Silent snow

2014 was full of surprises, challenges, joys and sorrows.  We had a great farm year, in spite of the strange weather, tomato blight and wild animals vying for every crop.  We lost our dear German Shepard Ella-Bella, who had been with us for almost 12 years.  My dog Bleu still looks for her; she was his mentor and ever present comrade.  Val and I celebrated our first legal wedding anniversary, with the ever present hope that the state of Michigan will one day decide to honor that union.  And last but certainly not least, I had a medical crisis that upended our lives.

I have loved writing this blog and sharing farm stories and recipes with all of you.  It ultimately culminated with my memoir/cookbook Basics with a Twist.  When I started this blog in 2011, it was with the willingness to share the one thing all our lives have in abundance: upheaval and change.  Although none of us know what the future holds for us, I am still learning to accept it as it unfolds in all its texture and nuance.

Last June, when I had a serious intestinal bleed-out, I realized just how fragile life can be when your health is compromised.  With so many questions left unanswered, we had little choice but to become proactive concerning how future episodes of this kind might be prevented.  Physicians have protocols and treat symptoms; they rarely make the connection between diet and health.

Food has been our personal and professional focus for over 8 years.  We sincerely believed we were eating a healthy diet of grains, dairy, vegetables and meats.  We limited our processed foods, made our own bread, prepared most of our meals at home and were more than a little surprised that we were not practicing what our bodies really needed.  How could we be so wrong?

I invite you to visit my new blog: Twisted Basics: Rethinking Food.  I feel the journey of choosing which of the many suggested paths for health might make a decent read and of course it will be full of new recipes and suggestions.  I look forward to seeing you there….

“The secret to change is to focus all you energy,

not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”