Both of my grandparents worked hard on the farm, looking after the animals and growing vegetables on their land. Grandma had grown up on a farm. She loved to tell stories about her childhood, and it was clear that she had learned basically everything there’s to know about life on her parents farm. Grandad was a city slicker. A butcher by trade.
There was always fun things to do on the farm for us kids. We fed the animals at the crack of dawn and we’d walk for ages across a paddock to get to the not so near by shops. In some places great big oak trees offered shade for the cows that were constantly feeding on the greenest grass I’d ever seen.
My grandparents managed the land that was spread out as far as the eye could see and beyond, until grandad was no longer able to do so. Then it was up to grandma to tend to the animals and run the farm. She knew what she was doing.
Grandma worked hard on the land, making her fit as a fiddle. She was a very strong woman. I saw her lift a 25 kilo sack of potatoes like it was nothing at all, and at 72 years of age, she could outrun my sister and I to the front gates of the property and back. That was back in 1975. She seemed strong and energetic.
Uruguay’s main export is beef. Uruguayans just love to cook “Asado” which basically is beef spare ribs grilled over hot coals. South Americans eat three times more beef than the average person in western civilization.
I miss my grandparents and the old farm we left behind back in Uruguay. There were always fun things to do, but wat I mostly remember is that my Grandad could cook a mean Asado. His prep work consisted of rubbing loads of salt into the beef spare ribs before cooking it. So simple, but the results were delicious.
Guest Blogger: Sandra Ciminelli – ACT Websites