On eating, and carving out my own space

It´s the start of my fourth week here at Rincon del Sur. Anna, who was here when I arrived, left on Friday, and today two new girls arrived, and I moved into a tent. The weather has been chilly and rainy lately, but I´ve been looking forward to the move. Our days are full, and there´s a lot of togetherness. With the rain, it´s hard to go for walks, and quiet, solitary moments are scarce. The tent will be a sanctuary, and now, with five of us, I need it more than ever.

Last Monday we decided we wanted to have Thanksgiving, and when we told Cynthia, she was more than happy to help us out. We spent all day Thursday in her kitchen, and ate a huge Thanksgiving feast around 9:00 that night. We stuffed ourselves, and got to eat leftovers the next day for lunch, too, just like home. Here was our menu:

turkey and stuffing
raspberry sauce (it came out really well, and was delicious with the turkey)
grilled eggplant and squash
cornbread
potato and parsnip puree
apple crisp
butternut squash pie
homemade honey vanilla ice cream (everything but the vanilla was from the farm)

It was all amazing, but the feast was also kind of a turning point for us in our food-focused lives here. The next night, once we had finally digested, Aily, Lucy and I decided it was time for a bit of a scale-back. We went on a long, gorgeous hike on Saturday and Sunday, and are trying to take it a bit easier on all the fresh dairy and rich meals (so we used milk in our quiche tonight, instead of cream :).

Beyond just attempting to leave this place fitting into the clothes I brought with me, living with a family that makes the majority of its own food has changed the way I think about the food I eat. I know Cynthia enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner, and happily donated whatever ingredients we needed from what she had. But as she dug in her freezer to find yet another stick of homemade butter for one of our many dishes, I couldn´t help but wonder what she really thought of our feast. Of course, it-s a holiday, and I´m sure a similar spread is prepared around here for Christmas. But I also know that in general, Cynthia and her family eat what they have--when there´s less milk because one of the cows is pregnant, they don´t drink as much milk, butter becomes a luxury, and cheese is a special treat. They eat fresh fruits and vegetables when they´re ready for harvest in the gardens, and preserved or frozen for the rest of the year, until they run out. Living like that makes you appreciate the work it takes to produce the food you eat, and makes you savor the meals you cook even more. And that´s a good thing.