Recipes and Writing

Each autumn, my creativity dabbles in the kitchen devising recipes for soup. Experimentation with taste and ingredients stretches beyond recipes. I cook to sight, scent, taste and texture.


A recipe for sweet potato banana bake arrived in the mail as promotion for a cooking book.

2 c mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 egg
1/2c reduced-fat sour cream
¾ tsp curry power
½ tsp salt

Combine all ingredients until smooth. Transfer to one quart baking dish and bake covered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

I substituted for what I did not have – or want. I used yogurt for the sour cream, omitted the egg and salt, used pumpkin and then added texture. A small box of granola had arrived as a promotion with the newspaper that morning. Along with cranberries, this completed my texture component. I try it on my husband . . . and if Mikey likes it, that means success.

My recipe advice works to help writing students also. Once the elements of short story are learned and understood, substitutions and eliminations become possible and necessary. They discover by experimentation what to add or leave out. Alteration requires creativity and risk. Dexterity with craft flavors the basic
Writers need to try items never considered and develop an experimental mix.

Learn the elements of cooking and writing. Then, cook and write to taste!

Creative Write: Take a look at a variety of stories, essays and poems. Ask what the writer left out. Why do the stories work with or without those elements? Would you define the "short short" story as a slice of life or a snapshot view? Also, consider if the elements occur in another, less obvious way. Then experiment with your own story or poem.