Ruth Huston gave me some of the best advice I could ever use.\u00a0 Ruth was a dietitian.\u00a0 Discussing some of the fad diets of the early 2000s, she said with a harsh voice that \u201cthe only way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you burn\u201d.\u00a0 I suppose there are many people who would want to debate that because they have successfully lost pounds by using a South Beach Diet, or a Keto Diet, or abstaining from a certain element found in many foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m\nsticking to Ruth\u2019s advice. I have also come\nto accept that just about anything in moderation is okay. It\u2019s that second cookie; or the large bowl of\nice cream with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry; or\nthree rather than two pancakes that makes a difference. Do I really need the\nwhipped cream and maraschino cherry?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nbest evidence I have for following Ruth\u2019s advice, and the advice of so many\nexperts that preach moderation, is one of my grandmothers. Grandma Ryan lived to be 104 years-old. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grandma\nwould wake up in the morning and fry bacon and eggs. She would serve toast with butter and jelly\nor jam, and supplement the breakfast with a cup of coffee; just one cup of\ncoffee. She would save that bacon grease\nand use it to fry her potato slices for lunch. \nSupper would consist of something like roast beef with potatoes and\ngravy, and a vegetable \u2013 usually something that had been canned last summer\nfrom her bountiful garden \u2013 like green beans or carrots. Often, her dessert was a slice of her\nhomemade apple pie. She made the best\napple pie; she used lard, flour, and a dash of salt for the crust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All\nthat food Grandma ate would be extremely taboo today. Bacon, butter, lard, gravy? But you have to remember, she had a vegetable\nevery day. She limited herself to one\ncup of coffee. She worked hard in her\ngarden, which was about three-fourths of a city lot sitting next to her\nhouse. She didn\u2019t drink alcohol.\n(Although I can never forget her having a glass of Sherry at Kathleen and\nBill\u2019s wedding. She had to softly slap\nher face at times to accept it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her\ngarden was vast, and Grandma did everything herself. She planted potatoes, carrots, green beans,\nbeets, onions, cucumbers, and several other varieties of vegetables. She had a patch of dill for her dill pickles,\nalthough her sweet pickles were awesome, too. \nAn apple tree was the only fruit tree on her property, at least, as far\nas I know. The apples and potatoes were\nstored in a cave located between her house and the garden. The cave was pretty cool \u2013 literally and\nfiguratively. I suppose it could be\neerie for some; a spider web would greet you at least once while you were down\nthere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The walls of the cave had shelves, and they were filled with jars of all the things Grandma had processed from the previous summer and fall.\u00a0 My cousin Denise told me that the three walls were designated for our family, her family, and one for Grandma.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know about that.\u00a0 Grandma gave me things to take home and I don\u2019t remember her getting them from one particular wall.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grandma\nworked in that garden until she was 91 years-old. After I was married, I lived a half-block\nfrom her. I saw her often walk down to\nthe post office to get her mail, and stop at the grocery store to pick up some\nmilk, flour, or whatever other staple she needed to make a meal. She wore the same thing, winter and\nsummer. A black hat on top of her\nbeautiful white shiny hair; a black knee-length coat; and shoes \u2013 black, of\ncourse \u2013 with a small heel. She carried\na black purse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grandma\nmay have worn glasses, but I don\u2019t recall her wearing them unless she was\nreading. She couldn\u2019t see anymore; she\ncouldn\u2019t hear; but she could still carry on a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\nentered a nursing home two years after she had given up on gardening and\ncanning vegetables and fruit. I went to\nsee her several times a year. I remember\nwalking into her room at the nursing home with my wife and two daughters. She would remember Terri and the kids, but\nask who I was. I think she was trying to\nbe funny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today,\nI am the one who is canning. Actually,\nI\u2019m freezing vegetables and fruits. \nHowever, I have canned some peaches from a tree in our yard. I have that magic touch. I have pickled some cucumbers and, although I\ndidn\u2019t pickle them like Grandma would, they have turned out better. I actually fermented them prior to putting\nthem in jars. I have just discovered\nthat the longer they sit on the shelf, the better they are. My goodness. \nMy mouth is watering just thinking of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nalso bake pies now, using lard as in ingredient in the crust. You can\u2019t beat it. I don\u2019t eat many eggs, or bacon for that\nmatter. I watch my red meat intake and\ntry to have gravy sparingly. I still\nlike my butter, and I remember Grandma using it freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My\ndaughters and I saw her for the last time at St. Anthony Nursing Home in\nCarroll one Sunday. We arrived at lunch\ntime. Grandma was in the dining room and\nhad finished lunch. She had a slice of\napple pie on the table in front of her. \nShe asked if I could feed it to her. \nThat slice of pie looked just like hers. \nThat was the last I saw of her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I never realized until this year how much I love good food as much as Grandma, and how much I enjoy making a meal rather than going out to eat. Hey! I\u2019ll be okay with just living to be 100!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ruth Huston gave me some of the best advice I could ever use.\u00a0 Ruth was a dietitian.\u00a0 Discussing some of the fad diets of the early 2000s, she said with a harsh voice that \u201cthe only way to lose weight … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/image.png\")
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