I'm trying to think of a term for myself that sounds right. I inhabit a little non-working farm with my husband.He is the farmer. He plants the seeds. He weeds and hoes. He sprays organic stuff to get rid of bugs.
He is the farmhand (remember Eb on "Green Acres"?). He lugs the heavy stuff, does the grunt work.
He is the farmer's wife. Forgive me, but he is. He not only picks the berries, he comes in the house sweaty and dirty from picking, and he gets out all the canning equipment and makes jams and jellies, while I sit and read. Well, I help sometimes. But he has all the knowledge, all the drive.
I, who am I?
Sticking with the Green Acres connection (please click on the link for the theme song and opening sequence), I am Lisa. Now she's not the typical farmer's wife, which is why I can say Don is the farmer's wife and I am Lisa.
Unlike Lisa, I can actually bake a real cake (not put a box in the oven and watch it come out a cake). Unlike Lisa, I am not a city girl, and I don't wear evening gowns around the house.
But she is the closest I can come, so far, to discovering who I am.
And oh, see all this pumpkin glory? Yes, my husband's first pumpkin harvest. And yes, it was HE (shall we call him "Ollivah"?) who cut one up (not easy), baked it 1 1/2 hours at 350F, pureed the flesh in the food processor, strained the juice, made homemade pie crust (Carolyn Roehm's recipe; if you look at this link, she looks a little like Lisa), and made pumpkin pie. It's the best darn pumpkin pie I've tasted, so fresh and REAL, unlike canned pumpkin. And he used the recipe for pie that our old friend gave us, who died a couple of weeks ago after a beautiful long life. She used molasses, and that, my friends, is the secret to extraordinary pumpkin pie. You can see it makes the pie dark too.
29 comments:
HI Ruth
have been reading your comments on Rauf's blogs and so thot i shall drop by and say Hi..
interesting post.... was just talking to friends about Halloween n wondering what the connection between the day and pumpkin is.. pls do let me know of this..
and ur pie looks yummmilcious...save me a slice plsss :D
Hi there, Aaarti, so glad to see you here after seeing you at rauf's.
Not sure exactly when, but sometime back in the early American days (I think, not sure if it goes back to Europe), at harvest time people used pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns for practical purposes of light. Somehow it got associated with Halloween because of the time of year. I'm guessing wiki has more info on jack-o-lanterns and Halloween.
And oh yes, Aaarti, I'd love to share a slice of pie with you. rauf tells me you eat something like this in India?
what great pictures..
Love your cat..
Happy Halloween
cheers from Toronto,
Gisela
Je te souhaite un Happy Halloween ;o))
Hey! Thanks to Hyde DP and all the visitors from there! Happy Halloween, Gerald, Gisela and Olivier! :D
Tricks or Treats, Money or eats!!
Kate, ain't Halloween fun?
How does he find the time to do all these things??? I guess he has summers off. That's so nice that he enjoys these hobbies. You are lucky to get to enjoy the fruits of his labors! I can't wait until we have a yard to do gardening and such. Someday...
Can you send your husband over here for a week please.....or may be you can make it a year :-)
RK, no, you see, he does this WHILE he's still teaching. I think it's his passion. I have no other explanation.
You will get the chance to grow your own. In the meantime, I know you're supporting local growers and eating lots of fresh stuff.
Britt-arnhild, wanna exchange houses for a while? I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to spare him, being the "Lisa" that I am. Well, maybe for a week.
What beautiful pumpkins...they actually look like what God must have intended. The commercial pumpkins are never that perfect. Oh the pie, I can smell it right now...
Tori, these were picked an hour before, no truck to ride in, no tossing and stacking. I see people picking out pumpkins at the store and know we have our own at home that were delivered by Nature. And I don't mean that in any haughty way at all. It's just such a different experience.
I think what you are is Lucky! :) Those pumpkins are amazing and it was his first time? Wowser. He's one impressive man, you're just braggin now girl!
