Roots

Last weekend I returned to my genesis. I know they say you can never go home but then 'they' must not have grown up in Western Nebraska. Though I've been home many times before, this trip seemed magical from the start. This year's abundant rainfall bathed the canyons and the prairies with varied hues of greens. A spectacular transformation from the traditional tawny tones of late July. The world felt alive and I was honored to be amongst it.

Returning to my roots, I helped my family reap the bountiful rewards of wheat harvest. Well, actually, my participation was limited to documenting the event with my Nikon D90. I’d forgotten how hot and exhausting Western Nebraska’s harvest sun can be.

Through the lens of my camera, my childhood appeared. Sights I’d long forgotten and perhaps never truly appreciated, overwhelmed me with pride and sentiment as I captured frame after frame. I love my camera. It was my Christmas gift from my husband - his attempt to bring me into the digital era. In fact, my Nikon D90 is so wonderful that I returned my Minolta to my mother. Which was like giving up an old friend since my mother had given me the Minolta my freshman year of high school. So many memories. Yet, my Nikon and it’s technology is far superior and I knew it was time for the Minolta to find another owner - one who’d use it and appreciated it.

My past came full circle when I visited my Grandmother. She deemed me responsible enough to pass on some of the family heirlooms. The first being a quilt that my grandfather’s mother had made. As I ran my fingers across the simplistic pattern, I was rooted in family history - to know that my great great grandmother had lived - had touched - had created this beautiful quilt. Then my grandmother gave me my ancestor’s ceramic bowl. Grandma told me how the bowl had come from Pennsylvania to Genoa Nebraska by covered wagon and that when the pioneers where forced to throw items aside to lighten the load - my relative refused to give up her decorative bowl. I guess I come by my stubbornness honestly. As with the quilt, the bowl is simple. A mark on its bottom reads ‘Homer Laughlin’ made in USA and I plan to research deeper into the bowl’s history and the Burkholder’s of Pennsylvania. As for now, I am satisfied with the harmony of my life.

Two Pages a DAY

I am blessed to have several lovely gardens grace my five acre home, however, I've been so busy as of late that much of my beloved gardens have been maintaining themselves. No where is this more evident than the rows of sugar and snow peas that have gone unpicked and hang past their prime from the garden fence. Where did spring go?

Likewise, my writing has fallen upon neglect. Today I vow to write my two pages a day as was recommended by Mark Sarvas in his class: Getting Started; Writing the First Novel. I know that like my peas, even if the two pages seem like they don't fulfil their intended place in my second novel - seeds can always germinate from those unwanted pages. So often I have found that random scene written for fun can later be developed and placed in the most unimaginable spots of my stories. Never never never erase anything you write.

And as for my peas, I will let them sit on the vine until they dry, pick them, shell them and store them in the garage overwinter and they will grow into fine peas again next year.

Corn bread BBQ

Smoke hung in the air but it wasn't from fireworks this Independence Day. My husband was hard at work smoking six racks of ribs over his cherry wood fire. In the kitchen, I was dashing like a mouse trying to create the perfect sides to accompany his main course. With ease I whipped up some of our summer favorites, and then, I turned my attention to baking corn bread. Though my mama is from the south, I have always preferred the sweeter tasting 'Yankee' corn bread. Upon discovery that I only had one box of 'Jiffey' corn muffin mix and no true idea of how many people my husband had invited - I pulled out one of my recipes (which I've make before) and began to mix the ingredients together.

Corny Corn bread
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1/3 c granulated sugar
1/2 c plain yogurt, preferably Greek (I didn't have enough yogurt so I used 1/4 c Greek and 1/4 sour cream)
1 cup corn, fresh, frozen or canned (I omitted this ingredient)
1 tbsp baking powder
salt
1/2 c corn meal
1 1/2 c all purpose flour (which I experimented with)


My first adaptation came when I varied from the instructions by omitting the 1 cup of corn. I've found in the past - though good - the corn kernels age the muffins quickly and since I might be stuck with left-over muffins, I wanted to make sure they stayed tasting fresh for days.

When I spooned the mixture in the muffin tins, I was amazed at how thick the batter was. They baked with beautiful high peak tops but were as dense as pound cake. So for my next batched I cut back on the amount of flour, figuring that since I was omitting the corn, I needed to cut out some of the dry ingredients. I was distracted by an emergency my husband issued and later realized that on my second batch I only added 1/2 cup of flour. These muffins baked with flat golden brown tops and were the driest of all the batches.

My final batch which ended up being my favorite batch, I added 1 cup of flour. These muffins, however, didn't peak as pretty as the first batch and lacked the smooth shinny tops of the second batch, but they were moister and had a very pleasant texture.

I'm not 100% satisfied with even the third batch so I will probably continue the search for the right corn bread muffin recipe before placing it in my cherished recipe box of favorites.

The barbecue was wonderful. Surrounded by family and friends, everyone brought their favorite dishes. My large kitchen filled beyond capacity and I over heard several comments towards the enjoyment of the corn bread. The poor weather may have ruined our planed firework display but we still celebrated like true spoiled American. Thanks to all the men and women who've served this mighty country.

A Challenging Life

Like so many others, the word 'perfection' haunts me. I strive to reach it daily not truly knowing what it is or how to achieve it. Yet, I won't settle for less. Here is my blog showing my struggles and my hopeful successes. I don't need to be perfect but I must try to ascertain it.