In the past few weeks, I’ve seen many people on my Facebook feed posting comments about 2013 being terrible and hoping 2014 would be better. I couldn’t agree less. 2013 has been one of the most gratifying years of my life. I have never been happier. Let’s just hope this trend will continue in 2014. So here’s a look at the past year…
#1: I tried out the Paleo lifestyle at the beginning of 2013. Although it didn’t fully stick in the long run, it was a lot of fun to learn a lot of new recipes. I also did review my carbohydrate consumption in general. I feel a lot better now about dinners of vegetables with a main protein. Pasta and bread have become treats instead of staples of my diet.
#2: I wrote my 100th blog post! (and then a few more after that)
#3: I graduated from college! And as a bonus, got to celebrate with my visiting parents!
#4: I became a United States citizen!
#5: I participated in the SNAP Challenge and learned what it was like to be hungry all day and all week. Oy. That week was rough and was a serious eye-opener on the situation of millions of Americans.
#6: I baked a whole lot! And especially enjoyed trying new challenges, including Julia Child’s orange cake, choux à la crème (puff pastries) and popovers!
#7: I started a new cooking project in our toddler class. Each week we make a new recipe from scratch with our class of 12 toddlers. This has been one of my most gratifying work projects to date. The children are learning new skills while developing their taste buds.
#8: Last but not least, I got to spend Christmas with my family for the first time in over 5 years! They drove all the way from Quebec to be with us for the holidays. What a treat! In good foodie fashion, their visit involved a whole lot of food projects, including ninjabread cookies, a gingerbread house contest, traditional pork pie and yule log, a metric ton of sweets, and many many restaurant meals.
On this December 31, I reminisce about the last 12 months, while dreaming about the many opportunities and challenges standing in front of us for the year to come. I also look forward to salads, fruits and veggies. The decadence of the holiday season was blissful but I now dream of lean meats and colorful produce.
On this note, I wish you all a very happy, healthy and foodie-licious new year!
The Hungry Quebbie 