The Challenge

I suppose that I could go song-and-dance into the multitude of reasons I haven't been writing, but in the spirit of recent learning experiences, I will instead choose to move forward and just say, "Hey! We all busy, right?"  Writing is something centering and cathartic for me though, so I've been searching for a way to get back to it and have it be more feasible for my revved up life.  Leave it to my better half, the K-Man, to challenge me to return to it by appealing to my basest guilt-ridden instincts: he asked as part of his birthday present from me to meet the challenge of writing and posting on the blog every day until the end of 2014.  Every. Day. What a challenge this will be...the primary reason for NOT doing it after all, is the ever-busier routine of my life and the resulting addled stir-fry of a brain said life has been creating.

So how do I answer the challenge?  I'm going for changing it up. When particularly inspired, I will frame my posts in the storytelling style I've done in the past, but for the most part and in order to meet the challenge, I'm planning to evoke more of a Tumblr style micro-blog.  Keith is actually challenging me toward changing up the blog in even more dramatic style, but this remains to be seen....

The posts will be shorter for the most part, much more random and less linear.  The song remains the same however; my life with a food theme, and even this is a challenge as food blogs are clearly moving past the saturation point.  Mine is a personal blog though, and whether it be cool or uncool to write about and photograph food these days, food remains my most powerful passion, not just because I love to eat but because as I've written before, I love the stories that accompany them and how these tales and dishes tie into our life.

K and I will also go into 2014 challenging ourselves personally and professionally.  When I started The Confounded Cook, I had several goals in mind, mostly to start writing again and that I achieved and have maintained for the last four years.  I had other shorter-term goals such as getting healthier and quitting smoking.  I'm happy to say I haven't smoked in nearly three years and K and I have ran two 5ks in the past couple of years.  2014 is a milestone year for a couple of reasons, so change is in the air once again and among our personal challenges are training for more runs.

 To kick it off are photos from our wonderful and delicious 2013 Thanksgiving shared with new faces such as South African university student Erick who joined us (and survived) the signature blessed revelry that is our family gatherings.  The dishes include Keith's dark chocolate cake, bacon-wrapped and Parmesan-dusted breadsticks, and Dave's take on the restaurant Black-Eyed Pea's stuffing.

So,can I meet the challenge?  How much change will there be?  Stay tuned.