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Confessions of a lazy wannabe homesteader

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On a January morning

January 15, 2012 Marie 2 Comments

This is not an every day occurrence. I wish I could regale you with stories of some sort of tradition we have around the house. Or talk lovingly about how awesome eating dinner at the table like an effing adult feels (those moments are few and far between despite drawing ever closer to my 30s – NOT at all how I pictured my life and how I’d feel when I was a kid). I’d like to pretend that everything about my life is how I want it, and how I love and cherish the little things such as a simple breakfast.  And some days are like that. Today, dear readers, is not that day.

I do wish, sometimes, that my life was like this every Sunday – homemade bread, fresh-squeezed orange juice (SO GOOD!!), a menagerie of foods to indulge on while chatting with the family about plans for the day, things that need done, etc. If I were living my ideal/dream life I’d be in an old farmhouse with maybe a rooster crowing in the background while things sizzle on the stove, the eggs would be fresh from the coop, homemade breakfast would be at least an every weekend thing, and we’d all sit down at the table together as a family and children would entertain us with stories as we eat. Then maybe we’d all go off on our separate ways, or maybe we’d take a trip to the used book store to pick up some new reading material, and maybe just perhaps a quick stop into the fabric shop to pick up some pretty fabric for a certain child’s new pajamas. And then we’d all collapse back at the house to read, craft, draw, and play. Or maybe we’d pack up a picnic and and go lounge in the sun, children and adults reading and lazing about enjoying a warm, summer Sunday. Or maybe we’d go pick fresh berries from the property and can up a batch of homemade jam, so we can savor the tastes of summer when it’s the middle of winter with a foot of snow on the ground and not a single berry in sight.

It’s all very pollyannaish. I realize that. And maybe it’s a silly dream. I’m a silly girl, sometimes. I know nothing is ever perfect, and rarely do things ever go how you want them to. But a girl can dream.

(It was a very lovely breakfast, even if my family does think I’m crazy for suddenly deciding that we need to start eating at the table instead of in front of the TV. Eating at the table, in my opinion, is a lost art that I feel like I’m desperately trying to foster back to life in our little home.)

Posts family, food

Cake. Redeeming my wasted day.

January 8, 2012 Marie 2 Comments

 

I needed something to keep myself busy this afternoon.  I attempted sewing myself some new pajama pants, only to fail miserably. It takes a special kind of stupid to end up making the top waist area into legs, effectively reversing the entire pant. The project was thrown into a wad in the corner of the closet – I couldn’t bear to look at it any more.

Because I’m a glutton for punishment, I went to the kitchen to console myself by baking a cake. With a recipe I’ve never made before. With the hope (and maybe a prayer) that I could make something work today.  The big challenge: I really need to make a grocery run. So a lot of recipes were out. Too many of them needed a lot of butter, or heavy cream, or whole milk. I had a stick of butter, about a dozen or so eggs, and cream cheese.

 

So I made do. I used this recipe for the cake. I had powdered sugar, cream cheese, and oranges in my possession, so I attempted a half-assed citrus cream cheese frosting. 1 package of low fat cream cheese, some orange zest, about a 1/4 of an orange’s juice, and probably way too much powdered sugar (maybe 2.5-3 cups?). Seriously, it tastes a little too much like the powdered sugar and has lost its ‘cream cheese’ goodness. With a mild orange flavoring.  Icing the cake was, well, cake. It was smooth/supple and spread nicely, and has that pretty drippyness to it over the edges that I like.

 

I haven’t cut a slice yet, so I can’t vouch for how the cake itself turned out (though it got a lot of great comments/reviews). But at this point I don’t think I give a damn what it tastes like – I just needed something to turn out today and, at least as far as the pictures show, I think I accomplished that.

Posts food, recipe

In with the new

January 1, 2012 Marie Leave a Comment

I’ve had this cookbook on the shelf for years. A gift from a former life. Every so often it hits me, when I remember where I got something, how different my life is today from those past years. The people I’m no longer around, the old thoughts and beliefs that came with being young and naive (or stupid)… sometimes I miss those days. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I had stuck with that path. If I had made different decisions. But then I remember the things that led to my life today, and realize that today I’m luckier and happier and more comfortable with myself because of where I’m at right now. And there’s no need to dwell on the past.

I’ve ridden myself of a lot of things over the years that came from my past. This cookbook, however, I kept. Mainly because I felt it was unique. It was different. Not your standard Betty Crocker cookbook.  The recipes in here just felt… fancy. Not the homely comfort food I had grown up with of green bean casseroles, meat loaves, and chicken pot pies.  I remember looking through the pages the first time and thinking that the recipes seemed really difficult and complicated. But then… I didn’t really know how to cook, either. (Still don’t, though I’m at least slowly trying to learn).

In all the years that I’ve held onto this book – through move after move – I’ve never once made anything out of it. Even with getting more cooking experience under my belt I still was intimidated by this book. Until today. January 1st. The perfect day to start off on a new attitude. The perfect day to leave old fears behind. The perfect day to break out of my comfort zone and try something new.

The house is quiet, as it usually is, save for the gunshots of my husband playing a Call of Duty game, the whirring of the machine turning and mixing and doing its magic, and the occasional shudder of the house against the cold, strong winds outside. It’s a cold, dreary day here, but I don’t mind. Ice cream, for me, is a year-round affair.

Posts food

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