[aklap]

Happy New Year!!



Well, 2007 is here.

We didn't have a quiet NYE as we usually do. My oldest brother & wife came back to WI for my other brother's 50th birthday party on Saturday. So, we had my family, our friend Maggie [see above ], and another friend of my CO brother. Usually it's just our friend Mag. A good time and good eats were had by all!! I was worried about grilling the 2-3" thick steaks since we don't get that cut ourselves. Forturnately they weren't black on the outside and red on the inside Maggie always brings me new GF snacks when ever she visits. My favorite item this time was Nutty Cranberry Maple Granola by Bakery on Main.

Now that the holidays are over, things can get back to normal. We can take a breather and settle back into that status quo groove Ahhhhhh My dairy reduced status takes a beating this time of year. I know, I know...

Does anyone have any particular goals for 2007?

Thanks everybody for making 2006 happy and healthy as it can be for many people...here's to an even better 2007.

Everybody fall out for Roll Call. All are welcome!!

For the new members here, Roll Call is a place where you can share your progress of your GF Journey. Be it forwards or backwards - heck even sideways! Or you can just say Hi. It's just a way to touch base with everyone and let us know how you're doing. This thread can be fun to look at months, and years [when that much history gets built back up] later. You can see where you've been and how far you've come! So, please..join in the Roll Call.

Roll Call Time Tunnel

[mistofviolets]

Wow, am I first?

Well...quiet NYE here. We're on the West Coast...so the kids stayed up "late" to watch the ball drop in New York :P (For some reason the camera man decided to go from ball drop to focus in on two kissers...who didn't stop...oldest is still trying to figure out how come they'd go on soooo loooong. Gross! LOL) Then dh and I cleaned up a bit...and were woken by the noisemakers next door; and spent an hour reassuring the kids they could go back to sleep.

New Years resolution? To simplify the feeding issue. Focus on more family meals. There's got to be something we all can eat without too much variation.

Oh, and get brave enough to expand my diet more. (quinoa, coconut oil, buckwheat flour, and parsnips are on my list of probably safe)

[loisba]

Well, I had a very quiet night! We live way out in the country, and I was in bed and sound asleep by 10:00. Man, do I love country living!
Since I'm just starting my GF journey, I'm still learning the tricks of the trade. Tried making some buns yesterday. Dismal failure. I used a recipe off the forum, but had to make too many substitutions because of things I didn't have. I don't think it would have been so bad, but one of the things I subbed in was soy flour. I should have remembered back when we used to occasionally get hamburger that had soymeal in it as a filler. YUCK!!! I'm not going to put soy flour in anything else. And the weird thing is I LOVE soymilk.
Good thing, too, since I discovered I'm lactose intolerant way before the gluten thing came up and beat me over the head with its symptoms. When I think of all of the years I've suffered, getting a little bit worse each month, I could just cry for not having spotted it sooner. Well, live and learn, and boy am I learning: Learning to read lables, learning to ask questions, learning to cook GF. Now, if I could JUST master learning to bake GF! So I guess if I have any GF goals, that would have to be it.
Hugs,

[darlindeb25]

We had a quiet NYE too, my daughter is here with me in NY until the 15th and we just watched tv, well, I watched tv, she was on the computer!

I had bloodwork done the first of the month and the doctor told me all is good, yet today I find out that maybe the thyroid results aren't as good as he said. Not sure what to do now.

Went on vacation to Michigan, even though it may have been too soon after being ill. Was good to see the kids and the grandkids though--I do miss them.

Happy New Year all!!!!!

[aklap]

Wow Deb, that's quite a couch full!!

[jccgf]

Happy New Year! Great pictures!

We went to our 'best man's' house for an annual New Year's Eve party. It is always his wife's family and us. It was so nice of them to adopt us like that! They have two girls J's age, so that is always a good time for her, too. We play the "Name Game" every year with all ages... which takes a good part of the evening. This year we had to come home half way through the night to let our pup out because we don't like to leave him longer for three hours at his age (3 months). Luckily, they live only twenty minutes a away.

