The Things We Accept

They say we don't know what we don't know and I wonder how much I don't know, guess I'll never know! :) Back in my younger days I used to make cheesecake using the Jello Brand Cheesecake Mix. I had never had a real cheesecake and the first time I had one, I thought it was awful! I now love real cheesecake but I just didn't know any better. My favorite flour is King Arthur and I have always ordered it. I had no idea our local Kroger now carries it. I was complaining last week about not having King Arthur and having to make bread using a regular flour. Chad said "I can bring you some home from Kroger." WHAT? They have King Arthur? On the bottom shelf and I never noticed it. I know there are other brands just as good as King Arthur but look at the difference in the size of these two loaves of bread. Same exact recipe, everything was done exactly the same. The larger loaf is made with King Arthur and the smaller loaf was made with probably Pillsbury or something straight off the shelf. Pretty big difference, huh? Even Vince and Chad can taste the difference in the bread. Chad was probably 10 and he had gone to his dad's one summer. He called and he was kinda whispering and he asked me if I could send him some soap. He said "Mom, they use storebought soap!" He was appalled. I haven't been making soap and we're all using storebought soap now and accepting it but if I made soap again, no one would want to use the storebought soap if given the option of homemade or storebought. Vince and I were talking at lunch and I wonder how many people accept that storebought tomatoes are how a tomato is supposed to taste. No doubt some people get good tomatoes at the grocery store. We most often do not. I can hardly wait til my tomatoes are ripe and I can pick one and eat it fresh off the vine. What about the difference in having a fresh egg, just gathered from the hen, or a storebought egg with an expiration date stamped on it? What about the difference in fresh squeezed orange juice or some of the OJ from the cartons? Some if it is downright good and with the price or oranges, I'm thankful for the cartons. But, if a glass of fresh squeezed OJ was put in front of me, I'd surely choose it over the OJ from the carton. What about herbs picked fresh from the garden or the dried herbs in the tins? I sometimes use the ones in the tins because I don't grow everything but the ones I do grow are amazingly better than the ones that are dried. What about fresh shrimp bought directly from the shrimper . . they were caught during the night and he's out peddling them during the day? Nothing like the frozen ones we get at the grocery store. There are many things I know that I am missing out on because either I don't know any better or the better products are not available in my area. This brings me to an idea that I've mentioned here before. I hate going out to eat. Yes, we sometimes do it but rarely do I enjoy it. We seem to lack really good restaurants in our town. We do have one that I love, American Bounty. The picture on their web page is salmon wrapped in crispy fried potatoes and it is so yummy! If given the choice, I'll take homemade most any day over eating out. Today's lunch consisted of Grilled Pork Backbone, Grilled Corn, Baked Beans, Strawberry Walnut Salad, homemade bread and cake. I didn't spend all day in the kitchen. In fact, getting the food on the table probably took less time than it would have taken me to get dressed, get to the restaurant, get seated, order, get the food, come home and . . mine was all homemade and I pretty much know what went into it all. Last night I put the pork on to marinate, took about 5 minutes. This morning I cleaned the corn and soaked it. Took another 5 minutes. The bread . . that took a while but I did it last night. The beans took about 5 minutes to stir up and get in the oven. The salad took a few minutes to wash the lettuce, make the dressing, wash and slice the strawberries and toast the Ramen noodles and walnuts. But it was all so worth it and so good! I love reading Patty's Morning Ramble blog. She is such an interesting lady and such an inspiration to me. It's a rare day that I read her blog that I don't learn something or think about something differently. My challenge to myself is to examine the things I do .. whether it be cooking, cleaning, gardening, quilting. How much of what I do is purely out of habit? How much is because 'that's the way I've always done it' and I just don't look beyond my own self? There is so much in the world for us to experience. It doesn't have to be bigger or more expensive or more showy . . there may just be a better method or a better tool or a better ingredient. I'd like to challenge all of you to think about the things you do day in and day out and surprise yourself with some very small changes that may make a world of difference. Look at the difference in the two loaves of bread . . just from changing the flour! Judy