Harvest Kitchen

Headline: "The Slow Food Movement is Gaining Momentum." Funny headline. Nothing like 'momentum' in a slow movement to really speed things up. So, doesn't all that momentum mean it is now a 'fast' food movement?
Funny headline in that I was amused to think there exists an alternative to the slow food movement. Am wondering if that means cooking things on a higher heat so they are done faster? But then, I've never been in the fast lane. Decidedly more the Earth Mother-type, so what would I know about slow food alternatives?
Doesn't everyone make their own meals from scratch? If not, what do you do? How do you afford to put food on your table? I must admit to not knowing what else to do. But at least once a week I would love to find out! Do tell, is there a Cook Fairy that visits? (There sure are lots of things I'd be happy to put under my pillow to ensure a visit from her.)
Obviously, it is in my DNA to be a foodie.(I was capable of making family supper by the time I was 10 years old. Note that did not say gourmet dinner). All things related to food makes me happy (and obviously makes me fat too).
We grow food. On our less than an acre, we grow some of our own veggies like beans, beets, potatoes, corn, lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, herbs, tomatoes, squash and pumpkins, garlic and onions. They taste wonderful in season and those lucky enough to get "put by" taste like summer in January.
We have raspberries, a cherry tree, an apple tree, a pear tree, a few blueberry bushes and blackberry bushes also on the same less than an acre. Fruit food is treat food! (Juicy blue plums are ready now on our two old plum trees and aren't they just such a gas to have around the place?)
By this time of the year there are things from our backyard in the freezer, canned, dried and ready for winter use. I am nearly orgasmic when I look at all this year's jars of jam, jellies and preserves sitting on the shelves! (Discouraging to think what that indicates).
We are pretty keen on food being grown clean and grown in an environmentally-friendly manner. No melamine in our garden! Never mind that a mere one teaspoon of garden soil contains billions of organisms including simple bacteria, fungi, earthworms, insects of all sorts including my most feared - spidiees, and ofcourse who can forget the mountains of snails that leave their snot on everything.
(Over the years, we even raised our own rabbits and kept bees. Both gave us lovely products,lovely memories and some very funny stories. I'll save those for future posts).
I have a dear friend in Kamloops and each September we periodically phone each other and say "what are you putting up today?" She'll tell me she's just put up 300 pound of tomatoes that morning compared to my measly drying of two trays of blackberries. Arrrggghhhhh. Well, it is reassuring knowing someone else is home putting food by as opposed to being out and about drinking frappacinos and doing advanced pilate exercises.
Did I mention that the best part of stocking up is the wine? My husband makes lovely home-made wines and very nice home-made fruit liqueurs. One year he made the best apple cider I've ever tasted. There have been occasions when my above-mentioned friend from Kamloops and I have 'put food by' together while tippling on home-made wine. It did add a huge element of humour to our endeavors. Most certainly didn't seem to change slow food into fast food, but we never cared much when we were together wine glasses in hand.
On the other hand, (the one without the wine glass in it) how nice would it be not to do all that work? How nice would it be to have a kitchen without an ongoing project spread out all over the place? How nice would it be to have the canner and jars out-of-sight for just one day in August or September? (Hardy global laughter heard at this point because everyone knows my kitchen never gets finished cooking and thus, there is always something needing washing or putting away).
Well, (it's nearly happy hour, isn't it?) here's to all the momentum possible for the slow food movement. It's all good!