Getting back in the swing

Sunday and Monday after my visit with Mom, and the demonstrations at the museum that taught how a local family in that area grow, preserve, and use food, I really felt inspired to do more of this myself. I used to always keep a garden in the summer which produced enough to feed us while it was growing plus enough to put in the freezer, can, or dehydrate for winter months. I also did a lot of baking - breads, biscuits, etc.

Recent years have found me a bit unenthusiastic about doing all this. Add to that the time it takes to really work these things out, and I find myself buying a lot more than I used to. I don't know if my lack of enthusiasm was because of Danny's passing or not, but I think it was. He and I used to spend a lot of time together engaged in gardening, raising goats and chickens, picking wild foods, and getting things prepared for preservation.

However, these are activities I find immensely satisfying so I've purposed to take them up again, as time allows between shifts at work. I realize I probably can't do them at the same level I used to, but I can at least do some things that will help me feel at home in my own skin again.

Son occasionally ribs me about these things, saying I'm "weird". So be it. I'm weird! But I think everyone has their own brand of weird going on.

Anyway, I have baked four lovely loaves of home made bread - two white breads and two honey oatmeal breads. I've adjusted the honey oatmeal a bit so that it is a lighter than the original, but it's still soft and delicious. I'm hoping at some point to get my hands on whole wheat so I can once again grind it myself. It makes a very fiber-full bread that has a particularly nutty taste. Nothing in the stores measures up to it.

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