attended over the three days. That's really crazy that there are so many people interested in this movement! 

The whole event was a little like Facebook coming to like to quote someone else. I have never met so many people, that I previously knew only through the internet, in a few days. It was really amazing to be able to meet Jay Shafer (Four Lights Houses) and thank him for getting this whole current movement going! And Amy from Tumbleweed was the one who helped me work out the whole design for my house and get it built so it was fun to actually meet her as well.

There was lots of cool souvenirs from the event. I actually chose a bottle of local wine labeled with the Jamboree poster.

Crowds and lines were long everywhere!

There were tiny house professional movers and they had this cool old toy at their boot.

There were kids checking out the little demos and saying, "Hey mom, this one is perfect!"

I was able to camp in my van between some other folks tiny houses, and cook up some good food.

The SIP house was constructed from the trailer up during the three days and it was fun to watch it take shape that fast.

I was able to meet one of the young families I really admire who live in their tiny with their two children. And happened to park beside them one day. Baylie and Bjorn and their kids just moved into a new tiny over the Jamboree! Check out their story here.

There was a crew from France present to film the event.

And a group of folks working on setting up tiny homestead organic farms in empty city lots to improve food accessibility and clean up deserted areas. I thought that was pretty sweet and loved this little model they built. They have a radio show you can check out here. 

I met many more famous tiny housers like from Christian and Alexis from Tiny House Expedition who will hopefully be visiting my area and house in a year or so on their trip!

And Michelle from My Tiny Empty Nest.

Eco Cabins sponsored the whole event and their staff put in a ton of work to make it all happen!

There were amazing speakers and huge crowds listening to them from the tiny stage. 

Jay Shafer the father of the movement. Four Lights Homes

Kai, the founder of Tiny House Lending and Tiny House Dating is also a great MC.

Byron and Dot of Simblissity are a wonderful couple and I really enjoyed spending time with them as well as listening to him speak on how to plan your house to be the right size for you, not just tiny in general.

Andrew Odom from Tiny r(E)volution and Tiny House Magazine (which I have written for in the past) actually has an amazing sense of humor in person. It doesn't quite come through just from emailing him, but listening to him in person is hilarious! 

We were all able to watch a yurt go up from the ground as well.

The lines didn't start out too crazy long on Friday, but the next two days were insane.

And the speakers started out in the full sun, but after the first day and with everyone sunburnt, thankfully we were able to move them to the shade!

I got to see a tiny piece of rainbow! But missed the flooding that happened right after we all left.

More crowds!

Tumbleweed had two showroom houses there.

The weather ended up being lovely all weekend!

There was tiny house dating getting started and the audience sent the couples off for a beer to get to know each other better.

And panels of experts to help answer all the questions you might have.

There was even a photo drone from LanderDrone  to give you a birds eye view of the whole place! I can't seem to embed it in this post, but go check their website. It's pretty cool.

I certainly hope there is a 2nd Annual Jamboree next summer!

Look Who Stopped By!

Look who came by my place today since he happened to kinda be driving by on his way home from the Jamboree! It was fun to hang out with Sean from unboxedhouse.com for a little bit and get to see his work on and plans for his container house. 

And what am I doing now? Umm... Sitting here by my fire drinking a glass of wine and blogging. Yup. Pretty nice and relaxing evening after a few full days.

Jamboree Day 3

Day three was great as well! Here is just one shot from the day. Jay Shafer, the father of the whole movement spoke today and I got a photo with him and a chance to thank him for all his hard work. I'm driving home now and will add lots more photos and descriptions once I return.

 It's sad to leave, but I am so glad I went and got to actually meet in person all kinds of people I only knew through the internet before! Folks like Tiny House Expedition, Tiny House Growing Family, A Bed Over My Head, Jay Shafer, Tiny House Systems, Simblissity Tiny Homes,Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, Eco Cabins, LLC, My Empty Nest, TinyHouse43, Tiny House Chattanooga, Tiny Houses Of Lancaster PA, Tiny House Dating, Thimble Homes LLC., and a bunch more who like Eco Cabins, LLC, Derek Diedricksen, Beth Ann Norrgard, Zack Giffin, Sean David Burke, and probably more I'm forgetting right now!

