Tag Archives: blogging

Westward Hoecakes: Notes from the Road

07 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by in Adventures

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So you remember how I was all, “I’m doing a cross-country road trip, and I’m going to blog ALL THE TIME from the road?”

I’m sometimes an idiot. This was one of those times.

We have ended each day road-weary, exhausted, but relatively no worse off for the wear. We’ve made it to New Mexico, and I’ve been gathering notes and thoughts and ideas along the way to share with you here.

1. Travelling with a cat. Okay. This seemed easy in theory. And generally speaking, travelling with Otis isn’t that bad. He calmed down considerably after the first day when he completely freaked out about being in a car. But finding a pet-friendly hotel for each city we stay in has been a special brand of Hell. A lot of “pet-friendly” places are only dog-friendly (haters gon’ hate).

But really, how can I stay mad when this is how Otis travels?

Otis in my lap, travelling.

Otis in my lap, travelling.

2. Gooey Butter Cake. Holy mother. This is a St. Louis signature food, and on a recommendation from my mother-in-law, we went to Kruta’s bakery in Collinsville, Illinois to pick up a Gooey Butter Cake all our own. And it was gooey, buttery, so rich, and divine. Look.

Gooey Butter Cake!

Gooey Butter Cake!

It almost glows.

So then, being a food blogger with a lovely group of readers on my Facebook page, I asked for a recipe, and a lovely lady named Belle Ann shared her recipe with us. Super, super, super excited to try it once I have access to a kitchen again. (Head on over to my Facebook page to see the recipe.)

3. I’m seeing parts of the country I’ve never seen before. I saw my first tumbleweed today (actually tumbling, might I add).

I’m also seeing tons of mountains, farmlands, and today, my first desert. I felt like a kid, staring out the window, gaping at ranches, at how big the sky is. I love watching each state give way to some new terrain, seeing how subtly lush green farmland gives way to rocky desert soil, which turns to amber plateaus dotted with trees and windmills, and I’m happy to see cows roaming along the way.

New Mexico, out my car window.

New Mexico, out my car window.

4. Today, I committed my first act of graffiti. My mom described me and Amanda as “living kind of sort of near the edge” – we’re not risk-takers, we like rules. We pulled off the road just outside of Amarillo, Texas today at Cadillac Ranch, a public art installation constructed in the 1970s that features Cadillacs buried nose-first in the ground at an angle corresponding to the Great Pyramid of Giza. At Cadillac Ranch, adding your own graffiti is encouraged, so we came prepared.

As we walked out to the cars, a can of pink spray paint in hand, I asked Amanda if she had ever graffiti’d anything before. She laughed and said no, and I confessed I hadn’t either. My spray painting experience was limited to painting floats for college Homecoming parades.

Look! I'm painting a Cadillac!

Look! I’m painting a Cadillac!

We moved from car to car, painting hearts, “A+D=<3″, a painting of Otis with his name below it, and “westward ho!” on different parts of the cars. Not edgy, but it fit us.

We made a picture for Otis since he couldn't do it himself.

We made a picture for Otis since he couldn’t do it himself.

5. My mom seemed worried, at first, about my road trip. But I have a sneaking suspicion that she’s now enjoying it, if only because it fulfills her life’s work of creating puns for any situation (next time I teach puns to college freshmen, I just need to fly my mom in to deliver the lesson).

Puns!

Puns!

6. Road trips are tricky. There is an attempt to strike a balance between the mission of just getting there (a matter of survival) and the mission to enjoy the journey (a matter of personal enjoyment). It’s a hard balance to strike as we end each day tired, ready to crash and read books and sleep before we get up to continue driving the next day. But we are finding ways to enjoy it – spray painting old Cadillacs, finding the occasional meal off the beaten path (tonight’s tacos and margarita were just what I needed), treating ourselves to chocolate and new CDs and pictures of the country taken through our bug-splattered windows. We’re enjoying the journey together, even while we endeavor to survive it.

Be the Road Runner

06 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by in Writing

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Wile E. Coyote: plotting. | Pic from cartoonnetworkss.com

I used to use blogging as a way to avoid working on my book. Blogging is fun and easy. It’s immediate. I can post recipes and poems and pictures. I can jibber jabber about TV or books or songs or food. I get to connect with actual human beings, and we share our stories. I think of things that might make you laugh (or sometimes cry – though that’s never intentional). I anticipate my mom’s reaction (hi Mom!) and I think of my Granny reading this blog in Florida (hi Granny!).