Today we took the tree down, although the house isn't quite Christmas free yet.

I'm very excited to have purchased a new bed for our 'spare room'. My twenty year old took her bed off to her college apartment, and has had to sleep on a blow up bed ever since when she comes home to visit. So...after five months...we've finally replaced the bed, and I hit the sales today for new bedding. She comes back home again tomorrow night, and shhh..... the new bed is being delivered tomorrow morning and will be a surprise! We actually got fleece sheets as she is always freezing, and her room is the cold room in the house. It will be interesting to see what they are like...but the good news is that I only paid $20 for them. Got myself a heated mattress pad and some flanned sheets. Now, I am just waiting for a Wisconsin winter~ it has been so mild.

Oh... I finally got my Pain de Mie for Christmas after four years of asking for it. I've made two loaves in it and I think I will use it every time. It has a lid and turns out a big loaf of square sandwich bread. For whatever reason, it seems to turn out a softer loaf of bread, with thinner crusts. I use my same old recipe, but increase the raise time to 60 minutes and cook time to 55-60 minutes. For some reason, it seems to take a little longer.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/...ry=C86&id=5712

And... here is an updated picture of Benny taken on Christmas Eve!

Cara

[diamondheart]

The big news in the Front Range of Colorado the last two weeks is snow. First, we had a blizzard a few days before Christmas. We got somewhere between 26" and 30" at my house, depending on who you talk to. I had to shovel most of the snow from our driveway, which took me 6 1/2 hours. I was exhausted afterwards. Then it warms up, and half the snow melts, which is typical for around here. This past Thursday, we got ANOTHER snow storm, this time "only" 14", but we always get more here in south Boulder, so we, technically, probably got more. All this has meant fantastic skiing. I cross county ski, and have been doing so the past three days.

Today, we went for a 3 mile ski at 8000 ft, which just about killed me. It probably didn't help that we went out last night for New Year's Eve. We didn't stay up too late or drink too much, but I'm a lightweight when it comes to drinking. It was a crazy scene at the restaurant we went to, that was PACKED with NYE partiers listening to a hot Brazilian band. We finally escaped at 12:30am, and passed a long line of inebriated people waiting for cabs on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.

My New Year's resolution is to get pregnant. I figure this is the last year I have to do it since I'm 40.

Happy New Year everyone! Claire

[JudyLV]

I am checking in--Happy New Year!!! We had a nice Christmas and a quiet New Year. I am breaking tradition in our family by having a more casual Christmas celebration. We had chicken soup and cornbread for Christmas Eve dinner and made pizza on Christmas day. This gave me more time to enjoy playing cards and ping-pong with everyone.

My son and I managed to keep to our gluten, egg, dairy, soy, citrus, legume, nut free diet without any problem. Well... my problem was that I ate a bit more than I ususally do. We discovered a new easy bread recipe that I will post separately.

--Judy

[KimS]

Well, I finally got a couple of minutes here to post. Last month I had an awful time getting free time to post much at all and so missed the roll call completely!!

I'm glad to see that since last week, everyone seems to be settled bit more. I always enjoy reading what's up with everyone in the monthly roll call...

Anyway, we had a lovely Christmas and quiet New Year's Eve. Our 9 year old decided to stay up and watch her favourite movie to bring in the new year. The rest of us went to sleep.

It's been a good year and health-wise we are better than ever (knock on wood). I aspire to continue that and do some more work on organizing my recipes for a year round rotation diet.

Beautiful grand-kids Deb! And that Benjamin is just adorable!

Awesome photo Al!! It made me smile, first thing this morning... and my kids will tell you that THAT's always a good thing.

[aklap]

Originally Posted by KimS

Awesome photo Al!! It made me smile...

Thanks. It's one of my favorite things to do