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Writer’s Kitchen: Quick Meals for the Writing Life

Roasted Vegetables

I’m trying to build a repertoire of simple, quick-cooking meals that I can rely on for when it seems there’s no time to cook. As a writer, I have to. There will always be opportunities to create elaborate, multi-step dishes with an ingredient list as long as the alphabet–it’s just part of life of a food writer. But when it comes to feeding my family on a day-to-day basis, sometimes quick, nutritious (and tasty) food is key. I’ve been diving into my stock of old and new family classics as I create a master list of tried-and-true dishes I can prepare even on the most demanding of evenings. A thousand words to cut? Jacques Pepin’s chicken suprêmes in butter with lime juice and herbs will do the trick. Recipe development flooding my kitchen with desserts? Herb-roasted vegetables come together in a snap to balance out all the sugar. And lest I forget, simple is often best–though it’s one of the hardest things for me to remember. In that case, going to the store to pick up a protein and a vegetable with no recipe in mind (gasp!) and forcing myself to cook by instinct should probably happen more often.

What are your go-to meals when you’re tight on time?

Image from Outside Oslo.

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Destination Inspiration: Tartine Bakery

Tartine Exterior

We had some pretty amazing food and beverages during our recent trip to San Francisco, but visiting Tartine was the icing on the cake. After packing the suitcase and saying goodbye to Sarah’s parents, Daytona’s hosts for the trip, the two of us set out with our husbands and sons to taste for ourselves what makes Tartine so legendary.

Tartine Kitchen

Food and Beverages

Huddling together while sharing the menu as we inched along the line, which started outside and worked its way down the entire pastry case, we contemplated how to best experience all that Tartine has to offer. The crowded space had no empty tables, and even if one were to open, it would be impossible on such a busy day to fit four adults and two toddlers in strollers or high chairs inside. We were pressed for time, anyway, as Daytona had a flight to catch, so we each opted for an open-faced croque monieur to take to go, along with an assortment of sandwiches. While the men were shopping at the nearby Self Edge, a table for two opened up, so the two of us sat down, ordered a couple of glasses of the house red–a Cotes du Rhone–and toasted. It was New Year’s Day, after all.

The owners–the husband-wife team of Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt–were nominated twice for James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chefs before winning it in 2008, and its no wonder. Everything we tasted was nothing short of spectacular. The croque monsieur was served open-faced on an inch-thick slice of Tartine’s bread, and dressed with just the right amount of toppings to round out the meal without overshadowing the bread. Shiitake mushrooms added a savory touch to the sandwich. The quality carries over to the pastries, too, with the chocolate salted rye being a particular favorite (Daytona even experimented with trying to recreate the cookies after returning home). The frangipane tart, filled with blueberries, was lusciously moist and flavorful, even the next day after surviving the return flight to Seattle.

Tartine Pastry Case

Location and Atmosphere

Driving to Tartine, it was evident where the destination was located because of the tell-tale line queuing in front. The Mission District is not only home to Tartine but also to many great shops and restaurants including the birth place of the original Mission style San Francisco burrito. With great pastries and great Mexican food, you know this is one busy neighborhood!

Writeability and Purchased Presence

When we were here on New Year’s Day, the bakery was packed. It was difficult even to stand in line without feeling our personal bubble being burst by an enthusiastic patron ogling the items in the pastry case. When we finally did place our order, we were lucky enough to have a small table open up, which we snatched up immediately. On a less-crowded day, this would be just the place to sit sipping a cappuccino or perhaps a glass of wine while savoring a sandwich and jotting down character sketches from our people-watching. But on a crowded day in which demand is high, it’s best to be respectful of the other customers and make your table available once you finish your order.

Tartine Interior Vertical

Price: $$

Pastries start at around $4.00 and sandwiches $12.00. It’s on the higher side of pricing, but absolutely worth it.

Parking

Expect to drive around the block a time or two to find a place; if you don’t mind walking a little, grab the first spot you see in the vicinity and explore the neighborhood while you’re at it.

Writer’s Tip

Give yourself a goal–a word count, perhaps, or to put the finishing touches on an article–and use a visit to Tartine as an incentive. If you meet the goal in your given timeframe, you get to treat yourself to whatever you want at Tartine. We’re confident you’ll succeed.

Find It

Tartine Bakery
600 Guerrero Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
Website

Tartine Croque Monsieur

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Valentine’s Day Special

Today is Valentine’s Day, so it only seems appropriate that we talk about romance. I don’t mean the romance in your own life, I mean the romance in your fiction life.

Romance and Roses

I know what you’re thinking…”Harlequin novels? Bodice rippers? Ew, no thank you. I’ll pass.” Let me assure you right now, that’s not where I’m going with this. I’d just like to share a few tips to add romantic tension, perhaps even create a little chemistry between two unassuming characters. So here are the basics:

-Start with two strong, appealing, sympathetic characters. Be sure they are three-dimensional so you can mess with their heart strings.

-Add conflict. There are two kinds of conflict: Internal and External.

