Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Why Blog about Food?

Inspired by a posting by a novice blogger (not a veteran of 10 months like me), I decided to explain why I blog.

Why another food blog? Why do I write? I’ve become acquainted (virtually) with a few bloggers in the year I’ve been writing. For all that blogging is discussed; these questions don’t come up much. Breezy “About” sections will provide hints, but more likely the author will confess to an insatiable fondness for garlic, a vague desire to share the foods they like, and love for their sheltie/shepherd mix. None of these things are bad. I like dogs, garlic and sharing food. But none of this covers why I write.

My excellent seventh-grade English teacher assigned every student a daily journal for the entire year. I loved it, but I haven’t always enjoyed writing. Deeply self-conscious about anything I wrote, my inner critic turned college papers into grueling marathons of editing and revision; the papers often late and shorter than the assigned minimum length. But slowly, I noticed a growing stack of compliments. Teachers praised my work. My grades suffered penalties for tardiness, but not for content. With this modest encouragement and an offhand comment from a comic author, I decided to test the waters of blogging.

Food wasn’t a difficult choice. I’ve cooked for some time. I enjoy it immensely. I generally don’t burn food; that aside, I don’t make pretensions about talent. I enjoy reading political news, stories about journalism, and economics. But each requires a level of knowledge I don’t have, time or effort to research I am unwilling to commit. Generalist blogs are often entertaining, but more often are self-indulgent. With food, I could explore a passion that I am knowledgeable about, and write about my experiments. Food is important. It would be difficult to overstate this. Thankfully, I could write without agonizing deadlines. The writing muscle would get exercise. I edit my postings carefully. I take few liberties with statements I make about food. But the stakes (steaks) are not so high. Any errors are my own.

1 comment:

LoveFeast said...

Why not food! It is something we all have to experience! So much happens in and around the table! There are always new experiences to have and new people to share it with! I recently started food blogging myself and re-found my love of writing!-Chris Ann