Crustless, Date Sweented, Pecan Pie

Pecan pie is my favorite pie. I cannot go a Thanksgiving without it! Years ago, I tweaked the recipe to omit the crust, cane sugar and corn syrup.The results were more amazing then I could have hoped for. In my opinion, it's BETTER than regular pecan pie.

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cup chopped, pitted dates
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 cups chopped toasted pecans
• 1 to 2 tablespoons frontier butterscotch flavor
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

In a blender or food processor, puree the dates until smooth  (you may need to add a teaspoon or two of water depending on how dry your dates were). Combine the dates, butter and salt in a medium sauce pan. Heat well stirring consistently for about minute. Remove from heat and ad butterscotch, vanilla and nuts. Set aside for five minutes. Then add eggs and whisk until smooth. Place mixture in a well buttered pie pan and bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until set. Enjoy! :)

Celebratating Martinmas!

 

"The sunlight fast is dwindling.

My little lamp needs kindling.

Its beam shines far in darkest night

Dear Lantern guard me with your light."

-Festivals, Family and Food by Diana Carey and Judy Large

Winter is here! Commence sledding, drinking of hot chocolate and cider. Hang evergreen along your entry way, light your candles, gather with family, and enjoy the indoor festivities!

November 11th is Martinmas, also known as Martinstag and the Feast of Saint Martin of Tours. 

Saint Martin was a Roman solider from France born in 316. As an adult he converted to Christianity and became a monk. He was known for being a kind man who lived a quiet and simple life. 

Saint Martin, like all Saints, has a wonderful story to tell. Before he was baptized, while he was studying Christianity, he was on his way home when he passed by a beggar on the side of the road. 

It was a very cold night and the beggar had hardly any clothes on. Saint Martin took his battle sword and cut his own cloak in half. He then gave half of it to the beggar.

Later that evening Saint Martin had a dream or vision that Christ appeared to him wearing the half cloak proclaiming to the Angels, 

"Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised; he has clothed me." 

I cannot begin to describe how much I love this story and how thankful I am to the work of Rudolph Steiner and the Waldorf method for introducing it to me.  

Saint Martin begins his adult life as a solider for Rome. I cannot imagine the torture, the bloodshed and the horrors he must have witnessed in such a world. Instead of crawling into a cave and wishing the evil world away (which is what I am tempted to do in hard times), Martin strove for more and in this striving found Christ.

Once Martin had found Christ he had access to that wonderful Christ light. Even though he had not yet completed his studies to become baptized he was able to stop in the dead cold of a winter's night and share half of his cloak with a total stranger in need.

Martin wasn't caught up in himself and what his hardships or history were. He let grace fill in his gaps, he trusted completely and without hesitation served the Lord through giving to the most poor.

That thought can pull me through just about anything, and in the dark of winter either literal or metaphorical - you need that light to guide you.

In Ireland the tradition of Martinmas is to kill a cockerel, bleed it, and sprinkle the blood in the four corners of one's home. They also did not use a wheel of any kind since legend has it, Saint Martin was killed with a wheel.

In Northern Europe children make paper lanterns and go from door to door singing Saint Martin's Day songs for sweets. The Nordic tradition has been carried on in Waldorf schools and among Waldorf families. A lantern walk on the evening of Martinmas is traditional.

Singing for sweets may remind you of Halloween and the dates between the two traditions are not far off for good reason. The Old Scottish or Pictish form of Halloween is called Samhuinn (pronounced Sow-un) and it falls on November 11th. 

In the Old World this was the start of the new year and a return to wintertime. Fire was key to Samhuinn rituals celebrating all night by a large bonfire was common. Like the more modern lanterns of Martinmas this symbolism of fire as we descend into winter was meant to bring us comfort as the days became very cold and the nights very long and dark.

A popular chant heard on this night would be..

A null e; A nall e; Slainte!

Welcome to the new year!

May it teach me as well as did the old.

A null e; A null e; Slainte! 

