Let me start by digging myself a hole.
We’ve all heard the story of that lady (of course, no one I’ve ever known) who goes into her closet full of clothes and bemoans with a sigh, “I have NOTHING to wear!” Ok ok, we can make an excuse for her, like “those are winter clothes” or “I’m not feeling like that color today,” or “the laundry bin has taken my favorite shirt hostage.”
Now that I’m in the hole, I’ve heard it said that the quickest way to get out of the hole is to stop digging. Good advice.
I know that the metaphorical “lady in the closet” can be me in many different ways. As an example, take my high maintenance-need for strawberry shortcake into consideration. Strawberry shortcake is my all-time favorite dessert. As my birthday is right smack in the middle of strawberry season, my perpetually requested birthday cake has been strawberry shortcake. It may be a bit offbeat from the norm of “funfetti” birthday cake, but it is a wonderful alternative to the sugar ache in your teeth from that normal old frosting. Thankfully, my wife gladly continued the tradition after we got married. During our first year of marriage, out of the oven came my birthday shortcakes. Thus commenced the channeling of the inner proverbial picky lady in the closet; “This is not strawberry shortcake,” I thought as it was sitting there waiting to be eaten. Little did I know there are an unlimited number of ways to make said strawberry shortcake. I’ve even been told that it is “more of a concept than a strict recipe.” Well, that’s great, now I’ll never be satisfied, thought my “nothing to wear proverbial insides.” Why do I like my shortcakes the way I like them? Well, that is because I’ve always had my shortcakes that way!
Each one of us has our own individual food timeline through the years. Starting way back when your mother had you on the auto feeder when you were a wee thing developing in the most precious and miraculous chamber that we call the womb. Your food timeline has had a big impact on your life, your health, your preferences and experiences.
Why are we all so discontent? Well it could be because we have so many options. Like when you just want to grab a quick box of cereal, but upon entering the aisle of infinite choices, each of your kids picks something different and you can’t even find the one you came to buy. Everyone leaves the aisle discontent and annoyed. Then you go get the milk for the cereal. Which one do you get? For sure not one of the nut juices (I can’t get myself to call them milk). They’re all garbage. So full of all those trashy ingredients minus the one great one called real milk! Ok, you can call me the “metaphorical nothing to wear lady.” I’m picky, picky; but you know I’m right! Just come get the real thing from the farm!
Throughout my food timeline, I’ve always liked what I had.
I grew up in a home where I didn’t know you could buy spaghetti sauce in the store. I thought that everyone bought the individual ingredients and poured them together with the ground beef in the old cast iron pan, then stirred it all together as it bubbled and spattered its red goodness all over my shirt.
I also thought raisins and ice cream were the only things you could put on oatmeal until I got to college and learned people put brown sugar on it!
When I was living in the Highlands of Papua Indonesia, I learned of the possibility of being content with plain fire-burnt potatoes, pineapples, and an occasional rat for protein. (Limited options means being content with simplicity!) I didn’t live quite that simply when I was there, but that was the common diet.
In today’s world, we have limitless possibilities and an infinity of comparisons thanks to Instagram and things like it. Just deciding where lunch happens can be a dizzying task.
What if we did it differently? What if we didn’t long for someone else’s life just because it looked good on the “gram.” Maybe it’s time to turn off the gram, limit your options (especially for your kids), and enjoy the taste of what you have.
Meet your farmer – Jonathan Gerdes. He and his wife run a farm-to-table raw milk dairy and farm airbnb in Caledonia, Minn. If he isn’t in the barn, you can find him dating his wife, playing with his kids, leading youth group, or flying in the sky. Visit gerdesfreshfarm.com for more info.
The BEST Strawberry Shortcake (According to me)
2 cups flour (half white and half whole wheat)
⅓ cup cold butter (cut into the flour with a pastry blender)
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon salt
¾ cup milk
Stir/knead 20 times. Spoon shortcakes onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes.
(Makes 6 shortcakes)
IMPORTANT: The “correct” way to enjoy this shortcake is with lots of smashed, juicy strawberries (with a little sugar added) and vanilla ice cream on top. If it’s not juicy, it’s not Jonathan-approved.
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