I’m really not sure how it’s already December 14th as I sit here and write this… October and November both flew by!
Today I’m starting up a tradition of publishing an update sometime around the end of the year. So here we go!
In the news today
It’s been a tremendously challenging year, to say the very least…
Today (12/14/2020) is a particularly complicated mixture of sorrow and hope. I think this article from Reuters summarizes the strange dichotomy of this day very well.
It is difficult for me as a human being, an American, and a scientist, to comprehend the news that 300,000 Americans have died of COVID-19. It’s just heartbreaking. So many people have lost their lives and livelihoods in this pandemic. There will be a lot of empty seats at the table over the holidays this year.
On a positive note – the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were administered to healthcare workers in the United States. The first vaccine that’s been FDA-approved to treat COVID-19 is coming! We’ll all need to stay masked up for awhile yet, but this is an important next step in containing SARS-CoV-2.
I have family in high-risk roles in healthcare who will be vaccinated soon, and I’ll be in line as soon as I am able to be vaccinated. Hopefully by this time next year, we will be celebrating the end of 2021 with our families and friends in person!
My Gluten Free PhD: Est. 2020!
I started this site late in 2020! As of today, I’ve posted:
- 6 recipes – Although I’ll post at least one more before the end of the year
- The second section on the site focused on discovering new ingredients including the first ingredient – purslane!
- A guide on why the type of salt you use in your kitchen is important to keep in mind when you’re using someone else’s recipes
It took me way too long to hit “publish” (more on that another time), but it feels good to have it out there. Here’s to the years ahead!
PhD Progress
I spent a lot of time over the last couple of months compiling data, staring at spreadsheets, fighting with graph-making software, and writing. The writing still needs work, and I have additional analysis to do. Soon I’ll be submitting the main chunk of my research for peer review. After revisions, it will be published… Sooner rather than later, I hope!
Thanksgiving!
Due to the ongoing pandemic, we kept Thanksgiving small and didn’t travel. I’ve never prepared a Thanksgiving dinner away from my family, so I was mentally prepared to have a sub-par turkey and rock some side dishes. All said and done, my boyfriend, my roommate, and I slapped together a pretty decent spread for the holiday!
To preface this, my photos are not stellar. Who has time to stage all of their food on Thanksgiving? Certainly not me… I was way too hangry for that kind of dedication.
The Turkey
Miraculously, I think we did a great job with the turkey! The white meat didn’t dry out, the dark meat was fully cooked, and the skin was crispy. We brined a 13 pound bird for about 12 hours. My favorite local spice shop, World Spice Merchants, has a Northwest Forest Brine that imparted a delicate flavor to the turkey. I definitely recommend it!
The Side Dishes
We set a tiny table and made more sides than we probably should have. We made some in advance to cut down on work the day-of. Roasted (purple) sweet potatoes, stuffing, roasted brussels sprots, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy with turkey drippings, a spicy homemade cranberry sauce, and dessert. Overall, it was a great meal!
To be fair, not everything was a smashing success. Not everything works out on the first try. This year I tried to alter my mom’s stuffing, traditionally cooked in the bird’s cavity, to an oven-prepped variety to cook the turkey more quickly. That approach still needs improvement. I also winged a second (intended to be sweet) cranberry sauce. It was too bitter from my overzealous use of orange peel. Everyone was kind enough to try it, but it is not going to be a recipe on the site any time soon!
I think my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. We ate a lot of them. To shake it up a little, since eating the same things can get tiring, we made turkey enchiladas. Those froze really well. I saved the bones from the turkey and made a fantastic chicken and turkey broth a couple weeks later.
Looking forward to this next year – hopefully with more company!
What’s Next?
2021 could be a big year… hopefully it includes some traveling, but it will definitely include new gluten free recipes!
On the Site:
- I’m setting a goal for myself to publish at least 20 recipes next year
- Publish a few pages with information geared towards helping those new to gluten free cooking (Or cooking in general!) get their kitchen stocked-up
- Try at least 3 new crazy ingredients and post a recipe for the “Discover Something New” section
- Add a travel section. I’ll post guides on some of the destinations from my previous trips for those planning to travel next year
Off the Site:
- Submit a paper (Maybe two) and write the 100+ page dissertation
- Defend my dissertation! A precise date has not been decided, but I’m expecting it will be within the first half of the year…
- Travel, if it’s safe to do so, and if not, plan the next trip!
- Read more for fun. I have about a dozen books on my e-reader calling my name
- Cross sitch something fun for myself