Welcome to the EATING FOR BEGINNERS Q&A and discussion, August 2-15

[Melanie]

Hi Goodreaders,

I'll be here to discuss Eating for Beginners from August 2-August 15.

I'd love to hear your stories about farming, cooking, shopping for groceries, parenting, picky eating, the works! I'd also love to hear your reactions to the book--what you like, what you think doesn't work, what's missing, what there's too much of. There's nothing like smart readers for good criticism.

We can also talk about the writing process, researching, influences on my writing, problems and surprises I faced or anything else having to do with the writing life.

I'll check in daily to respond (for those of you who don't know, I had a baby on the 19th, so while I can't promise what time I'll check in, I promise I'll do it every day!)

Feel free to post questions in advance, and thanks so much for participating. Let the discussion begin!

Melanie

[Hannah]

Hi Melanie,

Thanks so much for doing this. I really enjoyed your book and I'd be curious to know how Jules is eating these days.

Also, have your own eating habits changed since the year you researched the book? What have been the lasting effects of writing this book?

[Melanie]

Hi Hannah!

Jules is eating...should we just leave it at that?? But seriously, he's doing a lot better. One of his weird quirks is that he's always eaten a lot of fruits and vegetables in spite of being really picky about things like protein, so summer is always a good season for him. He also eats things like turkey meatballs and chicken now, which makes life a lot easier. And there's always pasta, which he finally consented to at the age of 3 (though of course if you even mention putting cheese on it, it's game over!).

My/our eating habits haven't changed so much as deepened, I'd say. I make a major effort to go to the farmer's market every Saturday (I even made it this past weekend, hauling my not-quite-two-week-old baby along with me) and I buy anything that looks good without worrying what I might do with it. I also feel a lot less guilty at the supermarket if I buy a few things that aren't organic, or things that aren't local. I've really come to realize that it's all about balance (isn't everything) as opposed to having some strict set of rules you can never vary from. Ironically, the people who showed me that are the people in the book who are most involved with growing and cooking and buying local.

Thanks for dropping by! Come again!

Melanie

[Elizabeth]

Hi Melanie,
I just finished reading your book and LOVED it! I have to say that it is probably one of the best food books I have ever read. I was asked by your publisher to review it on my blog, here is the link if you'd like to read the review:
http://foodymommy.blogspot.com/2010/0...
I am really glad to have had this opportunity. After reading your book, it inspired me to really look at the food I was buying but not feel badly if I happened buy something out of season or from a different state every once in awhile. I also asked the farmer at my local CSA if I could go and work with her for a day or two, because your experience sounded so rewarding.
I also found your chapter on fish to be very interesting. I come from the Northwest where Alaskan Salmon and Halibut are abundant but now I live in the Midwest where fish is farmed. It is hard to know what to do when fish is such a huge part of your diet and then all of the sudden you can't or shouldn't eat the fish anymore! So thank you for including that chapter, I learned many things I didn't know before, and it will help me make more conscious decisions about fish in the future!
I am curious to know how you balanced working at the restaurant, visiting the food sources, and taking care of a toddler all at once? I have a two year old son and am a stay at home mom and am overwhelmed with daily life, so you are truly my hero! Thanks so much for writing this book!

[Melanie]

Hi Elizabeth--

Thanks so much for your great review and for posting here. I'm so glad the book resonated with you, and how wonderful that you're trying to find a way to help at your CSA. The work I did on the different farms was so interesting and rewarding--I'm sure you'll find that, too. I don't know if you've seen any coverage of a new book called Four Fish, but if not you might want to check it out. Since you're especially interested in fish, it might be something worth looking at.

As for how I managed to write a book, work at the restaurant, visit farms and take care of my son, I'll say first off that my husband is a huge help (and, as you learned in EFB, a great cook!). We also had a wonderful babysitter in those years who was with Jules during the day a few days a week. My husband made sure to be home to get Jules from the sitter on the days I was at the restaurant until midnight, and he really shouldered the burden when I did the farm visits. It was tricky at times, but we managed to work it out somehow. Of course there were some bad days, or days when the last thing I wanted to do was go into the kitchen (or stay home instead of going into the kitchen!), but in the end it was all so worth it.

