Wednesday, November 26, 2008

What Do You Eat? By Morgan Mandel

What a person eats can say a lot about that person's lifestyle.

Vegetarians seem to be health conscious and also animal lovers.

I picture steak and potato lovers as large men who are not afraid to enjoy a good meal.

Then there are the soup and salad eaters. Discerning women, of course.

What about macaroni and cheese, or peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich gulpers? Kids, right?

Don't forget dishes that shout out a person's ethnicity, such as spaghetti and meatballs, matza balls, pierogis, won ton soup, gyros, and so on.

What I've offered are stereotypical examples of food preferences, but remember that stereotypes are often based on actuality.

When you describe characters in your books, be sure to include food preferences. If what your characters eat vary from the preconceived norm, have fun with that.

Some ways to do this:

A football player eating a salad so he can lose weight.
A kid who for some mysterious reason loves broccoli.
A vegetarian with a mysterious craving for a bologna sandwich.
A salad eater with ice cream binges.

I'll stop now. I'm getting hungry.

What about you - Are your eating habits different from the norm? In what way? Do you include food in your books? If so, how? Please share.

9 comments:

Joyce Anthony said...

"A kid who for some mysterious reason loves broccoli"

I have one of those-he's always loved veggies and fruit! (Of course he loves sugar also!)-when he was young he didn't like chocolate, peanut buter or marshmallow!!

Unknown said...

My preference is pork. But I prefer butter over gravy for potatoes. However, overall my primary diet is cereal (I do the dishes here). I go through a lot of deli ham, virginia baked or black forest.

My downfall is coffeecake. I've yet to see one last over a day.

Norm Cowie said...

Hey, she called me 'preconceived.'

Anyway, I'm sorta addicted to ice cream.

Norm Cowie said...

And my eating habits are the same as the Norm.

(heh)

Norm

Norm Cowie said...

She said, "Norm"

Norm Cowie said...

Twice.

(all done)

Deb Larson said...

I was thinking the same thing! She said "Norm!"
My moods dictate my favorite foods. Right now, I'm thinking dressing, mashed 'tators, you know the turkey fare for the norm of the Thanksgiving feast!
Happy Turkey Day!
DL Larson

Morgan Mandel said...

I'm like the Norm. I'm also addicted to ice cream.

Morgan Mandel
http://wwww.morganmandel.com
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

Cheryl said...

Food worked really well in the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Because Wilder grew up with so little and her husband grew up with much more than she had, it is interesting to see how often and how well she describes food, especially in "Farmer Boy"--which is about her husband's childhood.

I am a junk food junkie, but I am working on changing that. It's hard, but I know I can do it if I start buying healthier foods.

Cheryl