Hi everyone - I've been stopping in to read the comments on this thread a few times since my friend decided to share some snippets of my writing I threw out as casual statuses on facebook ('bless her heart' as they say in the South).

Briefly, here's the deal: I am and have been many other things besides a writer, including having been an executive chef in fine dining in NYC. I grew up in NYC from the age of 14, moved elsewhere during the time I was raising my children and have now returned to the marvelous borough of Brooklyn to live.

I write mostly for my own pleasure, but sometimes share my writing. I don't try very hard to be published, but sometimes I do try. When I have tried, I've had my work chosen to be published at Serious Eats, Culinary Media Network, Book of Rai, Christian Science Monitor, One Million Stories, Red Rose Review, and at The Best American Poetry Blog.

I've not put myself up to be in a contest against any other writer, and don't believe that perfect grammar makes a great - or even a good - writer. Other things do that . . . but as with food, what anyone likes to read is a matter of taste. I simply like to write and sometimes share that writing.

My writing is not always about food, but it can be about food. If you don't understand something I've written, my apologies, but my writing is not supposed to be understood by everyone. It's written to be understood by those who understand it - no more no less.

There's a quote I really like, which I try to keep close at hand for use when I myself run across things I don't like so very much: "Critique by creating." It's from Michaelangelo.

My friend started this thread with a warm and loving intent. Can we follow her lead? Can you find some written food experiences to post that you have enjoyed (or ones you may have written yourself) and post them here in the same sharing and generous spirit she showed to everyone reading this?

We have to set the table in a welcoming manner with our words as well as with what we choose to put in our mouths.

Cheers!
Karen

Welcome to the list, Karen.

May I say (and will it be generally understood) that critiques which I make concerning the work of people who are not LTH members are one thing, while critiques I might make concerning the work of people who are LTH members are quite another? In the latter case, I would be much more circumspect. I don't believe in hurting people's feelings. I do believe in politeness. I sometimes liken the forum (in my mind) to a cocktail party. I might speak snarkily of someone I've never met and have no expectation of meeting, but would never be so rude as to confront a person who was at the party. I'd see no reason for it.

Some may see this as hypocrisy, but I see it as civility.

Again, welcome to the party.

Well Karen, I'm glad you stopped in to say hello and I thank razbry for sharing your writing. As someone who often posts pictures, I greatly appreciate others' attempts to help people taste food without necessarily seeing it . . . always a struggle really to convey how much you liked or detested a dish, and I commend you on that - I enjoyed reading the snippets.

Here's a lovely piece of food writing, posted by Hannah Goldfield, at The New Yorker's website:

The chosen kabocha reappeared, its emerald skin nearly blackened after an hour in the oven, stuffed with plump shreds of Dungeness crab and micro-greens, which had cooked in its heat. Cut into segments, it fell open like a blooming flower, a spicy-sweet aroma—citrus peel, ginger, cinnamon, brown butter—wafting from its vibrant orange flesh. We scooped chunks into bowls pre-garnished with freeze-dried corn, fried pumpkin seeds, and orange pulp. It was one of the most delicious things I had ever tasted, and though it was sizable, and rich, I ate with abandon, confident that these chefs, these careful curators, would serve me only as much food as I could handle.

A Very Grant Achatz Thanksgiving

=R=