7/6/08
Satisfaction
There's a sound coming from my kitchen. Now, I normally don't like sounds- aggravating things that they are- but this sound is different. It sounds like success, like providing for my family's future, like something that I did right, for once.
Plip! Plip! ...Plip!!
It's the sound of my jam jars sealing. Jars full of fresh Michigan strawberries- washed, hulled, crushed, sugared, boiled...
...and preserved. Preserved for up to one year. I've done enough batches that we should have strawberry jam for quite some time. There are whole berries in the freezer, sliced and sugared also, and strawberry ice cream sauce in an old salsa jar in the fridge. A new box of Ball jars awaits this coming Tuesday's pickling endeavors, and there is homemade panir in my cheese drawer, homemade clarified butter cooling on the counter, homemade oatmeal bread waiting for the extra jam to cool, and a batch of raw milk kefir in the fridge. There's homemade creme fraiche and beef stock, things that I have saved some money by making myself.
My feet hurt and I'm kind of sick of my kitchen, but its one of the greatest senses of satisfaction I've felt in a long time!
Big deal, some of you say- you who either see no use in homesteading or have been living this way for many years. But it is a big deal, to shake off the chains of commercially prepared food and control a little bit of what goes into our bodies. To have the pride of holding up a piece of bread, dripping with hot jam, and know that we made the bread, the butter, and the jam- all by ourselves. No high fructose corn syrup, no MSG, no hydrogenated vegetable oil. Its a feeling of complete and utter satisfaction- not just with jam and bread- but with life in general! A life that allows us to read what we please, eat what we please, worship who and where and when we please, and always have the opportunity for better things.
I'm blessed. I'm satisfied. I may not have it all, not nearly. My bills are behind and my hip hurts and my car got dinged up even more today, but I have a home to rest my head in tonight and a fan to blow cool summer night breezes on me and a slender husband to curl up against and beautiful sticky-faced girls to climb into bed tomorrow and kiss me before breakfast.
And maybe for breakfast we'll have some bread and jam. Just because.
Plip! Plip! ...Plip!!
It's the sound of my jam jars sealing. Jars full of fresh Michigan strawberries- washed, hulled, crushed, sugared, boiled...
...and preserved. Preserved for up to one year. I've done enough batches that we should have strawberry jam for quite some time. There are whole berries in the freezer, sliced and sugared also, and strawberry ice cream sauce in an old salsa jar in the fridge. A new box of Ball jars awaits this coming Tuesday's pickling endeavors, and there is homemade panir in my cheese drawer, homemade clarified butter cooling on the counter, homemade oatmeal bread waiting for the extra jam to cool, and a batch of raw milk kefir in the fridge. There's homemade creme fraiche and beef stock, things that I have saved some money by making myself.
My feet hurt and I'm kind of sick of my kitchen, but its one of the greatest senses of satisfaction I've felt in a long time!
Big deal, some of you say- you who either see no use in homesteading or have been living this way for many years. But it is a big deal, to shake off the chains of commercially prepared food and control a little bit of what goes into our bodies. To have the pride of holding up a piece of bread, dripping with hot jam, and know that we made the bread, the butter, and the jam- all by ourselves. No high fructose corn syrup, no MSG, no hydrogenated vegetable oil. Its a feeling of complete and utter satisfaction- not just with jam and bread- but with life in general! A life that allows us to read what we please, eat what we please, worship who and where and when we please, and always have the opportunity for better things.
I'm blessed. I'm satisfied. I may not have it all, not nearly. My bills are behind and my hip hurts and my car got dinged up even more today, but I have a home to rest my head in tonight and a fan to blow cool summer night breezes on me and a slender husband to curl up against and beautiful sticky-faced girls to climb into bed tomorrow and kiss me before breakfast.
And maybe for breakfast we'll have some bread and jam. Just because.
Labels: homemade, Jam, kids, life, satisfaction, strawberry jam
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