Saturday Morning Recipes!
Reclaiming one's power in the kitchen can launch a thousand meals! Let's share our culinary tips & tricks as we liberate ourselves from the role of dis-empowered, de-skilled, dependent consumer.
Saturday, June 25th, 2022
Dear Freedom Friends,
It’s my intention and hope that these recipe ideas, hints, tips & related thoughts will help you as much as they’ve helped me. Whether you’re looking to double down on your health and turn the Covid Experience into a reason to become the healthiest you’ve ever been (!!) or you just want to eat more easily and cheaply at home & not at home — food matters.
After all…who doesn’t want to cut their food budget? I do! In fact, I’m doing everything I can to protect my family from this century’s version of the Great Depression. I’m sure you are, too, so please, share your thoughts! We are stronger together, are we not?
This image says a lot about a lot.
In particular, it instantly reminded me of Montenegro, where our Air BnB host shared how her family (and all local families) used to make their own olive oil every year. Her family’s local history went back over 300 years, with subsistence as a peaceful, positive and family-oriented mainstay of life. To hear her speak of her childhood, people developed wealth slowly, with coordinated family effort, enjoying simple, hard-working and worth-filled lives without the excesses of our modern, material world.
What’s the point of life? To feel safe, healthy, rested, warm or cool depending on the season, loved, motivated, curious, excited, triumphant, relieved, valued, appreciated, and so on. Spending money, in and of itself, does none of that…not really. Even worse, by losing track of what matters, we are more likely to make terrible mistakes and cause permanent damage to our own lives, those we love and the world that sustains us and future generations to come. Consider this: every single living creature on this planet shares one thing in common — a daily focus on nourishment, through one’s own actions.
To consume, to eat, to drink, to obtain nourishment is to BE an Earthling. Yet, today, hundreds of millions of humans have little idea where the food they consume multiple times a day comes from, how it’s created, how it’s delivered to them, even what it can be is a mystery, at times! Worse, modern society teaches its citizens to view food production as grunt work, a hardship, undesirable work and a form of suffering soon to be escaped through the mechanization of the industry. Soon, we will eat food that has, quite likely, never been touched by human hands.
I grew up in my mother’s gardens. Eating. Playing. Rescuing snails! My sons grew up in my garden, doing the same. If they ever have children, I hope those beautiful souls also grew up amidst the growing world of life and nourishment…
But, there are forces working against such a future. When Yugoslavia collapsed, the Western Powers of Modernization (EU) decided that our Air BnB host’s town (in Montenegro) would be better off as a thriving tourist destination! They sold the land to big, international investors, built a huge highway through the mountains to facilitate tourist buses, and blocked the local people from accessing a magnificent food forest resource that’s been in existence for many thousands of years.
Stara Maslina is a beautiful olive tree that grows in Montenegro. It’s located near the city of Stari Bar (City of Bar). Its name means “Old Olive Tree”, and old it is! It’s estimated to have been planted over 2,000 years ago. One side of Stara Maslina is completely burnt, but the tree continues to grow and produce olives despite that.
Imagine. For over 2,000 years, since the Romans brought olive trees to Montenegro, every generation & civilization has been wise enough to preserve these groves. Until ours. We see nothing wrong with wiping out entire mountainsides of healthy, productive, life-sustaining groves for the sake of old people whacking little white balls before they hop their next cruise ship. What does this say about us? Nothing good.
Olive oil is so revered (and why wouldn’t it be?) that our Air BnB host in Albania (who we bonded with after many conversations) gifted us a bottle of her family’s own olive oil. It was clean, delicate, delicious and raw! But, how to get it over the border into Italy or Canada or the USA? When we broke bread with our Montenegro host and heard how olive oil (which used to be economically free, resulting from family gatherings, time and effort) had become an extremely hard commodity to come by (as it now required Euros to purchase), we naturally gifted her the bottle of olive oil from our previous host in Albania.
Many of these adventures came about thanks to my youngest son who, at the age of seventeen, went to live with a series of worldschooling families and close family friends. Over nine months, he traveled to seventeen different countries, and I joined him for nine of them. The best thing — I discovered — about travel isn’t just what you learn about other countries, cultures and people. It’s also what learning about those places does to your perception of your own home.
When I traveled to Mexico in 2003, I was firmly reminded of the diversity we come to take for granted in the USA. When I traveled from Bulgaria to Istanbul by train, I realized our rail system sucks (comparatively). When I traveled to a Karen Village in Thailand, and I saw how they raised their pigs, I was reminded of the American habit of knee-jerk reacting to new experiences with the assumption that WE do it better. After sober reflection on how pigs are raised in the USA, I realized we were worse. It was humbling, and that’s always good for the soul!
As we bussed across Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro, we saw the old world landscape of small (tiny!) villages surrounded by recently tilled plots of land. There were families scattered about, removing rocks or already planting potatoes, and the grape vines! Every single house enjoyed robust metal trellises (remnants of the Soviet Era) that expanded over the front yard or porch, creating summertime shade at the same time that huge, well-tended grape vines prepared to burst forth with fruity goodness! Again and again, during our travels, I was reminded that being close to one’s food, being able to supply one’s needs, and being interconnected with neighbors and friends and family — are all key facets of survival. Not money.
Also while in Thailand, I discovered just how incredibly dependent Americans are, when I turned to my son on our first day and said: “I don’t know how to cross the road!” When faced with six or eight busy lanes of seemingly endless traffic and no signals telling pedestrians when to cross the road…what’s a woman to do?
BUT MARCH! What does all this have to do with Saturday Morning Recipes?
