a little bit of this, a little bit of that

:: housekeeping ::

The Best. Week. Ever. Recipe Swap deadline has passed.  The extension has passed.  Even the grace period has passed.  To be fair to those who sent in their recipes and to me, who still cannot see straight after editing 132 pages of words, it’s over.  Folks have their swap partners and the book is finito.  BUT, all is not lost.  If you missed out on contributing but would still like a copy of the goodness, I have a deal for you: donate $15 to a local food charity in honor of Thanksgiving and I shall send you a (PDF) copy of the book.  Fair?  Fair, I say.  For you swappers, you will receive your (PDF) copy once your partner has received their magnet and oven mitt.  Super fun, folks… this book is going to Rock. Your. Kitchen. 

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I have been fortunate in my short life to have travelled… a lot.  Being born into a military family, I learned to pack young and sit longer.  I started in Texas, then on to Germany, then Kentucky.  Germany followed (again), and we finished in Texas.  During and after college, I continued on my own… to North Carolina, Ireland, Spain, and California.

I have seen London, Paris, and Rome at sunset.  I have watched my father work Checkpoint Charlie in times of Cold War tension.  I have wandered the back streets of Prague and I have spent money from before the Euro dominated.  I have camped in Yellowstone, climbed mountains in Switzerland, and skied nearly every slope of the Zugspitz.  I have eaten in the markets of Costa Rica, rafted rivers in Colorado, and prayed in the smallest of French Latin churches.  I have rocked climbed on the Appalachian Trail and the in desert of Joshua Tree by a full moon. I have stood where Julius Caesar fell, and I have danced where Sinatra once sang.   

I am a gypsy.  I am a backseat rider, always willing to navigate or eat in questionable places.  I am not afraid of language or diversity.  I am grateful for the chances I have had to explore and watch and wander.  I know not everyone is born into a travelling family… or even has a personal desire to leave the county.  But, I was born into the idea of change.  That change can be good as long as you yourself remain strong.  For me, it is in the moving that I became stable.  It was in the journey that I found home.

I am thankful for adventure.

…onward