My husband tells me all the time that we could build a small “lean-to” out in our woodlands and be completely self-sufficient. I make my own bread, churn my own butter, can all our vegetables for the winter months, make our jams and jellies, and of course, he has about 250 Black Angus cattle; we could always
have a steak.
That sounds all good, but what about our laundry? He said we can wash in the creek and ponds the way our ancestors did. I have an old washboard, so he says I can just rub them on this and get out the dirt and grime. Let me tell you and him, I do not want to give us some of the “niceties” that I have been afforded. I have helped my grandmother wash outside over an open fire and then with her wringer type washing machine and I just do not want to revert to those days.
What about Facebook? How would I ever find out all the news – who passed away, which one is mad at the other, what the amazing children of our community accomplished, the balls games won, or lost, and miss all those incredible recipes, and sometimes find out the “tiniest” amount of gossip! Each morning as my husband opens the Clarion Ledger, he says checks to see if he is listed in the obits. I open my Facebook and we both read the up-to-date news. Then there is my phone! Who can go five minutes without looking at that remarkable little device? My grandchildren’s eyes seem to be cemented to the small screen. If I dare talk to them during these times and I have to touch them just to get their attention and then they do not seem to be actually listening. I need to talk with my children and my friends every day.
Now we get to the thing we all feel like we just cannot live without – the internet. How would I ever be able not to get on this passageway? I order just about everything that we need in the way of commodities except for groceries. A grocer does not order groceries from the internet! I find recipes, I ask medical questions, I NEED Pinterest, we ask questions about our farming interests, and just a multitude of inquiries needing answers. This is the “know all of all know all!”
Some people may be content and pacified to live in an isolated and quiet world, but I am not one of them. I need interaction with others, the noise from children playing or even arguing, I need the everyday little glitches that come with life, and I definitely need people, all kinds of people, just to interact. I believe we will save the plans for the lean-to for the hermits of the world.
I do not know about you, but I am always looking for “sides” for my meals. It will not be long until we all have green tomatoes. Fried green tomatoes make an excellent side to vegetables and are so good.
Fried Green Tomatoes
2 cups cornmeal, 2 T. sugar, 1 T. salt, 1 t. pepper, small pinch of cayenne, 1 ½ cups sour cream, 4 large green tomatoes sliced about ½ inch thick, vegetable oil. Combine cornmeal, sugar, salt, pepper and cayenne. Coat the tomato slices in the sour cream and dredge them in the cornmeal mix covering well. Drop into hot oil, frying in batches until crisp and golden. Drain and enjoy.
