The Earthbound Cook

I bought myself a Christmas present - "The Earthbound Cook". Yes, a cookbook. But honestly, I've been in a bit of a rut, haven't felt like cooking and my appetite is not great. I'm just pretty uninspired by food lately! So I decided that a little inspiration wouldn't hurt. Plus today is the Staff/Resident Christmas Reception and I will get a nice little gift that will more than cover the cost of the book. And I also have a whole shelf to fill on my cookbook shelf now that I moved all the books to a new one! (obsessed? perhaps).


Anyways, I was reading about the benefits of organic farming and a dream in me was renewed. I've always wanted to live on an animal and vegetable farm. When I was 16 or 17, I began volunteering at a horse breeding farm to gain some large animal experience. I spent a year mucking out stalls, delivering bails of hail, and learning about an amazing animal. I quickly found out that i was a city gal - I got shocked a few too many times by the wire on the fence. My supervisor smiled near the end of my time there and said that I had come a long way - that they weren't sure if it would work out with me!

That was when I first got the idea that I want to have a home on a big property and animals and be able to open it up to others in need. Now the idea has and is continuing to change with maturity. But I remember being struck by how therapeutic working with animals was - even though I did not have the language of "therapy" to stick with my experience. Cooking is also a means of "therapy" for me.

Today on my way to work, I couldn't help to be inspired by the gorgeous pictures of fruits and vegetables growing in the backyard of the author's home! Wouldn't it be wonderful to fill the table with foods that don't contain pesticides and that haven't sat in the back of truck for days or weeks? I even had a brief moment today when I thought that having organic meat was a good idea - I was shocked by my somewhat ok-ness with sacrificing Buffy the cow to feed the family (hmmm..... let me rephrase. My husband can do the deed while I am out somewhere! I shall add that to my description of husband requirements: willing to bring me coffee in the morning, a strong Christian, able to proofread, able to read in between the lines, and be willing to do the much dreaded deed should we one day live on a farm).

One of the draws to organic eating is a change of lifestyle habits. I was reading about ways in which energy, resources and time are wasted and began reflecting on the number of times I have thrown out good food simply because I didn't know tips that would help preserve food longer (did you know that you should wash lettuce when you get it, put it through a salad spinner, then in a bag with a paper towel, store in the coldest part of the fridge [preferably a crisper] and away from apples? Supposedly lettuce will stay firm for a week!)


So expect updates on what it is like to become an earthbound cook and to allow this lifestyle to permeate every aspect of my life!