Sunday, June 6, 2021

Just Call Me Peter Piper


There was a whole lot of food-processing going on in the kitchen today. First Mr. Moon packaged up serving sizes of snapper in vacuum sealed bags to put in the freezer and then I made four pints of pickled peppers and two of pickled cherry tomatoes. I have no idea if either of those will be any damn good at all but I am quite certain that the fish will be. He saved out some grouper that he also caught and I'll be cooking that tonight. 

Have any of y'all watched the Netflix series "High on the Hog"? I've watched two episodes now and it's amazing. It's about the influence of African American cuisine on our country and it starts, as it should, in Africa. The second episode, which I watched just last night, absolutely blew me away. It was filmed mainly in the Carolinas and although I do not live in either North or South Carolina, I was profoundly reminded of how much of an influence the cuisine of the enslaved people from Africa has on my present day cooking and our diet in general. There was a sort of feast prepared and eaten and there were greens and cornbread, field peas, and roast pig. I think of our garden right now, filled with peas of different types, all of which can be referred to as field peas, okra, and peppers. I think of our winter garden when we grow our greens and they were all represented in the garden and the prepared meal in the episode. I think of the wild pig we have been so fortunate to eat, the game, the fish- all of these would be recognizable to those people who were brought here bound in ships against their will, sold to suffer in inhuman working conditions to grow the food, cook the food, build the homes, the gardens, the roads, the very bones of our country with their own bones, the sweat of their brows, their very blood. I have always known that our diet is heavily based on the foods brought here from Africa but that fact was truly brought home as I watched that episode last night. The debt this country owes is never-ending and I will be continuously and eternally humbled. 

I've been a little down today and that is no real surprise. I'm not going to apologize for it. It's normal. 

Eh, no need to talk about that. 

Instead, let me show you a few pictures of the Weatherfords in North Carolina. 


The RV is all in place. When I think about them pulling that thing up the mountain on the twisty, narrow road I am more than impressed that they made it. I could not drive that road in my Prius without having a panic attack. I am indeed a flatlander. A Florida flatlander. We barely have hills, much less mountains. 


The cousins are already united in play. 



And in the eating of watermelon. 
As Jessie said, the boys are going to have the best summer of their lives. 

We still have six chicks. I have noticed that one has feathery feet like Fancy Pants. Since none of the hens do, perhaps that is his baby, even though the little one is a very light yellow while Mr. F.P. is black. 

I'm going to get an early start on dinner tonight but I will leave you with this picture. 


I took that last night when I was coming in after shutting the chickens up for the night. 
My babies may travel far and wide but there will always be a light on for them here. And they know that. 

Love...Ms. Moon






23 comments:

  1. Time will pass and The Weatherfords will be back with lots of stories to tell. August and Levon will have grown and you will say, "My, how you have grown!" And you heart will once again threaten to burst with love. "The Love of Mer" - which would make a great film title.

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    1. I know. I know. And I told Levon the other day as he was washing his hands that probably when they come back from North Carolina, he will be big enough not to need the step stool. He looked at me and said, "Will I be big enough to drive a car?"

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  2. i grew up on the northern end of those same mountains. those boys will have a summer to remember indeed <3

    xxalainaxx

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  3. My sister and I spent days and days with her friend, Starlett, in Coker Creek, TN, just over the state line from NC. It simply was magic.

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    1. My parents were from Tennessee. It is very beautiful there, isn't it?

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  4. I hope they have a lot of wonderful experiences and a great time.

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  5. Beautiful. Even the sadness. It’s all from love.

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  6. how wonderful for Jessie and Virgil and the boys to get to spend time in such different environments and they do need to know their cousins.

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  7. Those lovely boys look like they are already having great fun! I still remember the summers with my cousins fondly. The time will hopefully go by quickly for you and you will see them in July. All the best.

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  8. I think Jessie's right. That's going to be one amazing summer for those kids isn't it!

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  9. Will you go to visit them there? Would you camp or rent a place to stay?
    Looks like lots of cousin fun!

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    1. Yes! We're going in July. We've rented a house on Airbnb.

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  10. It's great to see all the kids playing together. They'll have a fantastic time. I love your last photo of the porch at night. Reminds me of the old Motel 6 ads, with Tom Bodette (whoever he was) saying: "We'll leave the light on for you."

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    1. Tim Bodette actually wrote a few books, I think. And he still can be heard on NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" game show.
      Those cousins go together like bread and butter, don't they?

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  11. I thought the same thing as Steve with your last pic........ so glad the Weatherfords safely arrived and are set up for their stay and how lovely for the boys to spend time with their *other* family. I love the looks of those pickled cherry tomatoes and will await your *take* on their flavor. And grouper and snapper........ oh boy. the best meals!
    Susan M

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    1. The family seems to be all settled in. Of course it will take a while for them to get used to such a small space. But they will. And they have Grandma's house and Aunt Pearl's house, too, to visit. More on the cherry tomatoes tonight!

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  12. It seems to have taken no time at all for the kids to form a gang.
    And I wouldn't mind coming home to that lighted door, myself.

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