the pull of the scroll . or lemon cake by the fire
Scrolling and video games are not like a hot fire and a lemon cake. Cake in front of the fire will build a rich slow memory to launch the stories of the future. I can’t remember the last scroll.
Here we talk about food and travel and farming and gardening and feelings and memories - and you get to chime in; in the Lounge of Comments. A safer place to comment than many social media platforms because if someone is mean here - I will moderate and sometimes banish. I am responsible for that in my pages.
Apply kindness.
So feel free to comment - you are part of this conversation. This lovely ordinary conversation!
Social media and video games are not like cake by the fire. The hot fire and the lemon cake takes time to make. The ingredients are gathered. Considered. Mixed. The kindling chopped and set on fire. Video games and social media give us (and our kids) the ping after ping after ping of instant dopamine. Instant gratification. Then on to the next one. Fast. It is one dimensional. Then gone. Lemon cake by the fire brings a plethora of long lasting good feeling.
Do you agree?
You know, I worry for our young people - who prefer to sit plugged in to the screen for hours on end rather than read by the fire. Who is training them? Us or a video game coder.
I have given up on facebook and instagram - not for political reasons though those are good reasons - but those platforms bore me, bore me to death and I find myself in mindless scrolls. Mindless being the operative word. Giving me similar shallow hits - like the teens and their video games and utube scrolls. Who has the time for that anyway? The old days of watching tv together in the evenings seems almost harmless in comparison.
I like substack - I like that my Substack writing stays in this space. I write to you. And I am happy with that. The paid subscribers pay for the pet pig food in Illinois and planting trees everywhere I visit. That is good enough - yes?
The rain has brought us in by the fire . The garden is waiting ‘til tomorrow. The heat from the fire and the flicker of the flames, the lemon cake with its sugary sharp tang - the editing of the ingredients, the writing up of the recipe, these are longer lasting feelings, good feelings. These build memories.
The fire and the lemon cake make us think longer and sit longer and maybe even have a wee nap. Beside me is a newly minted teenager stretched out on a bean bag with a cat on his chest - eyes closed. I’m exhausted, he says. Have a nap, I say. We worked hard to keep you off the screens today.
Are you a power napper?
Me neither. I am not a napper.
Never have been. Power and Nap would be an oxymoron though I have seen people nap for ten minutes then power back into the day.
Today it is raining and gloomy in the garden at the beach. A good day for planting trees but an even better day for the kitchen.
⬆️ Lemon cake!
Years ago I was a young mum and had a good friend who I had nursed with as a newly minted 20 year old (already on baby number two). Her name was Nikki. Every few months or so Nikki would arrive for a long weekend and clean my house from top to bottom. She did all the laundry and put all the clothes away reorganizing the cupboards as she went. Changed all the beds. Wiped the sills and under the couches and cleaned windows. She didn’t cook or garden or anything; just cleaned. I was a very young Mum - either pregnant or breastfeeding for years - and so tired. So worn down sometimes. I remember being so grateful for her efficient house reset - she left me clean and rested and feeling confident that everything was back in its proper place again and that my living friend was an angel.
I know I have told you about Nikki before but as I visit all my little families it is her example I follow. I clean and reset as I go. No one is allowed to clean up before I arrive. I want lots of work to do. I especially focus on spring cleaning kitchens and cupboards and kids drawers and wardrobes. (And under their beds because we know what they are like. Yes?).
Maybe I remind you about Nikki to show you that the small things you do for your friends and family have long reaching consequences. Some of which you will never see. You do make a difference. You are building memories.
Every walk you go on with a young person is incredibly important to them.
Today the kids and I have already made a lemon cake and soon I will make a broccoli salad. Fourth Sons eldest son (the newly minted teen) and I will make chicken noodle soup. Including a lesson on a quick chicken stock. (Though there is nothing quite as good as a long cook chicken stock).
But a quick stock made with all the off cuts of your vegetables and a store bought chicken stock cube will do in a pinch. The link above will take you over to my archives and a post with a good long cook stock method and farm pictures. I miss my farm.
I talk about keeping a mother stock there - if you have some mother stock in your freezer it is a perfect addition to a fast stock. Don’t forget to freeze some of the new stock as the mother stock for the next batch. Did that make sense?
I gave the newly minted teenager Nagi’s dinner cookbook for his birthday.
Change of seasons brings coughs and colds - chicken soup for the win. Actually chicken soup is scientifically proven to be good for the ailing body. It is not just an old wives tale. I think?
Chicken soup is soothing when you are poorly because the hot bone broth helps keep you hydrated, loosens mucus, and contains anti-inflammatory compounds that can ease congestion and support recovery.
I can see myself doing a deep dive into this subject, sat by the fire later!
Even in the rain we ventured down to the beach. Me in gumboots, the teen in jandals. It is the New Zealand way. 😀
I know it feels like pushing shit uphill trying to keep our young people off the screens and into reality. But keep chipping away. It’s worth it. They will build strong memories from the cooking and the walking and the sitting in front of the fire. Long memories. Instant gratification is shallow. Those memories just as shallow - there is so much visual information on our screens that I believe the brain does not bother remembering most of it. (I need to do a deep dive into that subject too). We will play the long game and win in the end!
Life is all about memories don’t you think? The future looms unwritten. But memories - even the memory of that coffee, drunk looking out the rain smeared window five minutes ago - that slow memory is ours to keep and comment on later.
I want to hear your favourite remedy for the coughs and colds. The school holiday malady. There is a lot of it about here, amongst the school age kids and their grown ups.
Not me though! Tough as old boots: me. 😆
C
⸻
Great Grandma’s Lemon Cake
Ingredients
1 cup (226 g / 8 oz) salted butter, softened
1 ½ cups (300 g / 10.5 oz) sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
¼ cup (60 g / 2 oz) yoghurt
3 cups (375 g / 13.2 oz) flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
⅔ cup (160 ml / 5.5 fl oz) milk
Zest of 1 large lemon (save the juice for later)
1 tsp vanilla
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line a cake tin.
Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in yoghurt, lemon zest, and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder.
Add flour mixture to the batter, alternating with milk, mixing until just combined.
Pour into prepared cake tin.
Bake for about 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
While still hot, pour lemon juice over the cake and sprinkle with sugar.
Allow to cool before slicing.
The kitchen bench in a gardeners home!⬇
️Have a gorgeous day.
Celi
I worry for young people too, but some lemon cake might help ;-)
That is very similar to the lemon cake recipe I use. The yoghurt makes all the difference. I loved when my grandchildren were teenagers. Such a cool age. We have great memories.