Complicated

Tonight for supper I am making homemade perogies, garlic sausage and assorted fresh veg. And that's where retro style cooking gets complicated. My Gramma would make this kind of dinner on a some what regular basis and she likely wouldn't include the veg. There would be canned fruit for dessert, maybe. So based on the theory that we should be eating non-processed foods that way our forefathers did, how does this fit in?

It was a good high fat, high carb, high protien meal when you were working a farm without tractors. My husband has a desk job, my kids only have gym a couple of times a week. As much work as it is chasing a toddler, it doesn't compare to driving cattle or chopping wood.

But this is the cooking I learned on my Gramma's knee. I still make my perogies, by hand, to her recipe. I just don't serve them everyday. And I include fresh vegetables, which are not authentic to this part of the world at this time of year a hundred years ago.

I always grit my teeth a little when people say things like "if your granny wouldn't recognize it, you shouldn't be eating." My granny wouldn't know a kiwi if it bit her. She learned about blueberries from my mom. That theory that your gramma ate better than people today only applies if she lived someplace warm all year. And even then, only maybe.

So as much as this is likely the most old fashioned meal I make, I am not under any illusions that this is will meet the full nutritional requirements for my kids as everyday food in modern world. I also don't believe that food is "good" or "bad." Food is just food, it's up to people to find a way to balance their diet with a variety of choices.