Day 187 – The Simple Life

by The Philosophical Fish

July 5, 2016 – My Granny thought anything beyond salt and pepper was “spicy” 🙂

Her cooking was simple and straightforward, but she was of Scottish decent, so it also really wasn’t fantastic.

Meat was cooked until it was shoe leather.

Vegetables were cooked until they were, well, ….unappetizing.

And my Grandma, she was of British decent….so the veggies and meat weren’t really all that much better up at the orchard compared to down at the farm.

But, oh, could they bake!

It’s really small wonder that I pretty much hated food until I learned to cook for myself. Up until then I only ingested carrots or peas if they were raw, and I considered potatoes and corn the only vegetable protein worthy of eating … if heated through. I wasn’t a fan of pork, despised beef, liver was (and still is) completely rejected. I would eat chicken, and any fish that was placed in front of me would be devoured without looking up.

Chicken noodle soup and tomato soup were acceptable, but I would only ingest the broth from vegetable beef soup.

If there was a speck of spinach in any dish, it was inedible.

To me, carrots and peas came out of the ground or off the vine. Fruit came straight off the tree or was canned at home. From a produce perspective I was spoiled rotten, how could I not be, my Granny and Grandad had a farm and Grandma and Grandpa had a huge fruit orchard complete with several kinds of cherries (Bings, Sams, Lamberts, and the unofficial “White House Cherries”), apples, plums, pears, currants, and I seem to recall a peach tree, or maybe we just bought those from someone else. And then there were the strawberries and the raspberries. Down the road were my Great Aunt and Uncle who also had an orchard and a fabulous raspberry patch.

Eggs came from under the chicken – I loved collecting those – or from the neighbours. I’d take the pea pods, left over after a family shelling spree, down the road to the Weidinger’s and feed them to the goats, leave the egg shells from those we’d bought previously (to be fed back to the chickens), and take home a dozen or two fresh eggs collected that morning.

I’d help Grandad milk the cows and enjoy the fresh heavy cream that would collect at the top overnight, and hope the bull didn’t chase me up the hill.

Food was simple, but I knew where it came from.

Nowadays I eat a little more than I used to 🙂

And although salt and pepper may be simple and traditional, they are still a foundation for all things yummy.

Salt and Pepper go together…..like….

……Like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong
Remembered forever
As shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom
Chang chang changitty chang sha-bop
That’s the way it should be
Wah-oooh, yeah!

116 Photos in 2016 – 46. Tradition / traditional

I'd love to hear from you :)

53 comments

FR-STUDIOS July 6, 2016 - 4:17 am

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FR-STUDIOS July 6, 2016 - 4:17 am

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`ARroWCoLT July 6, 2016 - 4:33 am

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`ARroWCoLT July 6, 2016 - 4:33 am

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Afton Hula Zral July 6, 2016 - 4:41 am

You can really capture great photos Paige!

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Paige Ackerman July 6, 2016 - 4:44 am

LOL! That was with my iPhone….and a bit of massaging with Photoshop.

But thank you 🙂

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Afton Hula Zral July 6, 2016 - 4:44 am

And you are really a great writer!

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Paige Ackerman July 6, 2016 - 4:45 am

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Paige Ackerman July 6, 2016 - 4:46 am

I just try to write what I think and feel at the moment, it’s heartwarming to know that someone actually reads it sometimes.

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Paige Ackerman July 6, 2016 - 4:48 am

<3

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CardCollector & HobbyPhotographer July 6, 2016 - 5:13 am

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CardCollector & HobbyPhotographer July 6, 2016 - 5:13 am

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dernachtreiter July 6, 2016 - 5:22 am

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vieubab July 6, 2016 - 5:37 am



Seen in Macro! Closeup Shots!

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Hans Pannerup Rasmussen July 6, 2016 - 5:55 am

You have an audience….

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Paige Ackerman July 6, 2016 - 1:06 pm

Probably not a good thing

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Janene White July 6, 2016 - 6:37 am

I can definitely relate to this as I knew the people, farms and orchards involved. My Mother was an excellent baker; probably one of the best and I am really particularl about pie crusts. So, was Aunt Maude. I think that my most favourite dessert was the biscuit shortcake with endless streams of whipped cream topped with apricots, strawberries, or raspberries. Mom’s cooking improved after she joined the “Vegetarain Church.” It became flavourful and almost exotic. Dad would look at it and grimace when it was served and say, “What is this!!?” He wasn’t into vegetarianism but gradually became more tolerant.

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Paige Ackerman July 6, 2016 - 1:12 pm

Apricots, I forgot the apricots! I hated them as a kid because they were fuzzy and too difficult to peel. But I did like the flavour. It was a conundrum! Today I make apricot jam and it is the only preserve I don’t play around with where flavours are concerned. Simple, straight-up, old-fashioned apricot jam. The best jam, period.

And yes, Grandma made good pie 🙂

I didn’t realize that Aunt Vida had become a vegetarian, I can just hear Uncle Bill, LOL!

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sure2talk July 6, 2016 - 7:18 am

Excellent lighting, super image. Fun to see those lyrics too.
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116 pictures in 2016

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Free 2 Be July 6, 2016 - 1:14 pm

Thank you Karen 🙂

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kfpsardou July 6, 2016 - 1:52 pm

Nicely done!

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agustin.ca121 July 6, 2016 - 2:32 pm

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agustin.ca121 July 6, 2016 - 2:32 pm

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Catskills Photography July 6, 2016 - 4:53 pm

Great subject and composition.

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Missy2004 July 6, 2016 - 5:16 pm

Simple but effective

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*PussyCat* July 6, 2016 - 6:46 pm

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*PussyCat* July 6, 2016 - 6:46 pm

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thethi (pl read the 1st comment) July 7, 2016 - 10:16 am

Nous serions heureux de voir cette belle photo dans notre galerie 🙂
It will be nice to see your beautiful pic in our pool 🙂

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