Tangles & Tails: Tracey Kiff-Judson's Blog

Cooking Up Inspiration

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Written by: Tracey Kiff-Judson
Category: Blog

Poetry Friday is here!

“What is Poetry Friday?” you ask … please visit Renee LaTulippe for her thoughtful explanation. Connect using Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post.

One wonderful aspect of Poetry Friday is that you can write about virtually anything. Yet sometimes, finding inspiration can be a challenge, at least for me.

Image source: Canva

A few weeks ago, I attended the last CT Forum of the season. The topic was “Chefs.” The panelists included: Priya Krishna (NY Times Columnist and Cookbook Author), Marcus Samuelsson (Renowned Chef, Restauranteur, TV Personality), and Gail Simmons (Top Chef Judge, Culinary Expert, Cookbook Author).  Sam Sifton (NY Times Editor and Writer, Cookbook Author) moderated the discussion.

Image source: The Connecticut Forum - The Connecticut Forum (ctforum.org)

To me, the most interesting part of the discussion centered around inspiration. An audience member asked the panelists where they find inspiration for their culinary creativity. Marcus Samuelsson answered that he collects colors and stories. “The clubs, the artistry, and the weirdness” of his Chelsea neighborhood in NY City inspire him. The moment that he finds a food “cravable” (when the first bite is so delicious that he wants to eat more) inspires him to experiment with that flavor profile.

Other panelists talked about the world as inspiration.  Being out in the world, traveling, visiting new places, talking to a stranger at a wedding, and experiencing life were all sources of inspiration for their cooking. The panelists agreed that venturing out of their homes and diving into a new environment invigorated their creativity.

This sentiment rang true to me. Some poets find inspiration in the seemingly ordinary, perhaps Valerie Worth would be a worthy (tee hee) example. That works for me on occasion but venturing out in the world feels necessary. Pairing new experiences with my life-history library sometimes inspires a fresh idea.

I also left the forum thinking that great artwork, whether it be writing, painting, dance, theater, sculpting, music, or cooking, is at its core – storytelling. And storytelling is about human connection and understanding.

And that thought brought a wave of gratitude for the community of storytellers who are Poetry Friday.  Thank you for bravely sharing your stories, your cultures, your observations, and your feelings and reaching out for human connection.

 

Please connect here!

If you have time to comment, I would love to hear about a source of your inspiration!

