My daughter says...

So my sage 9 year old says to me...you aren't so much a blogger you know. You are more of a facebooker. This is true and it stung. I would much rather my astute young person know me as a blogger than a facebooker. I would rather she associate me with original ideas and creating. But I want to tell you how many thousands of thoughts and ideas I have for this little blog of mine and how overwhelming are the stories I would like to weave and how no matter how many photos I take I never seem to have the one that matches the ideas in my head. My young sage is ever so correct though that I should just type. The photos are just eye candy. The meat is the words anyhow. So in an effort to find my voice again I sit today on this cold threatening snow day, blueberry muffins for a bake sale in the oven, Ray Lamontagne on the stereo, incense piping away trying to think of all the things I was meaning to create here...and wouldn't ya know they all went running from my head?

So let's just start with the obvious...above are photos from a class I took at our Nature Center. It was a wood stove cooking class.

Let me just start by saying, I do not have a wood stove and it would take some major home renovation for me to have one. Every time we go out there to visit the Homestead they are cooking or have something going on their little stove and I am always drawn there like a moth to a flame. Asking questions, fascinated, and the foodie in me dying to get my hands in there and give it a go and cook! So when I saw registration for this class I took some leave from work and signed up, I got the last slot is that meant to be or what. I have taking various cooking classes before and I wrongly assumed this one would be similar, you know a tutorial with some sampling at the end.

Oh, how very wrong that was, you do know what they say about assumptions? We hit the ground running at 9:30am we got a brief down and dirty this is how to light and keep the stove hot, these woods have this effect, and here is your menu for the day you will be making breakfast, snack, and dinner for guests. We were all stunned. What? Right now? Just cook it?? Me?? So me and the other 5 ladies jumped in and got to work and let me tell you how very much work that day was. I have never known such a tired. A good tired. An I worked hard all day on my feet tired.
We were responsible for all prep, all cooking, all mixing, all water fetching, all washing of dishes. Let me tell you now our cabin was pretty authentic no electricity and no running water. This was really an eyeopener to gratefulness for modern convenience! Hot, clean, running water is one of the best modern day marvels ever the second would have to be electricity!

I can't wrap my head around what pioneer women went through. There were 6 of us and the 2 instructors and all we had to do was cook. We were not working in gardens, minding children, mending, doing the wash, etc... and we still couldn't manage to do it all gracefully and smoothly. How ever did they balance it all?? How?!!

I must say though that that meal was incredible. We ate and we chatted and we bonded and we were made appreciative of what we do have. And what an atmosphere and such an awesome evening shared with my family who got to come and have dinner the old fashioned way.

I can't believe I signed up for such a day of work and paid to do so!! We didn't get home till 7:30pm!! But it was worth it for the memory and perspective. Let's just say the next night I wasn't so slow to make dinner. It seemed so very simple and easy in comparison and truly left me feeling so very thankful and blessed for what we now have.