Have you ever stopped after a seemingly simple moment and thought to yourself, “I think my life just changed”? I had this feeling last week, and it was such a distinct feeling…I was immediately in awe of how my future could have been drastically (okay, I’m being a bit dramatic) different had this one second of life not happened. I hope the following doesn’t come off as too creeeeeeepy…maybe Halloween has an influence on this post!
Mmmm, look at that fatty goodness!
Several things occurred in building up to this moment. First, Evan bought me a new chef’s knife. He’s super into techie websites that find the best of everything without being painfully expensive. So, he found this knife and got it for me because I’m always complaining about our dulling knives. The first thing I cut with it was a big four pound rutabaga, and with the first effortless slice I let out an audible gasp.
You see, I have been envious of those with great knife skills for a long time. It is so impressive to see expert chefs break down a duck or perfectly fillet a large salmon. The knife appears to find the perfect spot to slice through. When watching a good knife handler dice onions or even cut an apple, their skills are apparent…but I’ve discovered that a lot of this skill is in the knife! Now that I have used a truly sharp, nice knife, I am not intimidated by whole chickens or thick skinned winter squash. The beautiful halibut fillets I’ve butchered in the past will be no more. Squished tomatoes will be but a memory. I will no longer be intimidated by whole meats and other foods!
Thank you, amazing new life changing tool.
The height of this epiphany came last week when I decided to finally roast a pork belly I’ve had in the freezer for awhile. It was from a pig that I helped raise a little bit–a nice fatty heritage breed. I’ve been a lifetime fan of bacon, even going so far as to be one of those lame vegetarians who still eats bacon! However, I’ve heard here and there that a well roasted pork belly is superior in many ways to the salty deliciousness that is cured bacon.
{Commence drooling}
To prepare this pork, I had to score the fatty side of the belly. It was AMAZING to do this with the new sharp knife. The responsiveness of it was incredible, I could feel where the fat layer ended and the meat began, allowing me to score it deep enough but not too much. Writing this out now makes is sound kind of silly or weird–but it really was one of the more illuminating moments in my life. I think my culinary possibilities have multiplied many fold, and I was already pretty satisfied with how I handled myself in the kitchen.
Is it torturous to roast pork belly in the presence of my canine friends?
So, I have this new knife…and other life changers.
I used a pressure canner for the first time last week–major life changer! I love having home made broth, and I usually just freeze it. I also keep all of my vegetable trimmings in freezer bags. By the end of the farming season, my freezer is usually overflowing with onion tops, beet peels, carrot tips and all sorts of various veggie parts. We don’t have a large chest freezer or anything, so it was taking up precious freezer space. So, I borrowed a friends pressure canner and now I have many pints of vegetable, chicken, duck and beef stock. YUM. I plan on expanding my pressure canning repertoire in the future but thought I’d start this year with broths and stocks.
Hi Ava! Sing it!
Another life changer: Ava’s mobility! She is now able to get to where she wants to be in a relatively fast manner. She didn’t crawl for a very long time–instead she scooted backwards or did this silly sit, lean forward, move one leg forward, sit, lean forward, move one leg forward kind of thing that took forever to get anywhere. Now she’s a crawling and cruising machine! She’s even standing unassisted for about twenty seconds at a time. Her new favorite activity is splashing all of the dog water everywhere and getting soaking wet. She is no longer a little baby (sigh…) and is well on her way to being a toddler. Time goes so quickly.
Not dog water…but other spilled water. So fun.
Before I know it, she will be using a truly sharp knife for the first time…and other life changers.
Have any relatively “normal” things happened to you lately that have changed your life for the better? I think every Farmgirl has or should have a truly sharp, responsive chef’s knife and access to a pressure canner (as for a newly toddling toddler…probably not a necessity!). What tools of the trade do you think belong in every Farmgirl’s repertoire?
I hope Halloween next week is fun for all and that you have a sharp knife to expertly carve those Jack and Jill-o-lanterns!
