We're Still Here

There are recent updates on all three of the main pages, so check them out!

Happy New Year!

Sorry for the radio silence folks.  Between the holidays and everyone in my house taking turns being sick, I haven't even thought of the blog in the last week or two.  Now that the chaos is (hopefully) behind us, I should be returning to a more regular blogging schedule.  I'll also be nagging encouraging my lovely co-authors to do the same.

Slowing Down

This time of year everyone's busy with family holiday activities.  The blog ends up suffering a bit.  Hopefully updates will pick up again in the new year!

Road Trip!

A week ago I went with my friends, Maria and Lisa, to Omaha (actually Bellevue) to see Ree Drummond and have our cookbooks signed.  We figured that, as long as we were driving out there, we might as well make a day of it and go shopping too!  We found a lovely shopping center just a few minutes away from where the signing was going to be, and proceeded to wander.

 Maria and Lisa in the roundabout.

 Maria decided we needed pictures of the giant pinecones.

(They were about 8 inches long.)

After a few hours of shopping, and a lovely lunch, we headed to the signing.  It was about 4:30, and the signing started at 5.  There was a line ahead of us, but it wasn't too bad.  We figured it would take us an hour or so to get through.

Then we got around the corner and found that the line was well over double what we thought it was going to be.

But we'd already been in line for about an hour, and we'd driven all that way, we weren't going to give up!

A little over an hour, we sent Lisa back to the car for our coats.  At about 2 hours, we sent her for hot coffee.  By this point, we'd seen that the line went all the way down to the next store, doubled back about halfway, looped back again, went into the entryway of the store, and looped at least once more before going into the store proper and lining up in front of Ree.  Every time we advanced it seemed like we had further to go. 

The distant wall of the store became, in our minds, a paradise.  When we got to the wall, we'd be warmer.  We could lean on the wall.  We would be so much closer to the end once we reached the wall!  About five hours in, we finally made it!

Wondrous Wall!

This was also about the point that they announced that they announced that Ree was no longer going to personalize books, she was just signing.  We were disappointed, but we certainly understood that her hand must have been ready to fall off!  

 

A little after 10, we finally made it inside the building!  Shortly thereafter, they brought us all into the store to make a line around the inside.  We were still exhausted, but at least we were warm!  Once we were near the end of the line, they even had food for us!  We were getting excited again!  We could see Ree!

It was a crazy, exhausting, painful, sanity reducing adventure.  By the end we could hardly see or stand up straight, and we still had the drive home ahead of us!  But it was amazing.  We got to spend all day (and night!) together, and we got to meet one of our cooking/blogging heroes.  We spent six and a half hours in that line, and in that time the people standing with us became more than just strangers with books.  We laughed, we joked, we held spots so people could run to the bathroom, we encouraged each other, and kept each other warm.  By the end of that line we were family.  I may never see most of those people again, but we shared an experience we won't soon forget.  It may have been crazy, and more than we bargained for, but it was worth it!

 *

 *

 *

My friends informed me that I'm never allowed to plan our trips again...

What's Happening?

I know the main page is a bit boring right now, I haven't quite figured out what to do with it.  However, there are multiple posts on the other pages of the blog!  (Not sure how to make that obvious from the front page.)  The food tab is especially busy!

How it all began.

Once upon a time, about 10 o'clock this morning, a friend of mine suggested that we start a food blog--since we were always talking about food and exchanging recipes.  I've occasionally thought about making a blog of all my recipes, projects, etc., but I'm lazy.  I didn't want to do all the work myself.  A blog with multiple contributors?  This idea had potential!  Having lined up a couple of suckers contributors, I decided to dive in head first.

Will it work?  Will we manage to supply regular and interesting content?  Will I figure out all of my formatting issues without having to ask my husband?  Does anyone care?  Only time will tell!