Introduction

When imagining a class that mixed food and writing our expectations were childish. Perhaps most of us thought that we were going to talk about how “yummy” our favorite foods were but we went beyond that. No doubt the class turned out to be challenging. It was not about describing our favorite foods; and not even about our cookbook or the recipes. The creators of this cookbook have been put to the test of college writing. Throughout the semester we learned how to incorporate food into our writing and approach the style of food writing in our own way. We endured the literary challenges presented to us by our professor and can call ourselves food writers. We were challenged with essays, style prompts, and an array of readings. Using what we learned to incorporate food into our writing was a difficult task; however, in the end we were able to experience an adventure through the twists and turns of eloquent food writing. Once we understood that it would be about the writing, our classroom became a safe space where we could overcome this challenge. It became a place to relate food to our memories and our feelings; a place where we could exchange ideas with our peers, increase our knowledge in many areas, and engage in constructive debate. In other words each one of us was a piece of the puzzle that formed our own quad. It was in this quad that we worked as a group and created our cookbook.
The recipes in this book represent the commonalities between an uncommon group of people. Some are rooted in culture, some in family tradition, and some in memory. Sharing and retelling these recipes entailed more than just instructing the reader or entertaining them with a few anecdotes. These stories showcase our progress as writers with food serving as the central topic. They show how food writing can transcend sensory detail and communicate with readers on a universally relatable level.

Overall this cookbook shows that we are the chefs of our writing. This is the result of our hard work. We hope you enjoy it.