Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Living the Change by freeacre















Charles Hugh Smith writes that cooking food from scratch is a revolutionary act. You wouldn’t think so. After all, people have been cooking and baking their food since the beginning of time. But, in the last twenty years or so, everything changed. The women’s liberation movement, which began with so much promise for women to discover and define themselves based on an exploration of our innate capabilities morphed into the opportunity, then obligation, to be “free” to join the workforce and be exploited like the men. Now we have been “freed” to pay for our children to be raised in daycare, buy our food from agri-business, and depend on the corrupted Food and Drug Administration for our health and welfare. I could go on and on about it, but you know where it has led – the Frankenfood and McWally World rat trap.

Happily, we have been waking up to just how important it is to take back our food supply and localize production of essentials, rather than import them from wage serfs in distant lands. For years we preached about how a collapse was inevitable. Now, it is becoming obvious to all but the most delusional that we need to make alternative arrangements. The members of our little cyber-tribe have been taking matters into their own hands and have been growing vegetables and raising animals, and taking many steps to get out of the matrix. We find ourselves on the vanguard of a movement to grow and cook our own healthy food and to resist the products that poison us, damage our bodies, and program our minds. To that end, we have cut off our cable TV, refused to use a cell phone, stopped using petroleum based fertilizers and insecticides, genetically engineered seeds, and just recently, thrown out the microwave oven. I have to admit that getting rid of the microwave has been more difficult than I would have thought. I find that I need to order a few old-fashioned items to help cope with the realities of warming things up without using a bunch of extra saucepans that then have to be washed. There is a handy little thing in the Vermont Store catalog that is a combination metal measuring cup with a long handle that can be used as a pan to warm things up that I would find useful for melting butter or warming milk to bake bread, or heating up water for a cup of tea.

I have learned to bake my own bread, spring rolls, and bagels. Next, I will learn to produce my own tortillas and noodles. I expect to grow a lot of cucumbers this year and will make more of my own pickles. We are still eating vegetables frozen from last year. We still have garlic hanging in the kitchen to use as needed. I haven’t bought an egg at the store for two years. And, now that I have been eating our own free range eggs, I find that I am no longer allergic to eggs. Since switching back to whole milk from 2%, I am no longer allergic to the protein in milk, either. So, there have been unanticipated rewards.

We have high expectations for the gardening efforts this year, but the warm weather is still a ways off. So, I thought I’d go ahead and share some pictures of last year’s garden harvest, the chickens, and some of the food prepared from the backyard. This will be somewhat redundant for the long term tribe, but might be interesting to the newer participants in the council.

I am still trying to figure out how to get these pictures in the right spot on the page, so bear with me. And, please send me pictures of your gardening or cooking efforts so we can share in your triumphs and inspirations. We are the change. We can do this!

This is my "Boyfriend Catcher Apple Pie."











These are beets from the garden with sour cream and pecans. It's pretty good, but I think I like them with butter and orange marmalade better. Still experimenting.







This is a garden quiche made from our own eggs and lots of veggies like chard and snow peas from the garden. I use creme cheese.








These are just fresh picked snow peas, chard, onions, garlic stir-fried. They are good for you and take almost no time to prepare ... unless you count the time it takes to grow them - ha!







Here are some of the little darlin's relishing some left-over vegetable soup. Note our new rooster, Li'l Red. He gleams in the sunlight.







This is a chicken salad, mostly from the garden. I had to buy the avocado, and I bought the sprouts, too, although I could have sprouted them myself.






But, the point is, although the Murphinator and I live on social security now, we have it set up so that our expenses are minimal, and we are able to eat healthy for less money than others spend on toxic Frankenfood. And, if we can do it here in the high desert, you can do it, too.































36 comments:

freeacre said...

Gaah! Now I have found a way to screw up the text!! Can't seem to fix the format, either! Sorry, Folks. This is a work in progress, I guess.

Palooka's Revenge said...

i'll be right over! what time's supper? don't need to be caught but a probe needs to sample that pie right?

freeacre said...

lol... ANYTIME you show up, I'll be glad to bake you that pie!!

Anonymous said...

From Belgium

Like p, I wished I lived a tad nearer.

