While traveling, I was really struck by the way Rhinoa's aunt and uncle lived. They had a lovely, lush, little garden in their front and side yard. J made her own jams and her husband baked bread. I am always a little bit in awe of people who take the time and effort to do things for themselves. I definitely benefited from it during my stay. I ate delicious sandwiches composed of thick slabs of fresh bread. Each night's meal consisted of a variety of vegetables from their garden. Each morning I had a variety of toppings for my breakfast toast.
At times I do wish I were able to do these things for myself in my own life. Live a little bit more closely to the land. The last time I felt this with the same acuteness was when I lived in France. I ate more veggies fresh from the garden than not. I reveled in the superiority of flavor my meals had. I reveled in the simplicity of baking tartes from scratch and preparing simple, tasty meals from humble ingredients.
I love to read about people who are relying less on processed foods and chemically-laden cleaning products by making their own bread, cereal, insert-popular-processed-food here. People who take it upon themselves to figure out how to make their own laundry detergent AND determine how much money they are saving in the process.
I like to think about trying some of these things out for myself, but I will admit to a high level of intimidation. So, it has been a bit of a back and forth thing over the years. I have tried some things but not to any great success, which makes me feel more intimidated by such practices. However, my recent jaunt to the UK has had me longing for such goodies in my own life. And as I don't have an auntie who can gift me homemade chutneys and jams, I will need to take it upon myself to learn how to do these things.
I probably would not be thinking so seriously about setting goals and trying my hand at this seriously if not for an article by Susan Gregory Thomas in the New York Times I read last month. She writes, with great humor I might add, about how she went back to the land after the economy went bust.
"My turn with spade and hoe started a few years ago when I found myself divorced and flat broke. My livelihood as a freelance writer went out the window when the economy tanked. I literally could afford beans, the dried kind, which I’d thought were for school art projects or teaching elementary math. And I didn’t know how to cook."
I was struck by the way she makes it sound so simple to rid one's kitchen of processed foods. They aren't difficult to make.
"My goal was to have healthy, unprocessed food for $10 or less a day. Cereal was the first thing to go. It dawned on me that making granola was a matter of tossing oatmeal and nuts into a bowl with a little oil, honey and spices — and then baking until brown. No more $14 boxes of fancy grains with pomegranate antioxidants.
Bread wasn’t hard either; it was just a drawn-out procedure. Yeast, water, a little honey, salt, whole wheat flour, and assorted seeds. Mix; wait for rising; knead; wait; knead; wait; bake. I made batches and froze them. So long, Eli Zabar’s 10-buck Health Loaf. Hi there, homemade loaf for less than $1."
But what really stuck with me the most were these three lines:
"You can tell yourself anything is too difficult, or you can just do it. And you do not need to reconstruct your worldview or take issue with others.
You just need to be hungry."
I could not get those words out of my head.
You can tell yourself anything is too difficult.
Or you can just do it.
Well, I have been telling myself too many things are difficult for too many years. As I have gotten more confident in my cooking and exploring more cookbooks and recipes, I have been fascinated by all the recipes for things like cereal, crackers, granola, protein bars. There are recipes for nearly everything that one could buy in a box in a store. I want to try my hand at making these things. I want to compare the taste and how my body feels to the taste and body feel of what comes from the store. I want to finally get over my intimidation and fears of making an indoor compost and do it already. I want to try the more exotic sounding recipes like candy making. I'd like to return to my aromatherapy hobby and make my own beauty projects.
So I have decided to make 2012 the year I experiment with these things. I will be embarking on a project. A project of going back to the land, one item at a time, one month at a time.
Here is the agenda:
January-Bake Bread
February-Make Bagels
March-Make a Cleaning Product
April-Grow an (indoor) herb garden
May-Make a Compost Bin
June-Make a Processed Grain (i.e. cereal, granola, protein bar)
July-Make Ice Cream
August-A Canning Project
September-Make Cheese (or Butter)
October-A Sewing Project
November-Make a Beauty Product
December-Make Candy
I will be writing a post at the beginning of each month, introducing that month's topics and sharing ideas, recipes, and links. At the end of each month I will write about my experience.
I'd love it if you would join me in this project. You don't have to commit to all the items. You could pick and choose what you want. I have grand visions of getting together with my girlfriends making ice cream or canning different items at the end of the summer, of stumbling together trying to sew a yoga bag or knit a scarf, of trying to figure out the candy thermometer, of trying my hand at making nut cheeses from scratch, of watching and waiting for my green thumb to take. I think this could be a really fun thing to do together, in real life and virtually.
So I invite you to get together with your friends, take on any or all of these tasks in 2012 and share your adventures on your blog.
What do you think? Are you in?
photo: by me, view from Glastonbury Tor
