memories, my harvest and a recipe....

yesterday I went to my Wisdom Tree circle...after a lovely connecting & protection meditation we sat in silence answering some questions in our journal. One of those questions was 'where do I come from'.. I have done this exercise a few times and each time I am amazed at the memories that come up.. floating through my mind as if it were a moment ago...yesterday I was whisked back to my grandma's kitchen & grandpa's vegetable garden...I saw pumpkins on a tin roof, ripening in the autumn sun, to be cooked with the Sunday roast, where we all sat around a big cedar table....
I come from.... a brown bread sandwich wrapped up in the recycled wax bread wrapper.

I come from (recycled) brown paper bags & string kept in the box under the sink. I come from tasting a lettuce leaf, freshly picked from the vegie garden by grandfathers strong brown hands... I come from Grandma's old fuel stove, a simmering pot of soup always on the hob, fresh scones and a pot of tea... I come from lace curtains moving gently in the breeze,a big brass bed and a crocheted woollen rug. I come from sixpences in a Christmas pudding....

those memories made me realize once again that my grandparents were recyclers.. but not for the reason that we do.. more for necessity. Those brown bread sandwiches I ate when I was a little girl were the bane of my life.. everyone knew that only the poor kids had brown bread..the rich people ate that lovely white bread... I grew up in an affluent community however my parents struggled, we were from the poor section. brown bread was cheaper and mum wrapped my sandwich in the recycled bread wrappers which was another embarrassment to my little girl self. I cringed whenever I opened my lunch box... a brown bread sandwich, home made slice or cake and fruit... the rich kids had packet biscuits - I felt self conscious of the way my life was.. these days the more brown the bread the more accepted it is.. and to recycle.. well we all do what we can to help reduce waste... how times have changed. Mum made ice-cream, lemon cordial & damper to save money...oh the memories flowed quickly.. Now, I know that I was the rich one. I was lucky to have fresh fruit and home made slice... no chemicals for me back then.. yes, I was rich.

and my pumpkins sitting on my verandah right now, evoke memories of my grandpa's harvest... pumpkins, on the tin roof, ripening in the sun... my pumpkin vine this year was self sown.. it produced two large pumpkins and another hopefully in a month... I plan to make pumpkin soup and freeze it so that I have something on hand for those nights that I need a quick dinner...
tonight, I am making Pumpkin & rosemary risotto for dinner.
ingredients:
1kg chopped pumpkin
1/4 cup olive oil (i use organic butter)
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 clove garlic crushed
1 tblsp. rosemary leaves
4 cups chicken stock
150g baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cream

combine pumpkin and half the oil a a baking dish and cook in a moderate oven 40 mins or until pumpkin is tender
heat remaining oil in a large pan, add the rice, stir for 2 mins, coating the rice in the oil. add garlic and rosemary & cook, stirring until fragrant. add the stock, in batches, stirring constantly over low heat until each addition of stock is absorbed before adding the next. stir in cooked pumpkin, spinach, cheese and cream. stir over heat until hot.

I love this quote: "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." ~ Mother Teresa