A Traditional Farm Life - Kansas Dirt Pudding

A Traditional Farm Life

By Shasta Hamilton

Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends!  The heavenly aroma of overturned earth filled our nostrils this week as our garden patch was worked again in preparation for spring planting to begin in earnest.

Our dear friend Dean brought over his tractor and spring tooth harrow and smoothed out the garden, erasing—if only for a short time—the weed bloom after last week’s welcomed rain.

Now just what, you may be wondering, is it about the smell of dirt that’s so appealing?  The term “dirt” just doesn’t seem to evoke the noble majesty from which forms the basis of the farmer’s livelihood.  It sounds, well, dirty. 

Perhaps we should define our terms a bit.  I looked up “earth” in my children’s 1952 copy of the Thorndike Barnhart Elementary Dictionary.  Definition 2 referred to earth as “ground.  The earth in his garden is good soft soil.”  Now we’re talking! 

Just this morning I walked to the garden to admire the dark brown earthiness of the freshly worked soil.  I think I do this at the beginning of every garden season.  Perhaps what draws me out there again and again this time of the garden year is the fresh start represented by an unplanted garden.  In my mind’s eye I see the rows of green beans and cucumbers, the grid-like pattern of tomatoes and peppers green and lush, boughs hanging with ripe fruit ready for the picking.  There are no weeds, of course, in this perfect garden of my imagination. 

But friends, as you well know, life isn’t perfect and reality doesn’t always follow one’s expectations.  Weeds will come, and Lord willing, so will the harvest.  In the meantime, however, comes work.

My husband is fond of saying, “Life is work—best get to it.”  As Adam learned the hard way so many years ago, our sustenance will come by toil in the soil.  While Adam and Eve were the first to learn this lesson, growing our own food still does not come easily.  The thorns and thistles that plagued Adam causing him great sorrow still burst forth bright and green in fields and gardens this spring.  While many today may be completely disconnected from this, farmers are still intimately connected with this reality.

Whether it’s a small garden plot or a thousand acres, the blank slate of planting time is a reminder that has stirred contemplation in generations of farmers.  From time to time we all desire—even need--a fresh start.  The smell of overturned earth in the field, garden, or even the flower box outside the window draws us all together in anticipation of the future beauty a fresh start can give.  One need not be a farmer to experience this God-given reminder of a future filled with the hope of a bountiful harvest.

Friends, let’s not take for granted the fresh start we are given every spring.  Even if it’s just in a container on your patio, dig into the soil, inhale the heady earthy aroma, and enjoy the fresh start of spring planting time.  Like Adam, care for your little section of God’s creation, and Lord willing, enjoy a bountiful harvest.

As a collector of church and community cookbooks, I have been amused throughout the years at the occasional Oreo/pudding dessert combination often referred to as “Dirt Pudding.”  Saturday seemed like the perfect time to give it a try.  The children had a great time helping with the project, crushing the cookies in a plastic bag with a rolling pin. When tasting the finished product they agreed it was “the best dirt they ever ate.”

Kansas Dirt Pudding

1 pkg. (25 oz.) chocolate sandwich

crème cookies, crushed fine

1/4 cup hot water

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules

1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional

2 pkgs. (3.9 oz.) instant chocolate

pudding

3-1/2 cups cold milk

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/2 stick butter, softened

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping,

thawed

gummy worms, optional

1.  Stir instant coffee granules into hot water until dissolved.  Prepare pudding using both coffee and milk, adding almond extract if desired.

2.  Beat cream cheese and butter with powdered sugar.  Add whipped topping and mix until smooth.  Blend in pudding.

3.  Beginning and ending with crushed cookies, alternate cookies and pudding mixture in a 9 x 13” baking dish, clear bowl, or even in a clean plastic planter.  Garnish with gummy worms and/or flowers with stems inserted in straws stuck into the pudding, if desired.

Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton

Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in Enterprise, Kansas.  She and her husband own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled children.  You can reach The Buggy Stop by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.

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