Harvesteve

Well I have been pretty damn busy of late what with one thing and another ... so now I am taking a moment out to catch up so as you my dear pitiful readER can know I haven't forgotten you ... just been busier than the proverbial one legged man ... and there is more than one out there that needs it ....

Wednesday, February 2, 2006, Harvesteve Midarvy

You know I find that we often all forget what we are on about from time to time and I believe that it happens to the best of us. It does … yeah it does – we are just pretty good at hiding this sort of thing so no one catches on that we have lost our way. This is I reckon part of what it means to be human. So here we are at another festival date and I note that many people, nay scratch that lets change that to MOST people I know have forgotten all about it. I know I did!

But here’s the “belter” really, what we do is REAL and our world is REAL and apart from some fabulous wishful thinking that is abroad at these times there is a kernel of fact in it. It simply remains for us to be able to strip away the crap and get the real job done. It seems to me that this is best achieved when we are just getting on with things and being who we really are. Take this time as a prime example: here we are at “Lughnasadh” (if you like) and we are told often enough that this, being the first harvest festival is when we aught to be baking bread and sharing it with the hearth for various allegedly ancient and mystical reasons. Well I don’t know about you but I am not real good in the “bake the bread” stakes … in fact I reckon I would blow up even one of those cute li’l bread maker machines so I don’t reckon I’d be getting any gold stars from this festival! Indeed, as I have already stated, I had even forgotten all about it – but there is a catch….

What did I wind up doing on this auspicious occasion, irrelevant of anything else?

Well the missus, the lad and I wandered the streets for an hour or so before dropping over to the father in law’s house. It turns out that he had some extended family and friends over who hadn’t seen the young one in a while and so we all wound up having dinner out there. Oddly enough, for once it seemed not too difficult to play nice and everyone just seemed to get on fairly well. It was a bit chilly out and we all had wonderful pasta with crusty bread and red wine, which staved off the weather perfectly.

Finish that with the usual post dinner good humour over coffee, tea and cake and then the inevitable point at which the lad is too tired to cope much longer and it is time to head home. We got home, put the lad in his room and went to bed. I barely put my head down but I find myself “out and about” as it were. I spend some time that night with one of my elders clearing out a room of a house (fans of dream analysis will have no difficulty with that one I am sure!)

So did I celebrate Harvesteve or did it celebrate me? It certainly did not seem to need much help from me to keep rolling along! As far as I am concerned this one is all about getting together with the family and sharing the fruits of labours. Does it NEED to be complex than that and if so – why?

For those who need something more complex I would suggest keeping it minmally to the idea of “sharing bread” with “family”. In keping with the idea of time as well, I will suggest that you start cooking about oh say 2:30 in the afternoon. Plan a roast dinner.

Now I know that it can still be a bit hot at this time of year so it is not neccassarily a hot roast you need to have BUT here is an idea. You know that if you spend all afternoon in a hot kitchen it is just like a sauna? You sweat out a lot of imperfection, wash a fair bit and at the end feel exhausted in a kind of “purified” way.

You will find that the preparation should be done with an eye for the guests and what you have. Potatoes are awesome, they are root veges and so come straight from the ground. Be conscious as you wash them off, that is mud, isn’t it nice that we have earth that will grow such things in it? Or how about some Pumpkin? Oh geez look how can you have a roast without pumpkin? Is there someone special that will be there that likes Pumpkin? Can yo imagine what they will be like to see it out there on it’s special tray? What about some crusty bread to go with it all. Make some or just get some and put to one side so it can get a quick warm up just prior to the meal. Don’t forget that broccoli and cauliflower you have bubbling over there! Personally I like when time permits to give it just a bit of a boil and leave time just before serving for it to be finished off so it is not too mushy and not too woody. Do I need to say that you can bless each of the food items while cooking?

Spend the time that the roast is cooking in setting up the area. Sweep and mop out the room, wipe down the table and select the theme. Get a good table cloth out and the best crockery. Polish up the cutlery and the glasses. Set it all up and take your time thinking of who should site where and how the evening will go. Choose a pleasant wine and ensure that all other beverages are set up –even tea, coffee and cake for the end. There is nothing more irritating than having to kind of clean up between dinner and coffee. It is nice if you have someone else doing the serving because it just gives you some time to sit a spell and chat but otherwise ugh! If you set it all up now and do as much cleaning as you can now, then it will take no time or effort at all when you have that wonderful roast in belly!!

Do as much of the washing up as you can before anyone gets there (the cooking dishes dullard!) and that way it all looks good and you will feel good too. Take a shower and put on whatever makes you feel good before anyone arrives. Lounge a bit before they get there.

When it is all good to go, lay out all the yumbo’s on the table so that everyone has to just sit and look for a bit. While everyone is drooling talk each bit through, you know: where you got it, what you thought of it, where it is cheap but good, how you cooked it, any anecdotes etc. All you have to do is do this consciously and then offer a casual line in thanks at the end to avoid all that stuffy “saying grace” feel that can sometimes flare up if you are not careful and some ritual sticklers get their hooks into your atmosphere.

Now enjoy it properly, be damn thankful you got this good food, that you can prepare it and enjoy it with those dear to you. That is what the harvest festival is all about.