Thanks 1st Annual Tiny House Jamboree at Colorado Springs, CO! Looking forward to next year!

Spices - The Tiny House Friendly Way To Add Lots Of Variety!

Spices. They are foundational to tasty food in my opinion. And if you live in a tiny house, they are small and light, and can make a crazy difference in the flavor of your food. As your probably know, I love to cook from scratch and I use a large selection of spices. (Which I store in racks on the back of my pantry door.) But are you comfortable with knowing what spice to use with what food? When I was learning to cook, my mom had a list hanging on the back of the spice cupboard door that was very helpful. I think when I learned how to season food, it was a huge help to me in my cooking. Now if I'm making tomato soup for instance, I have an easy reference for what spices would compliment tomatoes, and I can experiment within that.

I don't know where the list my mom had that I learned from originated, but the source for this one is at the bottom of the page. I recommend printing this and hanging it somewhere (like the inside of the door) close to where you store your spices for easy reference.

Spices By Foods They Compliment: 

Chicken - Basil, Bay Leaf, Cilantro, Cinnamon, Curry Powder, Garlic, Lemongrass, Mace, Marjoram, Mint, Onion, Paprika, Parsley, Rosemary, Sage, Saffron, Savory, Tarragon, Thyme

Beef - Basil, Bay Leaf, Black Pepper, Cayenne, Cumin, Curry Powder, Dry Mustard Powder, Garlic, Green Pepper,Lemongrass, Onion, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme

Fish - Bay Leaf, Cayenne, Curry Powder, Celery Seed, Chives, Dill, Fennel, Lemongrass, Lemon Zest, Marjoram, Mint, Dry Mustard Powder, Onion, Paprika, Parsley, Red Bell Pepper, Saffron, Sage, Sesame Seed, Tarragon, Thyme, Turmeric

Lamb- Basil, Cinnamon, Cumin, Curry Powder, Garlic, Marjoram, Mint, Onion, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, Sesame Seed, Thyme

Pork - Allspice, Caraway, Celery Seed, Cloves, Coriander, Fennel, Ginger, Juniper Berries, Dry Mustard Powder, Paprika, Sage, Savory

Veal - Bay Leaf, Black Pepper, Curry Powder, Dill, Ginger, Lemon, Marjoram, Mint, Oregano, Paprika, Parsley, Saffron,Sage, Tarragon

Eggs - Basil, Chives, Curry Powder, Dry Mustard Powder, Green or Red Bell Pepper, Onion, Paprika, Parsley, Tarragon

Cheese - Chives, Nutmeg, Oregano, Red Pepper, Sage, Tarragon, Thyme

Artichokes - Bay Leaf, Parsley, Oregano, Thyme

Asparagus - Garlic, Lemon, Onion, Chives, Sesame Seed, Tarragon

Beets - Star Anise, Allspice, Basil, Dill, Ginger, Mint

Bell Peppers - Basil, Oregano, Rosemary

Broccoli - Red Pepper, Savory, Turmeric

Cabbage - Caraway Seeds, Celery Seed, Juniper Berries, Tarragon

Carrots - Allspice, Star Anise, Bay Leaf, Caraway Seeds, Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, Mint,Sage, Tarragon

Cauliflower - Chives, Coriander, Sage, Turmeric

Corn – Basil, Chives, Dill Seeds, Oregano

Cucumbers - Dill, Mint

Eggplant - Basil, Cumin, Marjoram, Oregano

Fennel - Caraway Seeds, Fennel Seeds, Rosemary, Thyme

Green Beans - Basil, Dill, Garlic, Onion, Savory

Mushrooms- Black Pepper, Marjoram, Nutmeg, parsley, oregano, sage, tarragon, thyme

Onion - caraway seed, mustard seed, nutmeg, Oregano, Sage, Thyme

Peas - Mint, Onion, Parsley, Rosemary, Tarragon, Turmeric

Potatoes - Caraway Seeds, Chives, Dill, Dill Seeds, Paprika, Parsley, Thyme, Turmeric

