Now I am at a point where in 2012 alone, I received more emails than the previous five years combined, and I am happy to say I answer each and every one of them. Be it my "weekly proofreaders" that tell me of some omissions in my recipes or simply someone telling me about their old family recipe or story, I love chatting with anyone and everyone. I meet so many people on the street just wanting to say hi, and on the other hand there are those (and you know who you are) who would rather whisper and stare at me. If it is because you don't know if you should come up to me, my answer is emphatically YES! Heck, once you start talking to me, you will see I am just like you, but maybe just a little more talkative. So don't be shy, tap me on the shoulder and simply say, "Hi".

I am also very pleased to be wearing my pink chef's coat on behalf of breast cancer awareness. It is a personal reminder for me and I hope to devote much more of my time and energy in the near future to this worthy cause.

This coming year will be bringing many changes for me, hopefully on a national level, but my pledge for the coming year will be to continue writing for The Maine Edge (as long as Katy and Mike have me) and always be accessible to everyone, be it through email or bumping into you at Walmart. I have enjoyed, with the utmost devotion, my tenure with this great paper and your reliable readership. So keep the emails coming and themaineedge.com bookmarked. Thank you everyone and Happy New Year!