Yay! Here I am! I’m pretty sure you’re wondering what the heck happened and why I fell off the blogging map for so long. If I’m being completely honest, the past couple years sucked. Yea, I said it. Shhh… I know you’re not supposed to admit that kind of stuff out loud. You’re supposed to have it together, at least on the outside, 24/7 so that no one will ever suspect you’re dealing with anything other than joy and jellybeans. That’s what society demands. If not, we risk the credulous whispers and stares of the people standing among us. I can see the negative judgment now. Speak the truth and forever be damned. Sound familiar? Well I’m here to say that’s bologna. It’s time to be authentic. No one’s perfect. Not you and certainly not me. It’s ok to admit that we’re weak once in awhile; that we need a hug. Or a break….
An Update from the Mommie Cooks Clan
Hey all! So sorry that I’ve been missing for the past few weeks. You see, we’ve had a bit of a shift in how things have been running at our house. I don’t talk much about family and personal issues on the blog because it’s supposed to be about food. However, I recently experienced my “culinary” world colliding with my “personal” world when we found out that Nicholas, my oldest, has a sensitivity to both wheat and dairy.
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Just a Boy and His Pink Rainbows
Meet Alex. He’s my middle child and a true joy. He loves cooking, creating art projects and anything that has to do with rainbows. His favorite color is pink and he stands by it with fervor. I love everything about his gentle nature which is why my heart about broke when he had his first run in at school with a herd of children telling him that boys weren’t supposed to have pink lunch boxes and they certainly shouldn’t be paying attention to rainbows.
- A couple of Alex’s favorite pink possessions
As he painstakingly recalled back to me what had happened that day, I could see the crushed look in his eyes and it made me frustrated and sad. Thoughts flitted through my mind in defense of my son. “Who determined pink to be the official color of girls anyway?” “What could have been the motive for those kids to want to bring down a fellow friend?” “Why are we all so scared of people that are different from us?”
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Summer Vacationing at it’s Finest
If it seems as though I’ve been a bit distant the past couple weeks, well… that’s because I am. Summer is officially here and with it comes the invariable family road trip. This year we’ve scheduled a whopping 17 days of amusement and adventure. With everything from public gardens to water trampolines to cooking demonstrations to shitake mushroom farming, we’ve got it covered. I had an hour this evening to stop up at the Tyler Place Inn and plug into the internet so I thought I’d share a few pictures from our adventure to date. We’re off to New York City on Saturday and then Ocean city, MD for the 4th. I’ll finally step foot back at the homestead on the 5th and hopefully catch up with everything (and everyone) I’ve missed. Until then, enjoy your 4th of July holiday!
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What I learned on my way to BlogHer Food
I apologize for being a bit absent this week. You see, I’ve been eating my way around the state of Georgia since last Tuesday. I spent quality time with close blogger friends, consumed delicious food, and imbibed the perfect cup of coffee all before heading off to BlogHer food to end the week. I’ll return to regularly scheduled programming on Tuesday, but for today, I thought I’d share some pictures recounting a bit of what I learned while making my way to the Atlanta conference.
I learned that Augusta makes a pretty darn tasty Etouffée.
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