Project #2

Outline, scrap notes, gathering ideas and sources

2 peers from this class

1 peer from a previous class

Michael pollen

Start with what is interesting to me and pollen, then work from there.

Value of family, rare occasions

Traditions matter mean something even though they are hard to come by

Angel: . My mom’s signature version of spicy chicken curry was the perfect combination of all of the above. She has mastered the spicy chicken curry to the point that no one would be able to top hers.

She further describes how she bonded with her mom, over the meal

Ideas: nothing is like knowing that a meal was made with love. Connected to whom created it as opposed to a random chef of a restaurant.

She talks about the versatility of curry, I talked about the versatility of food in life, especially college

Katelyn’s: “I was in the second grade the first time he taught me how to make it and from then on that was our special meal that only he and I made together. Some might say the secret ingredient was the ketchup, but if you ask me I would tell you that the secret ingredient was love.”

She describes how she was able to bond with her dad

Pollen, quote about connecting to tv losing the connections of cookin

The idea of cooking declining, connection to the evolving life, idea that cooking will be lost, yet it is all about the bonds made.

Ryan’s “I hope one day I will be able to cook this meal for my family also to carry the tradition. I am a cook myself and cook a lot on my own and for my family so in 20 years I will hopefully be doing the same thing as my Aunts.”

Passing on tradition cooking wont die, it may dim to the ever evolving world but

“ She replied to me why I think I like this meal is because we have it so rarely and since it is homemade.”

The question or topic: is cooking dying? Or is it alive?

Paper 2, Draft 1

Nothing is as simple as it seems. We eat food every day, yet not every meal is as elaborately cooked with the same time and energy. We typically watch TV every day, yet sometimes out phones are in our hands and we don’t devout our full attention. Sometimes, these ideas come together in the means of a cooking show as discussed in Michael Pollen’s essay “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the couch”. Pollen traces the evolution of cooking along with the rise of cooking shows.

As Pollen reveals ideals and values of cooking, it caused me to reflect on my own values of cooking as I explored in my favorite meal essay. Along with my own perspective, I considered the perspectives of my peers, both past and present. All these ideas challenge the concept of food and cooking in our lives. Through consideration, I have come to realize the power of the combination of food and cooking and how it is untimely.

Quality over quantity. Regardless of the frequency, cooking is about the quality time it brings for family. My peers have delved into this concept throughout their own favorite meal essays. In Angel’s essay, she describes why spicy chicken curry holds a special meaning for her and her mom. She describes how “My mom and I would have long conversations about what went on our day as she took a few teaspoons of curry powder into the pan. The spicy chicken curry held many small moments that made us bond and have conversations that we wouldn’t have the time for”. Angel highlights a strengthened bond that has arisen from cooking. Although unique to her, Angel’s experience with her mom is similar to Katelyn’s experience with her dad. Through a homemade shepard’s pie Katelyn describes how in the second grade her Dad “taught me how to make it and from then on that was our special meal that only he and I made together. Some might say the secret ingredient was the ketchup, but if you ask me I would tell you that the secret ingredient was love.” Katelyn further describes how this meal has cemented a special bond between her and her father. Ryan has also had similar experiences as Angel and Katelyn. Ryan’s favorite meal was an Italian pasta dish with a homemade sauce, that was made by his late grandmother and aunts. From his connections with his family and the dish in the past, Ryan looks forward to the future of the meal as “I hope one day I will be able to cook this meal for my family also to carry the tradition. I am a cook myself and cook a lot on my own and for my family so in 20 years I will hopefully be doing the same thing as my Aunts.” All of these narratives highlight the connections of bonds made throughout cooking through rare moments or traditions. From a collective perspective I have come to conclude that cooking is very much alive, and always will live despite it seems like it is dying. I believe cooking will remain alive through the human spirit. We have all found a way to connect with our family and strengthen our bonds through the making of a meal. Whether it is talking with our mom while cooking spicy chicken curry after a long day, or cooking a homemade shepherd’s pie on big occasions, or making an Italian dish for a big family on a holiday, cooking has brought families closer together. In an ever-evolving world with an uncertain future, based on my experiences and those my peers, it seems certain that cooking will remain alive and bring life upon families for years to come.

