How No Electricity is A Reminder That Self-Sufficiency is Important

The other day, our electricity went out; luckily, we have a wood stove on the back porch.

Sara Burdick
4 min readFeb 11, 2024
Views in Jericó

For me, cooking on a woodstove brings back memories of growing up. We only had a wood stove for cooking and heating. Still, many countries worldwide rely on wood stoves, which most of us refer to as the ¨old cooking¨ style.

I do not see it this way; I see it as the forgotten art of cooking. Most of our ancestors cooked on wood; they had to chop and cut enough to make it through the winter, especially those of you who live in cold climates with snow.

I travel to countries that still live in ways that many of those from the US might think are behind the times; a lot of technology has created laziness, and we have stopped doing the basic things in life.

Fire is survival; to make a fire is a basic skill that most can no longer do.

To make a fire in a wood stove to make breakfast, basic living. I started making a fire on the stove when I was around five years old, a skill that will never disappear.

Cooking outside is often reserved for cookouts and has now evolved into a gas grill or charcoal that we throw lighter fluid on. Can you cook just on the ground, with…

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Sara Burdick
Sara Burdick

Written by Sara Burdick

I quit the rat race after working as a nurse for 16 years. Travel and Storyteller. I live in Colombia. https://linktr.ee/saraaliceburdick

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