So let me tell you how writing a book is different. Instead of connecting with actual human beings, I either talk to my cat, who doesn’t talk back, or I sit quietly and listen to The Ladies. That’s what I call the three ladies who are the main characters of my book. The Ladies are the building blocks, and I’m in the business of playing with those blocks. But I can’t see what they look like – I can only tell their shape and where they fit by feeling, by listening. So I listen to them, and I write scenes and patches of dialogue and notes and outlines. Sometimes this resembles an arts and crafts project. Usually it just means I sit in my chair, drinking coffee and water, staring into space or typing or growing despondent off of a dry, unproductive day, or high off of the energy of a productive work day. Usually, I don’t speak to anyone from the time Amanda leaves in the morning to the time she comes home at night (unless you count Facebook interactions – thank heaven for Facebook).

With all this quiet and concentration in mind, I always mean to work on the book in the morning, and then blog in the afternoon. It seems like a great way to have the best of both worlds.

But it reminds me a bit of this Coyote and Road Runner cartoon. Continue reading »

Sharing the Salted Spoon

10 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Recipes

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Buttermilk cupcakes - yum!

Buttermilk cupcakes – yum!

One of the absolute coolest things about being a writer is linking up with other writers and seeing them succeed. That may seem very Pollyanna of me, but it’s true:  I love celebrating my friends’ achievements, and I’m more than happy to toot their horns for them.

You’ll remember my friend Redd from Salted Spoon; she was a guest blogger for the 12 Days of Cookies, and she shared with us her snickerdoodle recipe. Redd has been blogging for a little over a year, and she has released her first eBook, a collection of her best recipes from her first year of blogging.

Redd put out a call on Facebook several months ago, asking friends if they would mind testing recipes for her. I had no idea what they were for, but I jumped at the opportunity and picked a few recipes to test for her. Hands down, my favorite was for Buttermilk Cupcakes with Orange Zest and Chocolate Ganache. I mean, who on God’s green earth doesn’t love ganache? Right? These cupcakes are moist, with just a hint of sweet tang, and the ganache is bittersweet and rich. I added a teaspoon of sugar to sweeten it up, but it’s lovely as is. Continue reading »

12 Days of Cookies: Day Nine

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by in Food

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Remember yesterday when I said that new bloggers should really get out there and read as many blogs as they can? During my campaign to start reading as many bloggers as I could find, particularly of the food ilk, I stumbled upon a periodic table, Shannon’s fantastic food blog. Shannon’s recipes and photos are lovely, lovely, lovely, and Shannon is a fun blogger to follow because of her vibrant personality and sense of humor. Seriously. You should go follow her on Facebook right now before you forget. 

Shannon emailed me yesterday to profusely apologize for getting her recipe and blog post to me last minute (ahem, a full 24 hours before the post went live, no big deal), and shared with me her colossally busy week thus far. I advised her to put her feet up and relax. And with the recipe she is sharing, I sort of believe she took my advice. (I hope!)

Lemon Poppyseed Ginger Biscotti

Post by Shannon Weber

Candied ginger, y'all. Want! | Photo by Shannon Weber

Candied ginger, y’all. Want! | Photo by Shannon Weber

You know what we all need right now? A nap, most likely. Maybe a little pre-holiday pep talk. I don’t know about you, but this week turned into Rush Week for me. No, I’m not pledging a sorority (heaven help us all, can you imagine?); “Rush Week” for me is that week that all the pre-holiday preparations culminate into one big, fat to-do list you must have completed by the end of the week. I usually have at least one breakdown during the week where I throw something at something else and refuse to finish.

Five minutes later, I recover and am back to it.

I am nearing the end of my rush week; cookie trays are made and distributed, my gingerbread house submission for Movita Beaucoup’s Ginger 2012 competition is done and being judged as I write this, and I am cleaning my house and wrapping presents in anticipation of my winter guests, who will be here in two days. I need a little bit of peace, and a little bit of recovery. We all do.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I need a little life time-out? Tea. Lemons. Ginger. A little snap, a little tart, a little heat – that’s all it takes to refocus and rejuvenate me. There’s something about those flavors that seem so soothing, especially this time of year. Since I am Dana’s “9th day of cookie” today, I wanted to share a treat which would be stress-free; a biscotti that’s easy to make, will make your kitchen smell lemon-heavenly, and would be perfect with a hot cup of tea. Continue reading »

Holy NaBloPoMo, y’all. I made it.

