It's a New Year

So, it's a new year, and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, that I'm very, very glad, 2012 is over. Not my favorite year. Lets just move on.

One thing I recently realized is that I haven't been frequenting the many food blogs I've come to love over the years. This lack of knowledge of what my fellow bloggers have been doing came to the forefront this past week when I started getting notifications of "The Ten Best Recipes on My Blog in 2012" posts. And when perusing all these posts, realizing I hadn't seen any of the dishes portrayed. Also realizing that I wanted to make about 85 percent of the recipes I was coming across! It was a good year last year in the food blogging world, I'm just sorry I missed it. But I'll be honest with you, I'm not going to even begin to try to catch up. Since I follow some of my favorite food bloggers on Pinterest, I know that some of those missed recipes have probably been marked, but the rest? We'll just start from here on in, shall we? In other words, lets just move on.

PAGES - Ahh yes, Scrapbooking. Didn't do much of that last year either. I did go on a nice 3 day excursion to scrap at a store in the Sacramento area...only to have it close down a few months after I was there. And I did start and stop and start various versions of Project 365 which turned into Project Life. But in a crazy "don't you already have too much on your plate" moment, I decided that documenting moments of my life to share and be able to look back on later in life was important to me. So I've started (again) Project Life. But without all the pressure to actually do it every day. I left that for Project Life Dinner. Where I take a photo of every dinner meal I have for an entire year. No really. Those of you familiar with Project Life are probably a bit gobsmacked right now. "Is she kidding?"..."TWO??". Yes, two Project Life's going on at the same time. Oh and I plan on also doing some traditional layouts this year. I suggest someone get that straight jacket cleaned. I might need it by 2014.

PUCKS - One of the cruelest things that happened to my Mom in the last six months of her life was not being able to watch her beloved Sharks play. Even if it was on TV or listening to the radio, she wanted to be able to experience one last Sharks game before she left us. She'd ask all the time "Is the lockout over?". I'm still completely pissed at the owners and players for taking that away from my Mom and I know it's that little thing that will stay with me for quite a long time. That being said, no, I am not boycotting the shortened season. I've already bought and paid for those games, I'm certainly going to go to them (or ones I can't sell anyway). The Sharks keyboard pictured? When I saw that in December I almost cried. It would have been the perfect Christmas gift for my Mom. It would have tickled her teal as she loved anything Sharks related. So Mr. L and I bought it and brought it home. We consider it her Christmas gift to us.

PANTRY - There are two people who used to read my blog religiously...my Grandma W and my Mom. But where my Grandma just read and sometimes made dishes I posted, my mom was an active participant. She not only posted comments on most dishes, she was an integral part of the taste testing team. Always honest with her reviews, she had no problem telling me when a dish didn't meet her standards. She was always passing on recipes she thought I should make and if you ever left a comment on Pages, Pucks, and Pantry, you can be sure she went and checked out your blog. 

And though I know I will make new food memories with family and friends it is that shared history that  there is no longer a connection with that I will miss most. Like the first time I had lamb (Mom and I had splurged and gone on a bus trip to a 49er game that included dinner. Alas, the lamb was bad as in get sick bad and Mom never ate lamb again). Or the time when I was about ten on a road trip to Florida where I scarfed down a roadside sold mango only to have my mouth break out in blisters (not fun). There was the time Mom and I kept ordering plate after plate of the all you can eat fried shrimp in Louisiana, my Grandparents looking on in horror at our gluttony. The Thanksgiving when I was in my early teens where Mom and I, being alone of the holiday, went to a local french restaurant and had a Christmas Story experience by being the only ones in the place (they did serve a french version of roast turkey). I can talk about these experiences, but there is no longer anyone who can provide details I might not remember, or share the laughter that comes with insides jokes revolving around these memories.

Food and eating isn't something that you can compartmentalize until your heart heals. You can't ignore food until something as simple as a crab cake doesn't flood you with so many memories you feel you'll burst. You eat. And you cook. And you remember. And you build new food memories that, when you're alone and no ones looking, you smile at, with the knowledge that Mom would have loved to have heard about your new little food adventure.

So this blog continues. I admit, it's a bit hard to get back into the blogging routine. It's not that I haven't been cooking, collecting more cookbooks or visiting new restaurants, it's just that I haven't been taking notes or photographs or even thinking about capturing the food part of my life. The documentation just hasn't been done. Other priorities and pastimes have taken over the time and energy that used to be used for blogging. But the honest truth? I've missed it. I've missed the connection with other bloggers, the excitement of wondering whether a recipe will turn out or not, the kick in the butt to open one of my gazillion cookbooks and try something new. So the blog continues. Maybe this will be the year that I finally get someone to give it a good overhaul and a new look. Or not. Let's just move on.

Comments

[Jan]

Here's too 2013 being a much happier year for you!

[Debbie]

So nice to see you back! I have missed your blog. Sorry 2012 was so rough. Wishing you a happy 2013!

[Chris]

Yes, let's move on with 2013. I'm hoping it's better for both of us!

[Patrice]

SO SO SO GLAD YOU ARE BACK! I was so worried you were gone and not returning. Welcome back and Happy New Year!