Internal conflict should be the writer’s main focus: defined by either character—the opposing forces within a personality, motivations and aspirations—or by an emotional situation within a relationship—for example, an unexpected pregnancy or an arranged marriage.

External conflict should only be brought in as additional support to the developing romance and plot. External conflict is defined by misunderstandings, circumstances or a secondary character’s influence.

Ideally, give the characters something they have to overcome together…this is where they bond, not necessarily where they connect. Throw several conflicts their way that they work through to create emotional highs and lows. Have them grow closer with each resolution.

-Just as they are starting to realize their chemistry and connect…throw a wrench in it! Heartbreak!

-Many writers will be tempted to bring in a secondary character at this point. It’s an option, but be warned…use secondary characters with caution. You don’t want to muddy the focus on your main couple.

-Then add the final conflict…this one usually requires a lot of sensational dialogue.  Dialogue is the key tool to give life, energy and pace to your writing. This is the epiphany moment! Remember to keep it relevant and consistent to your characters. Let them realize and come to terms with their differences and come together as a couple at last. Hooray!

So that’s writing romance in a nutshell. Strong characters, lots of conflict with emotional highs and lows, all driven by great dialogue to a happy and satisfying ending.

Cheers and Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Destination Inspiration: Nielsen’s Authentic Danish Pastry

Nielsen's Sign

As a Scandinavian food blogger, Daytona is always looking out for good food from the Nordic countries. Having heard about Nielsen’s Authentic Danish Pastry in Seattle’s lower Queen Anne neighborhood a while back, she set out for lunch on a recent February morning and was excited to discover a new favorite bakery–and one that’s perfect for writing.

Nielsen's Tosca

Food and Beverages

Kringle… snitter… kransekage… Tosca… If you don’t know what these confections are, then hurry up and head to Nielsen’s. While danishes are perhaps the most commonly-known of the Scandinavian pastries here in America, the world of Scandinavian baked goods expands to many other delicious treats as well. In business since 1965, Nielsen’s knows what it’s doing.

The Tosca is a Scandinavian’s dream-come-true, with a smooth and rich almond cake layered with raspberry jam, topped with caramelized almonds, and dipped in chocolate. The pastries are the big draw at Nielsen’s, but if you’re looking to round out your meal a little, you can also get soup or a sandwich.

Nielsen’s is especially known for their beautiful handmade wedding cakes. The creations are artistic, mouth watering and bound to add an extra stunning touch to an already beautiful occasion. They also serve Olympia Coffee, which is rich, organic and always fresh from the roaster.

Nielsen's Soup

Location and Atmosphere

Outside the little shop in lower Queen Anne, the greasy smell of fast food mingles with the alluring scent of warm pastries–it is a quick-paced, urban part of town after all. As you drive by and notice Danish flags flying outside, you’ll see what appears to be a tiny sliver of a shop. Walking down the stairs and through the door, however, you’ll find it opens into a cozy and charming shop with a woman sitting with her laptop at a windowside counter, a couple of men having a business lunch at one of the tables, and young man and woman lounged in the armchairs in the back corner.

It’s lunchtime on a Tuesday in February, and people come in and out at a modest yet steady pace. The shop, with its juxtoposition of country touches and play and concert posters, has the feeling of a well-loved and lived-in neighborhood cafe that’s always clean and never pretentious.

Nielsen's Interior

Writeability and Purchased Presence

As long as there’s room, we’d say pull up a chair, pull out your laptop, order some pastries and coffee, and get writing. Order a refill and a sandwich if you’re going to stay a while. And tip well.

Price: $

Typical pastries range from $2 to $4 dollars. A pastry, a cup of soup, and a drip coffee will run you about $10.

Parking

Street parking is your best bet if you want something inexpensive and don’t mind walking a block or two. Pay attention, as some streets are free.

Nielsen's Seating

Writer’s Tip

Take a moment, as you are sitting with your pastry or lunch, to think about the origins of the treats you are enjoying. Consider the culture behind the recipes and how you might let that influence the piece you are working on. If you don’t have a work in progress yet, perhaps start a short story about a character with a Nordic background. Is this a cafe they might frequent? Play the ‘what if’ game and see where your story goes!

Find It
520 Second Avenue West
Seattle, WA 98119
Website

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Leftovers

Have you ever had a great line that you had to pull from a piece because it just didn’t work? Did you save it? I usually do. I have a pile of great lines and paragraphs left over just waiting to be used. Try pulling those out and re-inventing them into something new.

English muffin

Just yesterday I had some a little bit of chili, a lone English muffin and a hand full of shredded mozzarella. These leftover scraps came together to make a tasty lunch. In the same way, your cast off lines or dialogue snippets can come together to start a great new work. Give it a shot this week and see what you come up with.

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21 Moments Writing Challenge with Christina Katz

Keyboard

As writers, we can never get too much encouragement and inspiration. Even the most seasoned writers still have a brain and imagination that need to be continually stimulated in order to produce good work. Such assistance need not take much time or money, however. That’s what I love about the 21 Moments Writing Challenge with Christina Katz. I recently signed up to participate, and am thoroughly enjoying the process so far.