30 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by in Blogging, Writing

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December: NaBloPoMo no more. So, obviously, a Christmas tree.

December: NaBloPoMo no more. So, obviously, a Christmas tree.

Thirty days ago, I accepted a challenge, egged on encouraged by the cool folks over at yeah write:  one blog post per day for 30 days. NaBloPoMo, the blog challenge that lives at BlogHer’s house, was in full swing, and I have succeeded at the challenge:  I have blogged every day during the month of November.

*curtsy* *wave* *blow kisses* *look humble*

I blogged on a holiday. I blogged after I got engaged. I blogged about getting engaged. I shared poems. I shared tummy troubles. I blogged even when I had nothing to say. I blogged about not wanting to blog.

And after that kind of consistent blogging, I’m ready to make a few personal observations:

blogging communities rock

Without yeah write to fuel my sense of competition and accountability, I don’t know that I would have made it through 30 days of blogging. I’m not skilled enough or motivated enough (in my opinion) to be a professional blogger, so 30 days of blogging was actually really difficult at times. But the sense of community at yeah write really kept me going. We read each other’s work, we commented on each other’s work, and we got to know each other. I found several new blogs to follow, and I likely wouldn’t have stumbled upon them if it weren’t for that blogging community. Continue reading »

Thankful Foodie: Reflecting on Thanksgiving

22 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Blogging, Food, Writing

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I wrote last weekend about how bonfires (or fireworks) make me think of the last time I experienced bonfires (or fireworks). The same holds true for holidays, and as a food blogger and avid eater, this is one of my absolute favorite holidays. And since I managed to get through the day enjoying myself without having to take Alka Seltzer, I consider it a job well done, and for that, I am thankful.

So here are some gratuitous Thanksgiving food photos and a few random (or not so random) notes of thanks from me before I nod off into my turkey-induced sleep.

Turkey (brined with Williams-Sonoma Apples & Spices, then massaged with butter and sprinkled with fresh cracked black pepper and kosher salt).

1. I’m thankful for my parents who gave me the opportunities and resources to learn to cook. My mom taught me some of my first recipes, and her cinnamon toast is still unsurpassed in my book as the ultimate in comfort food and ease. My dad had me cooking my first Thanksgiving turkey when I was eleven years old because he got a free turkey from the car dealership he worked at that fall. I made box stuffing, jar gravy, and frozen veggies, and he had to help me lift the turkey in and out of the oven because I was too little to do it alone. My next solo Thanksgiving would be when I was fifteen, and by then, I had gotten more experienced, using my mom’s recipe for sausage stuffing, calling her for last minute tips and questions.

2. I’m thankful that I can still call my mom for last minute tips and questions. Like today when I realized I bought pineapple chunks instead of crushed pineapple for the sweet potato casserole. Mom offered advice, and crisis was averted. And that casserole was perfect. (Tip of the day from me:  use the jumbo campfire marshmallows that you usually use for making s’mores. Cut them in half, and arrange them in rows. They provide perfectly even coverage, and they’re thick enough that there is an equal ratio of yam to marshmallow.)

3. I’m thankful that I’ve retained enough of my child-like hope and wonder that I still tear up when the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade begins. We started watching it on CBS this morning, but it just didn’t seem like Thanksgiving if I couldn’t be vaguely annoyed with Matt Lauer and Al Roker, so we switched over to NBC just in time for me to see Al Roker and the lady who runs the parade doing the ribbon cutting with a group of Girl Scouts. A small part of me still wishes I were a Radio City Rockette. And I still tear up and get goosebumps watching the parade. And I’m thankful for that spirit.

See what I mean? 50% yam, 50% marshmallow. Just like God intended.

4. I’m thankful for a slow, relaxing, food-filled day to hang with my honey in the middle of the week. Weekends end up being stuffed (get it? turkey? cause it’s Thanksgiving?) with errands and chores and social engagements. We’re off work, but we’re not really relaxing. But a day off today was perfect. We stayed in pajamas and drank coffee and mimosas and ate leftover Monkey Bread. We started cooking, each of us with our own tasks, helping each other when we needed it (stuffing a bird is sort of a two-person job). This time next year, I will likely have said goodbye to Amanda, sending her off on deployment for the better part of a year; I’m so happy I got to have Thanksgiving with her today and cherish having time with her here at home.

