Sustainability
If I didn't need to sleep, I wouldn't. I love sleep. Some mornings I wake up and the first thought that goes through my head is that I can't wait to climb back into bed at the end of the day. I'm a morning person, meaning I like the morning, and I don't mind getting up, but I also can be very productive late at night when all is quiet. Unfortunately, I can not manage going to bed at 1am and waking up at 5am anymore, so something has to give. It seems that if my late night productivity gives, my early morning exercise survives, and that is apparently higher on my priority list right now. I must be rambling, because I'm not quite sure that the previous has anything to do with the following--or maybe it does: If I had all the time in the world, I have the ambitions to fill the time!
I think I would love to have a hand in producing the majority of what my family needs to live on. Livestock to provide meat, cows to milk, chickens for eggs, an orchard, a garden big enough to enjoy in the summer and preserve to enjoy the rest of the year, the time to bake all our bread and make all our pasta and butter and yogurt, etc, etc, etc! I dabble in it, and that's as good as it's going to get for now, but when I do dabble, I so enjoy it. It makes me feel accomplished. It's gratifying...even the little bit I do have time for right now.
I don't know what we did to our garden this year, but whatever it was, it's working. It thrills me to no end to pick tomatoes and dig potatos and snap green beans...maybe because of the number of times we haven't gotten it right. :) You hear all the time how much better something fresh tastes...it's true and it's even true when it comes out of the freezer or the jar. Doesn't matter if it's jelly or peas or pork or eggs or even mint! (We made mint ice cream the other day...mmmm!) Tonight: corn...sweet gold!
I remember growing up, being in my Grandma's kitchen for an entire weekend, maybe multiple weekends, where all we did was "put up" corn. My Grandma, my mom, my aunt and us kids, running around, probably making more of a mess than being truly helpful. My sister ate so much corn on the cob one time that I don't even know if she can really eat it today! I don't think I knew what corn out of a can tasted like...only out of a little baggie with a twist tie. Oh, so good! I think we did it a little differently...I know we added a little sugar, and I thought that we cut the corn off the cob before blanching it, but I'm not quite sure. This is how it happens here:
Blanch clean ears of corn for 3 minutes to cook them a little and destroy any harmful bacteria.
Stop the cooking process by submerging in an ice bath.
Drain the water off.
Cut the corn off the cob. This handy little gadget is my choice over an electric knife or standard knife...pretty slick!
Try not to eat it as fast as you cut it off! :)
I think I would love to have a hand in producing the majority of what my family needs to live on. Livestock to provide meat, cows to milk, chickens for eggs, an orchard, a garden big enough to enjoy in the summer and preserve to enjoy the rest of the year, the time to bake all our bread and make all our pasta and butter and yogurt, etc, etc, etc! I dabble in it, and that's as good as it's going to get for now, but when I do dabble, I so enjoy it. It makes me feel accomplished. It's gratifying...even the little bit I do have time for right now.
I don't know what we did to our garden this year, but whatever it was, it's working. It thrills me to no end to pick tomatoes and dig potatos and snap green beans...maybe because of the number of times we haven't gotten it right. :) You hear all the time how much better something fresh tastes...it's true and it's even true when it comes out of the freezer or the jar. Doesn't matter if it's jelly or peas or pork or eggs or even mint! (We made mint ice cream the other day...mmmm!) Tonight: corn...sweet gold!
I remember growing up, being in my Grandma's kitchen for an entire weekend, maybe multiple weekends, where all we did was "put up" corn. My Grandma, my mom, my aunt and us kids, running around, probably making more of a mess than being truly helpful. My sister ate so much corn on the cob one time that I don't even know if she can really eat it today! I don't think I knew what corn out of a can tasted like...only out of a little baggie with a twist tie. Oh, so good! I think we did it a little differently...I know we added a little sugar, and I thought that we cut the corn off the cob before blanching it, but I'm not quite sure. This is how it happens here:
Stop the cooking process by submerging in an ice bath.
Drain the water off.
Try not to eat it as fast as you cut it off! :)
Corn skeletons.
Sweet gold for the freezer! Sustainability--modified. :)
