GRASS ALWAYS GREENER....- "WHAT'S FOR DINNER?" - FLAT BREAD PIZZA - DEER FAMILY FEEDING - JIBBER JABBER

 

Greener Grass

I have found a now-preferred back road heading to nearby towns. It is a narrow country road, a lane and a half wide and I always pull over into the grass road side to let others pass. It is easier and much safer. It is scenic and peaceful driving through open cattle-grazing fields and ponds. Passing drivers always wave.

On my way to the gym last week, I came across a wonderful photo: cows proving the old adage that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

I slowed down and watched the larger cow turn its head to squeeze between the barbed wire spaces on the fence being slow and deliberate. Once her head was through, she moved along the fence line enjoying the somewhat greener grass. That I was driving by was a no-never-mind until I stopped to take the photo. She hesitated and then continued to feed. 

Farmers tell me that the cows always push the limits of a fence line and thus the need to run fences often. It is not unusual to find an escaped cow cruising the outside of a fence line on a back road.

The young calf was also following its elders' lessons when I first came upon them. Seeing me slow down and stop, the calf pulled back and sat looking at me as though it had been caught and was guilty. I felt as though the calf was looking at me saying, “whaat?”

These times of any given day here are gifts. I never took the time to appreciate moments like this when I was younger. Always on the move with important things to get to and done. I would be looking down a road and ignoring the wonders of life living on the edge. These days, though, find me more often paying attention to life on the edges rather than the long view down the road. It is good!

-------------- 

"WHAT'S FOR DINNER?" from Fairfield County Mom.

I came upon a story about three hated words, "what's for dinner." The article I initially found was behind a paywall, but I got the gist of this being a real "whinging" thing. Then I came across the article from Fairfield County Mom from three years ago. Low and behold, through all of the tears put out through various videos and other articles on the net, this gal gets it. She's right, it is never over. Well, maybe in the year 3535 when "everything you think do and say, is in the pill you took today." The question of what is for dinner has been around for eons.

The concept of feeding any family size seems common sense. Someone has to be in charge of the kitchen and the meals. That can be shared, but someone has to take ownership. Eating out these days is very expensive. Ordering out the same. Having someone else bring cooked food to your table doubles/triples the cost of the meals. The cost of getting a "to go" hamburger has now passed into being too expensive for some budgets. Those who have come to that road crossing and are now faced with cooking meals every day forever are experiencing a vertical learning curve. The good news is that the wheel for home-cooked meals does not have to be re-invented. 

Cooking every day can become cooking every other day if meals made are large enough for leftovers. The next day a "cooked meal" means a few minutes warming and serving. There are a million ideas available just for the looking and asking. The time and energy spent complaining could be best spent in learning to cook for the family. 

Old folk like me were raised to eat everything put on the table. "If someone has gone out of their way to cook for you, you  damn well better show appreciation and have some of everything served." Not an option. 

I balked at very few items placed on the farm and home dinner tables. Grandma's groceries were on the hoof and in the ground. Large meat bones boiling or baking in the oven. Greens and root vegetables pulled from the ground, rinsed and set in the sink awaiting their way to the table. When I balked at eating Rutabaga, mom taught me to mix the mashed serving with the mashed potatoes. Adding a little more butter, a little salt and within a few bites, the Rutabaga was easily consumed. My mother made sure that from the family farm table, I had a helping of everything grandmother had made. A small portion was fine, but never zero. 

To this day, the foods my grandmother and mother cooked are still baselines of most of what I enjoy cooking and eating. Leftovers are still a viable part of the meal-making process. 

If you enjoy eating, best to learn how to do some cooking.

My wife tells the story of her mother feeding a family of seven children. Every Sunday was fried chicken (5 whole chickens). Each chicken cut into 11 meat pieces, floured in a bag of flour and seasonings and deep fried in a skillet. Yes, every Sunday for years and years. Our elders can tell such stories. Just ask.

Along with those growing up years, I was taught that a cook must put more food on the table than will be eaten. The use of filler foods like bread, rice, pasta, baked beans, crackers. "No one should ever walk away from your table hungry." To this day, no one ever has!! 

Mom asked me many years ago if I remember all of their friends who use to stop by to visit them in the late 40's and early 50's. I told her I did. She told me the reason so many of their friends use to stop by was because they always knew they would get a meal at our house when they visited. 

Being hungry is something folks never ever forget and the concept of complaining who is cooking and what is placed on the table has never played in my life time.

-------------

THAT BEING SAID

My 4th experiment with using flatbread for making pizza. Best flavor yet and good enough now to be added to meal options. It is as easy to make 4 of these at once as it is one. Not "spendy," a few moving parts and pieces and all from pulled from the fridge. I would feel confident placing a few of these on a family dinner table. It has been wife tested too.

----------- 

DEER FAMILY 

Early morning family of deer out feeding in the field across the road. The family is growing in size. 

----------------

JIBBER JABBER

The temperatures are finally dropping and some rain storms are forecast for next week. The lower temperatures are very much appreciated as this has been a long long stretch of hot hot.

We just finished watching Doctor Doctor; The Heart Guy  

Five seasons free with Amazon Prime. Light-hearted, great photography, an ok story line, characters and some very good acting. 

LIONESSLIONESSLIONESS

Thank you Taylor Sheridan. Three seasons and the last minute of season 3 is classic Taylor Sheridan. Well done!!

Thanks for the visit this week.