HOLDENVILLE, Okla. – Look around and you could place this kind of picture in lots of different places, busier places in the Northeast, or Upper Midwest.
But when Annie Oliverio and her husband decided to move away from Virginia they looked further west and found this 160 acre spot near Holdenville to homestead.
“It’s a comforting, comfortable place,” she says. “It’s good to have a lot of quiet time, a lot of privacy, and I like to write so this is a fantastic place for inspiration.”
It’s been more than 10 years since the move.
The garden, even in late fall, was still producing good chili peppers, greens and late tomatoes in the green house.
The fall leaves were nearing their peak as we visited.
We found Annie at work on two different books which isn’t unusual in this environment.
Since arriving in Oklahoma she’s written several different books, mainly on cooking, mainly vegan cooking.
Her photography graces all kinds of magazines and other cookbooks as well.
Embracing this kind of no meat lifestyle might not be the kind of thing her neighbors follow but that’s okay with Annie.
“I will sit with you if you eat a hamburger, ” she smiles. “It’s totally fine. I’ll pass you the ketchup.”
It’s definitely okay with the feeder cattle that graze her land and watch her on any of her daily walks up the hill north of the community of Spaulding, Oklahoma.
She gets ideas on these kinds of breaks and so did we.
Could she possibly occupy an unfilled spot on the food writer spectrum in Oklahoma?
“The meatless Rhea Drummond,” inquires a visitor?
“Oh gosh,” she laughs. “You got the D-list Pioneer Woman here.”
She left her career ambitions somewhere in the heavy traffic of Virginia.
Out here she’s free to write as she pleases, to explore, or to just take a walk to clear her head.
The result is still coming through what little static remains among the waving grass and tumbling leaves of an Oklahoma Fall.
To find some of Annie Oliverio’s writing and recipes go to http://www.anunrefinedvegan.com/
