When I spoke on the food storytelling panel at BlogHerFood last June, my message was a simple one: Everybody has a food story. Sounds obvious but when it comes to food, so often people dismiss the possibility by saying:
I’m not a foodie.
I can’t cook.
I eat to live, not live to eat.
I’ve found, though, that even the staunchest denier of their inner foodie, has a great food story to share.
- The guy who swears he’s happy living off of hot dogs and burgers – well he turns out to be an award-winning canner of jams and spaghetti sauce.
- The I-can’t-cook person has vivid memories of her childhood in the Ukraine picking fresh cherries so her grandma could fix a Ukrainian dumpling for her and her sister.
- And the I-only-eat-to-live person texts me a picture of matzo ball soup because she is so happy that it has survived the freezer and still tastes fantastic. And did I mention the soup is homemade?
My third year of blogging included many highlights in addition to speaking at BlogHerFood– a feature in the Mercury New food section, teaching my first cooking class, and launching the Tasting Jerusalem cooking community are among them. But as I look back on my three years of blogging, nothing nourishes my desire to continue blogging more than food stories like this:
“I decided I would make Boeuf Bourguignon. I followed Julia (Child's) recipe and added some le Soeur peas. I used more burgundy than Julia asked for and we both loved it. I was darn proud of myself. Last Sunday we went to a little French bistro and Alan had the Boeuf Bourguignon and although it was very good, I liked mine better.
And I have to say that it is due, in large part, to you and your blog.
So, thank you, my dear, for the inspiration.”
Email this recipe to me!
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
3/1/2013: This giveaway is now closed - thanks to everyone who shared their colorful stories. Now to pick the winner!
As a THANK YOU to my readers for your inspirational food stories, I'm giving away a cookbook of colorful recipes and stories called: RIPE: A Fresh Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables by the talented food writer Cheryl Sternman Rule with stunning photos by Paulette Phlipot. If you haven’t stopped by Cheryl Sternman Rule’s website, then you are missing out on some extraordinary storytelling. Whether you consider yourself a foodie or not, her writing will draw you in and keep you reading until the very last crumb is gone.
The cookbook offers simple, approachable, and creative uses for fruits and vegetables organized by color. A feast for the eyes and the mind -- Cheryl’s words are as evocative as Paulette's photos.
And Cheryl will sign the book specifically for the winner of the giveaway. This contest is open to residents of the United States and Canada. You can enter until Feb 28 at midnight.
To enter, leave your own food story about a fruit or vegetable in the comments below - all stories count even if it's about the canned grean beans you hated when you were a kid. If you want to enter more than once you may follow my OMG! Yummy page on Facebook. But the only requirement is the food story so start sharing!
For a little extra incentive, I am including Cheryl's recipe for Green Beans with Pistachio Dust below to give you an idea of how creatively simple the recipes in RIPE are. Most of you probably know how to prepare a plate of slightly crunchy green beans but what if you add a bit of gold pistachio dust to top them off? Once you make a batch of this golden pistachio topping - your taste buds will want to know when they get to enjoy that flavor again. Perhaps on roasted or steamed asparagus or maybe pasta? Remember my beggar's linguine post with Dorie Greenspan's recipe that includes pistachios and dried fruit? I'm sure this dust and some olive oil or butter with pasta would be lovely. I know cauliflower marries well with hazelnuts, I'm sure a little pistachio dust would sparkle as well. Or how about a pistachio-crusted rack of lamb? Do I have your attention yet?
The dust is only four ingredients - pistachios, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper - but the sum is definitely greater than the parts.
- 1 pound (454g) green beans, rinsed, stem ends snapped
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ¾ cup (90g) dry-roasted, unsalted pistachios, toasted and cooled completely
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, or to taste
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Fill a bowl with ice water.
- Bring a medium pot of generously salted water to a boil. Drop in the green beans and boil until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain. Transfer the beans immediately to the ice bath to set their color and stop the cooking process. Drain again, pat dry, and transfer to a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil.
- Combine the pistachios, smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process for 30 seconds, or until finely ground and reduced to “dust.” Sprinkle ½ cup (60g) dust (reserve the rest for future use) over the green beans, adjust seasonings, and serve at room temperature.
