Whoa. Whoa. Where has the time gone? I have been steadily eating, writing and cooking since I arrived back in Chicago from Australia, but the old blog, as always, has been treated like a red-headed step child, locked in a cage and only give scraps of Spam for dinner. So while I am working harder than a Mexican rodeo clown to catch y’all up on my meals and ponderings, I figure I owed you at least a brief update. Update #1: Leena loves tiny ceramic kitchen crap. Heaps. Linda, if you’re reading this, you know what I mean. Sometimes, buying a tiny ceramic dish to hold various food and drink items is all you need to make the world right. And my world? Well, with a stellar sugar dish like that, how could it NOT be right? It’s so adorable, it makes me want to spit. Look how tiny it is compared to my tea pot.
And don’t even get me started on that teeny tiny spoon I found to go with it. UGH! I love it. And combined with my love of squirrel dish towels and canning, this fully confirms for my husband that I am a 60 year woman hidden in the body of a 27 year old. Update #2: I graduated! I be edumakated! In August 2008, I received my master of arts in gastronomy from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. It wasn’t easy, but it sure was fun. I would highly recommend this program to anyone, and you can read more about it here and here.
Update #3: My random brushes with food media superstars. I like to think these things occur because I rock. In reality, I’m just a really lucky gal. First, I got to tour the Chicago Tribune test kitchens. Damn, this is one impressive looking building. It is perched at the tip of Michigan Avenue just before the river in downtown Chicago like it’s saying, hey. You. Look at how important I am. Don’t you want to stare in awe or buy me some ham?
I chose the latter. I also had a chance to meet Food Network Star Dave Lieberman at a PR event he was hosting to promote Spanish olive oil. As you can tell, he was pretty pumped to meet me as well. Can’t blame him, really.
I happen to have a huge fan following that includes but is not limited to the staff at Dumpling King in Adelaide and the elderly population of Joliet, IL. I’m kind of a big deal. I was hoping to chat about our personal food philosophies or our thoughts on the state of modern food media. Dave was nice…and tired…and not really interested in talking to me about anything other than his olive oil gig. Ah well. At least there was free food. Update #4: I now teach cooking and canning classes. Who knew? Through the Chicago Locavores, I was able to teach a class on making and canning applesauce, and will be teaching a class on making and canning pickles and chutneys in early November.
I have no clue how I actually got into this. It is not like I woke up one day and said, I want to change the world, wear sweatshirts with puffy paint and be a teacher! But I think somewhere between realizing what a start up freelance food writer makes (essentially a few pennies and a can of vegetarian chili a day) and discovering just how much I owed in student loans for my three degrees (not too far off from the national debt), I decided that teaching wasn’t such a bad idea. Plus, I love hearing myself talk, and I love talking about food. Update #5: My research paper on food blogs was accepted to be presented at a food symposium! Boston University is sponsoring the conference called “Foodies on the Web” January 30-31st, which also happens to be my birthday. Update #6: I REALLY like tiny ceramic kitchen crap.
More delicious blog posts to come! ~LTG!
