"Sometimes a Cookbook is More than a Cookbook" by Kristina Barron

When the opportunity to be a guest blogger presented itself, I spent a lot of time contemplating subjects on which to write.  For my first "official" blog, I chose a  piece I placed on a FB page called Small Farm, Sustainability and Homestead Living.  I present it here, both for its specific content for that site but also, and probably more importantly, as a testament to my mother-in-law who turned 85 two days ago.  

As we gain the wisdom gleaned from years of living life, I believe that we also begin to understand the subtle actions of others.  As I age, I feel more in tune with the verbal and non-verbal cues of  my family and long-time friends.  My husbands mother, whom I call mom, is one of those rare individuals that knows when it is best to listen and when she should talk.  She also knows just what to say, sometimes without me having to tell her what is on my mind.  I cherish her advice and all the help she has given me over the years. She has also reignited in me a way of living, a thought process for conducting my life and a calming influence on the "talk first, think later" impulsive streak I tend to exhibit at the most inappropriate of times. She has also put me back in touch with my organic, light, fresh, and local approach to food. 

**Alert** This is where I talk about one of my small businesses that fits into my "throwback" way of life. I became a Wildtree Rep a while ago.  It's a company that markets/sells a line of food, sauces, rubs, oils, mixes and blends that is all non-GMO, free of preservatives, MSG, pesticides, insecticides, food dyes or irradiation. Most items are certified organic. Some are gluten-free.  The difference between Wildtree and other companies is that with your order comes a wealth of resources that will help you use what you ordered.  (Who hasn't bought something and once you get it home, it sits on a countertop or in a cupboard because you have NO idea how to incorporate it into your lifestyle?  Yep....been there.)  

There is a great website on which to find tasty, and FAST recipes for meals using Wildtree products and what you already have in your fridge and cupboard. No crazy shopping lists, no ingredients that you cannot pronounce.  It really is a great way to eat.  The recipes are light and well-balanced, not overloaded with fat and salt and free from that sawdust taste of many "natural" foods. If you are interested in learning more about Wildtree, I invite you to visit my website: www.mywildtree.com/livebetter.  

You can see the history and philosophy of the company, how it has evolved, look at the catalog, order, or learn about how to host a tasting party and get free goodies.  **Alert**. 

I return you now to the piece I wrote for the Small Farm FB page.  I hope you enjoy it and that it gives you pause as you think about the people who have impacted your life, sometimes without you even realizing it.  Also, look forward to my new blog, tentatively scheduled for my birthday on August 26th and very appropriately titled " A Michigan Hippie Chick turns 50".

"Sometimes, a Cookbook is More than a Cookbook"
For those new to this way of living or are just looking for a little guidance....I have a suggestion. When my husband and I got married, the only thing my mother-in-law gave me was a very tattered cookbook. I mean, beat to crap. Stained and falling apart. I was terribly insulted at this and put it to the back of my shelf of cookbooks without even looking at it. About a year later, I was looking for one of my expensive, beautiful, new cookbooks and the tattered one fell on the floor. As I bent to pick it up (it had fallen open) I noticed some little pieces of old newspaper taped to the page. This got my attention and I put down the pretty cookbook and began to flip through the tattered one. 

I sat down with my coffee and looked at every page. Only then did I realize what she had given me. HER grandmothers cookbook (the only one her grandmother owned, I found out later). It had been lovingly passed down from mother to daughter for almost 120 years and had been thoughtfully passed to me. I have probably never been so embarrassed and humbled. 

When my husbands great grandmother was married, her parents bought the new couple a Home Comfort Wood Stove. With it came the cookbook. But...not just a cookbook but a resource for everything to be sustainable. From advice on how to butcher a hog to what fruits do best canned to how to keep vegetables all winter in a root cellar. Just about everything a new bride needed to know on how to "set up shop". I later found out that the wood stove was from the Wrought Iron Range Company of St. Louis Missouri. And, lovingly tucked into almost every page were more recipes that had been carefully clipped from magazines and newspapers. 

What a rare treasure this book was. I would consider it the second greatest book about how to conduct your life that I have ever read. I have had to convert some of the recipes as they do not have a numerical cooking temperature but have either cool, medium or hot oven temperatures. Based, of course, on how much wood you had stoked. All this to say....you can find these little gems at garage and tag sales, especially estate sales where the last individual of a couple has passed on. I have also found some at thrift stores where they are wasting away in the back of the shelf as mine was. 

I highly recommend that you keep an eye out for these indispensable nuggets of knowledge. I have referred to it more than once to answer questions posed by someone in the group. And....if you ever want to get some great recipes from a century ago when life was quite a bit simpler...I have those too. I hope everyone has the opportunity that I was given, to enjoy the past and admire some exceptional women. 

Peace,
Kristina