The good egg
I did my best to be grateful for the rain as it hit my windshield this morning on my way to work. Lord knows this dry land needs it. Still, it's hard not to feel a little bit grumpy when you arrive at work in the dark and the downpour.
It really wasn't the rain's fault. I've been reading gardening literature, which I tend to do a lot in the winter. This is always a mistake. (well, not really. After all, it's very informative and I love it). Regardless, whenever I pick up something that talks about growing things in the ground, I get antsy and unsatisfied.
I want it to be spring now.
Forget Christmas. I really want spring to come so I can plant peas (the vegetable I am going to focus on this coming year).
This is the time when I realize I have too much Amish blood in my veins to be sitting at a desk - the place where I desperately try not to get distracted by food blogs or searching for local CSAs to join. (There is apparently only one near Hesston - and there is a waiting list).
I am maybe in the wrong profession.
I want to be an organic farmer.
I also have never had very much luck at gardening. (I blame Kansas).
I called my mother yesterday evening to say hello. She answered the phone after she came in from picking lettuce from the garden.
What?
Yes, December 13th, my parents were harvesting the rest of their fall crop of lettuce. True they live in the south - but it's the northern part of the south. Minus the insane heat and dryness of Kansas, the part of North Carolina they live is has very similar temperature patterns. Needless to say, I was very jealous (as I usually am with all things North Carolina) and wondering why I wasn't eating fresh lettuce from my garden with supper.
It is very hard for me to be patient, especially in the winter.
This is true for lots of things. I want to have my entire life figure out right now and live a stable enough life to own chickens and plant and harvest the benefits of fruit trees.
(grumpy face)
The point of this blog (this post and the entire thing in general) is to remind me that it's not about having the whole thing sorted out. Instead, the point of this blog is to remind to look for the things I can do to cultivate those types of things in the life I am currently living.
With this in mind, consider the previous paragraphs a super long intro to what this blog is actually about.
Eggs.
My sister gets our weekly eggs from a women she works with. We treat them like royalty. (If you know the deliciousness of farm fresh eggs, than you know what I mean. I often convince myself to not bake a particular recipe because of the number of eggs in it. Why would I waste these wonders in baking when we could eat them? They are that precious). They are also proof that if you know where your food comes from, you appreciate it way more. (Also, it tastes 100% better than those white, chemically altered eggs at the grocery).
This morning, I made sure I had enough time to make my sister and myself an egg (sunny side up) and toast (from my weekly homemade batch) for breakfast.
yum.
I love breakfast. If I know I am going to eat an egg in the morning and not cereal or a bagel, I get super excited and do not mind so much when my alarm goes off. (I seriously think about food all the time).
I am currently rereading the book my family listened to on one particular journey from Asheville to Kansas (and back) called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. This book is all about this family's journey to eat only locally produce food for an entire year. (It is really good, I highly recommend it). It is also very informative. So much so that I am going to quote a part of it.
Each food item in a typical U.S. meal has travel an average of 1,500 miles. In addition to direct transport, other fuel-thirsty steps include processing...packaging, warehousing, and refrigeration....If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1. million barrels of oil every week. That's not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make a big difference. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast.
I've quoted this is my blog before, but this is often what I remind myself with whenever I get depressed at my lack of good food and environment stewardship practices. Things just start with a small step -in this example, a good breakfast.
Even though I didn't use local wheat for the toast or butter. Breakfast this morning still had way less petrol in it than most meals I eat.
And that, my friends, is why it tastes so delicious.
It really wasn't the rain's fault. I've been reading gardening literature, which I tend to do a lot in the winter. This is always a mistake. (well, not really. After all, it's very informative and I love it). Regardless, whenever I pick up something that talks about growing things in the ground, I get antsy and unsatisfied.
I want it to be spring now.
Forget Christmas. I really want spring to come so I can plant peas (the vegetable I am going to focus on this coming year).
This is the time when I realize I have too much Amish blood in my veins to be sitting at a desk - the place where I desperately try not to get distracted by food blogs or searching for local CSAs to join. (There is apparently only one near Hesston - and there is a waiting list).
I am maybe in the wrong profession.
I want to be an organic farmer.
I also have never had very much luck at gardening. (I blame Kansas).
I called my mother yesterday evening to say hello. She answered the phone after she came in from picking lettuce from the garden.
What?
Yes, December 13th, my parents were harvesting the rest of their fall crop of lettuce. True they live in the south - but it's the northern part of the south. Minus the insane heat and dryness of Kansas, the part of North Carolina they live is has very similar temperature patterns. Needless to say, I was very jealous (as I usually am with all things North Carolina) and wondering why I wasn't eating fresh lettuce from my garden with supper.
It is very hard for me to be patient, especially in the winter.
This is true for lots of things. I want to have my entire life figure out right now and live a stable enough life to own chickens and plant and harvest the benefits of fruit trees.
(grumpy face)
The point of this blog (this post and the entire thing in general) is to remind me that it's not about having the whole thing sorted out. Instead, the point of this blog is to remind to look for the things I can do to cultivate those types of things in the life I am currently living.
With this in mind, consider the previous paragraphs a super long intro to what this blog is actually about.
Eggs.
My sister gets our weekly eggs from a women she works with. We treat them like royalty. (If you know the deliciousness of farm fresh eggs, than you know what I mean. I often convince myself to not bake a particular recipe because of the number of eggs in it. Why would I waste these wonders in baking when we could eat them? They are that precious). They are also proof that if you know where your food comes from, you appreciate it way more. (Also, it tastes 100% better than those white, chemically altered eggs at the grocery).
This morning, I made sure I had enough time to make my sister and myself an egg (sunny side up) and toast (from my weekly homemade batch) for breakfast.
yum.
I love breakfast. If I know I am going to eat an egg in the morning and not cereal or a bagel, I get super excited and do not mind so much when my alarm goes off. (I seriously think about food all the time).
I am currently rereading the book my family listened to on one particular journey from Asheville to Kansas (and back) called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. This book is all about this family's journey to eat only locally produce food for an entire year. (It is really good, I highly recommend it). It is also very informative. So much so that I am going to quote a part of it.
Each food item in a typical U.S. meal has travel an average of 1,500 miles. In addition to direct transport, other fuel-thirsty steps include processing...packaging, warehousing, and refrigeration....If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country's oil consumption by over 1.1. million barrels of oil every week. That's not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make a big difference. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast.
I've quoted this is my blog before, but this is often what I remind myself with whenever I get depressed at my lack of good food and environment stewardship practices. Things just start with a small step -in this example, a good breakfast.
Even though I didn't use local wheat for the toast or butter. Breakfast this morning still had way less petrol in it than most meals I eat.
And that, my friends, is why it tastes so delicious.
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