5. I’m thankful for pie. That’s all. I’m just thankful for pie.

Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie

6. Lastly, I’m thankful for this blog. Two years ago next month, I quit my job at a law firm where I worked as an administrative assistant. It was a good job with good people, but it wasn’t for me. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t challenged. And I knew that my trips to Barnes & Noble on my lunch break, where I walked the aisles and trailed my fingers along the spines of books and sometimes cried a little in the parking lot, were signs to me:  Dana, let someone who is right for that job have it. Go do your job. That was teaching, yes, but it was also writing. I started this blog  few months later, and I have learned more about cooking and food and community and writing and my own voice and reading and taste and hunger in the past year than I ever could have imagined. I’ve gotten so much closer to being the kind of writer I’m supposed to be, and that has come partly from writing Whisks & Words. I am thankful for the people who have given me writing jobs, for the people who have been good enough to publish my stories and essays. I’m thankful for my writing community, both the ones I went to school with and hang out with and the ones I’ve never met in person, the ones in my blogging community and on Twitter and Facebook. And I am so thankful for this blog, for the freedom and confidence and experience it has given me. And also the pleasure and enjoyment. And I’m thankful for the readers who stop by (and even more for the readers who come back again!) and read and chat with me.

I’m one thankful foodie. And that time, I almost said foodie without cringing. Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

This post is part of NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. Check out other great posts at BlogHer and yeah write.

The Endless Immensity of the Sea

08 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Blogging, Writing

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The (endless, immense) stormy sea before Hurricane Sandy hit.

This is day eight of NaBloPoMo, and for the first time, I felt myself revving up into a petulant temper tantrum about blogging.

Please don’t take this personally. I love blogging. I love writing. I love food. I love writing about food. I love writing about writing, too. It’s a long, loving cycle.

And yet. Sometimes, I just plain don’t want to do it.

In her excellent book, An Everlasting Meal, Tamar Adler writes a chapter that seemed to sing out to me as someone who, every now and again, hates her passions. She writes about hating to cook even though she loves it.

There are times when I can’t bear to think about cooking. Food is what I love, and how I communicate love, and how I calm myself. But sometimes, without my knowing why, it is drained of all of that. Then cooking becomes just another one of hunger’s jagged edges. 

So it was that tonight, at around 7:00, I found myself curled up in a tight ball of Dana, my stomach attacking me after too much pizza and brownie and not enough water and fruit and veggies. We were in the thick of some serious TV watching. And I thought, oh crap, I still have to blog. Continue reading »

Blog Your Booty Off: NaBloPoMo

01 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in Blogging, Teaching, Writing

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Fluffing my ballet skirt – my pirate ballet skirt.

Yesterday afternoon, Facebook prompted me with a status update idea. Instead of the usual “What’s on your mind?” that populates the status typing window, this one asked “What was your best Halloween costume?”

My answer:  last year’s pirate costume. I’ve had some good costumes over the years. Zombie Cheerleader when I was ten was a personal favorite for many years. I’m still proud of the well-researched Betty Crocker costume I sported as a sophomore in high school, as well as the whimsical Fairy Godmother costume during my senior year.

But last year, I dressed up for the first time in a few years. The last time (prior to the pirate) that I had dressed up, it was for a literary Halloween party, and I was mistaken for Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, and no one guessed the actual costume, which was Idgy from Fried Green Tomatoes. I hated my haircut, I hated my costume, and in the morning, I hated my hangover.

But last year. Oh, last year. That was costume greatness. I had fun with make-up, channeling David Bowie to be a highly eye-shadowed pirate. I have a hard time getting down with the “sexy” costumes, but I had lost a little weight and I was excited to play with my costume a bit, show a little thigh, wear a full ballet skirt. I was going to a Halloween party at the dance studio I worked at, The Mambo Room, and I knew my costume would probably be tame compared with the sexy cops and sexy cats that would likely abound.

I <3 Booty.

And my costume was fun. I got to wear my knee-high boots, full ballet skirt, my crazy make-up, and fake tattoos that my friend Andrea drew for me, my favorite being the I <3 Booty tattoo. And I danced that night without worrying about my feet or the tension in my hands or my broken spin; I just danced and had a blast.

So, Facebook, there’s my answer. But as I settled on my answer, I also had to find it just a bit funny that Facebook offered a prompt in the first place. Most people don’t need help finding a Facebook posting – I’m eating a sandwich, I’m grading papers, I’m avoiding Facebook (liar), etc. We think, we act, we update.

But all this got me thinking about the idea of writing prompts. Continue reading »

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