The 2.0 Version (Or, I'm Back! Now, With Food!)

Hello. I would like to reintroduce myself.

My name is Jen and I have been a book addict for most of my life. Being a bookworm totally suits me and my books have always been a major part of my existence ever since my dad taught me to read when I was three. I am married to a wonderful man who loves football, Batman, and me (but not necessarily in that order).

I am now thirty-three and have been writing book reviews on this blog for almost three years. However, as much as I love my books, I've recently become so very tired of the subject. I haven't even been reading that much.

Burnout stinks, baby.

There's a topic that's more interesting to me lately: FOOD. In the past year, I've become more and more infatuated with cooking; my kitchen feels stuffed to its gills with gadgets, my cupboards are bursting, and the little shelf that used to hold all my cookbooks is now inadequate. I'm growing tomatoes and bell peppers in five gallon buckets in my backyard, herbs on my deck. I'm also going organic which, let me tell you, is not easy in my neck o' the woods. The closest Whole Foods is. . .105 miles away! I had my first Whole Foods experience last week and Oh. My. God. I bought carrots with their "plants" (as my nephew would say) still attached and when my husband got home that day, I proudly showed them to him with a big, goofy grin on my face. I kinda wanted to fight a woman at my local organic produce stand the other day for the last quart of heirloom tomatoes.

Here's the hitch. I have been having recurring ear problems. The diagnosis? Meniere's Disease. My case isn't super-disruptive but it can be annoying as hell. Sometimes, it feels like the worst part is the low-sodium diet I've had to maintain. I'm a big fan of kosher salt and kept a salt pig on my counter. Sodium is in everything and salt makes anything taste better. Check out the food labels on some of your most basic convenience foods - mayo, soy sauce, ketchup, bread crumbs, etc. - and you'll see how difficult it can be to stay below 2000mg of sodium per day. So, I'm now making everything from scratch. Now, I know it's a good thing because most of the stuff I just mentioned is most likely full of chemicals so it'll last longer on the shelf but it's such an inconvenience! On the other hand, so is losing my hearing so I'll do what I have to and that's what I plan to talk about here. Other stuff too, definitely including books, but I'm shifting the focus. Also, please bear with me in this. With the Meniere's, I have days where I'm a complete airhead, can't remember anything, and I have no (or often the wrong) words. (Yes, I've had an MRI on my head.) Any pics I post are bound to be totally amateurish too. Just try not to laugh too too hard.

I'm trying out this background with the tomatoes what with all my tomato fever I've got right now and I hope it's not too hard to read. There was a background that looked like salt but I thought that might be too cute. As it is with moving, things on the blog will be shifting around until they find their proper homes. Comments and suggestions are always welcome so please don't be shy. Thanks!