I remember when.... yeah, I'm that old. And I DO remember when. We used to eat greens (wild) and lettuce and radishes only in the spring. Summertime would find us enjoying melons and a wild assortment of fresh vegetables. Fall was for potatoes and the end of the garden relishes and salads. Winter was for apples and winter squash and nuts.
Of course, Mom canned the garden produce and we put away other things for the winter, but the best eating was what we had when it was in season.
The only time we ate turkey was at Thanksgiving and sometimes at Christmas. Ham was for Christmas and Easter. Chicken was eaten mainly in the summer, when the weather made it easier to kill and pluck them. Didn't you ever wonder why fried chicken was the dish of choice for church socials and summer picnics?
They're so much better when you know you won't have them again for a long time. Eating seasonally makes food something to savor and enjoy consciously, rather than shovel it in mindlessly while thinking of something else. Fried chicken?
Yeah... I do remember.
Pamela Parks' article called Seasonal Eating was the inspiration for this post, if you're wondering. If you haven't read it yet, go ahead. I suspect there are some things you remember, too.