Until next time,
Sending Peace and Love from Alaska,
Alex, the Rural Farmgirl
Dori Troutman 
Alexandra Wilson 
Denise Ross 
Karen Pennebaker 
bonnie b 
susana 
Mary Pitman 
Maria Reyes 
Kay Shoemaker 
Diann 
Lynn L 
diana henretty 
Shari Doty 
Nancy Edwards 
Tamara 
Dana May 
Heidi 
Anna Azzopardi 
Sandy bessingpas 
Joan 
bonnie ellis 
Deb Bosworth 
Marion 
kimmie 
Bonnie Lindgren 
Liz Bowling 
Gina M. Danaher 
Gail Pederson 
Reba 
Marge Hofknecht 
Laura R. 
Pam DeMarrais 
Evelyn 
Karin 
Kristy 
Deborah 
Linda Wigington 
Barb 
Therese 
Maureen Griffin 
Karole King 
Becky Gay 
Alex, God is not tsk-tsk-tsk-ing you. He is totally in love with you…more so than you are with your daughter, if you can imagine that! It’s an absolutely wonderful thing! I was raised Catholic and am a proud-to-be practicing Catholic. For Lent, I am giving up time…time to reflect on His word, time to reflect on myself, time to reflect on my relationship with Him, time to pray more. In the past, I have replaced a sacrifice of the typical food stuff with something that pushes who I am into a more positive place….for example, giving up complaining. I find those sacrifices more rewarding. When I fail, I don’t give up and God doesn’t give up on me either. Would you give up on your daughter if/when she fails? You are God’s daughter. He loves you no matter what…and there’s nothing you can do about it. 🙂 Many blessings to you and your family!
Howdy, Alex! You are certainly correct in the northeast getting tons of snow… it’s snowing right now, in fact. Mother nature is a funny thing. As for this farmgirl, I’m praying for warmer temps and rains…. I’ve got flowers to grow, after all and I can’t even see the tops of my raised beds at the moment for all the snow they are buried under. The only self-denial I’m practicing right now is not ordering more seeds than I have room to plant them in. It’s NOT easy… I’m ADDICTED to flowers! Enjoy the sunshine and warmth you are having.. It’s good for your bones and your spirits! Wish you could send us some!
Hugs, Beach Farmgirl, Deb
Hey Deb! It sounds pretty wild out there. I bet it’s getting tedious, and I understand your worry about your flowers. Your flower beds are always so gorgeous! I bet you will be in the soil before you know it. I am the same with seed orders. I usually end up donating a bunch to the school I used to teach at for the kiddos to experiment with or grow in their own little containers. We are enjoying the warmth and sunshine and so wish we could send some your way. Here’s to a warm front!
As a recovering Catholic I recommend that next Lent you give up guilt and add doing something productive as a Lenten sacrifice. By Easter you’ll be 40 days a happier more guiltless person. It’s really quite freeing.
Yes! I was hesitant to use the phrase “recovering Catholic.” I usually do try doing something productive over Lent, but this year I felt like my sugar consumption was getting out of control…so I went with that. Thanks for chiming in!
Well, you can have my snow….Frèeeeeeee! Got about five feet in my front yard and that’s not drift of sugar! Lol cone ad get it!
When I was a kid, I used go father snow so my mum could make us snow cones. But I wouldn’t do that now! I had to get my grandsons to come and clean off my deck and shovel snow off my roof….that was a scary adventure….with rope around him so he wouldn’t slid off the roof. Did that because we kept hearing popping and creaking sounds in the attic, most likely the heat hitting the snow and ice. Were ….on bended kbee …Praying my gutters dont get pulled off. Last year we had the covering get pulled off, of our back Door ….torn off by the
wind.-
I hate winter, but busy myself with crocheting, sewing, reading, filling my notebook with art and recipes…love collecting them.
Trying to avoid going out in the cold, going out only when our roads are dry. I hate venturing down snowy or ice covered
roads and I ate having to shovel that while stuff….. I wonder if that white stuff was sugar would t be/easier to go out in it? Be a sticky mess. Can you imagine snow being sugar?
