Aprovechar

If you’re new here and want to understand the title and purpose of my blog, you can read my first post by clicking here. You may also want to subscribe to my RSS feed so that you don’t miss further posts of interest to you. Thanks for visiting, and I hope you’ll stop by often! […]

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Yesterday, I stood with Liam at our front door and watched a man stand on the roof of the house across the street to pluck all the ripe persimmons from the neighbors’ persimmon tree. The bright persimmons are a visual reminder of why we hang ball ornaments on Christmas trees: they evoke the lushness of […]

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A few years ago, six months after we got married, my husband was hit by a speeding car when he was walking in a crosswalk.  It was surprising he lived, but he did, and over time, he has recovered about 90% from the accident.  In the days and weeks and years after the accident, people […]

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Going gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free, and soy-free this Thanksgiving? Here are some suggestions of dishes you can create to make your celebration fabulous: Hors d’oeuvres/Soups/Starters Carrot Soup Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Soup Ginger Sweet Potato Soup Guacamole With Pomegranate Seeds (with gluten-free, soy-free tortilla chips—soy lecithin okay) Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (with cut veggies) Fried Chickpeas & Spiced […]

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I’m spending much of my week creating five fall (yes, fall already in the magazine world!) dessert recipes (gluten-free, casein-free, egg-free, soy-free, with vegan options) for a magazine.  I need about five additional testers right now—people who can make one of the recipes as it’s written and report back the results to me by next […]

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You might think from my earlier Thanksgiving post that traditional holiday foods don’t do much for me.  Au contraire—one of the more difficult things about food allergies has been dealing with family holiday gatherings where everyone, including me, has specific ideas about what we should be eating, how it should be constructed, and how it […]

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My family is . . . complicated.  My food restrictions, for those who aren’t used to dealing with them, are complicated.  My emotions around Thanksgiving are complicated, too.  Thanksgiving isn’t always the best time of the year for me.  Okay, honestly, it’s often one of the worst days, emotionally, and has been for a long […]

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We pulled off into the drive of an abandoned house that I wanted to photograph, and we got out of the car.  My husband’s irritation emanated in palpable waves—directed at me.  I wanted to shoot the house: we were two hours from home, and I didn’t know when or if I’d get the chance to […]

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The trees catch fire.  The now-golden sunlight fades by 6 p.m.  The Grady High football announcer’s voice reverberates up the street, followed at halftime by the percussion and horns of the marching band. Sitting by the cold window in the dark, I feel the season’s usual downward tug on my heart.  For a moment, I […]

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This morning it hit me that I have one more week of work before my life transitions full-time into my long-time dream of writing for a living.  I called my husband into the living room, grabbed his hands, and spun around with him like we were five years old and on a playground. I’m so […]

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