GOOD ADVICE, GOOD BAKING, GOOD SOUP

          As you’ll see when reading this post, I took my own advice from yesterday’s post and CHOSE to have a great day.

When I planned ahead for the week, it was supposed to rain on Saturday. I took that into account and decided that was the day I’d make Legume Soup and Onion-Dill Bread. Since I couldn’t find any yeast, my walking partner gave me some in exchange for one of the loaves of bread…a fair trade I’d say.

          Years ago, well decades really since it was the early ‘70s, I made bread every other day…French bread actually. John and I had decided with some friends that we’d find some property and start a commune. John already wasn’t working and I left my job in preparation for moving to the country. I even planned on trading my lovely little orange bug for a horse.

          While John and the other two men searched for that perfect piece of property, we lived on our savings. I stayed home to be wife and mother and get into the zone of “living off the grid.” Part of that was to make as much of our food as possible, i.e., bread, cookies, candy, as well as cooking all our meals from scratch. Nothing out of a box would cross our threshold.

          That’s also about the time John dug up part of our back yard and I put in my first garden. I knew absolutely nothing about gardening outside. My experience had been with indoor plants. How hard could it be; however, you dig a hole, plant a seed and harvest what comes up. My garden actually did quite well, although there were some things that did not. My radishes were always too hot, but the lettuces, green onions and carrots were good. I tried broccoli and cauliflower, cucumbers and a few other things, but those were complete failures. One thing I could grow really well was green beans. John built me four teepees and at the end of summer, they were always covered with vines loaded with beans.

          My bean harvest was so big, I had to invest in a pressure canner so I could can them. John didn’t like fresh or frozen beans. For years after the idea of a commune died, I canned green beans and there was always more than enough to get us through the winter. I also picked raspberries with my mom and made jam. When I think about all the strawberries I picked, my back throbs in memory. I’m sure there’s no way I could stoop and sit and pick strawberries these days. I made jam from those as well. Let’s not forget blackberries…they grow all over and are free for the picking. I also canned anything else that came my way and was free. While I don’t can much of anything anymore, I still make Aunt Lola’s dill pickles every August.

          I almost forgot to boast about the apple tree. It’s still in the yard and for years and years, it provided the most wonderful apples. I have no idea what kind of apple tree it is, but the apples were delicious green with a little salt, even better when they were ripe and sweet. Every summer I would make 6-8 pies for the freezer…nothing like a yummy warm apple pie in January. The boys loved the pies, but hated having to peel the apples. AJ did it until his brother Thor was old enough to take over. Thor got to quit about the time the tree stopped producing or had apple maggots in the few apples it did host. It’s been years since that tree has had a single apple. Just once more before either it is or I am too old, I’d like to see it produce a few apples.

          We also harvested huckleberries in the mountains beginning when AJ was about six or seven years old. We went to the same place for years, and I’d continue going now except the last however many times, there were no berries. I looked up huckleberry hikes and my granddaughter went with me for a couple years. We did manage to pick enough each time for a couple of pies, but work and school kinda ended those trips. Now, if I become desperate for huckleberries, I’ll have to order frozen ones and pay a lot for them. In fact, the first essay I ever had published was about huckleberries. Maybe I’ll see if I can find it and reproduce it here one of these times when I can’t think of anything to write about.

          To return to how I began this post, I got up Saturday morning and started the 15-bean soup (AJ wanted to know if it was really 15 beans and I told him yes.). It’s cooking away as I type this. Then, I began the onion-dill bread. While it was rising, I made a mince-meat pie. There was more than enough pie crust to utilize the one green apple I had, so I made a little apple fold-over pie with it. Doesn’t everything look absolutely delicious in the photos...and it was!!!

          Tomorrow I’ll be cooking a small ham and maybe have some of the onion-dill bread with it. I’ll save the bone for later and use it when I once again have 15 beans to make more soup. As you can see, I’m not going the least bit hungry, plus I’m feeling much better because I CHOSE to do all this cooking and took a very pleasant trip down memory lane in the process.

          Wishing you all a very HAPPY EASTER!!!