Drowsey, I don't mean to brag, really I don't. Actually, I'm just trying to be benevolent. See, you don't know how difficult it is to be married to this man, really. When you're married to everyone's favorite person, and such a handy, helpful guy, you can really get a sort of I-am-such-a-loser complex. Like when we got to the work day at the cottage last week, and when we arrived, my great niece squealed "Uncle Don, Uncle Don!!!!" like 5 million times. What am I, chopped liver??
Ok, I'll go calm and comfort myself now.
Ruth is an earthworm
oh you are not comfortable with that ?
how about Ruth is a book worm ?
No i would still insist on Ruth being an earthworm
Earthworm is a friend of the earth
and an Earthworm is a friend of the farmer.
Man is just another animal, nothing different. But Man is special. Man became human.
no, its not love that made him human nor it is the thinking brain as animals love and animals think too, they know the ways to defend themselves and to stay alive.
Animals have fur, scales, thick skin, hot blood, hollow bones feathers, well equipped to defend themselves. But man is left defenceless against the hostile climates. hoping that man would either migrate to favourable climate or use his brain at some point and he did. Versace's ancestor covered his body with leaves. Today covering the body is a thriving industry.
so humans are one up. This one upping is good or bad is something i still do not know.
i have not seen a monkey holding a cookery book and cutting carrots and making a sweet dish.
they eat what nature provides them in raw form.
with creative brains humans made a carrot or a pumpkin taste better their natural raw form.
I am quite comfortable with you calling me an earthworm, rauf. It's a compliment. I only wish I could be as useful as an earthworm.
It's true what you say about carrots, pumpkins, squash. As a child I gagged on squash. Until I tasted acorn squash cooked like an open bowl filled with butter and brown sugar as an adult, I rejected it. Even the smell of pumpkin roasting this week has not been pleasant for me. But when mixed with cinnamon, allspice, clove, ginger, and brown sugar, it becomes delectable!
He and Ruth,
Ruth and him.
Ruth is......
-Ruth,
-a great woman,
-thoughtfull,
-surprising,
-creative,
-his wife,
-his life,
-his love,
-his support,
-Therefore HE needs,
*His great wife,
*Her love,
*Her creativity,
*Her surprises,
*Her support,
........Because she is there, she is all he loves in his life, she makes him happy, as he makes her happy, they need each others: Love, support and creativity,
TOGETHER THEY ARE A TEAM, and TOGETHER THEY RUN THAT FARM,
TOGETHER THEY ARE ONE!!!!
TOGETHER A SUCCES.
:)
Wow, JoAnn, I'm feeling a lot better about myself now, thank you! How very sweet your list is, wish I could live up to half of it.
You obviously have exceeded it!
molasses, that's what i was missing!! yum.
i heard a quote once that made me think.
"it's not who we are inside, it's what we do that defines who we are"
-Rachel, Batman Begins
yes i know, referring to my cheesy sci-fi batman obsession, but it was a very thought-provoking quote for me. i think it is true in a sense, and it is also not true. just because you don't bake pies from SCRATCH SCRATCH, or plant pumpkins, or make jars of jellies, doesn't mean you can't be the farmer's wife! these labels are always subject to change.
but i am also of the opinion that you need no label for who you are, because who you are is beautiful and one of a kind.
Hey Ruth
Yummmm.. making my mouth water... :)
not too sure what Rauf is referring to, i havent seen a pumpkin pie here till date.. only apple pies n i love those.. made them at home once..were pretty good[even if i do say so]..
:)
Thanks for that, RK. :)
Lesley, sweetie, I love how you think. :) Yes, this "who-ness" is all mixed up - who we are inside, what we do, you can't really separate them, I think. Eventually everything inside comes out and everything outside comes in.
Yes, no labels please. And here I am promoting them in this post!
Note to self: stop thinking labels.
Well, Aaarti, I dunno. Let's hope rauf comes back from Pollachi and explains this Indian pumpkin dessert he was talking about. Seein as you both live in Chennai, now I'm confused.
That applie pie sounds yummy!
Happy Diwali, Aaarti!!
OMG. Where is Don when we need him?! :)
Yes, and I'm going to be farmer, farm hand and farmer's wife all in one when he has surgery after Thanksgiving. :|
Poor man.
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