It’s easy to idealize farm life. Especially in the fleeting moments where the kids are barefoot and smiling, the old baskets are filled with summer berries, and butterflies dance around the flower beds. Trust me, I get it. And those moments, bless them, are what carry me through the less than ideal pieces of farm life. Take the general level of dirt, for example. Or moments spent harvesting from the veg patch, with itchy arms and sweat dripping down my chest. Summer is a mixed bag of sunsets and garden bounty, bug bites and sunburnt plants, pond swimming and bike rides. It is everything that we work for and our most challenging season, all rolled into a few glorious months.
In the comfort of an air conditioned home, it can be very easy to miss summer entirely. It’s moderate here. Enjoyable, even. Out there, when it hovers over 90 degrees for months on end, it’s… well, messier. Weeds go unchecked, flowers self seed wherever they please, flies take over the skies, and grass withers in the dry climate. It takes effort to open the door, step out from the cool protection of home, and venture out into the land of mosquitos, thistles, and harvest.
But we do it anyway. Because we’re sturdier than some summer heat and itchy legs. And because we know what awaits us outside the walls of comfort. The payoff for the effort, today, was berry baskets full of mulberries, raspberries, and currants.
And as always, I find effort leading to inspiration.
Today, I’m making a PopTart knock off that’s one billion times better than an actual PopTart- summer berry hand pies.
Homemade Hand Pies
From The Elliott Homestead Cooking Community
400 grams all purpose einkorn flour
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