{"id":302,"date":"2007-06-20T09:48:37","date_gmt":"2007-06-20T13:48:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blogsmonroe.com\/food\/?p=302"},"modified":"2007-06-20T09:48:37","modified_gmt":"2007-06-20T13:48:37","slug":"on-food-blogging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/micuisine.com\/lunapiercook\/?p=302","title":{"rendered":"On Food Blogging"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the questions asked of me at the BlogsMonroe blogger’s picnic a couple weeks ago was where I get enough material to blog on an almost daily basis. I’m not sure what my answer was, only that, whatever it was, it was very non-committal.<\/p>\n

[… and that fulfills one of the goals for the day, “use the word ‘<\/em>non-committal‘ in a sentence while actually spelling it correctly”<\/em> …]<\/p>\n

I’ll tell you what, food blogging is fun. It’s a blast! It’s a reason to use the sentence, “Honey, it’s for the blog” on a regular basis and actually<\/em> get away with saying that. It’s fattening, that’s for darn sure, but hey, I’m big-boned anyway, knowwhatImean?<\/p>\n

Food blogging may look easy. I’ve been told I make it look easy. It’s not. It’s a serious struggle on a daily basis to come up with something new, something that will make Dan Shaw<\/a> hungry, something that will make people want to come back and read more, later today, tomorrow, or even next week.<\/p>\n

It’s a struggle every single day to write something that will maybe, hopefully, possibly, cause someone, somewhere,\u00a0to want to\u00a0leave a\u00a0comment.<\/p>\n

Food blogging, writing up interesting items, formatting and drafting recipes, taking photos … all of this is difficult enough that renowned food blogger\u00a0Matt\u00a0of Matt Bites<\/em>\u00a0will be teaching a class on the subject<\/a> at the Whole Foods Market Bowery in NYC on July 15th. Matt’s food photos<\/a> are legendary on their own.<\/p>\n

But finding material to write about? You would think there’s enough going on in the world of food that this would be easy. It’s not. Yes, there’s a lot going on. No, not all of it’s interesting.<\/p>\n

I have\u00a0a blog entry buried in the database here within BlogsMonroe.com\u00a0that may never see the light of day. I’m just not sure if\u00a0it’s interesting enough for you, my readers.\u00a0It’s about U.S. laws regarding alcohol, but looking at it from outside the U.S. There’s also an email in my mvps.org inbox with a link to an artcle where, apparently, a chef in Ireland is trying to convince other chefs to “stop smothering natural foods with sauces”. That’s another one I’m not sure will be interesting to talk about here.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, the “Question of the Day” over on Serious Eats<\/em> was one of mine: What are your favorite “simple” foods?<\/a> As I explained in the description area:<\/p>\n

Yesterday [Monday], in 90 degree heat and 100% humidity, I was dumbfounded by a mouthful of chilled strawberry jello with drained canned fruit cocktail in it. I could have eaten a pound of the stuff … One of my favorite simple foods is a properly slow-roasted pig. Just reach in under a skin flap, grab a handful and pop it into the mouth … What’s yours?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There have been 36 comments to my question\u00a0so far (37 if you count a comment by moi), with some amazing replies. “Frozen grapes.” “A real nice bread with some butter.” “A nice, crisp granny Smith apple.” “A nice crisp and garlicky dill pickle.” And one of my favorite replies, “Cottage cheese. Plain. From the container.”<\/p>\n

Some\u00a0are surprising. I spotted the one that says, “Shake & Bake pork chops, Mac & Chz in the box….has a sense of nostalgia for me.” Knowing what the writer,\u00a0tyronebcookin<\/a>, does for a living, this was a real surprise. But moments later, it dawned on me that what I already knew, that even chefs love when others cook for them, was now\u00a0further cemented by\u00a0tyronebcookin’s simple comment …\u00a0that these professional\u00a0folks are\u00a0obviously\u00a0not as high-falutin’ as society has always made them out to be.<\/p>\n

Recently, Chef Mario Batali, one of my favorite chefs out there, dissed food bloggers completely. One of the gang over at Serious Eats<\/em> went on the offensive. Both viewpoints are linked from here<\/a>. From Chef Mario’s rant:<\/p>\n