It was not only the womens’ liberation movement which was responsible for the present state of affairs; Mary Baker had a lot to do with it also. Women found that they could buy a packet of cake mix, add an egg plus milk or water, put it in the oven and at came out right every time. Not only that but it was a lot cheaper than buying the ingredients. Liberated moms became busier people and kitchen time turned from being a pleasure into a chore. Convenience became a byword and that is how additives became part of our life with some well known effects such as children running around like clockwork mice.

A real puzzler for me is that every TV network has a famous chef doing a cookery program but very few people who watch them seem to get in the kitchen and follow suit.

I don’t think I am ready to throw the micro oven out, not yet. It is a combi grill and convection oven too and is the preferred one to use. In fact the real gas oven is just an ornament that holds the hob up.

One modern convenience which I would never have in the house though is a dishwasher machine. I suppose it depends on how you view dishwashing. If you have a reasonably large family and you regard dishwashing as a chore then I guess it can be justified. I don’t mind doing it and if two of you do it together then it can be a shared job where you talk together instead of sitting down to be Corporately entertained. I once had a pin money job working in a kitchen on a Sunday night and one thing I never figured out was that the dishwasher machine could be set to run for one minute or two minutes only and the dishes came out restaurant clean whereas a domestic machine runs for as long as a washing machine and you have to buy lots of expensive chemicals to feed it with.

I bought three pie plates from the local bring and buy shop so I can get back into pie making mode again. One is very deep without much of a lip and I can use this for meat pies. The others are reasonably deep with lips so I can use these for fruit pies. I will let you know how I get on with them.

How is Murph getting on with his bicycle driven grain grinding machine he was busy overhauling?

RAS said...

Wow, fa, what an awesome looking pie! Mine, while they taste good, don't look anything like that. I bow to your superior pie-making abilities. :)

My greens are comin up!

Anonymous said...

Belgium -- One of the reasons women over here don't cook much is that their kitchens are too small to really do anything more than warming manufactured food. I exaggerate a tad, but not much. Are yours any bigger over there? The assumption is, I believe, that we'll eat out for most meals. Cooking for your family is no longer an act of love, but a chore best left to others,

I had to take a food science course when I was getting my degree in nutrition, and we had a guest speaker one day. He was from Jiffy -- they make mixes, which I used to buy when my children were home and I was working. He explained to us women that they really could make a better product by using dried egg, so all you had to add was water. But to make the housewife feel she was creating something, they left that out so she could add it with the water. He was so insultingly condescending, I never bought another Jiffy mix.

And I really feel the anger and frustration a lot of people feel is from this handing over to others, the creative things we should be doing for ourselves -- raising our children, cooking, and making things we need and want.

And I agree -- those are gorgeous pictures. My apple pies tasted good, but never looked anywhere near that nice.

fa -- As far as messing up your pictures, and text -- I have a book written by an MIT computer prof, who says that computer programs weren't made originally for people, and if they were to start over with the present usages in mind, they would do it entirely differently. He started his book by telling of how he and Berners-Lee couldn't get his personal calendar downloaded onto his laptop, even after hours of trying. If the people who understand these things can't work them, what chance do the rest of us have? You're much braver than I to even try to put pictures on the blog.

C

Anonymous said...

Great, thanks a lot fa,

After reading your post and checking out the pics, I raided the frig! Ate a bunch of stuff -with a Tumms chaser!

Naw, just kidding. All looked delish! Or as Ace Ventura would say, "Yyyyyyuummmeeee!

Randy

JW said...

Well done. Looks delicious!

freeacre said...

Thanks, Guys! Let me tell you a secret about that pie - it is easy to do. Easier than a regular lattice top where you have to weave the strips under and over each other. For the top crust, just cut the strips, twist them and put them parallel to each other. Then, take the other strips, twist them, and just lay them on in a diagonal to the first ones. Easy peasy. Then, if you want to be fancy. brush them with a little milk and sprinkle with a little sugar before you bake. No problemo.
C - this is Carolyn, isn't it? Nice to start hearing from you again at the campfire! I take comfort in your council regarding my lack of computer savvy.
After reading some predictions, I think it might be imperative that we all come up with some way to protect our outdoor plants with covers of some sort. Commercial garden blankets,plastic, sheets or towels or anything from the Goodwill store, or whatever. But, the flash hail storm last year that damaged Rockpicker's garden should be a warning for the rest of us this year. In light of the heightened predictions for torrential rain and all sorts of hell breaking loose, I'd definitely have garden protectors at the ready. You might want to add marsh mellows to the stockpile of pop corn to watch the drama this summer as well. If there are going to be fires, you might as well roast marsh mellows.

