2013 At a Glance

It’s hard to believe that another year is coming to an end. Where did 2013 stay? I’ll admit that in early December, I was writing out the date and wrote “2012”, so I have no doubt that remembering 2014 will be a bit of a challenge for me. I think the best say to appreciate the year that has passed is to take a minute to review what all happened in the past year.

2013 At a Glance – It was an amazing year!

I was invited by the Canola Growers of Manitoba to attend an evening of fine dining at The Grey Owl. I ate duck for the first time.

My book – the book I wrote with the help of my husband – “The Everything Guide to Living Gluten Free” was released!  It is really amazing to see all those words we put together come out in a bound book. Have you got your copy yet? 😉

I started teaching gluten-free baking classes. I love blogging because it is my way of helping you figure out how to bake gluten-free. But doing it in a live class, where people are given hands on experience, and feel inspired to do it themselves is really a different experience. I’m teaching a class on February 8, 2014 in Altona, Manitoba. Will you be joining me?

One of the most influential events of 2013, at least as far as the blog is concerned, was the first ever Food Bloggers of Canada Conference that I attended in April. What a great learning experience and a fabulous way to connect with a variety of brands. It has been a true blessing, one I could have never afforded to attend if I hadn’t won the My Cookies are the Best contest from Be Well. The next conference is in October in Vancouver. I need to start saving my nickels (we no longer have pennies in Canada – another event from 2013).

Due to my winning cookie recipe, I also got to share about gluten-free baking, The Everything Guide to Living Gluten-Free, and my winning cookies on CTV Morning Live. Wow! I still can’t believe I wasn’t nervous, that just doesn’t seem right!

Oh, and my gluten free Strawberry Shortcake recipe got some national attention when it was shared in the Vancouver Sun, as well as a number of other online newspapers. How cool is that?

The kids were invited to a baking class with one of the top chefs in Winnipeg. How can you say no when you are invited into one of the top kitchens in Winnipeg? Yeah, you can’t! The kids had a great time baking cookies with Chef Tim.

We finally took the time to build something the kids have wanted for years – an awesome Lemonade Stand! I know this was a highlight for the kids this past summer. Summer is coming (eventually), and I shared instructions so you can build your own lemonade stand as well!

Lastly – thanks to you, my lovely readers – I made it to the Top 10 Food Blogs in Canada via MiB’s Top 10 Best Canadian Blogs. I think that’s pretty impressive, even if I didn’t make it to the top 3. Thank you to all that took the few seconds to vote for me. I love that you appreciate the blog & recipes enough to take the time to do that.

Taking the time to reflect on the changes that 2013 has brought, I can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store. Thank you to every one of you that has joined me on this gluten-free adventure! Without you, I would just be talking to myself here. 😉

Wishing you all a blessed new year!