Many of the anonymous authors who vent on blogs rant their snarky vituperatives from behind the smoky curtain of the web. This allows them a peculiar and nasty vocabulary that seems to be taken as truth by virtue of the fact that it has been printed somewhere<\/em>. Unfortunately, this also allows untruths, lies and malicious and personally driven dreck to be quoted as fact. Even a savvy blog like the one you are reading now has strangely superseded truly responsible journalism … the blog is now a new partner, and this bit of shoddy journalism will be picked up and promulgated by the rest of the gray zone and march its merry way toward the center of the road. Eventually these blog posts become factual information lost in the sauce … But, in the end, I do not hate the blogger. I just expect, and want, more from many of them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Vituperatives”\u00a0… gotta look that one up …<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

I’m far from anonymous, to the point where I’ve been recognized on the street as “LunaPierCook”. Untruths? Lies? “Malicious and personally-driven dreck”? I try not to do that, and if I screw up in that direction, I’m sure either Dan Shaw\u00a0or someone else will give me a virtual smack on the noggin.<\/p>\n

Right, let me back up a few … yes, I have to admit, I haven’t said many nice things about the food coverage at the Toledo Blade. That’s only because I see the whole “high-falutin'” thing happening there, while here I am, finding chefs to be some of the most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met. That “high-falutin’, high-society” thing doesn’t work for me in relation to food, cooking\u00a0or chefs. I see Chef Anthony Bourdain on “No Reservations” going ga-ga over whole roast pig, and writing the only cookbook I’ve ever seen that’s laced with profanity. I see Chef Silverio Cont\u00e9 of the Bolles Harbor Caf\u00e9, taking chilled bottled water outside to the gardeners he’d hired to spiff up the place this spring. I see Chef Tad of the Frog Leg Inn using the popular and inexpensive Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce in one of his more-popular\u00a0specials, and owning up to doing so right there on\u00a0his menu. And I see Chef Jeremiah Kouhia of Manhattan’s in Toledo, grilling Italian sausage over charcoal in his backyard, and offering some to Mary and I without even knowing so much as our names at the time.<\/p>\n

Pretentious? “High-falutin'”? Not the chefs I know and\/or admire. Sure, there are chefs in the Toledo and Monroe areas with egos the size of their … hats. But my experience has been that these are few and far-between.<\/p>\n

And yes, I’ve gotten into writing negative restaurant reviews. Why? Maybe it’ll be helpful<\/em>. Frankly, if I cook something someone doesn’t like, I want to know about it. Yesterday evening, I grilled some pork chops. My opinion was that they were rather dry. Still, one neighborhood teen (… david-JAMES!<\/em>) and my daughter each ate two of those chops. If anyone had mentioned how dry that pork was, I’d have admitted to cooking them too long over heat that was too low, and that, next time, they’ll get seared first, then<\/em> slow-cooked (to preserve the juices), like I should have done last night. It’s certainly a matter of constructive criticism, which is how I like to\u00a0write most negative blog entries anyway.<\/p>\n

That is, except when I write about someone else writing about all\u00a0that high-falutin’ nonsense …<\/p>\n

Material? I get it wherever I can find it. It’s as simple as that. If I can’t find something, I’ll drag something out that’s been on my mind, such as that simple question of, “Where do you find enough material?” There’s a lot<\/em> of food out there, a lot of places to get food, a lot of food writing to comment on. And in the summer, there’s a lot of food events and festivals\u00a0to find, with there not being near enough time to get to all of them.<\/p>\n

But I’ll only cover what I think is interesting to you. And that’s certainly not everything.<\/p>\n

Most of all, I’m glad folks like (for the most part)\u00a0what I write. As long as you keep reading, I’ll keep struggling with what to write. I think y’all are worth it.<\/p>\n

I think\u00a0my wife Mary is especially worth it, and I’ll tell you why. She\u00a0put me on this path by telling me I do<\/em> know a bit about cooking, I treasure her deeply<\/em> for many reasons, including telling\u00a0me that when I didn’t know it myself\u00a0…\u00a0including her\u00a0tolerating my cooking mistakes as much as she does …\u00a0and\u00a0for not sighing too<\/em> loudly\u00a0when I say, “Honey, it’s for the blog!<\/em>“<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the questions asked of me at the BlogsMonroe blogger’s picnic a couple weeks ago was where I get enough material to blog on an almost daily basis. I’m not sure what my answer was, only that, whatever it was, it was very non-committal. 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