Sitting by the fireside and meditating or sleeping all night was a popular way to spend this New Years night. The Pects also marched through their community singing songs and carrying sparks to light the new years fire. 

Precautions were taken at this time against bad luck to human and livestock. Juniper was burned, mountain ash decorated the house and doorposts, walls, and cattle were sprinkled with wine. 

No matter where you live in the Northern Hemisphere your days have become cool and the night has grown darker, earlier - pressing us to use our sparks (fires, lanterns, electric or solar lights) on our journey through the winter. 

And in life we all experience dark times, we just need to remember to carry our light with us.

 

5 Things I Learned About Food From the Second Chapter of Farmer Boy

 

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder is very much the world as seen through the eyes of a little boy. Food and work play the biggest roles in his life, and of course this makes sense since they were literally working long, hard days for their food.

Throughout the book Alamnzo details the meals they shared around the kitchen table. His mother was an accomplished cook, as were most women of the day, and she lavished her love upon her hard working farmer boys.

What lessons about real food can we glean from these pages?

1. They ate A LOT

Earlier in chapter one Almanzo describes for us the lunch he and his siblings took to school in their lunch pail. "Eliza Jane opened the dinner-pail on her desk. It held bread-and-butter and sausage, doughnuts and apples, and four delicious apple-turnovers, their plump crusts filled with melting slices of apple and spicy brown juice."

That's a lot of food for lunch! Nowadays the typical school lunch would probably consist of a sandwich, a bag of chips, maybe a piece of fruit and a drink. The theme of heavy eating is protrayed throughout the book but is never described in such wonderful detail as in the dinner meal served in the second chapter.

Now bare in mind, this was not a fancy or special occasion, this was what was served for a typical dinner. There were slabs (note: not slices but SLABS) of tempting cheese, a plate of head cheese, glass dishes of jams and jellies and preserves, a tall pitcher of milk, a steaming pan of baked beans with a crisp bit of fat pork in the crumbling brown crust, a large platter of sizzling ham, mealy boiled potatoes with brown ham-gravy, bread and butter, mashed turnips, stewed yellow pumpkin, spiced watermelon-rind pickles, and pumpkin pie.

2. Their Diet Was Surprising Close to the Primal Diet

For those unfamiliar with the Primal Diet it is a diet related to the caveman diet or the Paleo diet in that it attempts to get humans a little closer to what we would naturally eat under the conditions of nature for which we were designed. Essentially the diet consists of getting the bulk of ones nutrition from animal meats and fats but that by volume, vegetables and to a lesser extent, fruits should take up most of the room on our plate.  Good fats, raw or fermented, full fat dairy products and spices should round off one's diet.

The Primal diet does not support eating grains or sugar, for which we are not well adapted. Now, mind you, I'm not claiming this diet of the Wilder's IS primal or paleo but what I am saying it's a lot closer than the modern diet most people are eating. 

Let's break down this meal. 

Meat - Ham was the featured product of this meal, big hunks of ham. The mealy potatoes were covered in brown ham gravy which in those days would have been made of organ meats from the pig along with a little butter, salt and flour. They also consumed head cheese which despite it's name is not actually cheese but is a cold cut meat made from the head of an animal (in this case most likely the pig).

Dairy - Slabs of cheese which would have been fermented from the milk of their cows.A pitcher of milk which also would have been fresh and raw.

That's a very protein heavy meal!

Let's continue....

Vegetables and Fruits - Here's where we see some volume! Stewed yellow pumpkin, mealy boiled potatoes, mashed turnips, watermelon rind, and various jams and jellies. Also they ate pumpkin pie which was not likely to have been like our pumpkin pie today but would have been more like a squash pudding and may or may not have contained a crust.

Grains - Bread and baked beans. Of course the baked beans would also have featured a lot of bone broth and/or meat as well as the pork fat mentioned and the bread (most likely whole grain, stone ground and naturally fermented as they did not have packaged yeast) was served with a generous helping of raw, grass fed, butter.

