Dining and Opining

Happy 2012! I've been writing on this here blog for a full eleven months now, with my first post on January 28, 2011. I have posted every single weekday between now and then, come rain or shine, hell or high water, delicious meals or brain tumors. When I first began this project, I intended for it to be something I'd do regularly for one full year, to test myself, my writing abilities, my stick-to-it-iveness. And since then, Dining and Opining has felt like a really central part of my life, something I look forward to as a way of cataloging my days and my thoughts on food. It has been a way of connecting with all of you readers (those who are my dear friends and those who've stumbled across this little project from elsewhere). It has been a way of putting my thoughts down, collecting my reflections in one place, recording all those little scraps of ideas and photos and foods.  And as the one year of this project comes to an end, I'm thinking a lot about what comes...

And so I write from the quietness and stillness of a central-Wisconsin farm, where the sky is vast and studded with stars; the nearest neighbors are so far we can belt out Engine Driver and Don't Stop Believin ', accompanied by a twelve-string guitar, in the middle of the night, with no fear of waking anyone; the chickens must be protected from prowling foxes and raccoons at nightfall; the donkey requires an apple and a chat (or graceful conversation) each morning; and the eggs come in at mid-day, warm and golden. We find ourselves here because this is the home of one of the professors in Justin's department, who has traveled abroad on vacation for a couple of weeks (to watch his sheepdogs compete in the world championship of sheepherding!). Because the animals need tending to, he has left them (along with his beautiful home) in our care. Being here, in this place removed from the city and somewhat removed from the buzz of our daily lives, we've reflected a...