Preserving Playtime

 

I was eating a fresh, whole carrot the other day. Fresh from a local farmer's market, and I held it up to show my barber husband and announced how I loved the core! The core? He looked up, puzzled, and examined my freshly chomped on carrot, and noticed that I had eaten my carrot like corn on the cob...he eyed it, then eyed me curiously...

He states how he never noticed that a carrot has a "core," but then again, he has never eaten a carrot like it was an ear of corn. He then said he has never seen someone eat food quite as creatively as I do.

I think my love for food started way back when I was a skinny little kid. Not so much a love for food as in eating, but a love for food as in playing with it. And I never really thought about it until this little adventure in taking photos of peaches and apples. 

As a little kid, I had more interest in playing than in eating. I remember hearing my mother at the dinner table always saying, "Eat, eat...your food will get cold..." I would eat hard-boiled eggs by eating the whites first, then the yoke. (Still do.) I eat all the toppings off the pizza first, then the crust. (Sometimes, still do.) I eat the filling out of key lime pie, then the crust.- all still do. I will eat meat sandwiches, but take it apart usually. I will ALWAYS eat my main course first, then my salad (if served together), and I have a good reason too...I like my hot food hot, and so I eat it while it is hot. 

I never noticed or gave second thought to how I "played" with my food or how I ate it...until my barber husband nudges me with "drink your coffee" when I always only take only two or three sips and I am done (my habit). Or, I tell a story with a piece of food on my fork, and my barber husband nods towards my fork and teases, "Are you ever going to take that bite?" Or, worse, he has cooked a great meal, all set up, and I have to take a photo of it, or him eating, and he finally sighs and says, "Reheating it will ruin it" and so I set my camera down. 

Yes, I finally did get around to making some peach preserves! And here I am, getting ready to wash a small second batch, and once I piled them in my antique graniteware colander getting ready to rinse them, I once again saw how the light was hitting the metal and peaches...and so...out came the camera....

And just had to play with my food just a little bit more...and I think playing with my food as I got older, never really changed, just my toys got more expensive...a camera, expensive kitchen tools, a new lens...except now, I end up with two results: food and photos!

My barber husband was so excited about the whole canning process and hearing the "pop" as the cans sealed, that an entire jar disappeared before I got a chance to get my camera out to show the results. I've been informed that we "must save" the preserves "for winter" and so I have to wait for now to take photos the contents. I believe I'm living with a budding homesteader...

So while I had fun out in the natural light away from the mess of the kitchen, I thought you would enjoy just a few photos that I did manage to snap while I was canning the apples. I made up spicy apple pie jam and while it is pretty difficult to take photos while canning, I did manage to take a few....

It does amaze me how today's generation seems to need electronics to be entertained. Computers, Iphones, texting and so on. Back when I was a kid? An Easy Bake Oven, my crayons, hopscotch, eating peanut butter and saltine crackers and riding my bike with my barbies in my basket was about as technical as it got. And for that I am grateful, because now as an adult, all it takes is a basket of apples to occupy my imagination. 

Straight from mother nature. No wiring needed or batteries.

Just some play time (note: NOT a play date) with me and my imagination - on the spur of the moment.

I hope you enjoyed my playtime with my imagination and yet, it wasn't wasted...not only was it relaxing, it also produced some tasty memories as well - just because I felt like it.

May you find some playtime and find a way to enjoy it without apology or guilt. Don't make a play date, just simply discover some time and play.

I mean, really, is it really playing if you have to schedule it???

From my house to your house,