I guess I never thought about how much I post about eating and cooking on Facebook until one day a friend of mine said "You and your husband sure are country." I guess I must have looked a little offended because she quickly added "The food you cook and eat - it's always country." At first I was still a little offended but after I had to time to think about it I decided that it was my kitchen and I'd cook country if I wanted to.
We all come from different walks of life and although we change as our lives change I think most of us stay pretty close to our roots. I grew up on a farm in a country home. We made a big garden, picked berries, picked up walnuts and pecans, milked cows and churned our own butter. Paula Deen would have been in Heaven at our house. Everything was battered and fried or cooked down slow and seasoned with bacon grease or butter. We lived with my Granny Ott until I was in the 7th grade and I loved coming home from school and smelling brown beans cooking on the stove and finding that she had made egg noodles. I learned to cook those kinds of foods and never really saw a reason to change much. Yes, I've added a few "new" foods and recipes as the years have gone by and I'm not scared to cook for people that I don't know - but my favorite is country food.
Last weekend I made pot roast with carrots and potatoes. No I didn't add any red wine but I did make brown gravy with my trusty bottle of Kitchen Bouquet. I don't steam and make sauces for squash and other vegetables - I usually flour them or coat them with cornmeal and fry them in bacon grease that I keep in Mason jars in my fridge. I make cakes and pies from scratch. When we get a sweet tooth I can usually go to the pantry and come up with the right ingredients to make a treat.
I'm not opposed to going out to dinner at a fine dining restaurant. I occasionally like to pull out one of my little black dresses and have a nice dinner. But that's the exception rather than the rule. I enjoy going to more casual restaurants too but I just tend to mainly cook at home. Partly because we live so far out in the country and partly because I enjoy cooking for JC and family. It gives me a sense of satisfaction to see my husband and family enjoying a meal that I've cooked.
I may someday need to have heart bypass surgery to repair my clogged arteries from all that fried stuff but Granny lived to be in her 90s so I'm optimistic. And to those who call me country, that's just fine. Country is what I am.
Don't be afraid to climb on the skinny branches.
