Last week, I promised to share with you how I am creative other than writing. Well, I don’t write much now except for this blog. If you see a “new” book with my name on it, at this point in time, it’s a repackage. I am grateful for repacks!
I appreciate the creativity of my writers. I can’t think of a better career than being a literary agent! But as for my creativity, the main way I’m creative now is cooking!
Not only do I love cooking, but it is a way I express love to my family and friends. I have fun perusing new recipes, choosing which dishes to prepare. I’ll admit, I have never followed a recipe exactly. This is just part of the creative process.
I enjoy shopping, choosing each ingredient to include. When you prepare food from scratch, you are aware of exactly what you and your family are consuming. You can pay special to nutrients and be mindful of the body’s response to the well-being and energy the right kinds of food provide.
Not only that, but I have a chance to be creative every day! Now, to plan tonight’s dinner…
Your turn:
Do you enjoy cooking?
Do your characters enjoy cooking?
Have you ever included recipes in your books?
When Did You Know You Wanted to Be a Writer?
I do, though I’ve been too busy to cook lately. The writing is kind of taking over my after-work hours. But I wrote a mystery that wasn’t quite ready for publication. In it I created my dream diner in Up North, Michigan. I had fun making up cool pancake and other breakfast dishes. Even naming the dishes. My favorite was the Canoe Sinker Breakfast. I’ll have to whip that one up some day.
I love to cook but hate to think up meals. If somebody tells me what they want, I’m glad to fix it. Is that weird? I guess it’s after 42+years of planning and cooking, I’ve turned my creative bent to novels.
My main character in my debut novel, Chapel Springs Revival, had her culinary expertise max put at Jell-O. Her hubby is the family cook, but then she gets coerced into learning. Can you say fiasco?
I wonder if that’s my inner chef? LOL
Ane, you wrote the words out of my hands! Cooking, yeah, planning, boo! To fix this problem I know have a menu I plan every Sunday night. I ask my husband to pick one meal for the week and my kids each give out suggestions and I always will go with one of them. So that leaves me 3 more to come up with on my own since every Friday we have pizza and there is a leftover night somewhere. I think I did the math right.
My characters do not cook, but they sure do enjoy getting their grub on. Jeanne, like you, I give a quick yummy description of the food in my stories, more emphasis on smells, just to get the reader into the scene, but maybe we should leave them hungry for more. I don’t know what that means, haha.
Tamela, I am happy that you have found a delicious creative outlet that your family and other can enjoy. There really is something joyful about preparing something that loved ones gobble up with a smile and a high five 🙂
I usually include cooking and exercise in my stories. One reason is because I consider preparing meals a labor of love. If it was up to me, I’d probably exist on salads and cereal. But I try to prepare delicious and healthy meals to show love to my family. We have even tried growing some veggies, but I seem to do better with flowers.
Like Ron, I’d rather be writing after work than cooking. But I do think it’s healthier to prepare our own meals. So I cook.
Thanks for sharing and reminding me why I cook.
The only thing I love more than cooking…is cooking with my kids.
Some of our favorite times are when we “Apron Up” and spend time dicing, chopping stirring and even canning together. The other day my husband picked all of the beets in his small space garden and I pickled them. As the lids made the distinct “pop”, signifying they were sealed my teenage daughter sighed and said…”I love that sound! It is so satisfying.”
Last night we grilled pizza on the barbecue for the first time. It was awesome. Adding fresh rosemary and pressed garlic to the homemade dough added to the savory feast, it earned a two thumbs up..plus it didn’t heat up the kitchen.
I am including the pizza in a book I am working on, “Creatively Inspired” which also includes Sarah Sundin’s Boston Cream Pie, featured in her latest WWII novel, and a recipe from Lauraine Snelling.
From my kitchen to yours…bon appetite!
One of my books, Revealing Fire, featured a 50–something woman who had a reputation for her wonderful cooking, and her specialty, Gingerbread Cake, had won a few blue ribbons. The actual recipe is included in the back of the book, and it’s a recipe I’ve used for years. Never entered it in any county fairs, but it has earned more than a few requests for second helpings.
I have found joy in cooking only in the recent years since my children. My husband and I waited nearly eight years before starting a family after we were married, and we had no problem living on hotdogs, frozen pizzas and boxed dinners during that time. 🙂
However, since I’ve had my children, I quickly realized the importance of good nutrition and wanted to give them the best I could. I have since learned so much, and I never get tired of hearing my children telling me how much they love my cooking.
I’ve had to re-learn to cook several times, experimenting with various diets for IBS. Finally found one that works, and developing new low-FODMAP recipes has been one of my most creative activities for the last two years. Sharing them on my Comfortable Comfort Foods blog has been deeply rewarding.
Including food in a science fiction novel can be challenging, because from the characters’ viewpoints there is nothing unusual about what they’re eating–but to the readers, it should seem science-fictiony. Talk about walking a tightrope!
One of my characters, Lady Firebird, was raised in an urban environment with servants. Her fascination with the pastoral setting of Hesed House, where garnetberries and snow apples are raised on site, gave me a chance to play with foods in a SF setting.
Because of multiple food allergies and sensitivities in my family I’ve adapted and invented recipes for years. That doesn’t have much to do with my writing, but I did once write and self publish a booklet on how to cope with special diets. I gave away the hard copies and now give away the pdf to anyone who requests it through my website.
