She shrugged. "It's what I grew up on. My family's always been sorta on the edge of both worlds, more or less. Hell, most of my kin that have the Touch don't even use wands." Wands cost money, after all, and wand makers were few and far between. Even the cash money that came from selling moonshine was generally spent on paying the property taxes and things like guns other things that couldn't be made or traded for. It wasn't until recently that the means had been available for more.
Valmae grinned at him. He did look rather fine all propped up against her counter like that. "It fun to try to get magic and mundane to work together. You never can tell what'll happen." She tested the heat of the oil in the cast iron pan with a flick of a drop of water. As she put the first of the cornmeal coated slices of unripened tomatoes into the pan, she added, "You can put the salad together if you want." There was a laughing challenge in her eyes.