Born in the Wrong Era

I have a sneaking suspicion I was born a generation late. I would have fit in perfectly with the thrifty, make the most out of everything, stretch a dollar generation. I love cooking/baking things from scratch. I love the idea of canning [all sorts of things and especially fruits and vegetables] I like making my own jam. [My strawberry rhubarb jam is absolutely de-lish, if I may say so myself] I like to plant things in my garden in the spring/summer to hopefully be consumed and created in my kitchen when it's harvested. [At this point in time it's only tomatoes and herbs] I love the idea of making my own bread, though it's not something I've done an awful lot of, but when I have done it, it's been good.

Don't be misled here, there are many things I love about where I live, RIGHT NOW. I would be absolutely lost without my Washer and Dryer. I have absolutely NO desire to wash/ring/rinse/hang things to dry. No thank you. I can't imagine not having a microwave. No, it's my very best friend in the event I have forgotten to defrost our dinner. I don't even want to be without my electronics. However,  I love the idea of getting back to the basics.

In fact, I just feel, deep down, the need to get back to the basics. In fact, the other day I made my own pumpkin puree. That's right. I cooked a pumpkin, then scooped out all the lovely pumpkin flesh, then put it in my food processor and pureed it. I now have 2 cups of pumpkin puree, that's going to be made into something delicious in the next few days. It was a lot more work, than simply opening up a can of pumpkin, but in the end, I find such a satisfaction knowing that I made it happen!

 

The toughest part about my living, a generation too late, is that Barry doesn't always understand my reasoning behind things. He thinks I'm crazy to buy a little sugar pumpkin, to bake, scoop and puree, only to turn around and put it into a muffin recipe, when all I have to do is take the lid off a can. He just can't understand why I want to go to so much work to make jam, or can stuff... The time it takes, compared to picking up a jar of jam or pickles. 

I guess I just like knowing, what I'm eating. What I'm feeding my family. Now having said that, my family is pretty particular, and Barry doesn't even like things that are pickled for heavens sake... 

I imagine using my canner like a pro [though I've still never attempted this] making bread on a weekly basis, that the kids adore, and being a master at clean eating [tag word for 2013]

That's all I wanted to say. I"ll let you know what I make with the pumpkin!