In which Ashli has the house to herself: Part 1

With Megan in Utah since last week and mum newly landed in Moscow, the tea is brewing and I am ready to begin the saga of...me, in the house by myself (well, largely by myself. Stepfather will be home most evenings). Megan, if you read this, I have a confession...I've been wearing your black leggings and have used the Jenny-cup twice without asking. Such is my unruliness when you are not around to keep tabs on me.
And what shall one do with one's stolen time? Hmmm...

Around this time of year I get the inclination to make jam. I think I've contracted a sort of harvest-bug, because this inclination has expanded to include other types of preservation, like pickles and such what-nots. Kind of a 'let's-prepare-for-winter' spirit. Recently I finished reading a book called Plenty (by Alisa Smith and J. B. MacKinnon), which describes the authors' year-long experiment in eating only foods produced locally, within one hundred miles of their British Columbia home. To do so, they actually had to pay attention to the seasonality of certain vegetables (sorry, no salad in winter!) and the fact that many produce items don't actually grow in the Pacific Northwest (tragically, bananas, and things like olive oil and cane sugar). So naturally, when one is living off the local land, one must take advantage of what's available. In part, I suppose this is where food preservation comes into business. As the experiment in the book showed me, there is plenty of food right at our fingertips, and much of it can be frozen or canned. I find it fascinating! Really, it's the coolest thing ever.

Although, in recent years more traditional ways of life have become increasingly appealing to me. I think a lot of it has to do with understanding the natural ryhthms and cycles of life, things which God intended to be natural to us. Things which we have lost contact with, and therefore make our lives feel disconnected and unbalanced. It's something to think about, at least.

And every September, I get the urge to turn sweet Oregon summer fruits into jams. Not that I'm saying it should be everybody's business to do the same, that you should reestablish your ties with the earth and be all natural. No. And whether or not someone has the same inclinations, he or she is always welcome to something from my kitchen!