There is food and there is home food

I've come to realize just how awe inspiring our lifestyle has become. Jed joked last night when I told him we were eating lamb (not lamb again!) and I added a little bit of left over beef just to get it out of the freezer. What I noticed is that the beef turned into little rubber cubes that would not soften no matter how much I simmered or tenderized, the flavor was atrocious, and that my tummy let me know that I had eaten something that it did not recognize as food. How creepy is that? I stop eating beef for ... well a year now, and suddenly I realize that my body can tell if I'm eating home food or not. I mean, yes, I can tell with flavor and texture, but to know in a cellular level is a bit vexing. How is it that people are getting away with creating non-food for distribution at all major stores?

Ok, off my soap box. What I was really trying to write about is the odd nature of our lamb. I noticed that our lamb cooks faster, is more tender, and extremely flavorful. I don't know if others have noticed this same thing with their home meat. Our chicken, pork, and goat are the same way. Our meals are now dictated by the other ingredients (peas, beans, hard veg) as to how long we have to cook them. The meat is just added as a condiment to help flavor and enhance the meal. Something that was brought to my attention as I read up a bit on Thomas Jefferson and his enthusiasm for gardening and exotic veg. I think I prefer having the veg and starch be the main point of the meal with the meat enhancing the richness of the meal. This also includes stocks, which we have used this season to a much greater extent. Our rices are that much richer when cooked with home stocks and soups made with stock have a tendency to make us a bit comatose. Lard adds a creamy texture and flakiness to pastries that is to die for.

We do hope to be able to grow other oils in the future (peanut, sunflower, and olive) so that we can add additional flavor options to our food. And as soon as we throw Squeaks her retirement party we should have room to build the permanent fencing structure to keep the ducks, geese, and pigs out of our main crop production area. The work is never done, but it is very worth it just to get a bite.