anotherkindofdrew blog

One year ago I looked into her eyes, I squeezed her hands just a bit and I said with all authority and conviction, “I do.” She returned the affirmation and we began what I now refer to as “the great adventure.”

Before getting married and moving back to rural, middle Georgia, I lived in Brooklyn, NY. The life was fast paced and there was always so much going on. I prided myself on giving meaning to ‘ol Blue Eyes’ lyrics. With a firm handshake and a toothy grin I had said on multiple occasions to people, “if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere,” and by all accounts I had made it. I had a beautiful apartment that had recently been renovated. I was just a block from the train. I had a group of supportive, fun friends. I had a job I was happy with. I was never lacking for artistic inspiration.

But at night, I went to bed alone. My other two bedrooms echoed in their emptiness and leaving the lights on did nothing to relieve my solitude. The TV offered little distraction as it became boring and I felt no more connected to the cast of ‘Law and Order’ than I did the man in the moon.

Several big decisions later though I was standing across from her promising to have and to hold until death do us part. And even those words could not adequately convey to her how much I welcomed this new part of life.

Within days we were at home on Odom’s Idle Acres figuring out how we could make it not quite so idle and how we could breathe life back into our otherwise normal existence. Our faith was strong and our determination was bursting from our beings. There was clearly room for a large garden. We could easily see ourselves with chickens. We simply knew that the life we had now formed together was going to be one that incorporated our dreams, our desires, our hopes, our learned lessons and our love for the world around us.

In short order we had planted several gardens. We had built a coop and purchased laying hens. We had reexamined our dependence on the grocery store and processed foods. We had redone our budget to live more modestly without sacrificing the fun in life. And through it all our connection to each other continued to grow.

And now one year later we still walk our land, dreaming, plotting, imagining. We look forward to being blessed with a family of our own and the opportunity to see them grow as we did; independently but with the support of our friends and family. The acres aren’t so idle anymore and we can see how God has blessed us and continues to bless us.

And now – one year later – I sit here at my keyboard thinking back to the nights that ended with smiles and even the ones that ended without such pleasure and I realize that this great adventure has all led up to this; this one moment. The moment when I can see that life is what you put into it. You plant a seed, you get a crop. And in this last year our seeds have turned to crops and now, holding each others’ hands, we wait for our harvest.

One of my most dear friends, Lacy Razor, wrote today’s blog post and because I enjoyed it so much, I wanted to share it with y’all. Lacy and her husband Josh are a happily married, military family trying to start a farm, a family, and embrace the country lifestyle in a fast-paced world. Their REAL dream is to offer our community an organic you-pick orchard and garden, greenhouse, U-fish, country store, and so much more! Until then, we focus on sustainability. You can read about their experiences at Razor Family Farms.

Good and simple meals rarely involve exotic sauces, costly ingredients, or snobbery. The magic is that you can make Magic Potato Soup when your cupboards are nearly bare. When anyone else would walk into your pantry and declare that a meal could not be procured, you can just grab a saucepan and smile. In just moments (and with seemingly nothing at all), you can produce a soup which is so flavorful and lovely that your guests will beg for the recipe. Upon receiving the recipe, they will insist that you have left out an ingredient. Magic, I tell you.

This soup was first served to me by Becky Matheny, who graciously shared the recipe and agreed that all of GRIT-dom should be able to partake in a little bit of edible history. She, like so many master cooks, believes that simple and fresh ingredients make for good and clean food. Becky lives in a 220 year old farmhouse in the Shenandoah Valley and hosts Soundquilt, a non-for-profit grassroots music festival. Her husband Mark, a talented musician, can often be found with his band (the Walnut Grove Band of Walnutt.net) in their pre-Civil war era barn.

Meet Magic Potato Soup*

• 4-5 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 onion, sliced as thinly as possible (the onion will
  “dissolve” and be absorbed by the liquid almost completely by the time the
  poatoes are cooked if sliced very, very thinly!)
• 1 teaspoon salt (and an optional dash of pepper)
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour

Combine the first four ingredients in a saucepan and cook until potatoes are tender. Drain, reserving liquid. In the empty saucepan, heat butter and flour until flour is browned.

Add the reserved liquid. Stir and cook until smooth (use a whisk or fork). Add potatoes and onion, then heat through.

Sprinkle with chives or parsley, if desired or if such items are available.
Recipes like the one above were common during the Great Depression when a few potatoes had to feed a large family. While most of us are able to purchase or grow a wide variety of vegetables in this century, we may not always be so fortunate. It is wise to learn, appreciate, and preserve the art of frugality.

One of my favorite cookbook authors, Xavier Marcel Boulestin**, once said, “Do not be afraid of simplicity. If you have a cold chicken for supper, why cover it with a tasteless white sauce which makes it look like a pretentious dish on the buffet table at some fancy dress ball?” Food does not have to be dressed up to be delicious. So, do not be ashamed of “humble” eats and serve this soup (and others like it) with pride.

*Recipe is similar to one found in the More-With-Less cookbook, by Doris Janzen Longacre, published by the Herald Press, in Scottdale, PA, copyright 1976.

**Xavier Marcel Boulestin wrote several cookbooks, my favorite being: Simple French Cooking for English Homes (1923). He was a respected chef, successful restaurateur, and the very first televised chef.

49 states received snowfall in the last week. Even rural Georgia – Odom’s Idle Acres – found itself covered in 4 inches of beautiful, powdery, Bing Crosby song-inspiring snow. For most it is just an excuse for a day off work or out of school or a reason to slick up the garbage can lid and head for the nearest hill. But for those who see snow as an epicurious test to our homesteading skills it is the perfect reason to make up a batch of Snow Cream.

Snow Cream is akin to ice cream tasting almost as good but definitely twice as much to make. Not to mention the way mother nature does most of the work as opposed to a more traditional method of freezing a custard mix as a first step.

So how do we make this Snow Cream? It’s really quite easy. Needing only a little dairy, some sugar and vanilla flavoring/extract, the largest ingredient is just outside the front door: fresh snow.

Word to the wise, DO NOT try to use snow that is within footsteps of your coop or in the goat pen or where your dog typically finds respite.

But why does snow lend itself to this treatment? Well, let’s think about ice cream for a second. Ice cream is basically a collection of tiny frozen crystals of milk/egg/vanilla/sugar beaten together with air. Snow is fluffy frozen water crystals. So it would serve to reason that all we need to do is add the flavor to try and match one of Baskin-Robbins 31.

Okay, time to get all nerdy real quick.

Because snow has different ratios of water to air based on outside temperatures, wind speed and velocity there is no tried and true recipe for Snow Cream but rather a suggested method. You can fill in your own blanks and add your own flavoring as desired.

INGREDIENTS (based on 1 gallon of Snow Cream)

• 1 gallon fresh, white snow.
• 1 cup Milk
• .5 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp. vanilla

The directions are nothing more than mix all your ingredients together and freeze for an additional 10 minutes to harden.

I added some chocolate syrup to my first bowl and then added some homemade strawberry jam to my second bowl.