Dave said...

Delicious looking food!

Makes me want to have a farm of my own. Of course, I've always wanted that.

Dave - Erstwhile Urban Wanderer

freeacre said...

Belgium,
I am curious about your reference to "meat pies." I'm wondering if these are like our "pot pies"? I remember in Jamaica, they sold these things called "pasties" that were like a minced meat and potato turnover. Very good as a fast food. Anyway, could you give us an example of a meat pie or a recipe? I'd like to try it.

freeacre said...

I find my mind reeling from the diverse perspectives today on the web: from George Ure's revelation regarding the project that Clif and Igor are working on regarding the unexpected effects of spinning images of crop circles to Comrade Simba's adding pictures of his homestead, to Survival Acre's rant on the 41% unemployment in a desperate town in California. (All of these can be accessed from our home page.)Anyway, I am going to go and bake a lemon meringue pie (now that I am no longer allergic to egg whites). Oh, and in case you haven't seen it yet, there is this hilarious link to Rachel Ray's site on how to take the corn silk off an ear of corn, just for a much needed good laugh.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/b4fd1f6316/rachael-rays-corn-porn-from-that-happened

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

You got it Freeacre. At the moment I am waiting for my brother in law to turn up. He is supposed to take me over to his place tonight so we can make an early start getting three tree stumps up from his border but it is approaching 10.00 in the evening so maybe it’s a no show. Anyway I will keep typing until something happens. As you have gathered, it is not just fruit you can put between two pieces of pastry. In Britain we have chip shops which sell chips would you believe (you call them fries), with all manner of other things; fish, sausages pies etc. The pies are individual ones about 5 inches in diameter or sometimes oblong as memory serves. They come in various varieties; the main ones are steak; steak and kidney; meat and potato and ham and chicken and as you mention pasties. Most pies come in short crust pastry but pasties can be either short crust or flaky. When you make them yourself you can make them any size you want. I made a mince meat and potato with onion this morning which was 10 inch diameter and about 1.75 inches deep. I will take a picture of it and pass it over I started with about 1kg mince meat (2.25 lb) and used about 1.25 lb for the pie. With what was over I made spag bog and that is what we had tonight.
I have some basic pie recipes but usually I just follow my instinct. I will reconstruct what I did today and pass it over later together with some from a recipe book.

Aho

stoney13 said...

Nice work, Freeacre! My Grandmother used to put that twisted lattice on top of her pies.

I have managed to get peach tree to grow in the mountains of North Carolina! Not only does it grow, but last year it bore fruit, and damned tasty fruit at that! This year I'm trying to find a recipe for something to brew in a bottle to make from some of those peaches! (Can't let the raccoons have all of them, but they're welcome to a few!)

Nice healthy rooster you've got there! Poor old Booster went to the place where roosters are eternally blessed this week. He died in his sleep, surrounded by the cats he had adopted as his flock. We gave him a Cherokee Funeral, and sent his soul to be with The Creator. I pray that the spirit world will welcome him with many cats!

Just about got the bathroom under control, and actually got off my fat ass to write a blog post between plumbing, wiring, and carpentry sessions, which went on long into the night, and won me no friends among the neighbors!

I've got a nice blue toilet from the 1970's which will be the focal point of a flower bed which I will bed soon be planting, and a spare bathroom sink to hang on the side of the house to wash vegetables, and greasy hands before coming in the house.

I took and old, and horrifically inefficient how water heater that still had a good tank, pulled the wiring out of it, and replaced the safety valve with a plug. After standing it up next to the well tank, I hooked the main water supply into the inlet, and the main line feeding the house up to the outlet on top! All the sediment, that had been clogging up the main filter, being caught in the old water heater stopped! Now the filter cleans out heavy metals, and whatever else gets into the ground water, instead of mud and sand! To clean it, all I have to do is open the bottom valve, all the sludge runs out, and close it when the water clears.