38 comments

  • Wow, love that you attended that chefs forum! Fascinating to hear about their sources of inspiration. I agree with you -- at its core, all art is storytelling. I am inspired by visual art, music, and food, of course -- everyone has to eat, food connects us all, helps creates memories, teaches us about other cultures. Thanks for hosting this week, Tracey. I always enjoy your blog posts! :) 
    • Jama, I love seeing what you bake up on your blog! It always looks so tasty and ties in masterfully with your theme of the week!
  • Tracey, this is gold! I have long connected my food world to my writing world. There are so many parallels to be found, particularly the common ground of storytelling.  I find myself identifying strongly with the notion of world as inspiration as mentioned by presenters. Noticing small seemingly insignificant detail also resonates strongly. What a stimulating experience this must have been. I find myself most envious. Thank you sharing these important messages.
    • Alan, agreed! Food is definitely common ground, and great insights come from noticing seemingly insignificant details. Great observations.
  • Hello, Tracey, thank you for hosting today! These are such lovely thoughts about the common thread between all the arts is  storytelling, and that about "human connection and understanding." Beautiful! 
  • I love cooking (I've even worked in the food industry), so I can truly appreciate this post! Thanks for sharing, and for hosting this week!
  • Thank you for hosting and for a very inspiring post, Tracey. I love thinking about cooking as storytelling. Inspiration is sometimes a challenge for me. When that happens, I often turn to others' poetry for a word or thought that might spark an idea. That, and taking Mary Oliver's advice to pay attention to the world.
  • Love your observation about art and storytelling and it's connection with humans–it's an ever evolving and intriguing web! Thanks for sharing the tastey and inspirational thoughts from the forum you attended, and for hosting!
  • Tracey, you are such a great candidate for 'The Artist's Way' by Julia Cameron. She really captures the practice of finding inspiration and being a creative person. I read through the book with several Poetry Friday friends during the pandemic. It's wonderful! I highly recommend it. But, your post today inspires me! Oh, those photos! And, finding food inspirations? Yes, please!
    • Thank you, Linda! I read The Artist's Way last year, based upon a recommendation from Irene Latham and Charles Waters! I am still doing morning pages. You are right, a refresher might be helpful!
  • I love hearing about where people find their inspiration. I especially think that "cravable" bit could be a metaphor for writing too! I get my inspiration from being in nature. The past 2 weeks have been so busy that I haven't been outside as much as I'd like. My book fair ends today, so I'm really, really hoping to refill the well this weekend with some outside time. Thank you for hosting!!! 
  • HiTracey & Thanks for hosting. I hope it's a delicious weekend in words & food. I devoured the chefs' thoughts. The closest elbow-to-elbow time I've enjoyed with a chef, was when I worked in a sailing camp's kitchen. You are inspiring me to write a food poem - appreciations.
  • You've inspired me to think about inspiration. I think the habit of sitting down each day with a notebook page staring at you can either stall or start. I find inspiration from fellow poets here on Poetry Friday each week. I listen to Poetry Unbound and almost always find the poems inspiring. I subscribe to too many blogs and Poems of the Day. Sometimes they pile up in my inbox, and I just have to delete them. But when I take the time to read, I usually find something to draw from. Thanks for hosting. 
    • Thank you for sharing those sources of inspiration, Margaret! Poetry Unbound sounds like a winner! I will check it out!
  • So perfect that you end your inspirational post with gratitude Tracey. It feels like that’s truly where the need to write begins! Thank you for hosting! I’m in the midst of wedding #6 so I’ll circle back to join in the reading joy later this weekend!
  • I love that you’ve connected inspiration with gratitude. Isn’t that where everything begins? Thank you for hosting Tracey!
  • What an amazing forum, and how wonderful that you had the chance to attend! I love these connections and heartily agree. Food is both sustenance and creativity, a way to show and share love. And yes, it's storytelling. I was just listening to a podcast in which a guest was almost sheepish to "admit" that she was reading a cookbook, but the host said, "Yes! I love to read cookbooks!" Because, of course, the best cookbooks are also full of stories. Full of life. :) ❤️
    Thanks for hosting! 
  • Thanks for hosting, Tracey! We watch several cooking/baking competition shows (the ones without screaming--hehe), but I don't like to cook or bake at all. So it's always extra fascinating to hear about chefs' ideas and inspirations. Thanks for sharing these. It also makes me think about creators who make things that are ephemeral--from food to street art to sand art, etc. That idea of making something and placing it in front of people and then being done with it is so appealing to me. Never having to store physical versions of things...the immediate response you get...so lovely!
    • Yes, I like the shows that are less stressful as well! So true - there is definitely an appeal to ephemeral art, especially cooking. I think that is part of why I enjoy baking - nothing left to judge afterwards. : )
  • Tracey,
    What a cool post! We love Top Chef and other cooking shows. 
    My inspirations are color, nature, and travel.  I also find inspiration in others. But I am careful in how I find it. For example, in making my handcrafted jewelry, I never look at jewelry of others...it gets in my head and I can't get it out. If I take inspiration from another's work (written word) I do it in a broad-stroke way. 
    Art definitely inspires. I should add that to my list of three.
     
    • Yes - I see color, nature, art, and your travels throughout your work, Carol! : ) Thank you for sharing your inspirations and your inspirational work!
  • Tracey, I join you in that wave of gratitude to our Poetry Friday community. I didn't know what I was writing about today (other than post #1,400) until the Ada Limon podcast popped up on my phone. It's fun to be inspired by what appears in our little universe, but like many others have stated, I rely on this community for inspiration too. I love Valerie Worth and your nod to her worthy (Ha! Ha!) poems about seemingly ordinary things. It was interesting to see how you led us down this path of inspiration, following your evening of culinary delights.
  • Tracey, my comment is coming in late. After driving a ways to get to the infectious disease doctor, the GPS did not take us the right way and I was too late for my appointment. Oh well, we are back on the road home. I really liked your post today and I thank you for hosting. There is creativity spilling out all over your post. It was exciting reading about the creative chefs and their perspectives. I am passionate about decorating, fashion, antiquing, and of course my granddaughters and poetry writing. As far as cooking, I enjoy baking and start learning from a very young child when I watched my Nonnie back. I agree with the chef that cravable bites of food are what brings people back to the food. I like playing with flavors and tastes when baking. I have never been able to create Italian cookies like my Nonnie made but I love the stories that evolved from the years of baking. Have a happy weekend.
    • Carol, what a hectic day! I hope event turned out ok. I love all of the things on your inspiration list.  Antiques jumped out at me as a wonderful thought. Touching a piece of history does seem like a great way to get ideas flowing! I bet your Italian cookies are as wonderful as the memories you have of making them with your Nonni! : )
  • I also enjoy Poetry Friday because I can write about anything that inspires me from week to week. I love to cook and eat and love to be inspired by a recipe or a cookbook. I'm glad that I'm reading your blog now, on Saturday at dinnertime because those food journalists have got me thinking! Poets are all about the senses, including taste. Thanks for hosting, Tracy. 
    • That is a good point, Janice. Great poetry does tap into many different senses. I have to try to be more conscious of that when I write. 

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