Posted by Gracie2 on January 27, 2002, at 3:55:57
In reply to Re: To hell with the experts » Gracie2, posted by IsoM on January 25, 2002, at 13:10:32
Although Grandma never got beyond eighth grade and never had a "real" job, I've never known anyone who worked so hard. Besides the usual chore, in those days, of raising a whole litter of kids, she kept a house that Martha Stewart might envy. To keep up with the routine she had set for herself, usually she was up before dawn.
She would not leave the house until it looked like she expected photographers from House & Garden magazine to drop by at any moment...beds were made, dishes washed and put away, floors swept and everything in order.
She lived in a house on the lake and owned two boats, which she kept in immaculate condition in a spotless boathouse. She went fishing a couple of times every week and I still remember, as a small girl, watching in fascinated horror as she gutted and scaled the fish on a table in the backyard, and for dinner that night we would have the best fried fish and hush puppies, with corn-on-the-cob and slices of fresh watermelon she had grown in her own garden.
Every two weeks she would scrub the kitchen floor on her knees and wash all the windows in the house with vinegar and water and newspapers. She would fuss over a pot of spaghetti sauce for hours, made with tomatoes and herbs she had grown herself. She loved roses and sunflowers and always kept big vases stuffed with these flowers in every room...all from her garden.
But she wasn't quite your normal idea of a sweet little old lady. She liked to hunt and, like everything else she owned, took meticulous care of her gun collection. She liked venison and could shoot and gut a deer like a pro. For years she had the head of a mounted twelve-point buck she brought down hanging in her livingroom. I don't usually like to eat game, because nobody cooks it like grandma. She makes a five-star venison stew with homemade biscuits, garden-fresh green beans and warm peach cobbler with cream.So, I think you're right, our present-day inactivity (i.e.sitting in front of the computer or TV for a good part of the day)combined with our wish to rush through the necessities (feeding ourselves with frozen or delivery pizza, for example) has contributed to the sickness, depression, and early death of Americans who have access to - supposedly - the most sophisticated medical technology in the world.
I do over-analyze a lot of things (and also ignore many things completely whether they are important or not) but I honestly do think we have something to think about here. To plant a garden, to feel the good earth in your hands, to grow something like a tomato - feeding it, watering it, guiding it's growth until it's fat and ripe and round enough for your own special recipe of tomato sauce*...that might be even better for you than your daily Prozac.
-Gracie
*For serious cooks: mince some fresh garlic and saute in real butter in a big saucepot. You don't have to use homegrown tomatoes, but try to use tomatoes that have not been refrigerated. Chop them up, add them to the garlic and butter, and saute for awhile. Pour everything into an electric blender and puree. Return to the saucepot and add one or two bay leaves. Season to taste with salt, pepper, basil, onion powder, brown sugar and good red wine - not 'cooking wine', which is an inferior product loaded with salt. Simmer forever over very low heat to allow flavors to blend. If you like marinara - which I do- saute a chopped carrot with the garlic until it's soft and puree with the tomatoes. Taste the sauce once in awhile and adjust the seasonings as necessary - I dislike fennel, which is somewhat of a staple in Italian cooking, but I love the taste of freshly-ground mixed peppercorns. The point is, you are creating something unique, something that belongs to you, unlike a jar of Ragu dumped into a pot. It's unlikely that you have time to devote such care to every meal, and prehaps you have no wish to. Still, in today's world, I think it's important that you care about SOMEthing with dedication. The person who cares about nothing or, even worse, only about himself, is doomed. -G
poster:Gracie2
thread:17191
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020125/msgs/17259.html