I hooked a hose to it, and will use it to water the garden which I will be planting as soon as the next frost is over.

Murph,

practicing speed firing, and loading at twenty feet, shooting at a round piece of hickory fire wood, I managed to put six bullets in one hole with my old S&W .44 Magnum! I've been disgustingly please with myself ever since!

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

Stony,

http://www.grapestomper.com/recpeach.html

I used to do this stuff about 30 years ago. The only thing I did different was that I never used a steel bucket. I went for gallon glass demijohns from the beginning with bubblers in them. When the fermentation had slowed you can decant them into another clean one. Although drinking the product can be a pleasant activity I always thought that making the stuff was more fun. Perhaps that was my chemistry background coming out.

Btw, I don’t know if you have heard this but most trees can be pruned in the early Autumn, just after fruiting but if you do this with peach trees they can get a fatal disease called silver leaf. Best leave it until early spring just before new growth starts.

murph said...

Stoney,

6 in one hole at 20 feet. Not bad at all. lol. Full up loads or target? I might be able to do that or close to it with target loads but I know I can't speed fire that accurate with uploads. Next time I get out I will have to try it.

Sure wish we could grow fruit trees here. Frost too late in spring to get fruit and too early in fall. Yup, the critters need some too.

Sure glad this rooster isn't aggressive. Last two met their demise early in life for aggressive attacks on kids and females. Dare not turn my back on them. Mean suckers for sure.

We have so much grit in our water I had to put a big inline filter on it. Sure helps but your idea is worth considering. Raises hell with the drip hoses and spritzers for the garden. Get all clogged up.

I like your new post.

RAS said...

Hey everyone, I'm a little pissed off tonight. Make that a lot pissed off. I finally got an offer on the house. Good, right? Not so fast. The offer was so low it's an insult. The bottom line is, I would have to pay these people several thousand dollars to take the house. Um, no. I'd be much better off letting it be foreclosed on and filing for bankruptcy.

freeacre said...

Hey, ras, have you tried the tactic of "produce the note" to the bankers? They might have sold and re-sold your loan so that it is somewhere in electric land and can't foreclose on you if they don't actually have the note. Look into it.

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

Have you seen this, Sy Hersch talking with Amy Goodman about assassination squads taking their orders directly from Bushes Executive Branch?

http://www.alternet.org/rights/134347/seymour_hersh%3A_secret_u.s._forces_carried_out_assassinations_in_'a_lot_of'_countries%2C_including_in_latin_america/

Btw the tree stumps are for tomorrow or next weekend. Yesterday was levelling a garden in order to lay a lawn. Anyway whatever it was it was healthy outdoor work, ach, I have become too sedentary.

Anonymous said...

fa... first pasties and then jer--- o--... whats this place comin too!

b... i prefer flaky. fits my personality better.

stoney... nice shot! and good idea on tha in-line filter. from thunder pot to flower pot... guy down the road has about 15 of em strung all up and down his driveway. all different colors. comin into season too... reminds me of easter eggs. i had no idea they made crappers in so many colors.

ras... thats a good sign. last time i sold a house the first offer was for less than half my asking. next day i got one for more than asking... p

RAS said...

I got an offer on the house! The contracts are signed; now I just have to pray that it passes the inspection. Please, great sprit?
Yay! P, you were right.

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

p. That’s what the DHS tell me they have on file about you. They also ay that when they called on you they were given cold shoulder :-)

Congrats Ras.

Zoner said...

Best of luck on completing the transaction, RAS - fingers crossed for you here in the Z enclave.

I haven't eaten food like that in ages and I'm afraid my body is rebelling as a result. Just looking at those simple but perfect works of sustaining art causes a reaction in my body that isn't hunger (or drooling), but a deeper sense of comfort that comes from satisfying a less obvious appetite.

Still winter here, unfortunately. I hope you are all well and well-tended!