Thanks again so much--

Melanie

[Caroline]

Hi Melanie,
Congratulations on your new baby! I really enjoyed reading Eating for Beginners; I loved the variety of people you interviewed and am impressed by the amount of hard, physical labor you did -- both on your interviews and in the restaurant -- to write the book. I've reviewed it on my blog and invite readers here to visit comment so they can win a free copy from your publisher.
http://www.learningtoeatbook.com/2010...

[Hannah]

Thanks for the response, Melanie! Glad to hear Jules is doing well. My son will not go near a vegetable for me, but eats lots of fruit and goes to daycare, where he'll eat almost anything put in front of him. Sometimes peer pressure isn't such a bad thing. But your book totally helped me not to stress too much about it - the lack of vegetables, his love for goldfish (the snack cracker things not the live animals, which he's possibly never even seen), whatever.

[Melanie]

Hi Caroline--

I just posted on your blog as well, but wanted to say thanks again here for the nice review. My editor is especially enamored (as am I) of your world-weary, hilarious tone--"Oh Melanie, I hear you...!" Your blog is great and I so appreciate you helping to spread the word about EFB. Thanks also for the baby congrats. So far, so good with him...let's hope he eats!

Melanie

[Amber]

Hi Melanie,

I just finished your book today and from your first Cheerio-floor-scattering pages, I was totally hooked. I really enjoyed your honesty and voice and if you ever come to Chicago, I would love to meet you! We have an incredible restaurant industry here, and I think you should host a dinner party at one of Chicago's many restaurants that supports sustainable and local agriculture to promote your book.

I absolutely must dine at applewood some time in my life - and I have a much better appreciation and at least basic understanding now of how a kitchen functions.

As a college student, I do not have much in the way of disposable income, or any income at all, but while I eat the vast majority of my meals in the school's dining halls, I do stop by our farmer's market every week, even if just to pick up a few fresh fruits. We're also planting a garden at my school now, and I'm definitely getting involved with that this year. I think it will be really neat to eat food that I helped to grow myself.

You have really inspired me to keep trying, and keep doing my best because that's all I can do in terms of supporting sustainable local agriculture.

I'm wondering with your accumulated experience and interest in writing and food - have you ever been a food critic? Or is that something you would be interested in pursuing?

I also saw on your website that you spent last year in Berlin with your family. I studied abroad in Germany for my senior year of high school, and had the most amazing experience. I'm wondering, what were your favorite German foods? I personally was in love with spargel, kasekuchen (way better than American cheesecake!), and all of the freshly baked German breads. I wish we had more bakeries like they do in Germany in the States! You can call me Miss Carbohydrate Jr haha

[Melanie]

Hi Amber--

Thanks so much for dropping by and for all your kinds words about EFB. It sounds like you're doing great things in Chicago--how cool that your school is starting a garden and that you're participating. I really think being involved in growing food changes the way you see it forever.

I haven't ever been a food critic, though I do write a column about food books and cookbooks for Bookforum (http://www.bookforum.com). I don't know that I'd pursue being a food critic, but if someone offered me the chance I'd be hard-pressed to turn it down!

As for German food, I'm half Czech (as you no doubt learned in the chapter of my book with the orange peel recipe). I grew up eating middle European food and shopping in what was then the German section of Manhattan. German and Austrian food is the food of my childhood, and I love pretty much all of it, but some of my favorites are schnitzel, kasespatzle and bierschinken (and I totally agree with you about German bread and our lack of bakeries here in the US. I think Jules does, too--he misses being able to stop in for a pflaumetaschen or a schokocroissant on the way to school...). Where in Germany did you study?

Best of luck with your gardening. I love Chicago so will let you know if I get there any time soon.

Melanie

[Amber]

Yay - thanks for replying Melanie! I studied in Hannover, but I had the chance to travel to Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Munich and Kiel during my stay. Plus, for Christmas, I went skifahren with my host family in the Austrian Alps....my first time skiing and it was frightening but totally amazing at the same time.