About this Blog
While this blog started off in much the same way as many other low carb blogs - as the result of a blogger deciding to go low carb - there’s a bit more to our story.
This blog is heavily fueled by anger and spite.
Yes, those two things can be powerful fuel in general, but especially when it comes to me. Historically, I tend to harness anger and spite in many of my best creative undertakings.
Here is the full story:
After losing ⅓ of my pancreas to cancer, I was left with not only diabetes, but a flank hernia.
Before discovering the diabetes, though, I met with a horrid little weasel of a surgeon, to deal with the flank hernia.
After meeting with a lot of condescension, absolutely no empathy, and far too many mentions of bariatric surgery*, this sandbagger of a surgeon told me that I would not be able to seek relief for the pain of my hernia until I lose 100 lbs.
There was a lot of fat shaming involved. There was a lot of talk about protecting his success rate.
There was not a lot of listening, and there was no accepting “no” as an answer when it came to the bariatric surgery mentions.
* Yes, he literally denied me a not-super-invasive surgery (sewing my cancer surgery incision closed again) due to “risk”, while REPEATEDLY suggesting I go for incredibly invasive, permanent, and very high risk bariatric surgery.
... because that makes sense.
I was LIVID that he had wasted my time like that at all, never mind during a pandemic.
He knew my weight before I ever showed up, he knew he would be denying the surgery... there was absolutely no reason for me to go to a hospital in person for that nonsense.
Frankly, it came off like a gross power trip. He gave off some big incel vibes, I wouldn’t doubt that he got his jollies from abusing women like that.
Anyway, I was PISSED when I left. At the time of writing this, that was 3 months ago... and I’m still pretty pissed off, if you couldn’t tell!
After a LOT of tears - I had been convinced I was going to the appointment to set a date for surgery! - I resolved that I would lose the weight.
Not through invasive surgery, but by going low carb - a diet that worked for me before. It’s just how I’m built - it’s basically the only way I can lose weight.
I wasn’t going to torture myself this time, though.
No more counting every carb I ate, no more tracking every bite of food.
To me, that’s not a sustainable way of living. It makes it incredibly hard for me to keep up, as it feels too much like deprivation and punishment.
No, this time would be different.
This time, I would throw my problem solving and recipe development talents at it, and I would eat whatever I want... just low carb versions.
I would live my best life, eat JOYOUSLY, and laugh my less-fat butt all the way to a better surgeon.
And here we are.
As of 1/4/22, I’m just over 2 months in, and almost 30 lbs down. I spent my holiday season munching on raspberry bars, mushroom turnovers, and more... while drinking really good eggnog.
All the while, I watched my (unmedicated!) blood sugar levels dropping.
Living well really is the best revenge 🙂
Anyway, this blog is entirely about low carb cooking.
Some recipes are simple, some more complex, some keto, some just low carb... all delicious.
While the overall blog isn’t focused on “clean” eating - low carb comfort food is our THING - we do have some cleaner recipes in here, as well.
Overall, though, we are all about delicious low carb recipes that the whole family will enjoy.
We firmly believe that ENJOYING your food is key to sticking with it, long term!
Enjoy!
About Marie Porter
Marie Porter is the author and recipe developer behind Celebration Generation, as well as its spinoff blogs: Beyond Flour, Low Carb Hoser, Spandex Simplified, and Autism Rants.
Marie began her meandering career path in the fashion industry, as a formalwear and spandex costume designer. Recognized around the world for her work in athletic costuming, she has written 6 specialty manuals on sewing stretch fabrics - The Spandex Simplified series.
After 15 years in fashion, Marie made the transition to the culinary arts, as an award-winning baker and cake artist.
Awards she has earned include a gold medal at the Upper Midwest Bakery Association convention, the Twin City Bridal Association's ICON award in the "Excellence in Cake Design" category (Judged by Sylvia Weinstock!), and being named the 2012 "Czar of Cakes". Her cakes also landed her as a first round contestant on MasterChef season 4, where she presented Gordon Ramsay with her famous Mango Mojito Upside Down Cake.
In 2010, she released her first cookbook, "The Spirited Baker", followed by "Evil Cake Overlord", "Sweet Corn Spectacular", "Beyond Flour", "Hedonistic Hops", "Beyond Flour 2", More Than Poutine", and "Maize Craze".
After pancreatic cancer surgery left her with diabetes, Marie went back on a low-carb way of eating.
Knowing that this will be a long-term plan for her, she started Low Carb Hoser to document the recipes she’s been developing.
Living in a 2 person household with her husband - who is not low carbbing, himself - means coming up with recipes that are tasty and healthy for the whole family.
As of writing, she has lost almost 30 lbs after - 2 months - with a goal of eliminating her diabetes diagnosis within a year.
About Michael Porter
Michael Porter (Who goes by "Porter"!) is a mechanical engineer and food/commercial photographer located in Hamilton, Ontario.
Porter's work has appeared in local, and international magazines, in catalogs, corporate websites, and as well as in many online media outlets.
He is responsible for the vast majority of photos on the Celebration Generation family of blogs, as well as all of the photography in Celebration Generation books.
In addition to being an awesome husband and photographer to Marie, Porter is Celebration Generation's "Chief Engineering Officer", responsible for all custom builds, equipment repairs, and warp engine emergencies.
- Marie & Michael Porter
Note on PR, Reviews, Etc
We like to rave about people & things that we find interesting, and like to go about doing that, unfettered.
We don't do PR-sponsored posts for anything other than products that we love.
That said, we ARE open to having interesting stuff pointed out to us. We're only two people, and can't have our fingers on the pulse of random awesomeness 24/7, you know?
Whether you're a person completely unaffiliated with the "something cool" you think I'd be interested in, work for the "something cool" company, or are a PR rep hired by that company, feel free to contact us.
If - and this is a big if - we think that what you're pitching would be something we would love, and that our readers would love, we'd be interested in discussing ideas.
Dear readers, we open the blog up to this to be exposed to more cool things, for you.
Rest assured, unless we adore something, we will never promote it on this site.
When we ARE mentioning something that was pitched to us, we will absolutely disclose the nature of it.
Good? Good!