Hubby loves to see me wear an apron so he was happy about that. Perhaps he assumes I will actually cook a meal?
My Sister loved the sounds of people puttering around in the kitchen. When she was so sick and resting in her living room chair and I was right next to her in the kitchen, I would always try to be quiet and she, sensing that fact, would remind me...I love to hear those kitchen sounds.
And Mother...she in the years I was a girl never cooked a peach. ever. She never made peach jam or peach pie or peach cobbler or peach crisp or any dish with cooked peaches. She also never canned one single jar of anything. and...she never had a garden of any sort.
Why? Well, she was very practical and sensible. Her Daddy died when she was 17 maybe 16. As a girl she was raised and lived on what the family grew in their garden and they canned and smoked and kept in their root cellar. They butchered and gathered eggs. That was in Missouri. Alaska in 1945 was definitely not Missouri on all counts! The winter weather was real.
They bought some land and with the help of friends built a house. Grocery prices were outrageous and she used to say...I'll not pay that price for an apple and cook it. I do not recall her ever baking a pie! surely she did pumpkin!
Life became more tame and eventually, years later, my Dad got promoted and they moved to Boise so he could be at the Morrison Knudsen Company headquarters. Then years after that he retired. My Mother said she had to find something for him to do as he was going stir crazy. They started canning and making sauer kraut and beef jerky and sausage. It seemed their projects were endless! When I flew out to help them once with some health issues, they proudly showed me their storage shelves with all sorts of fruits and veggies gleaming in their glass jars. They had boxes and boxes of empty Kerr jars in their garage when they exited life.
She did end up with flowers, after I was married and not living at home, and that is a story for another time but that is the saga of my life. How am I a member of my chosen faith and have no life experience in these culinary arts? I have friends that are experienced and expert. Perhaps it was the Peach Slab goodness of Sunday or a box of peaches that arrived at my house but I did try to cook a pan of yumminess and of course, I thought of my Mother. All of the peaches and pears and applesauce on her Boise shelves and all the things she would make/bake and tell me about. She had done all of that in her life until she moved to Alaska so it was familiar and she loved doing it. I missed that life class!
I had never seen a peach tree or picked a peach or eaten a ripe peach until I moved here. A ripe peach is surely a hold-over from Eden!
I decided to do 4 dishes today. I got two done. I told Terry... these would not make it Blue Ribbon-wise in a Fair unless it was like The Music Man and you were Mayor and I was your wife and it was rigged.
How on earth does one mess up a Peach Cobbler and a Peach Crisp? And why do I set myself up for ridicule and judgment by telling all? That is how I seem to do things.
I definitely could win a quick-peel race of fresh peaches so I do have that going for me! Didn't improve the baking technique but was quick easy and not the mess I've heard of!
I'm thinking of trying the other two recipes and will share if they are better. Or worse!
Maybe I had no desire or interest or just didn't care? Better late than never! right????
Also...lots of gardeners in Alaska now. (friends grow gorgeous flowers in Homer. did you know that Peonies grow there? that was figured out and there is a local Homer business that flies them all over the place!)
The Matanuska Valley is known for gigantic veggies. Thought I'd share one picture from this years State Fair. the Award winning cabbage! 94 pounds!!
******************
These two articles were so refreshing and unique and different and I just had to share them. Really food for thought. Brief and to the point! enjoy!! here and here
No comments:
Post a Comment