A Poor Old Farmer and Food

[ 05/07/22 ]
Was just fixing dinner and came across a couple of modifications to what I was cooking that were pleasing.

I wanted to make some of my “tomato chutney” in which I have been using Roma tomatoes and some chopped up onion. In a pot, on the stove top, I add Balsamic vinegar, some Agave Nectar, some sweetner and perhaps red wine vinegar, with S&P. I added some dried Basil.

Recently, I have been fixing “glazed carrots” on the stove top. I don’t want to use honey, or sugar because of the Type 2 Diabetes, and I guess carrots have plenty of sugar just by themselves.

But, not too long ago, I had the thought to add the “sugar free” pancake/waffle syrup that had been sitting on my counter for a long time. I just hadn’t made pancakes or waffles at home in a long time. I can now get my pancake fix almost any morning that I eat at Zorba’s. Zorba’s gives you the option to have 2 pancakes or 2 slices of toast with your egg/meat/grits breakfast. I normally only order one pancake and only eat about half of that with sugar free syrup. Well, the sugar free syrup that I have has a “maple” flavor. I’ve also found that the syrup does not get sticky when I put it in a hot pot. Instead it becomes thinner and becomes the cooking liquid. To this I add dried Tarragon, sweetener, and S&P. But this time, I looked over and saw the soft margarine. I took out a scoop of it and put it in the cooking carrots. I thought, “yeah, this will give the carrots more of a sheen.” *The carrots were still a little crunchy, but letting them cook a little longer might have been better. Still, cooking longer means the bright orange carrot color begins to fade.

🥕Butter-Maple Glazed Carrots (Sugar-Free)

Serves: 2 | Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 12–15 min

Ingredients

2 cups sliced carrots (½-inch coins or sticks)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 ½ tbsp Cary’s Sugar-Free Syrup (is maple flavored)
¼ tsp salt (optional)
⅛ tsp cinnamon or nutmeg (optional, for warmth)
Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Cook carrots: Boil or steam carrots until just tender, about 7–8 minutes. Drain.
Glaze: In a skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in Cary’s syrup and optional spice.
Coat: Add carrots and toss until evenly glazed. Cook 3–4 minutes, stirring often, until liquid slightly reduces and coats carrots with a glossy sheen.
Season: Add salt (if desired), toss once more, and serve warm with a sprinkle of parsley.

🧮 Approx. Nutrition (per serving)

Calories	Fat	Carbs	Fiber	Sugars	Sodium
~85	5 g	10 g	2 g	4 g	60 mg

(Depends on portion and syrup amount.)

💡 Variations

Add a pinch of crushed red pepper for a sweet-spicy version.
Replace butter with olive oil + dab of Dijon for a savory maple-mustard glaze.
Use baby carrots, roast them first, and drizzle the syrup-butter mixture over just before serving for more caramelized edges.

Back to the tomato chutney. Normally, I just use the Roma tomatoes. I knew I still had a few of these, but they had been sitting, in a plastic bag for a while. I went looking for them and then realized that at least one of them had gone bad. I pulled out the good ones, rinsed them off and chopped them up, putting them in a pot. I only had two Roma tomatoes. Fairly large tomatoes, but not enough. It was then that I remembered the picture of the Tomatillo chutney that I had from my favorite summer veggie meal (corn on cob, sliced raw tomato, fried okra and the tomatillo chutney [including tomatillos and chopped onion]). “Yeah, that would work!” The two are just slight variations on the theme… tomato, onion, vinegar and sweetener.

I found my Tomatillos, and chopped up 3 or 4 of them adding them to the Romas and adding a little onion that I had left. I added the Balsamic vinegr, some sweetner and cooked it all down. Came out fine! Would not hesitate to do this again, even if I wasn’t running short on ingredients.

I had thawed out a couple of round bone lamb chops. I normally don’t like to freeze the lamb I purchase. I usually buy two round bone chops in a package and cook them up within a few days on the stove top. I like the flavor of the lamb fat in this piece of meat. But, I must have bought a couple of packages of lamb and put one in the freezer. *I hate to freeze items because I am always reluctant to pull them out a day or more in advance, to let them thaw. **I still have some raw hamburger that I bought a couple of days ago, and have to keep reminding myself to use it before it starts to turn grey. I’ll cook a couple of hamburgers, and package up the rest in resealable plastic sandwich bags and put in the freezer. ***I am accustomed to taking out a single frozen hamburger, putting it in my microwave under the 2.0 Defrost setting (runs 15 minutes) which not only thaws the item, but cooks it satisfactorily, without drying it out. This defrost setting also works perfectly for my frozen shrimp that I use for my kielbasa, zuchinni, shrimp, onion, tomato, and pasta shells. Not too much tomato, and some red pepper flakes and powdered Cayenne.

Earlier in the day, I had baked some Jiffy cornbread. You get a small package of the mixed cornmeal, to which you add a third of a cup of milk, and one egg. This cornbread cooks in about 15 or 20 minutes and comes out slightly sweet. *Maybe it is very sweet, but I like many of my foods to be sweet.

I still had some bright red, raw Jalapenos which I had bought a week or more ago to go in my salsa. I sliced up a couple of these red Jalapenos and mixed them in with the cornbread batter. I used margarine on the glass pie tin, and poured the batter in. At first you think there is not enough batter to fill the pie plate, or that the finished cornbread will be paper thin. But, you end up with a cornbread that is a little over an inch thick, and light, and slightly sweet, and in this case with beautiful red chunks of Jalapenos providing a slight heat.

