Country ham, oatmeal, and President Obama!

Just reading an article in the morning newspaper about a dying culinary art in NC--air-curing of hams, using salt, some sugar, lots of time and fresh air.  Not that I was ever a fan of country ham--it's kinda leathery, and even though it's supposed to be rinsed by an overnight soaking, it's still pretty SALLLLLTY!!!   (Of course, give me the same piece of meat in a foreign romantic country such as Italy, and I'll wax poetic for days over the complexity and authenticity of the flavor...)  It seems that the demands of the consumer market, pressed for time and hungry more for convenience than flavor has just about *ruint the traditional country ham market.  Even though I'm not a fan, the story generated a bit of melancholy, as the tradition of country ham was so rooted in my own family.  They knew!  Hams are moldy: just cut it off.  Don't just cook it!  You MUST soak overnight & boil for a bit before you score the remaining fat & bake it.  But as the ham plant owner's wife noted....Country ham cooks are dying off; for example, my family.

I read the article as I was basking in the warmth of a bowl of REAL oatmeal, the stuff that comes in a tin, takes about 45-minutes to cook, must be chewed to be consumed, and yes, it takes about 45 minutes to clean up as well.  But like the country ham, people just don't have the time any more.  And oh yeah, I was actually reading the paper at breakfast.  What's happening to newspapers across the country is well documented....at least for a little longer.  Reading a newspaper shouldn't be a luxury, but it is.

Where did I get so much time?  On a WEEKDAY???   Must have been yesterday's snowstorm that closed schools and businesses and sent us back to a time when there was time....   

As I watched the inauguration, I felt so heartened by the fact that millions of Americans are behind this person...that millions will offer their support....that millions do believe.  A lot of folks have missed the point, I think, about leadership.  IMHO, the true mark of leadership is the ability to unify through words, deeds, empowerment.  I felt that yesterday, and like country ham, this has been a craft that has been dying out, in this world of :07 soundbites and political play-making.    

I think it's time to go back to being a united country.  If that means we get more time, even if we have to make some sacrifices, and even if I have to eat country ham, I'm so there!  

*ruint--yep, that means 'ruined.'  That's how eastern North Carolinians and Elizabethans say it, so there.