The meal on the show came together and it hit me: we're smack in the middle of prime summer vegetable season and I've been letting it float by. My plants have been okay, but not flourishing. Sure, I have a good excuse--I'm nurturing another person, for crying out loud.
But you know what? I am strongly rooted in the dirt, and by letting everything happen, skim by, I've been neglecting myself in that sense.
When I went to permie camp we started off our time {and later closed up the session} by invoking the four directions. I hesitate to mention this because of my upbringing and the pagan implications, but mom, I swear I'm not going to hell because I opened my arms and appreciated the wind for a few minutes.
You see, to stay in balance you need the four directions, the positive, the negative, the sweltering heat, the freezing cold. Plants need this, too. The sun rises to the east, sets to the west and gives the plants just the right amount of light and dark they need to thrive. The leaves need to stretch toward the sky to thrive, the roots need to stretch deep to grow.
So yeah, back to the show. The vibrant food set before a crowd at one long table, the fellowship of strangers, the thankfulness for each morsel that resulted from the four directions, the elements and the farmers' work; it brought tears to my eyes and I remembered I missed that connectivity with the earth.
I've raised my eyes to the sky and let the sun kiss my face, but I've neglected to lay down on the earth and connect with the soil. Some people are tree huggers, I've decided it's time to be a dirt hugger.
{In case you're just here for the food pics, I made a locally sourced dinner last night of roasted tomatoes, garlic and non-local onions over veggie pasta made with SC grown flour, a backyard egg, and a handful of mixed baby greens from the farmer's market. Dare I say this was my best batch of homemade pasta yet?}
3 comments:
AH! Your pasta looks incredible. Do you mind sharing your recipe? I don't have a pasta roller/cutter thingy, but I could probably try that by hand. Also, I'm in the same boat as mothers go (that made me laugh quite a bit.) If ever I write something a little "out there" my mom calls the house accusing me of being in a cult. No joke. So yeah, go play in the dirt for awhile. It's nice. :)
My general pasta recipe is 1 cup flour and 1 egg. Mix it up well--I used the food processor this time. Usually I'll add a teaspoon of water at a time until it's a nice firm but pliable dough. This time the baby greens were enough moisture to not have to add any water, so it was even easier than usual. roll it out as thin as you can and then cut into strips. If it's too sticky (sticking to your hands, knife, rolling pin, etc) just pat the surface lightly with flour.
I boil it in very salty water, so no need to add salt to the dough. And it takes just a few minutes to boil to a good texture.
And yeah. . .moms. They're fun ;)
Awesome. Thanks for sharing! The no salt thing is a good idea. I have a 25 lb bag of flour waiting for me, now I must resist the interweb... hmm
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