I bought a small package of “pig’s feet” the other day and fixed them. You have to boil them a couple of hours for all the cartilidge and meat to become tender. Your fingers will stick together after eating these. I guess that is why you sell horses for glue. I wanted to mention the pig’s feet because I have become aware the last several times I have fixed and eaten them… I become lethargic. I suppose it is the great quantity of pork fat in this, that just isn’t good for the human body.

But there were just two pig’s feet in the package, and they had been sliced in two. I think it was under $5 for the two feet. Put the feet in a pot, and put enough water in to cover them completely, checking to make sure the water does not cook down and expose any of the cooking meat. Add a little vinegar to the water, and S&P. Too much vinegar, and when the water cooks down, it will become bitter. A little vinegar will provide a “clean” taste. After a couple of hours, the tough hide and cartilidge will have softened. I suppose this is an acquired taste. There is some dark tender meat, but not a lot. Some pleasantly chewy sinews, and the tough hide is now tender and deliciously flavored. *But then, I also like chicken gizzards cooked a long time and put in white rice soup. Or, raw oysters or clams. Greens such as collards or spinach. Very, very good!

I’m not kidding about your fingers sticking together after eating pig’s feet. You will either have to knaw most of it off of each finger, or find some detergent or dish soap that will dissolve most the the fat sticking to your fingers.

I never met my mother’s father. He had died (1950) about 4 years before I was born (1954). But, I have seen pictures of him, and through the years his children all spoke especially lovingly of him.

One time, I had used a graphics program to cut a black & white picture of “Papa” (Lawrence deLafayette Morton) out. I used his image as a logo, and printed him out on several envelopes, even large ones that I used to mail my Resumes. I was proud of this, and at breakfast, I showed my waitress his picture on a large envelope. *And, I was completely surprised by her response.

My waitress looked at the picture and said, “What a poor old farmer.” She didn’t know that he was my grandfather… but her impression was that he was a “poor old” farmer. And, I took the envelope back from her and looked at it “differently”. Why yes he was a “poor old farmer”, but I guess what was special was that HE was MY “poor old farmer”, and I would always find it difficult to see him as a “poor old” anything. I knew from my mother, and her sisters, and Mary Ann (Aunt Sis’s daughter) that they all “loved” Papa. And, they all knew that he loved them.

Maybe it was because he was a “poor old” farmer, that his family had to eat things that poor old farmers could provide. They ate pig’s feet, and chicken gizzards with rice, and maybe ham soup, or fixed “a mess of” collards, or added pastry to their white or green lima beans. Or potatoes to their blackeyed peas. And they seasoned these foods with “fat back”, ham bone/hocks, or Crisco. And, living this close to the Coast, they learned to love to eat various Seafoods. Raw oysters, clams, shrimp, crabs and various fried fish (mullet, flounder, trout, etc.). Baked flounder, with sliced potatoes and onions and a little bacon for more flavor.

**And mullet “roe” (caviar) which had been baked in the oven, taking on an orange hue, and being a crumbly, salty delicious treat. This happened to me one time when I was attending UNC-Chapel Hill. Mom had brought some mullet roe, in a “homemade” gift basket. I got hungry, and found it. Not something that I would usually seek out, but had tried growing up… and now it became “delicious”!

And now for something entirely different…

I like the “Oriental Flavor” Ramen Noodles. I think it is now called “Soy Flavor”. And, I’m finding that it is difficult to improve on the flavor of this basic, soy, noodle soup. I’ve tried adding onions to the broth. I’ve tried adding hamburger. I’ve added soy sauce, and some other oriental flavorings, but it does not add positively to the flavor of the soy flavored noodles. Maybe going a different direction using chunk chicken and chopped spring onions might be the way to add to this soup.

I am reminded of a salad using the “Oriental Flavor” packet to flavor the vinegar, and I think some sweetner. You also crumble the dry noodles to spread over the torn Napa cabbage. Cider vinegar, avocado oil to the dressing. Toasted almond slivers, sesame seeds, Mandarin orange slices and chopped spring onions. I love the flavor of this salad, but it throws my blood sugar all out of whack. I think it is the noodles mainly that affects the blood sugar. Although, in whatever form I consume the noodles, they will turn from starch to sugar quickly and act negatively on my body.

There is an old recipe (well, maybe 1960s or 70s) on how to make a potato chip dip using the Onion Soup Mix (a powder, added to cream cheese & sour cream). I liked it 30 years ago. I like that flavor today. But, here are some insights. The “Soy Flavor” packet that comes with the Ramen noodles, can be added to sour cream & cream cheese to make a similarly flavored potato chip dip. Maybe add some dried onion flakes to this for a closer rendition. But, also just adding soy sauce to cream cheese & sour cream, and a few onion flakes, will also make a similarly flavored potato chip dip.

And toward repeating myself, I successfully made another old-time (60s or 70s style) cheese ball chip dip. It is made with sour cream & cream cheese, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (non-Buttermilk version) some diced red bell pepper, diced water chestnuts, drained spinach, chopped sweet onion. Don’t recall if this suggests a little hot sauce or not. But, the items mixed produce a very pleasant overall flavor. Pass a few more chips please.

I found this “smaller” bag size of wavy potato chips at IGA for $1.33. This was the perfect size, for me, because I will eat ALL, whatever the size. This size provided just about the right amount of chips for two “messes”. My last spinach dip came out much darker (more spinach to sour cream/cheese) and I found that the Ranch Dressing was necessary for the correct flavor of this dip.