08 Review

I’m copying BB and doing a year in review.  It should be an interesting exercize to see whether my year was really as rushed and boring as I remember it.  So let’s see:

January 2008: 
I changed blog hosts to the current url, and renamed by blog.  I continued my trend from 2007 of trying to use all whole grains, reduce sugar consumption (often with splenda) and did lots of cooking and baking.

February :
I made lots of comfort food and even posted a poll about favorite comfort foods for the winter months. Fellow bloggers assisted in choosing a name for my sister’s baking blog, I did taxes!, and I posted about the food DH cooked for Valentines Day.

March:
I did a couple of meme’s, baked some terrific cinnamon bread, and continued life as a newlywed cooking and baking normal yummy food. I also posted a poll about favorite easter candies. Peanut butter eggs seemed to be the winner.

April:
I traveled to Chicago to meet up with fellow JKnotties, and it may have been the highlight of 2008. Both my sister and I made WildType themed cakes (the place she works). I learned to make really yummy homemade graham crackers, just in time to find out I needed to go GLUTEN FREE! So I overhauled my kitchen and tried to regroup.

May:
My youngest sister graduated, I got to make her a cake, and tried gluten free cupcakes for the first time. I didn’t blog much because my cooking/baking took a big dive with trying to learn about gluten free flours. Not much came out worthy of blogging.

June:
I posted twice, and once was a repost of someone else’s blog. Yikes. I danced in a recital with my sisters, and had one success in the kitchen, making gluten free waffles. We also left for vacation at the end of the month.

July:
We continued our vacation in PA, DC, and Baltimore. I spent a couple of days working at church camp. My gluten free endeavors continued to be frustrating, so I barely posted at all. Our first anniversary occurred in the middle of the month.

August:
Somewhere over the summer, I realized that I really needed to cut out refined sugars (also fake sweeteners) as well as the gluten. So once back from vacation, I started experimenting with “sweets” that would meet my cravings, but not cause the sugar blues. I finally started to get my feet under me with the gluten free flours and sugar substitutes.

September:
My birthday was spent in the mountains of California working at a retreat center. Before that, I traveled to the San Diego area to visit some JKnotties for a mini get together. Back home we went to an apple orchard early enough for me to get the macs that I like, and I baked a lot of GF apple pie.

October:
I started in on the comfort food early in 2008, with a post about Shepard’s pie. Since it doesn’t use a crust (like pot pie) its easier for me to make because there aren’t any conversions. I succeeded in making GF/RSF canolli and caramel to go on even more apples. We carved pumpkins and I started making a hat for Halloween.

November:
I posted about the cloche style hat that I made from a felted sweater. I figured out gluten free spaetzle and discovered my #1 gluten free hint: never use only one type of GF flour in a recipe. It’s just a disaster waiting to happen. I rediscovered a wine I love, and got to make a fun baby shower cake for a friend. Finally I start to feel like I know what I’m doing in the kitchen again. My family actually tastes the food sometimes now.

December:
DH had his birthday, complete with an ice cream cake roll that I apparently forgot to post (oops). That was not gluten free. I had baking day with my sisters, and despite a HORRIBLE drive back home, finally made some treats that I could eat (GF, RSF) so that I wouldn’t cheat and eat theirs. I also posted about Toy Safety legislation that needs to be revisited soon because it could put tons of work at home moms and small businesses OUT of business. I also agreed to serve as director for a senior high work camp in New Orleans in July 2009.

And that brings me to today. January 2009. I’m not ready for it. I think I’m still stuck back in about March or April of ’08.

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