Writing with 5 Senses - The Lemon

Finding ways to improve my writing was one my goals of the International Food Blogger Conference. Here is a sample of what I worked on during the workshop "Writing With 5 Senses" with Kathleen Flinn, author of "The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry."

Sight - describe what the lemon looks like
This yellow fruit has a shallow pitted surface. It ranges between an oval and teardrop in shape, with the end that attaches to the tree more pointed. When sliced, a white fleshy rind holds wedges of translucent pulp full of juice. Pale seeds are found within the segments.

Tactile and Texture
The cold lemon feels heavy in my hand. I can feel each small dimple, creating a mini-massage for each of my fingers. The soft inner rind leads to a fresh wet pulp. A slight pressure releases a burst of juice that splatters and lands like a kiss on my skin.

Sound - start with closing your eyes and listen, describe without saying "chopping with a knife"
A thud of a basketball thrown against the wall repeats. As it continues, the thud blends into the crunch of biting into a fresh cucumber slice. What is this? Has Girl Talk sold out to the FoodNetwork and the NBA? No, a lemon is being sliced.

Smell - describe without using "lemon" or "citrus"
I enter the room and the smell of sunshine hits me full force. The brightness and freshness of the scent cleanses my lungs with happiness.

Taste - describe without using lemon or citrus
Burning acid washed over my mouth. My lips puckered, the taste reminding me of licking the flap to seal an old envelope. The taste of exposed flesh, the beginning of a canker sore, remained in the back of my throat.

Put It All Together - when writing, go beyond visual and taste, pick at least 3 senses to describe something from last night's reception

The lamp chops danced into the room to the sounds of oohs and aaahs. If you weren't looking, you would have thought they had jumped off the serving plate doing Rockette kicks. I couldn't stop staring at the moss covered meat. As the server approached, I picked out my over-sized lamb lollipop and asked for a not-so-red one with an apology. Holding onto my chop, reminiscent of a renaissance fair turkey leg, I took a bite and tasted spicy heaven in the garlic wasabi coating.

Summary - Pay attention to everything. Life is short. Challenge yourself to embrace the things you love. Slow down, live the moments, and use your five senses.

Lunch Assignment - write about your lunch experience using all 5 senses. Tweet link to #all5 and #IFBC


Writing Homework:
MFK Fisher - take a page of one of her books and extract verbs - write on separate page. Review for variety, sound, visions

Raw Courage in Steak Tartare

As I walked past the lunch food options of torpedo shaped raw hamburger with baguette and reclined whole octopus sleeping on garbanzo beans, I thought "Yuck. I have no claim on the foodie label." A grilled zucchini dish, the most Cassie-friendly dish available, did not satisfy the rumblings in my stomach. I had to build courage to try something new but somewhat familiar - Steak Tartare. When I was younger, I loved to eat raw hamburger. The thought of that now makes me shudder and question the sanity of my parents and babysitter who are not foodies either. But perhaps that was just the infancy of my developing palate.

Today, the rose colored raw meat with a faint marbling sat in a large metal bowel waiting to be portioned out onto an eco-friendly camel colored bamboo plate. Using two soup spoons, the chefs measured out my 2 ounce portion and formed a oval shape with a clang-clang. The meat football was placed with a bed of greens and two baguette blankets.

I pulled at the tartare to spread it evenly across the first slice of crusty baguette. I searched my brain for an analogous food distraction in preparation for the first bite. Peanut butter? No, not savory enough. Ah, nothing. There is nothing like this. I silently coached myself, "I can do this. It's the gourmet version of my strange childhood love." I took the first bite and continued eating it. I felt comfort. The meat was smooth on the roof of my mouth as I crunched into the baguette. I prepared the second piece of bread. Working through my challenge of trying something unappealing and trying to eat the appetizer without making a grimace, I completely forgot to take note of the taste or smell. Three out five senses ain't bad. If he was a food writer instead of a song writer, Meatloaf would approve. I, however, do plan to keep working on my writing.

Wandering, Wondering, Working, and Word Block

The last few weeks have been busy and distracting. I've been traveling (a week in Vermont, a weekend in San Antonio, a few days in Vancouver and then a weekend in Seattle). I've also been putting a lot of time into helping to bring a food co-op to South Philly. It's a 2+ year process that will hopefully end with a member-owned food community shopping center. What is a food co-op? It's a grocery store that is owned, operated and financed by its members. By being member owned, the hope is to provide members lower prices or discounts, more control over what's on the shelves and a community for sharing and learning about food, sustainable practices, and the neighborhood we live in. We are well on our way with a website and are currently conducting a organizing feasibility study to learn more about the shopping habits and opinions of the people in our neighborhood. It's exciting, but a lot of work.

I got some disappointing news about some upcoming cookbooks - some other people had my boozy recipe idea and will launch their books this fall. I feel this is a bit of a set back, and has made me rethink exactly what I want to do with this blog. Like a pair of skinny jeans, it's restrictive and confining to only write about recipes that contain alcohol. And now that I'm working on the food co-op, I'm entertaining the idea of have segments to highlight a theme...there would be The Soused Chef segment with alcohol, the In Season segment focusing on things being harvested locally, and maybe a Bake Sale segment which would feature things that could be sold at a bake sale, or easily wrapped up and given to friends and family. That is just a start and I'm still working on the idea. I'm going to the Food Blogging Conference this weekend and hope to find some more inspiration.

I also just learned of a Philly Blog Tax...apparently I'm suppose to pay a yearly $50 for a "privilege license" plus I'm required to pay the appropriate taxes on the income I earn from the advertising on the blog. Considering that I've only made 80 cents in the last few months. This really isn't a good deal for me. I'll probably need to remove the ads until I have the 100,000 followers to make it profitable. Sometimes Philly sucks.

With all of this uncertainty and rethinking my approach to the blog, I've had a little bit of a word block. In addition to all of that, I spend my entire work day at a computer, so it's tough to sit down in for another hour or two to put out a blog post. I'll also blame the beautiful summer days/night for my writer's block.

So here I am, about to get over my word block - one of the food blog conference homework item was to let our readers know about it....and we also were challenged with doing some real time blogging/tweeting/facebooking. Beginning Friday evening, I'll try to do all of that! It's going to be a great conference, if for the food alone. All the meals are catered by local chefs. I'm especially looking forward to the lunchtime cart scavenger hunt. Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame will be the opening speaker. To learn more about the conference, check out the foodista website or get real time updates by following me on twitter/facebook. If you are not already following me via social media, well shoot me a comment and I'll friend you in the medium you prefer. I can't seem to figure out how to put the "follow me" widgets on the blog.

Until Friday......

Gettin Figgy With It

Figs are in season, but for a very short time. I was not aware of how fantastic this fruit is. But now I am. If you want to impress someone, seek out fresh figs and serve them up. A real simple way is to add them to a cheese plate, paired with some goat cheese. Slice the fig, top with goat cheese and drizzle a little honey on top and carefully shove into your mouth. No need to say how it tastes or how you feel, your expression will make everyone say "I'll have what she's having." You'll inevitably get honey on your hand - licking it off is part of the experience. Mmmmm, figs are good.

I also recently saw this video about mixing figs, peaches, honey, and rum to make a tasty summer fruit salad. I haven't tried it yet, but no doubt it is as easy as she says it is...and I doubt I would make any changes. Enjoy..... Boozy Figs and Peaches from Tamara Reynolds