Sometimes on a farm, it is nice to sit back and enjoy the simpler things. Sometimes I think Luke would like to be Amish - in general, he prefers the simpler ways. Of course, every day of our lives we depend on electricity and gasoline, so we could never actually be Amish, but I'll give some examples where we tend to shy away from the daily conveniences.
This first one is one that we have gotten away from but for a very long time, we did not have a coffee maker. We also didn't have a coffee grinder, even though we bought whole coffee beans. So, how did we enjoy our daily coffee? Well, I didn't - because I don't like it, and it would have me in the bathroom for the rest of the day. I don't know how you people drink that stuff! But, how did Luke enjoy his daily coffee? Well, his grandmother gave us an antique coffee grinder - you put the coffee beans in the top, you turn the crank for at least 100 times (I did it every day - I would get bored, so I would count how many turns I made - once I did it in 89 - oh the little things). Well, after you finished cranking, you would have nice, fresh coffee grounds. Then, I would boil water in a tea kettle, and pour the coffee grounds in a bottom of a french press. Add the water, and there is your coffee - no coffee pot needed. I can't say no electricity - I did heat the water on the stove, but all the same, a slightly different approach. This however, was slightly annoying to do at 5 am every day, so Luke did indulge in a coffee pot after a year of the french press.
We also got a hand-mixer as a wedding gift - I just opened it up a few weeks ago - the dusty box had sat for a year. Instead of using an electric hand-mixer, we have another hand-crank mixer. The faster you spin, the faster the batter is mixed. If you pay close attention, you really can get your own speeds of "low, medium and high." One recipe I made called for 30 seconds on low, and then 2.5 minutes on high - I nearly lost my hand that day - I spun the handle so fast, you wouldn't even believe it. Who needs to work out every day - just bake a cake without an electric mixer. Okay, I'm joking - please don't switch your work-out regiment or anything!
The biggie that everyone seems to be shocked by, is that we do not own a microwave. I know, crazy right? People are always stunned by this. Luke's grandma insisted that we needed a microwave so much that she actually brought one over 3 times - we politely declined. When we first got married - I just thought it was an annoying quirk of Luke's. I hated it at first - I couldn't just heat up soup in a bowl - I had to put it in a second dish, on the stove, wait longer, etc. It is amazing how I was so inconvenienced by such a minor thing. Now, I enjoy life without a microwave, and I don't miss it. Popcorn popped on the stove is better than in the bag! I can take my time when I heat up lunch, and I have to be more thoughtful in advance. I can't defrost meat last minute, so I need to plan earlier in the day if we want to eat venison. Scrambled eggs via the microwave sounds awful to me, so I would never miss that, and now I learned how to melt chocolate chips using a double water boiler bath (whatever the heck you call it - I can do it). Through my husband's quirks, I have learned that sometimes it is nice to slow down and do things in a more old-fashioned way. Hopefully he doesn't read this though - otherwise before I know it the stove will be gone and a wood-burning stove will be in its place, or else a solar stove. Who really knows?
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