Hello! It’s been a while. I succumbed to “December,” the month of birthdays, holidays, hilarity, and just not enough time. Then January came and with it an immediate business trip, trying to get back into a normal routine and So many sick days. Dinner these weeks has been ad hoc, a mix of pantry cooking, Hello Fresh meals here and there, takeout and sometimes (if we’re lucky) actual meal planning. Now I’m ready to post again, connect with all of you, and cook something, whether it’s pre-planned or not.
This is my acacia tree planted after visiting Malawi with ONE and Heifer International. While in Malawi, the acacia trees were blooming across the country. I got home and planted one almost immediately. It’s very happy in Carlsbad, growing like a monster and making a big ol’ mess in the backyard. But every time it blooms like it does now, my heart is so happy. Here is one of the flowers for you. Enjoy.
Fun Fact: Today marks the 16th anniversary of this little corner of the internet! I started This week for dinner just to share basic weekly dinner plans with my brother who was in college at the time. Since then I’ve had the opportunity to connect with countless magical people, both here in the comments and in person. It has fulfilled me in ways that were both predictable and unpredictable, and I am grateful every day.
Somewhere along the way, a (really wonderful, wow-am I lucky-!) literary agent contacted me about writing a cookbook. This became a book about the women who have influenced my cooking and my life. This became a book about how the food in our lives at any given time so often reflects the different seasons we go through. Andi-the-magical-agent is still waiting for my book proposal – the writing season hasn’t started yet. But I’ve been pondering this theme of the seasons all week as my blog hits another milestone.
When I started the blog, our oldest Cate was two years old. A few months later I became pregnant with Anna (yes, my blog is older than two of my kids!), at which time the morning sickness was hitting the monstrous level and I was posting fake menus for a few months to keep my blog brand new going. Two-year-old Cate is now 18 and starting to get acceptance letters into college. Anna is 15 and Owen is 11. The season as an elementary school mom is almost over. The season when part of my heart goes out into the world to find independence is about to begin.
My current short term season is one where I once again find my work life in an uncertain place. I have stayed here many times. I actually haven’t freaked out in the face of this uncertainty as I would have expected, thanks to the combination of an incredibly supportive husband and professional network, and the gift of time to mentally prepare for potential change. During this time of year, cooking dinner was a welcome activity. And it was interesting – usually a lack of weekly planning causes me stress. But lately, that lack of planning has given me some much-needed mental flexibility. I swim with the culinary current and actually cook more than in other stressful times in the past.
Which brings me back to the subject of food and the seasons of life. For me, my blog was a literal documentation of the different seasons we went through. I can see the food we’ve eaten over the years and how it reflects where we’ve been at different points in our lives. Sixteen years ago I started my own business as a chef. Then I got more confident. Then I got pretty good at cooking and writing recipes (Bragadocious alert! IYKYK), and there were years when I wrote 3-5 times a week here and regularly for other publications (!!!!). In the last few years, since I’ve returned to Corporate America full-time, I’ve only been posting once a week. I’m sure that the blog, like my life, will continue to evolve, bringing with it new and unexpected opportunities and ways to connect.
No matter how long you’ve been there This week for dinner, Thank you for being here. I’m so grateful that despite the rise of powerful social media networks, I can pretty much kill blogging that I can keep this little blog-that-could keep going. I refuse to let it die! I will post menus until the internet explodes! And believe it or not, I actually have a few recipes that I owe you, all photographed and all. See? I Am still cooking.
happy sixteenth birthday, This week for dinner!