Just piddlin'

So, what do you do on a gray day at home when it's kinda chilly and you are content to be indoors?  

Ya piddle. 

I've been piddling' all day, messin' and gommin' in the kitchen. 

Anyone else know how to "mess and gom"?  My momma taught me these valuable skills.  

But the end results of my mess was a rather tasty meal, if I do say so myself. 

I was inspired by a conversation I had last week with my work buddy Suzi.  We were talking about how good pork is with kraut, even better with mashed potatoes served up alongside. 

So, I pulled out a jar of kraut that we made back in the sweltering days of summer, and I spread it in the bottom of a baking dish.  I layered some pork chops on top of that, then topped them with some onions.   I peeled some of those buttery yukon gold potatoes harvested from our garden, and I mixed up some cornbread from the cornmeal ground from Dad's corn.  

After everything cooked and baked and smelled the house up real good, I  sautéed some brussel sprouts and mashed the potatoes.  I served it all up with a couple of the homegrown tomatoes we are still eating from the garden.   Yum, yum.   

Slow food, indeed.  A lot of trouble, yes. 

But worth it to me, and worthwhile. 

Meals grown and prepared with my own hands seem more meaningful to me. 

That pile of peppers in the background is ground up and ready to make a batch of pepper jelly, by the way. 

 A stroll around the field this afternoon prompted this photo of Haystack Mt.  Some might say it's a dull scene now, and it certainly isn't as green and lush as back in the summer, but I still think it's beautiful in a quiet muted way.