After a long absence, I'm back to the Gluten-Free in the Greens. Thanks to those of you who wrote asking if all was well. Your emails made me feel part of a community, not just a lone voice talking to the void. My last post at the end of June came just as we embarked on a lonnnggg road trip to see family and friends (a great reason that I wasn't posting). Then came weeks of debilitating seasonal allergies culminating in a nasty sinus infection (an unfortunate reason I wasn't posting). Then came the weeks of catch up. But I'm finally back, juggling blogging between freelance writing, a 14-month-old, and life. It's nice to feel normal again.
Gluten-Free in the Greens is decidedly an apolitical blog, but I am a decidedly political being. On election night I sat up watching CNN, listening to Democracy Now! and NPR, and monitoring www.fivethirtyeight.com. I am definitely a news junkie. I can't not talk about how over the moon I am that Obama has been elected. I can't not talk about it especially because this election symbolizes for me something like what this blog symbolizes for me. (BTW, Check out my friend Laura's report about Grant Park on election night!)
As much as I like Obama and want to sit back while he fixes everything that's bad (Universal health care! No more war! Peace in the Middle East! Global warming stopped!), I know that's not going to happen. Hopefully he will pursue a progressive political agenda and pass some of his legislative priorities, but that's not the point. For me, the point of his campaign and election has been that I, along with a lot of other people in this country, can change something, can accomplish something I believe in.
Change isn't the property of politicians. I started this blog because I needed to make a change and embrace the fact that I'll never eat gluten again. And all of you gluten-free bloggers out there have done the same thing. I can't count the number of times I've met someone with celiac, sent them to my blog, and heard back that reading what I've written and discovering other blogs has really helped her make the transition to gluten-free eating.
After so long without blogging, I was a little a afraid that I'd just give up. It would be so easy. I've gotten out of the habit of reading my favorite gluten-free blogs. I haven't been cooking as much. I haven't been taking pictures of my food. But this forum is important to me, so I'm using this post as a recommittment to myself that I will keep blogging. This week I had a rather painful interaction with someone I love that touches the root of what celiac disease can cause: social isolation. In the wake of that, I realize that I have to keep blogging. It's my responsibility to raise awareness about issues that are important to me. People do listen if you keep talking about something that needs to be talked about. That's what I've learned from this blog, and that's what I've learned from Obama.
So....here's what I'm eating. The Gluten Free Menu Swap is being hosted by Esther at The Lilac Kitchen this week. Head on over there to find out what other gluten-free bloggers are cooking!
Sunday: Broccoli Quiche with the Gluten-Free Girl's crust (sans sugar and cinnamon), mashed sweet potatoes with coconut milk
Monday: baked beans, applesauce, sauerkraut, brown bread
Tuesday: Laotian feast at book club (we're reading The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down)
Wednesday: baked beans again!
Thursday: tomato soup with home-canned tomatoes (!) and grilled cheese
Friday: socca and chard
Saturday: tomato soup and grilled cheese
