Guy Fieri, host of TV show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives hit the jackpot when it came to getting a job. He cruises across the country in his red 1967 Chevy Camaro Super Sport convertible and stops at local food joints to sample what they are best known for. BBQ, breakfast, baked goods, it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s good, homemade-style food. During his stop at the Weeping Radish in North Carolina, he sampled their famous Baked Potato Soup. The farm-to-table chef personally prepared a large, steel pot filled with milk, flour, potatoes from the field outside, fresh cheddar cheese, chopped green chives, sour cream and bits of bacon cured on site. The chef stirred the cauldron and announced the famous line we hear so often from all the best chefs, “And now we let it simmer.”
Simmer, to cook in a liquid that is kept at or just below the boiling point. The word itself makes my mouth water. Bring to a boil, and then let it simmer. Dinner’s almost ready; it just needs to simmer. Anticipation, getting a whiff of garlic doing the tango with olive oil, as the aroma of fresh basil intertwines itself in the Italian feast my mother prepares on a cold snowy afternoon. Simmer, a delicate state of transition.
There are times when we writers experience an explosion of words that tumble from the pen we hold, to the paper we write on, that leaves us in awe. I don’t know where that came from, but that’s a good line! Then there are the moments when thoughts, ideas, and fragmented sentences trickle onto the page and just lie there, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The prospect of piecing them together into a well-crafted story appears daunting.
Stepping away and allowing the words to simmer, soak up the flavor, reconfigure into a new delicacy; may be the difference between fast food and a culinary delight.
Simmer, to cook in a liquid that is kept at or just below the boiling point. The word itself makes my mouth water. Bring to a boil, and then let it simmer. Dinner’s almost ready; it just needs to simmer. Anticipation, getting a whiff of garlic doing the tango with olive oil, as the aroma of fresh basil intertwines itself in the Italian feast my mother prepares on a cold snowy afternoon. Simmer, a delicate state of transition.
There are times when we writers experience an explosion of words that tumble from the pen we hold, to the paper we write on, that leaves us in awe. I don’t know where that came from, but that’s a good line! Then there are the moments when thoughts, ideas, and fragmented sentences trickle onto the page and just lie there, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The prospect of piecing them together into a well-crafted story appears daunting.
Stepping away and allowing the words to simmer, soak up the flavor, reconfigure into a new delicacy; may be the difference between fast food and a culinary delight.
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