by Arlene Correll 

Tuesday, November 05, 2002

 As a child of the depression and a Citizen of the Universe, I have been labeled, over the years, as a survivor.  Fortunately for me, Carl has survived with me or because of me or in spite of me and our 5 children are also termed survivors by others.

 The other day, coming out of a store, I made the statement that “we have become a nation of wimps”!   Now after quiet deliberation and study, I want to add except for the new breed of homesteaders that we find ourselves coming across in increasing numbers.

 This makes me extremely happy and I want to share some of our adventures, secrets or survival instincts of the past years. We have been rich and we have been poor, many times. As our 12 year old once said, rich is better.  The richness mostly has been in the fact that we always remembered, “school is never out”.  We basically are on our 6^th homestead adventure here in KY. 

 I want to talk about cooking today. As a cancer survivor and stroke survivor, I turned to becoming a vegetarian and can tell you I am long past the medical “extinction”deadline given to me in April 2^nd 1992!

 Cooking is an art.  Especially if one is a gardener and especially if one cooks with herbs and spices.  I love looking for food, whether in the stores or in the garden.  I can instantly see it, in my mind’s eye as a finished product.  I enjoy storing it, handling it, cutting, dicing, preparing and especially eating it.  I love to share this with all, so it became important for my radical food change not to put everyone off, from family to friends, when invited to sit down to dine.   Yes!, Dine, Not eat… That is too mundane. 

 No matter how trivial the food, or how meager the amounts, or how humble the home, one can light a small candle, use something for a place mat and remember, life is too short not to use the good china! (regardless whether it’s your grandmother’s prized inherited heirloom, or a plain carved bowl, or something you threw on the potter’s wheel.)

 Each day is a good day to be above ground and to put joy into everything we do.

 The social communion at the end of cooking is a great gratification whether at a campfire, candlelight, gas light or whatever.

 With all that in mind, let me share a very good meatless burger recipe with you.

 Home Farm Herbery’s Mexican Black Bean Burgers

(*This recipe is best made a day ahead and refrigerated as it allows it to set and you are able to work the patties better.)

 3 pounds of cooked Black Beans (rinsed and drained)

¼ cup diced onion

½ cup diced red bell pepper  (If you don’t have a red one, don’t panic, use green!)

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 egg or egg substitute

2 tbsp cilantro *

2 tbsp Olive oil **

Put all above ingredients in a food processor.  (For those of you who do not have such an appliance, just mash the heck out of the black beans and dice everything else as fine as you can and mix well)

Add in 1 cup bread crumbs as needed in order to form patties.

 Form into patties and fry in olive oil.

You will need 8 hamburger buns and we like to use the mixed grain ones when we can find them.

A great topping for these are salsa (homemade or store bought or guacamole (see Recipe below)

 For the partying type, one can form these into meatballs and gently fry them and make your own Swedish meatball sauce.

 Or for an Italian night, top your favorite pasta and sauce with some Black Bean meatballs by just substituting Oregano for the cilantro.

 *( Note  Fresh herbs = dried herbs conversion memo.  If you use fresh herbs then use 3 times as much as is called for in your recipe.   It really makes a difference)

 ** Olive Oil…(There is a great debate about olive oil, price etc. I have found that I can get great olive oil for 99 cents and $1.99 in such stores as 99 cent stuff or Big lots. And whenever I find them, I stock up and take back to the boonies and store in a cool dark place.)

 GUACAMOLE is simple to make and a delicious addition to Mexican meals or appetizers.

 Ingredients

2 ripe avocados

1-teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 small Roma tomato, finely chopped

Juice of one medium lemon

¼ teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon finely chopped onion

Preparation

Peel and mash avocado.

Add salt, pepper, chili powder, tomato, and onion. Mix well.

Add lemon juice and mix well. The lemon juice will prevent the guacamole from turning brown.

Serve with chips or with fajita or burrito fixings.

 Choosing the right avocado

Very ripe avocados make the best guacamole. Choose avocados that feel uniformly soft when you press the skin. Avoid hard avocados and ones with noticeable bruising. The flesh inside should be dark green where it touches the skin and lighter green—but not yellow—touching the pit.

 We, at the Home Farm Herbery, sincerely hope that you will enjoy the two recipes we have shared with you and we look forward to more sharing.  Until the next time..

 “Tread the Earth Lightly”… and in the meantime… may your day be filled with…

 Peace, Light and Love,

 Arlene W. Correll

[email protected]