Monthly Archives: January 2014

January 6

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January 6

Today was spent at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. I did three canning demos and sold 16 books (fingers crossed I sell another 20-25 tomorrow!). Scott and I also spent some time wandering the massive complex and checking out the vast array of farm animals, best of show entries, and the mind-boggling food court. We ate several cardboard boats of fried foods (I particularly enjoyed the rounds of friend zucchini) and shared a half chocolate, half vanilla shake.

As someone who lives in the city, it’s always humbling to be around giant animals. They are put life into scale.

January 5

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January 5

The weather the Philadelphia region is pretty lousy at the moment. However, instead of staying safely tucked in at home, Scott and I drove to Harrisburg earlier today (moving slowly and deliberately over wet and sometimes icy roads). I’m doing a handful of canning demos at the Pennsylvania Farm Show tomorrow and Tuesday in conjunction with Fillmore Container and Scott came with me to help haul and sell books. Neither of us have ever been to the Farm Show, so we’re curious to see what we’re in for tomorrow morning.

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Back in October, my Uncle Wallace died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack. He was my mom’s older brother and he is greatly missed. I’ve not been able to participate in any of the memorial events for him, as they’ve been all held around his home in Hawaii. However, I had a dream last night that very much felt like a gift of a goodbye.

In it, I was standing at a concert or gathering of some kind, talking to a my friend Harfijah (who I don’t think I’ve seen since her wedding 9 1/2 years ago). As we stood there talking, I looked up and Uncle Wallace was standing off to the right, smiling widely at me.

I stopped the conversation by saying, “Excuse me, but my Uncle Wallace is standing over there. He died recently, so I don’t want to miss an opportunity to see him. I’ll be right back.”

I walked over, he opened his arms, and we had a long, loving hug. There was some good, joy-filled eye contact, but no words. Then it was over and he was gone.

There was nothing weird about it. It felt totally normal to see him, though in the dream, I knew the opportunity was fleeting.

It was such a rare and lovely chance to get to say farewell like that.

January 4

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January 4

I tried a new recipe for cornbread tonight. The recipe didn’t include any baking power or baking soda for leavening. Against my better instincts, followed the recipe exactly and didn’t add any. Big mistake. The flavor was good, but it is dense and pudding-y. I hate it when ingredient intensive recipes don’t work out.

January 3

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January 3

We got so much snow over night that Scott’s office was closed and I had to cancel a scheduled canning class. We hunkered down for a snow day at home and I pulled out my two vintage sandwich makers. They are a little bit of a pain to clean, but make for a fun treat.

January 2

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January 2

One of the pitfalls of working from home for me is remembering to feed myself lunch. More often than not, what ends up happening is that I get hungry around 1 pm, but then get distracted. Then, around 2:30 my brain stops working and I end up mindlessly shoveling crackers or a granola bar into my mouth until I regain my cognitive powers. It is not the best system.

When I was in Portland last week, I took notice of how my mom eats lunch. Some days she eats leftovers from the night before. On days where no such riches exist, she just grabs a piece of fruit, cuts up a couple carrots, and pulls some cheese or hummus out of the fridge. It’s easy, flexible, and is an approach I’ve decided to steal.

Today when I found myself overwhelmed with hunger, I sliced two carrots, peeled an orange, opened a box of crackers, and rummaged for cheese. Hooray for eating lunch!

Looking Back, Gazing Forward

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food in jars + preserving by the pint

If I had to sum up 2013 in one word, it would be “tough.” I’m not entirely sure why it felt so challenging, because I didn’t have any major catastrophes or calamities. In fact, it was primarily a year of successes and good stuff.

I wrote my second book. I taught more than 60 classes and workshops (and traveled a lot). Thanks to massive help from Scott and Roz, we relaunched Food in Jars with a new look and created more space to work with businesses and sponsors. I wrote a lot for my blog, for Table Matters, for the Food Network’s blog, and for various other publications.

I think the thing that made this year feel so rough is that it was a little out of balance. I invested a huge amount of energy in continuing to build and grow this career/blog/business of mine and didn’t leave a whole lot of time or energy for anything else. To make it worse, I never felt like I was working hard enough, despite the fact that I was regularly typing away at my computer until midnight or later.

And so, as I get settled into this fresh, new year, I’m hoping to rejigger things a little. I’m not calling these resolutions. They are instead necessary course corrections.

  • I need to work a little less and find a little more time for friends. I feel woefully isolated and without tight community and I would like to change that, even just a little bit.
  • It is time to be kinder. To myself and to Scott. I am in the habit of being extraordinarily hard on myself and when I find myself tumbling down into a spiral of overwork and dissatisfaction I’m not particularly nice to anyone.
  • I want to start the day a little earlier. I’m not going to start getting up with the sun, but I would like to be up, showered, and dressed before 9 am on weekdays.
  • This is also the year where I’d like to let go. Of the comparisons, the resentments, the frustrations, and unrealistic expectations. Of the need to do everything and be everywhere. And most of all, of the feeling of stuckness that dogs me. I’m just done with it all.

Happy New year, friends!

 

January 1

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January 1

I’ve done a several of these yearlong photo projects. In the past, I started them on my birthday and took pictures from one age to another. I did a pretty good job when I was 31 and managed to hold it together for 32. However, during my 33rd year, I just couldn’t keep it going and gave up entirely about a month before my second book’s deadline.

However, I can’t resist the temptation to start something on January 1 and so am taking another stab. One photo a day for all of 2014. The requirements are simple. The photo must be taken with a camera other than the one on my phone and can’t be for a work project. Beyond that, the sky is the limit.