Z

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

Former Peru President Alberto K Fujimori has been found guilty of human rights abuses including 25 murders committed by a death squad formed under his command. Considering Sy Hersch’s recent revelation of similar assassination squads operating around the world reporting directly to Veep Cheney’s office, could this be a precedent for things to come?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/world/americas/08fujimori.html?ref=world

Anonymous said...

Doubt it, Belgium. The United Corporations of 'Murika will do nothing even remotely similar to Peru's actions against their own Darth Cheney. And the sheeple will do nothing either. They're too worried about their jobs being send to India, their upside-down mortgages, their BFT, SUV, Land Yacht payments, their 60" plasma 1080p widescreen and Blue-Ray payments, Delux package cable payments, iPhone payments, daycare for their offspring and who the finalists are on "Idol."

And, I have to admit, I'm one of those who probably wouldn't protest or raise a stink either. I think the reason we 'Murikans don't do the "French Mass Protest" thing is because we're all afraid of losing our jobs which means we'd lose our healthcare -and that could mean bankruptsy for a good many people. TPTB know this and that's one of the reasons why there will never be any such thing as universal healtcare in this country. The Corporate Government of 'Murika won't allow such a thing. Plus, it doesn't follow the Social Darwinism plan either.

Healthcare is one of the main reasons why my job here in Mormon HQ is so damn good. If it wasn't, I'd probably be outta here by now -and protesting our Corporate Government.

Randy

freeacre said...

I don't know what to say about Cheney's death squads. It wouldn't surprise me if he and Rove and Rumsfeld still get together around some black candles and get all greasy with each other... probably still have some black ops going somewhere. Well know there is change if and when those miscreants come to trial. Don't hold your breath.
Just watched "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Kinda good, but it stopped short. Wish they would have dwelled longer on what it would look like if we really did decide to stop killing the earth and fit in with the rest of the creatures on the planet.
Dude, you're right about the insurance. They got us by the balls. Once it is gone, though, and people are living under the bridges and winter is coming and they've got nothing to lose - watch out. Time to duck and cover.

RAS said...

Randy, you are definitely right about the health insurance. Those that have it are too afraid of losing it to do anything, and most of those without it are too afraid of screwing up their chances of getting it to do anything. But as fa said, that's changing. It's a little hard to worry about healthcare when you're living under a bridge.

I don't know what to think about the death squads.

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

Well that’s what I thought too but I wanted one of you to say it. Thanks Randy, I really wasn’t aware of that about the health insurance. I think it’s time to learn Spanish and follow Michael Moore’s example and clear off to Cuba. Can you imagine the reaction if the American population collectively decided to sit in their back yard. Ach, such idle thoughts!

Anonymous said...

Geez, the only Espanol I know is "Que passa!!" and "Dos Cervezas, por favor."

Randy

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

Randy

I have a feeling that Ely is going to finish up as everybody's best friend:-)

freeacre said...

Hey, Belgium, I can't get through to you via e-mail. It tells me your in box is too full. I was trying to tell you that the picture you thought you sent was not attached. Please send again. Gracias.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I didn't know the movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" was out on DVD. Cool! Gotsta rent it. The first one (@1946?) was great, but I'm really hanker'in for a bad-ass alien that really kicks homo-erectus ass! Earthlings are in need of some major whoop-ass!

Randy

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

Freeacre, please use my other e mail address until I sort the full one out. Telenet only gives me 50Mb and every time I clear it out it immediatel gets filled up with spoof videos. If I don't keep on top of it, this is what happens. I try to keep one of them reasonably free. Did you get the e mail I sent to you with the attachments?

freeacre said...

Got 'em, Belgium. But, can't open them. RATS! Seems to be a software incompatibility or some sort of inter-galactic malfunction.

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

Had a quick sort out and without too much trouble I am down from 50Mb to 12Mb It still needs a second sort out for the small stuff but at least we can be in touch by electronic communication

Just seen your last - will try again.

Telenet keep asking me to do a survey of their products but they don't need me to tell them that it is bad. If they knew it was good they wouldn't be asking.

Aho

Anonymous said...

From Belgium,

Freeacre, I exported the pictures from Picassa 3 if that is any help

I will see if I can export them from MS otherwise it is a CD in the post.