I’ve had some unexpected new beginnings during the past month. First and foremost, I roasted beets a few nights ago. I have to admit that I always buy them pre-done at Trader Joe’s although everyone in my family tells me how easy it is to make a little foil pouch with some oil and roast away. They were right. They turned out beautifully and I’ll never buy them pre-done again. To bigger and better things (I just had to mention the beets): I’ve started applying to jobs that are not at all related to my field. And I’m strangely calm about the whole thing. Since it’s a pretty crummy time to be a teacher in CA right now, I’ve thrown myself into the world of food writing, started a column doing restaurant reviews for a local website, and have sent out a million and one queries to local and national magazines. It’s funny working so hard towards something, knowing that nothing may come of it. I may never hear anything from the million and one magazines. Who knows…but I decided that, logistically, if I keep working this hard towards this new goal, something must come of it sometime. So I plug away each morning. Making coffee, feeding the dogs, trying to stay away from Facebook and Twitter, putting my ideas down on paper, and crossing my fingers.

So with that, I’ve been slowly working on redesigning A Sweet Spoonful to reflect my vision for this little food blog and where I’d like for it to go. I envision a simple chronicle focusing on the ways in which food subtly and powerfully weaves through my day to day life. I want to capture my quiet times in the kitchen with Noel (my chocolate lab) madly sopping up particles at my feet, my mini food pilgrimages throughout the city, reviews of food memoirs and writings–and other little spoonfuls of daily life. There are so many darn food blogs out there, some incredibly beautiful and inspiring (and others less so); I have an extremely Type-A, competitive personality so it’s a natural inclination that I would want to supersede more established blogs in terms of readership and interest. But strangely for once in my life, I’m not thinking about this blog in such a way. It’s just a little project that I undertake, usually late at night with the fan on, drinking iced tea (or, let’s be honest–a vodka and tonic), resulting in a small chunk of satisfaction that I’m doing something that feels real and genuine. Even though a paycheck isn’t at the end of the road. It’s a funny thing to work so hard at something…just for yourself, sometimes feeling like it’s just for your eyes only, but hoping it’s not. I welcome any thoughts or suggestions…A Sweet Spoonful is slowly taking shape, and I’d love for you to be a part of it.