Renewed Sense of Self

It is been a helluva long time since I have sat down and given attention to the blog & my lovely followers. I don't know how you might feel, but when there is something in your life that you really feel passionate about, I feel its important not to "push" yourself to do it. I have had a lot going on this year and I have felt spread pretty thin, and though the blog is generally a wonderful outlet for me, very often I would sit down at the laptop to post my dinner and I'd feel a sense of frustration or tiredness. I'd think, "oh man, I don't think I can look at this damn computer screen another moment after this long day", or "I just don't feel like explaining myself right now", or other variations...



I decided to give myself a break and then return to it when I really felt free-at-heart again, and when I could breathe deeply and feel that excited tickle in my tummy about sharing my creations!



So...here I am, I'm back. I have that tickle again and I'm feeling excited and rejuvinated about my friendly outlet!



Now, don't get me wrong- I didn't give up cooking or baking over the last year- heck no! I have been a busy beaver! I am quite proud of myself and the food-related things I have learned/gained this year despite putting the blog on the back burner (haha, no pun intended).



First of all, I reconnected with a fun gal from high school that I am so grateful to now call a wonderful friend! Good ol' Facebook gave us a way to reconnect and after a few months we were able find a date to start an "Intro Cake Decorating Class" at Sarah's Cake & Candy Supplies. I must say, it was so fun and we learned A LOT! We couldn't believe all the weird tools we needed to purchase, and then by the end of class, we really felt "cool" knowing what the heck their respective purposes were. I am so proud that we also did the Intermediate/Advanced class, and ya know, we rocked it! So technically, Andria & I are both "Advanced Cake Decorators" now. Of course, we aren't super amazing pastry chefs with decades of experience from our time studying in Paris. BUT we are passionate, dedicated to learning and practicing our techniques, and we are definitely GOOD (not to toot our own horns or anything):)


I've also started juicing- initially my interest came from drinking a glass of amazing mango/orange juice some of our best friend's made with their Jack LaLanne power juicer after the holiday's last year, and now I get motivation from my beautiful girlfriend who is battling the $&%@ out of breast cancer and juices daily in order to give her body as much of the natural nourishments mother earth can offer!



This summer I purchased a sweet deal from Groupon and brought home some amazing olive oils from Giuseppe's International Oils & Vinegars. My favorite has been the Mushroom & Sage oil, but it has been so fun to try out different flavors with different meals- seeing what works and what doesn't! Cooking is all about trial & error, 100%!

COFFEE has become a giant part of my life-I say "giant" because I don't think I've gone a day without it in months now, which was a very humongous change for the girl that wasn't supposed to drink coffee/caffeine in my early twenty's due to some medical stuff. I will say that my daily cup of joe is half decaf and half regular, so at least I sort of try to not be a total addict [insert rolling of your eyes here]. Anywho, my father-in-law is a coffee addict and gave us his Krups espresso/coffee maker last winter when he got a newer replacement. I remember telling him, "oh thanks, I'm sure I'll use the hot water feature for my caffeine-free tea". Well, those were famous last words, and slowly but surely over the next several months the hubby and I have been mixing & matching coffee bean flavors, making lattes, cappucinos, shots of espresso & basically creating our very own home-version of Starbucks (way better on the pocketbook too, let me tell ya)! So fun!

Lastly, I have recently given up cow's milk. I'll go into that with more detail after I do more of my own weird/crazy research but I think it's been helping my body feel better AND veinly I must be honest in that I was sick of having such wacky adult acne and wanted to test if my diet could be a part of the skin inflammation. I still can't go without cheese, I love me some cheese-but I have made the switch from cow's milk in my breakfast cereal to almond milk, and I really love it! I thought I was going to really miss a big glass of milk with dinner, but honestly the almond milk is good and satisfying! More on that later!

Well, there are certainly many more food moments and cooking experiences I have had over the last year since I hung the blog up on the coat rack temporarily, but I'm back now and feeling renewed and exciting to share my crazy thoughts & ideas with you. Happy New Year! Thanks for being there:)