50 Days—50 Essential Foods

50 Days—50 Essential Foods: A Project of Learning and Doing What I Love

In 1996, my father signed me up for my very first library card. As a child I really enjoyed reading which is why I never understood why I lost all motivation to do so in my early adult years. After years of avoiding the library due to accumulated late fees, I decided this past Monday was the day I'd check it out again, or should I say, check out a book again.

When I walked up to the counter at the Central Public Library, I was greeted by a middle aged, curly hair, small glasses, soft spoken, typical librarian looking lady. I explained that I hadn't been there in years and to my surprise she said it had been so long that my account had been deactivated and with that, lucky for me, so were my late fees. I was provided with a new card and this time I got to keep the parental guardian line blank.

Inspired by what I would consider the first fantasy book read in my adult life, I decided to start out by checking the graphic novel section. This is different for me. Without completely realizing it until I got home, I ended up selecting two short graphic novels which included a male character as the protagonist finding themselves in similar rather lonely scenarios. I do not consider myself a lonely person but I could absolutely relate to the loneliness and humour in these novels.

As expected I eventually found myself in the food section, ready to consume the words of many well known chefs and foodies. It was a book titled 50 Foods - The Essentials of Good Taste written by Edward Behr, the founding editor of The Art of Eating, that caught my eye. I'll admit, I am a person of lists. I find great satisfaction drawing a miniature check-mark beside a task once completed. This may be extreme but I must use a mechanical pencil in case one of my tasks change. Checking it off would be wrong, instead erasing the original task and correcting the project at hand is the right way to treat a list. Relishing in the idea that I might have found just the right amount of inspiration for my next project, I found a corner in the library and spent nearly 2 hours grazing over these words.

And so it began..

50 Days —50 Essential Foods: A Project of Learning and Doing What I Love

Each day I will be summarizing the chapter and the content that I read about and in most cases I'll be tasting them. I will share my personal experiences with this food item and other articles that I've come across relating its affect on our social and community life. Food brings us together and I'm using my passion for food to express myself in the most interactive and positive way possible.

Yesterday was Day 1.

I ate an anchovies for the first time and I hated it.

Twitter @annedot44