Comments on: Culinary New Year’s Resolutions, Version 2.0

By: Barbara

Barbara — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 21:32:19 +0000

I am glad to see so many culinary resolutions here! Bread-making and cooking more often seem to be favorites for everyone–good luck with your resolutions!

I am very happy to hear that folks like the book reviews and find them helpful. I have scads of new Indian cookbooks to review, so look for more reviews on the horizon…

Advice on writing a cookbook–well, how about this: know your audience and write to them. One of the things I have found most successful in my writing is that I am obsessive about explaining everything thoroughly. This makes my posts long, which I am told turns off blog readers. Well, that may be the case sometimes, but I have actually been thanked in email by plenty of readers for giving such careful, thorough instructions, especially for tricky techniques like stir frying and pastry making.

So, if you are writing to beginners, or if you are writing about an ethnic cuisine to those unfamiliar about it–be thorough and clear in your explanations. Go step by step. Leave nothing out, and then give your recipes to beginners to test, to make sure they work. We who know how to do something often take our knowledge for granted and cannot thus explain it easily–do not fall into that trap!

Also–give stories and cultural backgrounds with your recipes. Readers love that.

Thank you all for the welcome-backs, too! It is good to be back in the office, writing again. I never really stopped cooking–I slowed down a lot, but I didn’t stop! But, I will admit that without blogging, I did fall back on tried and true recipes! Now it is time to branch out and cook creatively again!

As for pictures of Kat–I have decided to do a short post every Saturday primarily of pictures and updates about the wee baby! Sort of a “Weekend Baby Blogging.” Have no fear, though, cat lovers–I have plenty of pics of both baby and cats to put up that have double the cute factor!

By: mandira

mandira — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 21:12:39 +0000

So good to see you back. I’m so glad you’re blogging again.
I like the idea of culinary resolutions. My resolutions are not to be intimidated by recipes but to try the. And the second one is to cook something new like baking a bread

By: lucette

lucette — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 19:32:23 +0000

I saw your new posts and read them with glee! Happy new year, and glad to hear things are going better.
I like the idea of culinary resolutions, and maybe will make some myself.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 17:43:49 +0000

Glad you are back! Missed you. Glad the family is doing well.

My food resolutions:
1) Tupperware and feeze food more(not eat the same thing for 3 days strait)

2) Bring more food to work. Eating out all the time is bad!

3) Eat locally more.

By: Tammy

Tammy — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 15:55:04 +0000

I resolve to master sauces thickened with flour. I can’t make a gravy or bechamel to save my life. I make beautiful roasts and pan-sauces but gravies are a mystery (and my mac&cheese is an abomination).

p.s. glad you are back – are you guys swimming in Athens like we are in Cincinnati? Where’s the snow???