So we see a lot of protein in the form of meat and diary, second we see tons of veggies and some preserved fruits and last we see a bit of grains but not very much.

Contrasting that the an average American meal of say spaghetti with garlic bread and salad, or pizza or hamburgers and french fries or macaroni and cheese we can see that today we tend to load up on the carbs and the protein comes second, if at all.

3. Children Did Not Speak At Meals

"'Thank you.' Almanzo said. Those were the only words he was allowed to speak at the table. Children must be seen and not heard. Father and Mother and Mr. Course could  talk, but Royal and Eliza Jane and Alice and Almanzo must not say a word."

Seth and I tried this once at our dinner table, needless to say it did not go over well. I like speaking to my children at dinner so I don't mind them speaking but there are some nights when I wish this WAS our rule! *chuckle*

4. Preparing the Meal Was the Domain of the Women

While the boys and their father were out feeding the animals, cleaning the stalls and milking the cows, the women (Almanzo's two sisters and his mother) were in the kitchen preparing the meal. When Almanzo tried to sneak in he was quickly and sternly told to leave the kitchen. 

This split of domestic responsibilities has great advantage to all. The household can function smoothly, everyone knows who is responsible for what. There is never any squabbling about who was meant to do what, all duties are clearly laid out and what's more they are laid out in such a way as to benefit those who would be best at the chore.

The men and boys, with their ability to focus on one task and their strong bodies were perfectly suited to tending the livestock. The women who are able to multitask and who are more suited to nurturing activities I'm sure relished the chance to spend the evening in the warm kitchen preparing the meal. I know I would!

5. They Ate Seasonally And Ate What They Grew Themselves

This dinner happened in wintertime so as we can see butchered animals, root vegetables and squash were the featured items. In addition some immediately available foods such as milk and cheese as well as preserved food such as watermelon rinds, jams and jellies.

The pig would have been raised and butchered right there on their farm. The milk and cheese also came from their very own cows. The berries and fruits for the preserves would have been grown on the farm or gathered wild in the nearby wood and of course the squash and root veggies would have come from their winter garden.

There would not have been eggs in the pumpkin pie, as eggs are a seasonal food (chickens do not lay in wintertime). There were no fresh fruits or leafy green veggies which one would only eat in spring and summertime.

Compared to today this one family dinner seems like Thanksgiving! It is very rich, nutrient dense, full of animal fats and vegetables and lower on grains and sugar then a typical modern meal. It seems that unlike modern day athletes who rely on carbs to keep them going this hard working family who farmed their land from sun up to sunset (and often longer) was fueled on animal fats and vegetables.

Aside from Almanzo describing his mother as "plump" (which may have been the result of giving birth to six children more than anything else) no one in the family was fat nor did they suffer illness. 

Infact as we can see from this boyhood picture of Almanzo he was a good weight...

We can also see that all this "fattening" food did not catch up with him later as the handsome Almanzo stole the heart of the young Laura Ingalls (10 years his junior) and from this picture we can see they were both trim, healthy looking folks...

All the fattening food and meat still never caught up with old Almanzo. He lived healthy to the ripe old age of 92, running his own farm and horse breeding business and as you can see never did get fat....

So maybe high calorie, "fattening" animal products are not so bad for us after all? It seems like this was a very healthy diet that served the hardworking Almanzo and his family very well his whole life.

Food for thought...

6 Things I Learned About School from the First Chapter of Farmer Boy

 

We are re-reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My boys love this book. Tonight as we read the first chapter I was again struck by the opening chapter's description of school in the 1860's.

I've felt prompted to write about it a bit and contrast it to modern day school experiences.

1. Children Walked Three Miles to School

We've all heard grandpa's tale of walking five miles to school, in the snow, up hill, both ways. Turns out your grandpa probably isn't too far off. Almanzo and his siblings walked 1 1/2 miles to school and then back again and, yes, they did so in the freezing snow. 

This may one reason why, even though they had a rich lunch consisting of apple turnovers, butter, and donuts, the rates of childhood obesity in Almanzo's generation were probably zero.

