I just read in Shannon Hayes Radical Homemaking book that you start being a Radical Homemaker when you make a home-cooked meal for your family. From that perspective, I have been a Radical Homemaker for quite some time. Numerous homemade pizzas, roast chickens, pastas, etc. have made their way to my family's table. I'm not bragging; cooking is something I find an immense joy in and the fact that I have a husband who appreciates a home-cooked meal and a daughter who occasionally finds Mommy's cooking tasty only increases my enjoyment of the process. Whether or not I get to enjoy said cooked meal at the same time as my husband and daughter is up to my son Max. At only 3 months, he has yet to understand the subtle pleasure of sitting down with family to enjoy good food.
I have designated today, September 15th, as the day of my own Radical Redux. It has not gone well. Max has decided that today is the day he will not nap without being in a sling. He has also decided that sleeping for more than one hour is absolutely absurd. So, the grand plan I had of dropping Evie off at school, going for a pleasant walk with Max, and then embarking on Radical Redux step 1 (see below) has been thwarted. No walk. Just lots of bouncing with Max and taking care of some work-related business. What was my Radical Redux Step 1?
I want to make chicken stock from the leftovers of the chicken we had on Sunday night. I want to have beautiful chicken stock awaiting my whim in the freezer - lovely, silky stock for cooking rice, couscous, soups, veggies....oh, the blessed possibilities!
I have never made stock. I've never picked the carcass and skin of a chicken to bits, thrown it all into a stock pot with a couple of carrots, some chopped onion and celery, and a little bit of parsley. I long to fill the house with that lovely, soul-soothing scent.
Radical Redux step 2: Composting. I am going to attempt to procure the supplies for backyard composting today. I've been contemplating the best composting method for our family. Vermicomposting (composting with worms) sounds so exciting, and something I think my daughter would totally dig. Bin composting, on the other hand, is attractive for a number of reasons - the least of which being that my husband can direct his weekend-only backyard pee onto a compost pile, thereby supplying it with moisture and nitrogen. Ah, decisions, decisions.
Radical Redux step 3: Grow most of our weekly veggies. My lovely hubby has gotten us off to a great start with this step. We have a bounty of beautiful tomatoes (pear and cherry), summer squash, and late-season lettuce. He's also fostered healthy crops of basil, rosemary, and mint. I want to keep this going. Fall-shmall, winter-shminter.
So...day 1, not going as planned. But we're trying, and that's the important thing.
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