Allison (Spontaneous Tomato)
Wow, blogging for three whole years already? Congratulations! Oh my goodness, and I would love to win a copy of "Ripe." I've enjoyed many posts on Cheryl Sternman Rule's website and actually bought that cookbook for my sister for her birthday, but I still don't have my own copy!
My food story is that years and years before I actually learned how to cook anything, I remember that our neighbor-- who had a daughter a little younger than my younger sister-- would invite us over, and the three of us kids would be allowed to toss any ingredients together at all, without using any recipe and bake them in the oven. I can only vaguely remember that we came up with some pretty disgusting creations of flour, sugar, blueberries, chocolate chips, sprinkles, and probably way too much baking soda/powder, too, yet somehow our creations usually at least turned out to be *edible*, which in itself was a feat! Now years later, as an adult, I can't believe that neighbor had the patience and generosity (and humor) to allow us the freedom to bake anything we wanted and however we wanted as small children.
Beth Lee
That is a great story - I would have had a hard time letting my kids do that on a regular basis but it's such a great activity for kids in so many ways. I can recall letting my daughter and her friend combine ridiculous stuff a couple of times - they had a blast.
So glad to have met you through Tasting Jerusalem and happy to have you on board on Twitter and FB! Thanks! Hope the extra entries turn luck in your favor for the book!
Donna H
Fruits and veggies were always included on any plate when dinner was served at my house. My daughter always knew you were expected to eat those 2 items off your plate, if nothing else. To this day she would prefer to eat fruits and especially vegetables... When she comes home from work she will generally just have veggies for dinner. And lima beans are her all-time favorite!! So I would love to give her this cookbook for her birthday to encourage her to experiment more and branch out with her preparation. Thank you so much!!
Beth Lee
One of my favorite parts of the book is that Cheryl shows you how to use under-appreciated vegetables - such as celery in new creative ways. Yes - your daughter would love RIPE - easy ways to enjoy fruits and veggies. What's not to love?! Thanks so much for stopping by. Come back again soon!
Joan
Congrats on three years. I grew up with a Mom and Grands who loved to can. I passed on that love to my daughter. Several years ago Mom, my daughter and I had a tomato canning marathon. We ended up with almost a hundred quarts of lovely red canned tomatoes to enjoy in soups and stews during the winter and we also love to just drink them.
Beth Lee
I see a 3-generation theme going on here! I have a friend - who I mention in this post - who is an expert canner but if you met him, you would never guess. I just love the fact that you do it together and that you drink it 🙂 Can-on Joan! And thanks for dropping by to enter the giveaway!
Martha Brochu
My dear mother always made oyster stuffing for our Thanksgiving turkey, my father, brothers and I anticipated it every year..I don't think she ever made it at any other time of the year...she taught me how to make it when I got married 47 1/2 years ago. 25 years ago my friend and I started merging our Thanksgiving dinners, only her mother always made sausage stuffing, so I merged our 2 stuffings using my mothers recipe. The oyster,sausage stuffing has become what my moms stuffing became to our whole family, 4 brothers and their wives. When my grandchildren got older and discovered what was in the stuffing they were freaked out, just at the mention of oysters, but that hasn't stopped them from eating it. I now make it for Thanksgiving in July, when we do a whole dinner on the grill and have corn on the cob instead of corn pudding, grilled turkey and sweet potatoes and whatever else we serve at Thanksgiving only with a summer grill tweak to it. It's a little labor intensive for other times of the year but well worth the smiles it evokes from my grandchildren..my 2 granddaughters and daughter know how to make the stuffing, all I have to do is supervise. They all sleep over on the eve of Thanksgiving to pre-prep the turkey and stuffing ingredients and then get up at 5 am to put it all together and start the roasting of the bird..It's become a wonderful and loving tradition for us girls (3 generations of making the turkey). My mom must be so proud, smiling down on us !
Beth Lee
Story of the day for sure - 3 generations of oyster stuffing lovers plus a grilled summer Thanksgiving! Wow - thanks for sharing Martha!
Pam
How do we enter the giveaway?
Beth Lee
Hi Pam - just tell me a story - about food, especially a "colorful" story about fruits and vegetables. If you want to enter more than once, you can like my FB page, add me to a circle on Google Plus, or follow me on Twitter, or even on Pinterest. If you do any of those things - pop over here and let me know so I can keep track! Thanks!
