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Published: October 15th 2012
When I was growing up on my parent's farm, I had one goal in life. Actually, I don't remember the exact wording, but in my senior profile for the school newsletter type thing my goal was: "Get a good paying job and leave this town". Even back then I knew I wanted a faster paced life. Of course since I was 18, I knew everything, told it like it was and really wasn't concerned with how it sounded. Fortunately, with age came some wisdom. I am able to see all of the really great advantages I had growing up in a small town. Each year I look forward to coming back to the farm, staying with my parents and spending time with my extended family. This blog has a different feel to it than many of my others where I am climbing, hiking, rappelling and such; however, the theme is the same. It is about my experiences and how I see things. I hope you will enjoy it.
Normally I take a red eye flight putting me into Columbus in the morning where I am met by my brother in bad weather or my niece in nice weather. This trip
was nice weather, but she was in school, so my parents picked me up. We met an Uncle and Aunt who live nearby and went out for lunch. It had been years since I had last seen them. We talked, ate and generally had a nice time catching up. It seems the busier life gets, the less I see of my family.
On Saturday the whole family went down to an Amish community for a family style supper. The Amish man was in the room with us, pouring drinks, serving the food and providing a very funny wit. His wife and daughter cooked. This was truly restaurant quality food prepared from produce from the farm. I can't remember the last time I had a freshly baked yeast roll with homemade apple butter. Well, to be honest I had 3 of them they were so good. We had ham loaf, baked steak, super fluffy mashed potatoes, the best corn ever and a salad. Dessert was homemade peach, butterscotch or pecan pies. My Dad was going to pass on dessert, so I had him get a pecan pie so I could have both the butterscotch and pecan. It was such a
Pizza on the Smoker
And if I may say, they were better than a lot of pizzas I have ordered in restaurants.treat to have someone cook for us. I spent some time talking with the Amish woman who did the cooking. As professionals, we commiserated on the struggle to find help who care as much as we do. I was able to take a picture of the couple (some Amish will not allow pictures taken) but out of respect I am not going to post it here.
My middle brother Ted, whom I have referred to in many blogs, is a great supporter of my travel and blogs. He has often mentioned that we would be good on the Amazing Race, and honestly he is right. But anyhow, he has been doing a lot of smoking in/on 2 smokers at his house. I hear lots of stories of the great food he has done and was looking forward to smoked brisket and chicken. Last year he smoked the most amazing babyback ribs. I couldn't wait for dinner. After the Amish dinner, Ted and I trimmed and marinated the briskets and chicken. He put them on the smoker for somewhere around 5 hours if I am remembering correctly. There is something very different about smoked meats done in a small smoker
Trimming Brisket
My brother Ted and I doing the prep. He smoked it to perfection and I only had to enjoy. Good deal. versus a big commercial smoker. After all the anticipation about this, I was pleased to say that it was better than I had expected. My contribution to the dinner was fairly straight forward. I had posted a picture of Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Creme Anglaise on my Facebook page. It was for a very high end dinner at work. One of my nephews commented that he wanted it, so I promised that I would make it. Almost 2 dozen eggs, a quart of cream, quart of half and half, quart of milk and some other things later we had the warmest, richest dessert to end an incredible smoked meat dinner. The pictures are below but don't do justice to it. I have to say that I am impressed with the food that Ted has prepared. I guess I will have to kick it up a notch next year and do some serious cooking, lol.
For a little getaway, Dad and Mom took me up to Lake Erie. When we were just little kids we would spend some time in a cabin by Marblehead. The 5 cabins are still there and with the exception of a new
Slicing the Brisket
Home cooked meals are often better than those in a restaurant. air conditioner, they have not changed a bit. It was incredibly neat to walk in and feel the memories come back. The weather was getting cool, so after a couple walks to watch the Lake, we spent the evening reading. How can it be that I love to read so much, but really only take the time to read when I am traveling? The next day we took the car onto a ferry to Kelley's Island. My parents thought it was funny that I was driving onto the ferry and taking pictures at the same time. Heck, that is just how I roll when I travel. I had never driven onto a ferry before, so wanted some shots by which to remember it. And yes, they came out beautifully. The Island was pretty much deserted since it was off season. It was a gorgeous Autumn day with leaves putting on their farewell show of color. We drove around for a bit until we came to the glacial grooves. These are some of the best grooves in the world according to signs. A huge glacier had covered the area and as it moved, rocks ground into the softer limestone. I was
At My Parents House
If you have read many of my blogs, you see some humor in them. Guess it comes to me naturally. lol very impressed with how deep and well preserved the grooves were. I will put up a few pictures, but it is hard to really get a feel for them from photos.
For my last dinner, Ted and his family made pizzas to cook on the smoker. As someone who cooks for a living, I sometimes forget how food brings people together. It was a lot of fun talking and watching as the ingredients were chopped, diced and finally assembled onto the pizzas. Again, I have a few pictures of them, but it can't show how tasty they were. The older I get, the more I enjoy and appreciate my family and these times I can spend with them. As much as I wanted to leave the farm, I now look forward to going back.
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Val
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Love this pic
Great pic of you two! Peru sounds fab. My friends Alison and Ivan lived there for many years (he is Peruvian) before coming to live in Evanston. It is a trip I wish I had made while they still lived there. Come to Chicago while you are counting down the months and days!!