I enjoy cooking. We, too have a number of food issues in our family. So, most of what I make is from scratch. I sometimes find myself jumping on Pinterest, copying the ingredients, shopping and then cooking them. My boys love trying new meals, as does my husband.
I have characters who enjoy cooking. I have to be careful not to give so many descriptors of the food and ambiance that the readers are left hungry for the meal but distracted from the plot. 🙂
I have considered including recipes in my books. If I am ever published, I may do that. 🙂
I laughed aloud at your comment about never following the recipe. When someone asks me for the recipe to some dish, and I offer to send the recipe, the ones who know me say, “No, not the real recipe–the one you followed and I am usually hard-pressed to remember exactly what I did.
SO TRUE! I put ingredients into the bread machine every night without thinking.
One time my son, who was away at college called and asked for the recipe. I had measurements for almost everything but had to tell him it was a BLOOP…BLOOP of oil.
BLOOP is now considered a standard Seither measurement.
Wow! Look at all the comments!
I do love to cook. We had a family come stay with us from El Salvador and she showed me the authentic way of making Chili Rellenos. They are SOO good, but take about 4 hrs to make.
I haven’t given cooking as a hobby to any of my characters yet, but I am involved in a series that’s going to be putting out a cookbook with Revolutionary War recipes. So far it’s been REALLY fun!
Amber Schamel
Bringing HIStory to Life
http://www.AmberSchamel.com
I’m a terrible cook, Tamela, but one of my characters is a great one.
In my WIP which takes place in Nazi Germany, Warm, delicious, apple strudel carries spy messages.
Yay for a fellow foodie! That’s a huge creative outlet for me, too. In fact, the picture makes me want to get to my cutting board pronto! We also love exploring new restaurants and trying new cuisines. When we go on vacation, we always ask around for the best local hole-in-the-wall haunts instead of the tourist traps. And yes, I am currently writing a foodie series! They say write what you know, right? 🙂
I love to cook. I found it so relaxing (and my family assures me I’m good at it, just as long as I remember I’m cooking something – ADHD). I rarely use recipes and when I do they are merely guidelines.
My husband comes home for his lunch break which is dinner time for me. He’ll ask, ‘What are we having for dinner?’ And I say, ‘I’ll let you know when it’s finished.’ 🙂 One recipe I’m asked to make over and over for my husband and two sons is Pammer’s 4 B Dude Chili. (4 Bs are the main ingredients bacon, beef, buffalo, and beer…not a bean in sight, lol.)
Several of my characters cook though in my historicals this is rather odd. It’s still fun even in books.
I had to laugh–this issue came up just last night as I sat down to dinner with my husband and yet another standby dish. After 40 years of cooking (I started when I was 12 for my family of seven–Mom worked full-time) I feel like I have little time to cook, let alone come up with interesting meals. I would love to take a cooking class to ignite some creative chef side of me I know is just lurking beneath the surface. My sweet husband suggested we come up with one creative meal a week and do it together on the weekend when he’s home. Not surprisingly, in my latest novel, the main character runs a family restaurant but can’t cook.
I do very little cooking after having cooked for my four children and husband for years. However, the character in my book is a house slave who cooks, and after being a free slave, cooks for my family who harbors slaves in Indiana. Being from the South, she is a very quiet person who prepares dinners that leave everyone asking for more.
My creative outlet was and is playing the piano. I have in the past made quilts, but they require enormous amounts of time, so I scan the books and magazines and enjoy my local quilt guild. Writing is a very creative outlet allowing the mind to wander into all sorts of imagined mysteries and challenges.
I’m not a great cook, so I think that’s why I enjoy writing about characters who are! I’ve used some of my family’s recipes in my books–particularly our local dishes. I think it adds a little interest and flavor. What better way to show the heroine’s background than describing what her family brings to the table? 🙂
I can’t cook to save my life… I mean, I can boil water… but I’ve managed to mess up everything from simple spaghetti to toast. It’s a gift, I’ve decided. But my husband loves to cook and I sometimes include a man who cooks in my writing.
I can’t cook my way out of a paper bag.
I can’t cook my way out of a paper bag, but sometimes I make my characters be great bakers.
Love the post, Tamela.
I’m not too fond of actual cooking, but I do love to bake. (As in, I’ll never be a gourmet chef, 🙂 ). We have a lot of food allergies in our family, so it’s fun to come up with new ideas of tasty treats and desserts we can safely eat. I love the achievement of making something we can all enjoy that doesn’t include any allergens.
My characters have baked items in my books and I have included a recipe one of my characters baked in an anthology of which I was a part.
I’m more of a baker than a cook. I do enjoy describing food in my writing! I’ve been told by some of my readers that reading my books makes them hungry! LOL!
Fun post, Tamela!
I love cooking, baking, candy-making, concocting… Pretty much anything that has to do with taste-testing. 🙂 My mom and both grandmothers were exceptional cooks and passed on that love of experimenting in the kitchen. My dad’s mom ran a very successful cake business and even passed on some secret family recipes!
The heroine in my completed novel delights in baking and uses a silver, heirloom spice tin she treasures. She’s not exceptional at cooking, though, as evidenced when she catches a skillet on fire, which results in her tending the burns of her rescuer–the man she once vowed to hate forever. Poignant romantic moment ensues. 😉
One of my favorite things is reading a good book–especially a historical romance, then finding recipes that match certain scenes or confections the heroine baked. I hope to include recipes in my books when the time comes.
Thanks for sharing with us about your passion for creativity and cooking!
Thank you all so much for sharing! I have really enjoyed all of your comments. 😀