Posts Tagged ‘Grey Clouds’
Escaping Reality or Walking Headlong into It?
I love my little homestead on the edge of town. It is a stormy weekend here on the Central Coast; grey clouds cover the sky and rain falls light and soft. The Sycamore tree outside my window is the color of New England, red and gold and brown. Leaves fall, swirling around with each puff of wind before landing on the wet ground, insulating bulbs planted this fall.
As I write, there is a blazing fire in front of me, crackling and popping with wood laid in back in September. A stockpot bubbles on the stove, full of vegetables and herbs and chicken raised and killed on our farm this past spring. Soft instrumental music floats through the house, the sounds of winter found on Pandora. It is quiet and peaceful and reflective. It is home, an oasis, a refuge from a chaotic world just outside me.
My friends and acquaintances say I don’t live in the real world, that what I have created is unnatural, a fantasy, a fake world not based on reality. They think I am hiding from life, from drama, from real problems and real situations. But, is it—hiding? Or, is it looking life square in the face and consciously deciding to have something different? A different kind of life; a better life; one based solely on realism.
The daily life of a farm is the most real place you can be. There is living and dying on a farm; crops to be planted so they grow to their most bountiful, animals to be bred so offspring is born during the right season, meat animals to be raised to get a family through the winter. Animals to care for no matter what the weather is, what other pleasures may be sought, what schedules must be kept. Oh, sure you can always run to the store to buy a pre-made meal, but is that the real world? Or, is that the fake and shallow world created by corporations and consumerism?
Is it more real to spend the day walking a mall full of pushing crowds and glaring lights and blaring sounds? Or, is a real life found in the natural flow of a farm? Is reality found in dashing out on a cold winter’s day frantic to get an extra discount on something you already have or don’t really need? Or, is reality found in a home that can care for its family no matter what difficulties may come?
How much more real can you be growing your own food, trading or bartering with others, helping friends in need and being part of a community that understands what real life is, appreciating the hardships and pleasures it can afford, while reveling in the natural beauty of it all.
I suppose we all have a different view on what is real and what reality is. It is shaped by our values, our upbringing, our life experiences. It ebbs and flows as we age and live and grow; deciding what we want for ourselves and from ourselves.
Farming is MY reality. I look out over my little farm and see a decade worth of work and striving and accomplishment. My farm is what solidifies me, quiets my soul, makes me happy, and makes me—REAL.
Do you find the homesteading life an escape from life? Or, a strong walk into reality? I’d love to know.
Souper Sunday Afternoon
The predicted storm did not materialize over the weekend, but the weather was still cold enough to enjoy a roaring fire all day long. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon with the wind billowing outside and grey clouds hanging low enough you felt like you could reach up a grab them. It was one of those days when you spent more time inside than out.
Weather like this cries out for food that’s warm and soothing. It calls out for a steaming, bubbling pot of soup; the kind that fills the house with aroma of herbs and spices; vegetables and meat.
When Brianne was younger I would send her to school with a thermos of piping hot soup almost every day of winter. It became the running joke in our house that “mom could make soup out of anything” and it wasn’t far off. Give me a leftover chicken carcass or a doggie bag of beef from a recent restaurant trip, along with a few veggies from the fridge and a small amount of pasta, rice or barley from the pantry and I could whip it into a steaming, hearty pot of soup, perfect for two.
We still eat a lot of soup during the winter months, transformed from a variety of leftovers or created from ingredients in our pantry. But, our creations are a bit more elaborate as our tastes have changed and our desires for more exotic creations have grown.
So, if old man winter gives you the cold shoulder fend him off with a simmering pot of soup. Paired with a salad and a warm loaf of homemade bread smothered in butter, you have the perfect cold day meal. Tonight’s soup…
Pasta Fagioli
2 pounds – ground beef
1 each – onion, chopped fine
3 each – carrots, chopped fine
4 each – stalks celery, chopped fine
28 oz – diced tomatoes, undrained (canned or homemade)
16 oz – red kidney beans, drained (if using dried, soak overnight)
16 oz – white kidney beans, drained (if using dried, soak overnight)
30 oz – beef broth (canned or homemade)
3 tsp – oregano
2 tsp – pepper
5 tsp – parsley
20 oz – spaghetti sauce (canned or homemade)
8 oz – small shell pasta
Brown beef in skillet; drain fat and add to crock pot. Add all remaining ingredients, except past to crock pot and cook on high for 5 to 6 hours. During last 30 minutes add pasta. Makes 12 servings. Top each bowl with parmesan cheese if desired.
Serve with warm focaccia bread and salad.
This is a great recipe for using up that chicken carcass.
It’s amazing how much meat is left on a carcass when it’s cooked down. Before starting, put carcass in large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to simmer for about an hour. Remove carcass and place on a cutting board to cool. Reserve 4 cups of broth, remaining can be ladled into freezer containers for later use. When carcass has cooled, pull off as much meat as you can. The recipe below is based on 2 cups of meat.
Greek Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
4 cups – chicken stock, or 14 ounces of canned broth
2 cups – chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
3/4 cup – orzo pasta
2 eggs
Juice from 1 large lemon (or to your personal preference)
Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste
Italian parsley
In a stock pot, combine 1 cup of water and broth, bring to a rapid simmer, add orzo and cook according to package directions. Add chicken to pot. In medium bowl, whisk together eggs and lemon juice. Whisking constantly, slowly pour 1 cup hot broth into egg mixture, immediately whisk egg mixture into stock pot. Season soup with salt and pepper, garnish with parsley. Makes 2 large servings.
Serve with warm pita and hummus, and a salad of lettuce, red onion, tomato, Kalamata olives and Feta cheese with Greek dressing.
photo credit: jessicafm and recipegirl
photo credit: randomcuriosity
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Aenean nonummy hendrerit mauris. Phasellus porta.