Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes

Craft fairs are the best.

There have been some changes around here.  Not just slight changes.  I'm talkin' big ones.

1. I've moved. And as it turns out, moving is not easy.  Who are these people who move frequently?  I have some questions for you:
- How do you afford it?
- Do you ever adjust to driving a UHaul?
- Do you ever find the things that you lost?
- WHY do you move frequently?

I had no idea when I decided to move that I was vaulting myself from the comforts of a perfectly lovely, if somewhat rundown, home into a harrowed universe of stress and uncertainty.  It is a world where money gets flushed down the toilet in the form of things like UHaul insurance and suspiciously expensive wall hooks.  Though they tell you you can bring whatever you want into this new world, approximately 4% of your possessions will be lost forever, a toll paid to the gods for granting you strength in your time of need (as the dresser was slipping through your hands on its way up the stairs).  You lure unsuspecting friends into slavery with the promise of pizza and beer.  It is an ugly place.

Why did I bring this fate upon myself?  What would possess me to put myself through the torture of moving?  Well...

2. I'm going to graduate school. The driving force behind my move from Washington DC to New York was my enrollment in the Food Studies masters program at NYU.  I knowwwww.  I know. School of dreams, right?  Yes, it is.

3. As a poor grad student I have no money.  I know I talk about being frugal and all that blah blah blah, but this time is no joke. And boyyyy, New York is not cheap, especially when it comes to food.

4. Sink + Mini Stove/Oven + 2'' of counter space + fridge = My New York Kitchen. Now let's be clear, if you hadn't noticed from the pictures, my DC kitchen wasn't exactly palatially large (or nice, for that matter), but it was a comfortable little place where I could, oh you know, use a cutting board with relative ease (rather than having to balance it precariously around the edges of the sink and frighteningly near the dirty compost container). My diet in New York has consisted mostly of bagels from the shop down the street and toast with jam, butter, jam and butter, peanut butter, peanut butter and banana, peanut butter and honey (a particular favorite), or hummus.

I've been thinking of how best to deal with these life changes o'mine as concerns this blog. Obviously due to time constraints (school+work), a mini kitchen, and the lack of funds, testing recipes and blogging them isn't a direction that this blog should go in if there is any hope of getting to a more consistent posting schedule.  Let's face it, even without these changes I was never that good at keeping up with getting new recipes up. I'd get so involved that I'd forget to take pictures and/or write down measurements in real recipe form, making them likewise unbloggable. Frankly, though, I don't blame me [much].  I am, after all, first and foremost an eater, not a blogger.  Sorry (but not).

So I am left to look at other avenues, because while I considered giving this space up and letting the blog peter out into internet oblivion, I came to the conclusion that I just don't want to let that happen.  I like it here, and I'm not ready to give up quite yet.

Here's what you can look forward to:

1. More frequent posting (maybe I should put this under goals...)
2. New York-y things
3. More about eating out (get ready for a lot of bagels)
4. More non-food general life stuff. Frankly, I've never been one for restrictions.  This will always be a blog about food, but in my life food is everything, so let's just go with it.
5. Instagram pictures because I just downloaded Instagram, and while I don't entirely understand how to use it, I love it.
6. More Q&A (so send in your food questions)
7. Some other stuff, too.  I like to keep things fluid.

Instagram= Simple things look cool;
helping non-artistic people look artistic.  Thank you.

Spread the word, tell your friends: Gastronomiquelle is back.