One simple thing. We have been reduced to the dependency level of a small child, with intention, by food corporations that want to profit off of us. We buy what they sell not because it’s better, healthier or even faster or more convenient! We buy what they sell because we’ve been raised to do so. Convinced it’s necessary. Tricked into forgetting how damn easy it is to pack a snack, a lunch, a bottle of whatever our favorite drink is, and so on! Whether hitting the “sweet & salty spot” with absolute perfection or extolling the benefits of convenience with superb mastery and skill…we have been marketed into a dependency corner.
This makes us weak. Across the USA, when I consider the petty complaints, the unbridled entitlement and our unbelievably lack of basic self-sufficiency skills — I cannot help but wonder at the future. We are drastically under-prepared for the coming inflation, food shortages and other systemic collapses poised to ravage our land, our lives, our societies and our world.
We are dependent. We are helpless. And! We didn’t used to be.
In the months to come, food prices (alone) are poised to deepen poverty across the world — impacting childhood health and threatening seniors who live on fixed incomes. Add to this, the twin disasters of explosive inflation and manipulated gas prices, all of the ripple effects of those two catastrophes, AND ridiculous government officials throwing Billions of OUR dollars at plans to convert our gas vehicle fleet to an extremely expensive electricity-dependent fleet (to be run on what excess electricity?) — and one question rises to the top: “Who is best prepared to withstand the collapse?”
Those who need the least.
My Saturday Morning Recipes will celebrate frugality, thrift, smart gardening, cooperative buying clubs, person to person trade, ingredient flexibility and confidence! Look at this ad below. A girl saying, “I couldn’t make gravy, and my Mama couldn’t make gravy, until Campbell’s Soup saved the day!” How terrible!
And how profitable! We’re not “kitchen ignorant” by accident…or choice.
It’s by design.
…but, we CAN reclaim those skills!
I’m not preparing to suffer. I’m preparing to overcome the challenges we face, and I fully expect to emerge from these times better, wiser, more skilled and with new friends! At the very least, healthier. Cheaper eating is usually healthier eating, unless you live in a food desert (another travesty of failed government/corporate institutions). Maybe I’ll lose more weight and build up flexibility and muscle while growing my veggies and climbing trees during the harvest? Who knows! But, whatever comes, it will be the result of my attitude and what I choose to value and want.
That decision is up to each of us. The power is ours. Choose wisely. And now…
Pantry Ingredient #1 — Cornmeal (organic, non-GMO, blue or white or yellow)
I recently bulked up on cornmeal in my family’s pantry for these reasons:
(1) Cornmeal is actually pretty darn good for you,
(2) Eliminating unnecessarily sweet dishes from our diet improves our health,
(3) Organic (non GMO) cornmeal is relatively low cost when purchased in bulk,
(4) It is fairly shelf stable and can last up to 2 years in the freezer,
(5) Cornmeal is useful in SO MANY recipes!
Grits, polenta, cornbread, fritters, fry breading, pancakes, and when it comes to polenta? Wow. The options are nearly endless!
On Page 777 of The Joy of Cooking (1997 edition): My first recommended recipe is Southern Cornbread. This dish is savory (consider adding canned or fresh corn, peppers - hot or not - and bacon bits never hurt). Or sweeten it up. This dish is versatile!
Imagine it! — You fry up some bacon (purchased on sale, in bulk, divided and tossed in the freezer for future use at today’s prices) in a cast iron pan, then pour some of the warm, yummy fat into a bowl with all the other ingredients, while placing the cast iron skillet into the oven until the fat begins to smoke (happens quickly!) — as the batter pours into the pan, it pushes the fat up and over the edges, spreading yumminess as you toss it back into the oven and begin preparing a green salad (which the crumbly bacon is bound for, along with delicious home-boiled beets, soft goat cheese, scattered dried bits of fruit and your favorite salted nuts)! As the salad lands on the table, you whip the cornbread out of the oven, ready to eat within a few minutes, smeared with butter and/or drizzled with honey, molasses and homemade applesauce - YUM!
March’s Southern Cornbread Hacks:
Add Flour: If you find pure cornmeal cornbread too gritty, or just want some variety, replace 1/2 a cup of cornmeal with the flour of your choice.
Out of Buttermilk: Use whole milk mixed with a tablespoon of lemon juice.
No Cast Iron: No problem. Use a glass pie pan! Just make sure to get the pan & the fat sizzling hot before you pour in the cornbread mixture.
Recipe Commentary on Page 777: “Real southern corn bread is made only with stone-ground cornmeal (tradition dictates white), buttermilk, eggs, leavening and salt — no flour and no sugar. Some southern cooks stir in a tablespoon of bacon fat. The bread is moist, crusty and tastes of the essence of corn. Eat straight out of the oven, as the bread can dry quickly. (If you use March’s flour hack above, it retains more moisture.)
Prepping Directions: “Position rack in the upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place in a heavy 9-inch skillet, preferably cast iron, or an 8x8 glass baking pan. (If you use March’s pie pan hack, you’ll be gobbling pie shaped wedges!)
Ingredients:
For the Pan:
1 tbsp fat (bacon drippings, lard, butter, vegetable shortening)
For the Mixing Bowl:
1 3/4 cups stone-ground cornmeal, preferably white (March uses 50/50 yellow/blue)
1 tbsp sugar (optional - definitely try without first)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Whisk until foamy in another bowl:
2 large eggs (do all you can to source excellent eggs - it will change your life)
Then add in 2 cups buttermilk (March’s hack is whole milk w/ 1 tbsp lemon juice)
Add wet ingredients to dry, whisk just until blended. Place skillet/pan into oven and heat until fat begins to smoke. Quickly pour batter in all at once, then back in the oven! Bake until the top is browned and the center feels firm when pressed, 20-25 minutes.
Topping Suggestions: Butter, Jam, Molasses (March’s Favorite!), Applesauce, Honey