'Tis the season! I've been baking a lot and experimenting with different gluten free recipes. Good thing my A1c won't get checked for 2 more months :) Last night, I made chocolate truffle brownies, white chicken chili and turkey wild rice loaf. Tonight, I'm in the process of baking Mexican Wedding Cakes. That's the picture you see, fresh out the oven. I'd show you a picture of the brownies, but, um, well...

It sure would be nice to have someone to share all my holiday food with. Not sure why God blessed me with mad cooking skills but no hubby. You want to come over for dinner??? Cooking for one is not much fun. My co-workers will get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I love cooking, so the extras just go into the freezer.

Learning to cook gluten free has been both fun and challenging. Things bake differently, and sometimes taste differently (texture-wise). But I have begun to suspect that God gave me this particular illness (Celiac Disease)to serve as help and inspiration to others. I can't tell you how many people at the food co-op I've approached when I realized they were buying all gluten free foods. I've met so many newly-diagnosed celiacs that need encouragement, and I've made new friends. One even had a daughter that was just like me- a T1 and a Celiac.

There's a certain comraderie that comes with finding another T1 or another Celiac, and an even stronger bond if they have both. It's like an unspoken fist-bump when you see someone wearing a pump and they see yours, too. Or you see a gluten free frozen pizza in someone's cart, and know no one else would be paying $10 for a personal pan sized pizza unless they had no other choice. It makes me feel happy to develop these bonds with others, even if they are strangers I'll never see again.

This is a time of year when you can feel really lonely, for many reasons, but this year I don't. I feel encouraged, empowered, and hopeful.