Lehman’s Country Life

Despite my eldest daughter’s assertions to the contrary- I was young once. There was awhile there when I thought about getting a signed affidavit from her Grandmother attesting that I had not been planted here by aliens. It occurred to me later that doing so was probably a bad idea as that would only introduce the possibility that Grandma was the ringleader behind the entire conspiracy. There are times when all you can do is scratch your head, tuck your antennae back under your cap, assure the kidlet that you love her, and just walk away.

This bedtime story starts in about 8 BC (Before Children) and I was spending the summer with my Grandparents in rural Tennessee. Being a young man (yes!) I was engaging in those sorts of activities that young men do when there’s no school, long hot days, nothing in need of baling, and a notable lack of parental supervision- shooting glass bottles by the burn barrel, throwing rocks at the water moccasins in the creek, driving the old Mazda pickup around on the gravel roads, tromping around in the woods with the dogs or just doing my level best to avoid being around for chores.
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It’s the dead of winter in many locales, and if you’re weary of meat-and-potato casseroles, now’s the perfect time to spice up your cooking with a touch of the exotic. For a limited time only, Lehman’s is offering Hawaii-grown macadamia nuts in the shell ($12 for 2 lb) shipped direct from sunny Hawaii to your doorstep.

Now when we say “limited time only,” we mean it. The harvesting season in Hawaii will only last another few weeks (give or take, depending upon the weather) and after that, we won’t be able to get these nuts again until next winter. We purchase the nuts from a small grower in Hawaii – not a big middleman – and he ships them right to you.

Why buy these nuts in the shell, you ask? Freshly dried and cracked macadamia nuts have an even creamier, more buttery flavor than the store-bought jarred ones. With a good nutcracker, a great novel and a wood fire, they could just make for the perfect winter evening.

And when it comes to cooking with them, a little extra effort can translate into a LOT of extra taste. Here are a couple great new recipes to try:
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What does wintertime mean to you? Is it visions of snowflakes and icicles, school closed by snow storms, or hours and hours filled with sledding and outdoor play?

Those visions seem to me more like the winters of childhood. Now as an adult it can mean harder work caring for livestock, dangerous surfaces that I risk falling on, long dark days and evenings being stuck indoors.

For some, these long winter days can set off a true state of depression, one that is triggered by the change in the amount of natural light we get in winter and in some people, the curtailment of being able to get outdoors and exercise. This depression is known in the medical field as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). As many as half a million people in the United States may have winter depression, and it is more common in women than in men. But you don’t have to dread the dawning of winter. There are many things you can do that can help to improve your symptoms. Please remember – these are only suggestions. Please consult your family physician or a specialist on any depression or other medical treatments.
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Today was the day I chose to make Swedish Meatballs but discovered I was out of noodles. So today was also noodle-making day.

Homemade egg noodles are so much better tasting (and better for you) than store noodles. Who knows what is put into the noodles in the factories? I KNOW what is in my noodles: nothing but fresh stuff!

The noodle dough is very simple. My favorite one is about one cup of flour to one egg, a plop of olive oil, a pinch of salt and water to make the dough stiff but not sticky. The eggs, of course, are farm fresh, which gives the noodles that lovely yellow color. I use organic unbleached white flour from the local Co-op. Many people use whole wheat, but I chose white as the flour of my choice. Sea salt and filtered water; good virgin olive oil – all the stuff fit for kings and peasants alike. Start with as much flour as you like, and then add the rest of the ingredients to match.
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Those of you who burn wood, please read:

This morning when I dropped my daughter off at my parents’ house for the day, my father (standing on the frosty lawn) pulled off his gloves to show me his left hand, swollen painfully to nearly twice its normal size. Yesterday morning when he was bringing in wood to start the fire, he inadvertently grabbed a log that happened to be the napping place of a large hornet which, when brought inside and sufficiently jostled, became “lively” and bit him on the hand.

Now, I’m sure many of you are seasoned woodburners (like my Dad, who’s been doing it more than 30 years), but this can happen to anyone, so I felt at least a little reminder was in order. Consider yourselves warned, and do be careful when bringing in your wood that you’re not bringing in feisty critters, too!

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