My 2017, like that of a lot of other queer individuals, was a year of great personal and professional growth, but was one of the worst political years on record in my adult life. I had the opportunity to travel a lot for work and for fun—from annual mini-trips to Orcas Island and Vancouver BC to returning to Michigan and Denver for the first time in over 5 years to my first trip to Idaho for Death Rattle Writers Fest. My biggest achievement this year was co-authoring my first zine, The Corners of Their Mouth, which my partner Robin and I debuted at Geek Girl Con 2017. We’ve sold over 100 copies and have some big plans for future projects. I’ve also had the opportunity to ramp up my LGBTQ activism both as a volunteer and as a paraprofessional queer, which has been an incredibly rewarding experience.
At the same time, we saw an uptick in hate crimes, especially against Black trans women, QTPOC, and Muslims; our elected officials passed a tax reform bill and a bill to end net neutrality; the White House removed pages about, funding for, and officials working in climate change, the EPA, HIV research, and LGBTQ outreach. It was amazing to see everyone pull together to resist, but the blight on the resistance remains misogyny and White Cis Feminism. If you are antagonizing or concern-trolling marginalized people, you are NOT an ally. If you want to be an ally and to be truly progressive, resolve in 2018 to sit down, shut up, and listen.
Last year I changed my format to include discussion of relevant social issues to my recipes, and I’m grateful to the other food writers and bloggers who have started to or continued discussing food’s intersections in social institutions. I particularly want to give a shout out to Julia Turshen (Feed the Resistance); Emily Contois (food historian); Anna Brones (Comestible); Soleil Ho, Zahir Janmohamed and Juan Diego Ramirez (Racist Sandwich – Season 2 Kickstarter here); Queer Appalachia (Electric Dirt), and Michael Twitty (The Cooking Gene) for their work on the intersections of food, gender, sexuality, race, class, and sustainability.
As for my own writing, let’s look at the rundown for 2017.
Top Posts
- I wrote a satirical post about Gender Reveal Cupcakes. I made a genderqueer version for myself.
- I wrote my first post on Yuri!! On Ice and recreated one of the most memorable meals from the show
- My big news of the year: my partner and I wrote a queer food zine
- This is the fourth time and third year in a row I’ve made Robin’s birthday cake
- I got really into making sorbets this summer and fall
Cakes
“How Do You Even Make an Intentional Cake Wreck Tho”: Eve Talks (bonus: giving my EVE Talk about how to find your eros which was truly a pleasure to write and present)
Best in Show: Genderqueer Space Alien
Down with the Cis-stem: Gender Reveal Cupcakes
My favorite recipe I published: Garlicky Creamed Nettles.
2017 Goals
-Resist. This is not normal.
I didn’t post as much and spent a lot more time writing posts, but I’m relatively happy with my new style of mixing social justice with food as the norm, not the exception.
-If you continue to make my existence political, my queerness will burst through the ever-present clouds like the most magical fascist-punching double rainbow you have ever witnessed.
I somehow managed to get even queerer, more fabulous, and more vocal. I connected with a lot of amazing political foodies this year on social media.
-Let’s recreate meals from queer media!
Garlicky Creamed Nettles and Femme with a Twist (what Carol and Therese would eat in 2017 Seattle instead of creamed spinach and martinis)
-Cocktails with unusual liquor. We have thimbleberry brandy, chokecherry liqueur, and all sorts of odd PNW drinks to make.
Ones that I blogged about: Femme with a Twist
In our zine: Douglas Fir Infused Vodka (with Robin’s adorable Truman/Cooper illustration)
Ones I made that I need to photograph and post: The Aviator, The Martinez, The Arboretum
-More ice cream.
On the blog: Peach and Raspberry Sorbet
As seen on Insta: Persimmon Sorbet (a little too sweet for me), Vanilla Ice Cream, Blackberry Sorbet
2018 goals
- Resist but write more. I hope to be able to post twice a month. My intentions for the year are to advocate more for an end to the false gender binary, especially when it comes to food marketing; to break down the hetero/homonormative model of relationships; to queer all the things.
- Continue with the queer/fandom meals – try to hit 5 posts on this.
- Actually make fondant (I have liquid glucose and I am slightly afraid to use it)
- Publish two articles (have a commitment for one and have another that is all ready to go but needs a home)
- Publish another zine. If we did, would you be interested in funding it and getting bonus content on Patreon?
Announcements!
The Corners of Their Mouth Distribution
The Corners of Their Mouth will be available to purchase in certain bookstores (read: not just on Etsy) in the PNW this year thanks to a few distribution opportunities we’re working on in Oregon and Washington. If you’re interested in stocking the zine in your bookstore or comic shop, contact us at illmakeitmyself@gmail.com.
Eat Skate Love
My recipe for Pear-Almond Cake will be published in the charity zine Eat Skate Love, a Yuri!!! On Ice food fanzine, and you are going to love the illustrations Sheilkuroi made for me. The other WIPs I’ve seen for other recipes are excellent.
I want to also give a special thank you to my friends for their encouragement this year, whether its been actively using my pronouns, acting as references, helping me edit and talk through ideas, talking about queer identities, being vulnerable and letting me be vulnerable, or encouraging me to yell at the TV (I am a hell of a live riffer). I also want to thank my partner Robin (formerly known as “C” on this blog). Robin is one of the most creative, passionate, intelligent, thoughtful, supportive, and hilarious people I know, and, especially when times are tough, they’ve always had my back. I’ve never had more fun than the two years we’ve been living together. Thanks for being my OTP.
I'll Make It Myself! 