Ok then,

Things got a little out of control there for awhile. I got back from San Francisco, got very busy with work. (I bet you were wondering if I did indeed work, and the answer is: Yes, sometimes and then it sort of destroys the rest of my life.) I did keep up with the eating portion of this project, because I had frozen extras of many of the things that I made earlier in the month in preparation for just such a rush. However what happened next, I did not prepare for. I went out of town again. This time to attend a baby shower for my cousin in my home town. It was meant to be a quick weekend, in and out. But I ended up staying for twelve days. The food portion of this odyssey was way beyond my ability to keep up with mentally and sitting down to write about it was definitely beyond my capabilities at the time. I can't go into the whole story here, it is too much for people who just want to read about a crazy lady making all her food from scratch. In summation, my 90 year old grandmother passed away while I was home. She was a Great Lady, who lived an amazing life. She died in a peaceful, dignified and love-filled manner that did honor to her life. A life that we celebrated to the fullest extent possible, perhaps fuller than should be possible. Since this is a food blog I will focus on that aspect. The doorbell of my parents house did not stop ringing from the time the news hit the paper. Deli trays, pulled pork, brisket, beef tenderloin, sandwich trays, fruit platters, croissants, meatloaf, cheesey potatoes, bags of apples and oranges, wine, chili chicken casserole, bagels, mini muffins, cookies, rum cake... I can't even remember all of it. It was humbling. Food is an expression of love and community. This generosity told me a lot about the person my grandma was, and how many people she touched in her life. She built a community and took care of people when they were in need, and she taught her children to do the same. That community took care of us. So, I didn't cook a single thing that whole time. I ate the food prepared or purchased by the people who love my family and I thank each of them for both the food and the love, we were all fed to fullness on both.

I have been home for two days, and have not yet gone to the store. So in my own kitchen I'm still existing within the framework of the rules. Since October got a little crazy I am going to restart this project for November. In fact, I think of October as the practice run and we are now into the real thing. My packaged and processed food supplies are at an all time low, so there is less of a crutch to lean on now. The official time frame is now November 5th - December 5th.