2. Teacher's Were Responsible for Children

Almanzo speaks of the high snow drifts this winter day. The school teacher. Mr. Corse, had arrived at the school house early to shovel the walk way to the school so the children could enter the building. He was also responsible for getting the wood stove going (with wood he probably chopped himself) as to keep the students and himself warm all day.

To me this shows a level of responsibility needed from a teacher for the care and comfort of their class that we simply don't have the opportunity to find anymore. Imagine having to wake early, walk miles to work through the snow, shovel the walk way, start a fire, not to mention preparing your lesson. What dedication that must have taken!

3. The Teacher's Knew Their Students Intimately

Teacher's during this time would room with their students families. Each family boarded the teacher for two weeks and then they switched. Imagine the insight one would gain as an educator if you had to actually live with your students! Today a teacher would be extremely lucky to have one, one hour, home visit per year and that usually only happens in private schools.

How much better a teacher would be able to teach his or her pupil if they understood the students background, their home life situation, the kinds of food they ate, the schedule they kept, where they fell among their siblings, how their parents spoke to them, etc. It boggles the mind!

4. The School Year Was Very Short

The teacher boarded two weeks with each family and when he or she had rotated through all the families available the school was closed up for the year. From what I could gather from Almanzo's description there were about 5 families worth of students in his school. that would mean about 10 weeks of school all year long.

That's a big contrast to the institutions we call school today were some students, at "year round" programs literally spend all year in school.This really shows that the emphasis at this time was on home and family for socializing, entertaining as well as education. 

5. Children Didn't Start School Until Age 9

In Almanzo's world children didn't begin school until they were almost 9 years old. This puts kids entering school at third grade by our modern standards. This may seem odd but really it makes a lot of sense. Around the age of nine children go through what's called "the nine year change". This is a time when they become more independent and are better able to focus on long tasks.

Since children in Almanzo's school were expected to sit, be quite and learn their lessons starting at age nine, when they were mature enough to do so, is very logical. 

But didn't this leave them behind in their studies?

Not at all. They started later but could learn quicker. Instead of trying to shove reading, writing and math down the throat of a 5 year old, they simply started at nine when the child could pick it up without much of a struggle, thus they moved along quickly after that.

6. Children Were Given Ample Recess Time

Teachers back then seemed to understand what our modern day has forgotten - if you're going to make children sit, quietly, in a desk, for hours, you need to give them time to run and play. It's called recess and few schools these days even allow for it.

Yet in Almanzo's day they were given 15 minutes in the morning and time again during lunch - and this was for all ages. These breaks were also separated by gender with the girls going out first and then the boys having their turn. Lots of fresh air, sunshine and play punctuated the children's day - what a delight!

You would expect that today with our longer hours, our earlier start and our federal standards in educational methods that we would at least see a much more intelligent population here in the US but that simply isn't true.

In 1870, 80% of the entire adult population was literate (able to read, write and articulate). And those numbers were dragged down by the fact that African Americans, unable to attain education in most parts of the country, only had a literacy rate of 20%.

The gap for literacy between blacks and whites equaled out for the most part in the 1970s yet as of 2003, we see that only 86% of our adult population is literate and that rate has been on the decline for years. 

So for all our testing, pushing, prompting, regulating, forcing and equal opportunity of education we have only gained 6% and we are in danger of losing that soon? Something doesn't seem right

Modern day schools have become like jail cells for children. Drab, sterile, too long, and too often with nothing to show for it but high rates or "behavior" issues unheard of in the 1860s.

Personally, I long to see a return of community run, one room school houses and as more parents take their children out of public education jails and school them at home and in co-ops I think we have a good chance of seeing that happen in our life time.

In the meantime, I'll be pouring over Laura Ingalls Wilder's books for more gems lost in the past!

And now, some wisdom on modern education from Tears for Fears...

"All around me are familiar faces

Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow...

I find it hard to tell you

'Cos I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World
Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me "

-Mad World by Tears for Fears