Here what it involves, in a nutshell:

Over the course of one month, participants write 21 “moments,” which are brief but well-written scenes, vignettes, or whatever else they choose to write. Each day for three weeks, starting on the first of the month, Christina–an author and writing instructor–sends an e-mail with a sample text, and then the writer gets to work. The writer works on his or her own schedule, since there’s an entire month to complete the 21 moments. At the end, the writer will polish one of the moments and send it to Christina to review.

What’s so wonderful about this process is that the goal is to write for oneself, not for publication. Christina encourages writers to enjoy what they do and to just focus on writing the best they can. I’m using this challenge as a way to build up some content for my book, and I can already imagine taking part in the challenge again and again. It’s a little like NaNoWriMo, in that there’s a time-based challenge to it, but for this rather than NaNoWriMo, the focus is on quality over quantity.

If you’re interested in learning more or signing up for the “class,” head over to Christina Katz’s website.

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Destination Inspiration: 21st Amendment Brewery

21st Amendment Draft Beer List

Having home-brewers for husbands means that we’re never in danger of being in a new city and not knowing where to find good beer. Take San Francisco, for example. Until a few weeks ago, Daytona hadn’t been there in five years, and although Sarah still visits her family in the Bay Area from time to time, it’s been over a decade since she moved away. Yet on our recent weekend together, as our first afternoon in the city drew to a close, our husbands whisked us over to 21st Amendment Brewery in the city’s historic South Park neighborhood for a pre-dinner refresher.

Food and Beverages

We’ll be honest, we came here for the beer not the food, even though it is a brewpub and we could have eaten if we wanted. But having enjoyed a great lunch earlier at La Boulange and having dinner plans with Sarah’s family, we stuck to our mission and ordered beverages. That is, after all, what 21st Amendment Brewery was founded upon.

Daytona’s choice, the South Park Blonde, was refreshing and light yet flavorful, with a friendly wheat profile. The Red Dwarf IPA, which both of the men ordered, was described as “A red IPA with caramel and Munich malts combined with Simcoe and Amarillo hops, like peeling an orange in a redwood grove.” Sarah chose a cider from the Two Rivers Cider Company.

Location and Atmosphere

Near the financial district and San Francisco Giants baseball park, we can only imagine that 21st Amendment is a favorite stop before and after work and games. The atmosphere is light and almost lodge-like with lots of wood and warm colors. The chalk art on the walls and the menu is also really impressive!

21st Amendment Brewery Interior

Writeability and Purchased Presence

It takes little than a pint apiece to add a sense of camaraderie to a gathering, which makes 21st Amendment a great place to meet your writing group after a day at work. Sit back and enjoy the convivial atmosphere as share your successes and what you’re writing on at the moment. As long as no one’s waiting for your table, feel free to linger.

Price: $$

The price is just what you’d expect from a brewpub, with draft beers ranging from $5.50 to $6.50 for a pint of most beers.

Parking

We had no problem finding street parking, on what seemed like a pretty slow afternoon. It was New Year’s Eve, after all, and at an hour too earlier for dinners and parties to begin.

Looking outside from brewery

21st Amendment Brewery Interior Horizontal

Writer’s Tip

There is a history behind 21st Amendment that makes it a ripe place for brainstorming with your writing partner, possibly about a story that could be set during Prohibition. Whether or not your story has anything to do with historical references, there’s nothing like gathering with friends over good beer. (http://21st-amendment.com/the-company/)

Find It

21st Amendment Brewery
563 2nd Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
Website

21st Amendment Interior

 

 

 

 

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Daily Writer’s Fix: February 4-8

How to use Daily Writers’ Fix

Monday:

Sight

Paint Palette

Paint something today–in your mind. Describe the process in words in such a way that will make the reader envision the image start to form on the canvas.

Tuesday:

Smell

Drooping Flowers

Why won’t your character get rid of the drooping flowers on her mantle?

Wednesday:

Sound

 Piano Keys

Take whatever scene or project you’ve been working on lately and spend a little time thinking about what it sounds like. Close your eyes and sit back and place yourself in the scene. What faint hums of traffic or buzzing of bees do you hear that you hadn’t noticed before? What’s the music being played at the cafe your character is walking into? You may or not choose to incorporate these details, but stretch yourself to think a little further into this part of your scene than you had before.

Thursday:

Touch

Dog Bowl

Rain. Dog fur. Enough said. Start writing.

Friday:

Taste

Anchovies, Garlic, and Capers

Never underestimate the role of taste in your writing. Even if you’re not a food writer or you’re writing something that seems totally unrelated–take science fiction for example–practice the art of writing about food every once in a while, because you never know when describing an alien’s first taste of a croissant will help make your otherworldly character seem just a bit more relatable. Today, take the flavors shown here–anchovy, garlic, and capers–and make a pretend recipe. What is your character making with these ingredients? How does he go about doing it? What does he–or perhaps his guests–think about the flavors?