But what I think if this cold…..I think the earth is doing that 100th year tilt where north becomes the west and south becomes the east. Something like that where the poles do a flip flop….its probably why weather gets freaky every so many years. And we see it as tusumis and bad weather. I did notice the/sun coming up this past week more northerly than it was. I always watch the seasons change out my kitchen window. Life fir ever changing. Yet staying the same. Winter has a way of making you ponder more….I even write more in the winter time. But I can never appreciate the season until it passes. Then I miss those lazy, curl up under the blanket days…remembering those cold Winters of Iowa with a wood furnace ….sleeping face and the blankets in the dead of winter! Then I’m grateful that thins get better! Now just waiting for spring and
Anting season…..in the meantime, I just made some pumpkin coconut muffins using my pump,in up before it rots….. made me 2 dozen muffins today. Boy did they taste yummy! Its what I do in the winter time. Bake! Don’t think I coud give up my sweet
tooth! Recipe ….if you care to try it……. 2 cups of puree pumpkin to be packaged cake mix, no oil, and three large eggs, and a half a cup to one cup of dred shredded coconut. Mix all together. Bake 350 degrees in cup cake time for ten more minutes than package says,( turn off oven, but let cupcakes sit in oven…. if cakes look wet. Let oven cool. Enjoy! The MST healthy cupcakes I make!
FIVE feet?!?! Holy shovels! That’s incredible and probably a bit dangerous. Thank goodness you have your grandkids to help you out with the shoveling. I very much wish you could send some this way. Snow being sugar…ewww! Maybe it would help save the bees? There is a type of snow called “sugar snow” or depth hoar. It’s the layer of crystallized snow/vapor that develops between the lowest layer of snow and the ground. It commonly helps trigger big avalanches!
Pumpkin muffins are some of my favorite sweets! I think they are partially what helped propel me into my sugar addiction. I also love coconut…mix those two together? YUM. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Alex, I was hearing about the lack of snow from our family in Anchorage. What a bummer. I keep thinking about the Iditarod and wondering how that is going to go without good snow? The trails can be wickedly dangerous without good snow right? As for sugar (or lack there-of) I also know when my intake is getting out of hand as I get a migraine… then I’m careful again for a few months and then slowly, ever so gradually get too much of it again. 🙁 I have two little grand-girls that have been raised with VERY little sugar and I just recognize how beneficial it is. Easy to get addicted to the stuff for sure! And yes, you are right EVERYTHING tastes so sweet. I love that! 🙂 Hugs – Dori, the Ranch Farmgirl –
You are right, Dori, the trails are very dangerous without snow. They were bad last year as well and I think it led to more teams dropping out than usual. I imagine it’s hard on the dogs to drag a sled over tundra rather than glide over snow! We are really happy with our sugarlessness (good made up word), but I imagine the same thing will happen as time goes on. Then we’ll just have to cut back all over again. Your two grandgirls sound so very special! I love hearing about them. Best to you and yours!
Ah, another recovering Catholic! But, finally, in my 60th year, I have no Lenten guilt. I try to make lifelong changes in myself and attitudes–nix the deprivations, add joy, graciousness, kindness, etc. Oh yeah, and, about 30 years ago I cut out most of the sugar. It was a LONG haul for 10 years or so, through a lot of REALLY bad recipes, trying to keep both my health and appetite happy. I now eat some sweets, but all the candy (except for very good organic dark chocolate) and processed foods are gone. I’ve learned to cut back sugar in recipes, substitute local honey when I can, and pack lots of other good nutrients into the goodies…sweet potato brownies—wonderful! They pass the chocoholics test! I bake custards, apple crisp, etc., but my portions are 1/4 of what I used to eat…and it all works for me. Once in a while I’ll fall off the wagon and eat four fresh, still warm choc chip cookies, but don’t hold it against myself…my stomach takes care of that for me! My family has a history of sugar addiction and all the accompanying ailments…I didn’t want to be one of them. By eating no prepared foods, lots of veggies, fruit, good meat and dairy, and doing my own cooking I can eat goodies without the trauma to my system. Good luck!