Amber
Every fall my parents and I would can applesauce from the apples we grew on our trees. It's a favorite childhood memory!
Beth
And as I recall, you wrote a pretty fantastic post about an apple/pineapple guava sauce that you make as a result of those memories! Thanks for sharing Amber!
Hannah
Mazel tov on your anniversary, Beth! I am just delighted to have met you through your blog and appreciate all the inspiration you provide. And I can't wait til we can cook together sometime! Thank you for sharing Cheryl's green beans - I need to make some of this pistachio dust quickly. I'm still disappointed to have missed your storytelling panel at BlogHer. Food stories/memories are marvelous! The first "recipe" I created when I was about 6 years old was for whipped cream pie - it combined my 3 favorites at the time: fruit, whipped cream and pie crust. Still 3 of my favorites now!
Beth
It doesn't surprise me that you were creating recipes when you were 6 Hannah! You are a master at it - I do hope that someday you plan to put them together in a book but for now, I really enjoy seeing and reading your creativity each week. Thanks for sharing your fruit story - You would absolutely love Cheryl's book. And let me know when you make the pistachio dust - I know you'll find all kinds of fun things to sprinkle it on!
Melissa @ Fit 'n' Well Mommy
Congrats on 3 years! I just stumbled upon your blog from SITS and I am enjoying reading through your posts, as well as drooling over your recipes! I'm also from California, but in the Sacramento area. I look forward to following your blog!
Beth
Welcome Melissa - I have met so many great people through SITS. I aim to mess up your keyboard with drool so I am glad to hear I succeeded. Let me know if you make it south - let's hook up for lunch. And come back and tell me a colorful story so I can enter you to win Cheryl's book - if you don't already have it - you'd love it!
Sarene (FringeFood)
Congratulations to you, my Tasting Jerusalem partner!
Beth
Do you have Cheryl's book yet? If not, come back and tell me a fringefood-worthy story - maybe you'll be the proud owner of a personalized copy soon!
Britton
Congrats on 3 years! Such a wonderful thing! Visiting from SITS!
Beth
Thanks for stopping in - SITS is such an important part of my 3 years of blogging - it always makes me smile to see your smiling faces on my blog!
Carol Sacks
A hearty congratulations to you, dear Beth! To many more years of telling and writing great stories and making loads of friends along the way.
Beth
And the friends are the best part, aren't they??!!!! Thanks Carol.
anneliesz
Congrats on three years Beth!
Beth
Thanks Anneliesz! I still think the food poetry and food stories need to team up...
gretchen
Smoked Paprika! OH JOY! I was sent a tin of this from my dear friend Mickey, who lives in a little village near Grenoble, FR, and who scored it on a recent trip to Spain.
So far I have roasted a chicken with it and some baby back ribs (find the recipe for these in Ad Hoc., cooking at home by Thomas Keller). Both the chicken and ribs were huge hits with me and my husband. They will reappear on our menu soon!
These dusted Green Beans sound perfect! I can imagine them served with a Sole Meuniere or a simply braised chicken breast. Or maybe even a light appetizer to nibble with some white wine on a summer's afternoon.....I'll try them out soon with thanks to Cheryl and Beth and Mickey!!
Beth
Perfect timing (we'll have to connect up Mickey with my hubby who works for a company with an office in Grenoble and just came back from there last week!)
But back to the food - I love all the ways you are using the paprika - you bring up a great point about buying a specialty spice and wanting to find other ways to use it.
Definitely try this dust - it is just lovely, so easy, and you'll find lots places to sprinkle it, I just know it.
Thanks for the food stories Gretchen!
Sandy Corman
Sounds good. I may even try it. Where do you get smoked paprika? I can't recall seeing that not even in Budapest.
Beth
Good question! I found it at the New Leaf near me but I'm sure Whole Foods, maybe TJs, or any slightly upscale store would have it - also smaller ethnic grocery stores might as well.
Lizthechef
Congrats on three years! I have a copy of "Ripe" and you inspire me to get cooking from it - a lovely give-away.
Beth
Thanks Liz! Yes, just thumbing through the book makes you want to cook (and eat), doesn't it?