Paper 2, Draft 2

Everything evolves overtime, for if something remained unchanged it truly never grew. The lines of evolution can be applied to anything, including the concept of work. In the early times, typically, men went off to work, and women stayed home to care for a family, which includes cooking the meals. As the workforce evolves, more people are putting in longer hours at work, or both parents are now working jobs. Pollen presents the facts about cooking declining, regarding how women and their working habits. He describes how “The amount of time spent on food preparation in America had fallen at the same precipitous rate among women who don’t work outside the home as it has among women who do: in both cases, a decline of about 40 percent since 1965” (14). Pollen reveals that connection between working and cooking. As the workdays get longer, or another parent begins to work as well, these new trends leave behind the cooking to be done in a relatively short. When it’s time to cook for dinner, a long workday typically leaves us drained and lacking energy. We then resort to shortcuts to reduce our efforts of cooking, by using box mixes and frozen meals. These shortcuts have evolved over time alongside the evolution of work. As the workload has increased, so does the demand for different ways to decrease the time needed to spend on cooking. These new methods of cooking degrade the very ideal Pollen is trying to convey; that cooking is to be done from scratch. Pollen captures the sheer facts and explains how the actions of cooking has declined in quantity but never addresses the concept of quality.

Paper 2, Draft 3

Nothing is as simple as it seems. We eat food every day, yet not every meal is as elaborately cooked with the same time and energy. We typically watch TV every day, yet sometimes out phones are in our hands and we don’t devout our full attention. Sometimes, these ideas come together in the means of a cooking show as discussed in Michael Pollen’s essay Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch. Pollen traces the evolution of cooking along with the rise of cooking shows.

As Pollen reveals ideals and values of cooking, it caused me to reflect on my own values of cooking as I explored in my favorite meal essay. Along with my own perspective, I considered the perspectives of my peers, both past and present. My own ideas reflected the importance of a chip dip at a graduation party. Some of my peers explored the connection of cooking with a parent, or other members of their families. All these ideas challenge the concept of food and cooking in our lives. Through consideration, I have come to realize the power of the combination of food and cooking and how it is untimely.

People have the power to shape their own views based upon interpretation. In his essay, Pollan dives into the evolution of the term “cooking”. Along with the words of Harry Balzer, a food marketing researcher, Pollan describes that “to cook from scratch, they decreed, means to prepare a main dish that requires some degree of ‘assembly of elements’. So microwaving a pizza doesn’t count as cooking, though washing a head of lettuce and pouring bottled dressing over it does”. Pollan then goes into describing further examples of what he deems to be cooking, such as assembling a cold cuts sandwich. I believe that Pollan brings up an interesting point about cooking and captures how it has changed. Cooking is different from generation to generation, our grandparents would not be familiar with our ways of cooking, however, my generation knows cooking to come from a box or another form of pre prepared foods. I agree that the term “cooking” has been skewed. Yet personally, I believe that expending time and energy to prepare a meal constitutes as cooking. My own interpretation stems from my own experiences; which lacks truly making a meal from scratch. However, it is what I have grown up with and what I have come to know. With everything else in the world, there is always a fine line, a so-called gray area between the black and white. I feel that this concept also applies to what is considered to be cooking. Sometimes, it is indescribable, yet I know what is cooking when I see it. Likewise, for you, you know what you believe is cooking when you see it for yourself as well. People’s definitions of cooking can and will be different based upon their own experiences.

Everything evolves overtime, for if something remained unchanged it truly never grew. The lines of evolution can be applied to anything, including the concept of work. In the early times, typically, men went off to work, and women stayed home to care for a family, which includes cooking the meals. As the workforce evolves, more people are putting in longer hours at work, or both parents are now working jobs. Pollen presents the facts about cooking declining, regarding women and their working habits. He describes how “The amount of time spent on food preparation in America had fallen at the same precipitous rate among women who don’t work outside the home as it has among women who do: in both cases, a decline of about 40 percent since 1965” (14). Pollen reveals that connection between working and cooking. As the workdays get longer, or another parent begins to work as well, these new trends leave behind the cooking to be done in a relatively short. When it’s time to cook for dinner, a long workday typically leaves us drained and lacking energy. We then resort to shortcuts to reduce our efforts of cooking, by using box mixes and frozen meals. These processed foods provide reduce the time and energy necessary to cook and have been on the rise as cooking declines. These shortcuts to cooking have evolved over time alongside the evolution of work. As the workload has increased, so does the demand for different ways to decrease the time needed to spend on cooking. These new methods of cooking degrade the very ideal Pollen is trying to convey; that cooking is to be done from scratch. Pollen captures the sheer facts and explains how the actions of cooking has declined in quantity but never addresses the concept of quality.