Annalise DeVries

life in the making

Trained as a historian, my mind constantly asks, where did this come from, how did it get this way, and why? I find myself applying those questions to all of the places I go and things I do. Whether it's a trip to a new place or a walk around the corner, an interview for a magazine story or preparing for a lecture, the ingredients in a recipe or a new arts and crafts project, my work is about the ongoing discovery of how the various facets of life are made. My curiosities lie with the processes that constitute our experiences. Here I have included my varied explorations into the how and why of my surroundings.

Going Gluten-Free, Birmingham Magazine, November 2012

November 01, 2012 by Annalise DeVries in Freelance writing

Jenny Basselin, who blogs at www.glutenfreebirmingham.com, eliminated wheat, rye and barley with her family of six when her oldest daughter was diagnosed with celiac four years ago. Basselin herself has a sensitivity to gluten, and one of her other daughters has severe stomach issues, so a gluten-free diet benefitted the whole family.

Basselin started her blog in October 2010 in order to share money-saving tips with other people on the diet, posting coupons and listing restaurants in Birmingham that have gluten-free menus. She explains that the number of gluten-free products on the market can seem overwhelming, not to mention expensive, when changing one’s diet. Rather than embarking on a gluten-free shopping binge, she recommends streamlining one’s diet first and going gluten-free “just by eating your plain meats, fruits and vegetables, all of which are naturally gluten-free.”

The Faithful, B. Metro, September 2012

September 01, 2012 by Annalise DeVries in Freelance writing

It is nearly sunrise, and within more than a thousand Birmingham households, Muslim families are praying. This is the fajr — the first of five daily Islamic prayers. In a city embedded in the Bible Belt, time can be marked by religious and spiritual events — church bells downtown, Sunday sermons, mid-week Bible studies, and the passing of each Christmas, Lenten season and Easter.

Amid this more prevalent religious culture, members of the local Muslim community conduct their own services. Their daily prayers are accompanied by Friday evening services at the masjid (or mosque), a month of fasting in late summer called Ramadan, and two annual festivals — Eid al-Fitr, the breaking of the fast at the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, celebrating when God spared Abraham from sacrificing his son Ishmael.