Spinach - Dill, Nutmeg, Tarragon

Sweet Potatoes - Allspice, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg

Tomatoes - Basil, Cilantro, Cumin, Fennel Seeds, Garlic, Oregano, Red Pepper, Black Pepper,Rosemary, Saffron, Tarragon, Thyme

Zucchini - Basil, Oregano

Spices By Ethnic Foods They Compliment:

Cajun & Creole Spices 
Allspice, basil, bay leaves, black pepper, caraway seeds, cardamom, cayenne, celery seed, chives, chile peppers,cinnamon, cloves, cumin, dill seed, dill weed, garlic, gumbo filé, lemon, mace, marjoram, nutmeg, onion, oregano (Mediterranean), paprika, parsley, saffron, savory, tarragon, thyme, white pepper and yellow mustard.

Caribbean Spices
Allspice, achiote seeds (annatto seeds), black pepper, chile peppers, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, ginger, lime, mace, nutmeg,onion, and thyme.

Chinese Spices
Cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, ginger, hot mustard, lemongrass, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, Tien Tsin chiles,turmeric and white pepper.Indian Spices

Indian Spices
Anise seed, ajwain, asafoetida, bay leaf, black cardamom, black cumin, black mustard seed, black pepper, black salt,brown mustard seed, citric acid, chile peppers, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cubeb berries, cumin, dried mango, fennel seed, fenugreek leaves, fenugreek seeds, garlic, ginger, green cardamom, lemon, lime, long pepper, mace, mint, nigella,nutmeg, onion, poppy seeds, saffron, sesame seed, star anise, turmeric and white pepper.

Italian Spices
Basil, garlic, onion, oregano (Mediterranean), marjoram and parsley.

Mediterranean Spices
Basil, bay leaves, black caraway, black pepper, cardamom, chervil, chile peppers, chives, cilantro, cinnamon, cloves,coriander, cumin, fennel seed, fenugreek seeds, garlic, ginger, juniper, mace, marjoram, mint, nutmeg, onion, oregano (Mediterranean), paprika, parsley, rosemary, saffron, sage, savory, tarragon, thyme, turmeric and white pepper.

Mexican Spices
Allspice, achiote seeds (annatto seeds), basil, Mexican cinnamon, cayenne, chile peppers, cilantro, coriander, cumin,epazote, mint, nutmeg, oregano (Mexican), sage and thyme.

Middle Eastern Spices
Aleppo pepper, anise seed, caraway, cardamom, cumin, maras pepper, nutmeg, sumac and turmeric

North African Spices
Birds eye chiles, cilantro, cinnamon, cubeb berries, cumin, garlic, ginger, grains of paradise, long pepper, mint, onion andsaffron.

Spanish Spices
Basil, bay leaf, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, mint, nutmeg, oregano (Mediterranean), paprika (Smoked Sweet),parsley, rosemary, saffron, sage, tarragon,thyme and vanilla.

Thai Spices
Basil, black pepper, cardamom, chile peppers, cilantro, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime, mace, mint, nutmeg, shallots, turmeric and white pepper.

What are your favorite seasonings? Or what are you going to try after reading this list? I'd love to hear about it!

Sources:
http://www.spicesinc.com

Jamboree Day 2

Day 2. I was able to look around a few more houses I never made it into yesterday, listen to some more speakers, meet more folks who I only knew through the internet, and spend the evening hanging out with some pretty cool builders! I am looking forward to tomorrow, but a bit bummed I'll probably have to leave early to get home in time for work on Monday.

Huge crowds! I don't think anyone expected this turnout. 15,000 people today I think I heard?

This house has been build from the trailer up during the last two days.

More crowds listening to speakers.

Neat interiors and stairs are all over!

Q and A panels. 

And a bunch of shots of my two favorite interiors that are different than mine.

Jamboree Day 1

Wow there were a lot of people at the Jamboree today! And I'm sure it will be even more crowded tomorrow and Sunday. I really enjoyed meeting some folks I've only know through the internet in person, and seeing all the creative ideas people have for their tiny homes. Here's a few of my favorite shots from the day. Looking forward to the next two days!