Trial & Error: the 5 Things I Learned about Recipe Writing this Week at Clearly Delicious

Trial and Error: the 5 Things I Learned about Recipe Writing this Week at Clearly Delicious

posted by Erica deVeer, Writing & Editorial Intern (Spring 2013) on Monday, March 4th, 2013

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Trial and Error: Sometimes it helps, not knowing what you’re doing….

Many think it’s foolishness to claim that ignorance is bliss. Well, to achieve food blog recipe perfection, sometimes ignorance is necessary. 

This past Friday, my boyfriend and I decided we were going to cook dinner and watch a movie. It’s currently Lent, which means no meat on Fridays (see here for great Lenten recipe ideas). Working at Clearly Delicious, I explored the site and saw the recipe for Butternut Squash Lasagna with Blue Cheese and Mozzarella, which sounded like a fun, meatless challenge. 

Pictured: the Butternut Squash Lasagna with Blue Cheese and Mozzarella recipe my boyfriend and I tried with some unexpected (seeded) results.  You can read the full (now revised) recipe here.

Neither my boyfriend nor I had ever cooked lasagna, and neither one of us had ever worked with butternut squash before. I printed off the recipe, and we were off to Winn Dixie to buy our produce. Not only did I drop a big butternut squash in the process—twice, mind you, cracking the botanically-classified fruit—but I also didn’t know to seed the pumpkin-like vegetable.

So, we made the lasagna, eating it with a “hmm…this is interesting,” response as we crunched our way through seed-filled lasagna. 

Somehow, something got lost in translation between Helana’s head, her fingertips, and my brain. I started considering what about the recipe led us astray on our culinary adventure, and I devised 5 tips to recipe writing that this humbling experience taught me.

Erica’s 5-Tips for Recipe Writing Success:

#1 – Just like we learned in school when writing papers, assume your reader knows nothing.

As neither my boyfriend nor I knew to seed the squash, someone reading your recipe (or post) may not know to chop the garlic or stem the mushrooms called for in the recipe.

Be specific and clear even when it comes to basic steps like seeding butternut squash or peeling the paper-y skin off of garlic.

#2 – Your list of ingredients should always match the method in your recipe.

Be sure that all ingredients are listed in the order of use.

Nothing’s better than having all the ingredients readily available at the top of the recipe when your reader is making his / her list of groceries!

#3 – Keep your instructions clear and concise.

Like your eighth grade English teacher taught you: never use run-ons. If you think your sentences are too convoluted and your directions are too complex, your reader will probably think so, too.

#4 – Be not afraid of revising your recipe or post.

The Internet is wonderful because, though your recipe may technically be “published,” you have the ability to return to it and amend your post. Your online recipe is never so set in stone that you can’t revisit it, chip away what you’ve already carved in, and re-chisel it for clarity and perfection.

#5 – Sometimes, though, no matter how perfect your recipe has been written, there is no help for your reader.

As much as recipe and food writers need to be good writers, so must your readers be good readers. All you can do at this point is give them a share in your food knowledge and hope they take full advantage of your wisdom.

When I came into work Monday morning, Helana asked me how cooking the lasagna had gone, inquiring as to my foray into this new-to-me world of butternut squash lasagna. I remarked that I thought the lasagna needed some sort of fresh herb, to which Helana responded, “What about the sage and the basil?” First result of my boyfriend’s and my experiment: sage and basil were not listed in the ingredients.

Next, I timidly told Helana–revealing my lack of culinary experience with various produce–that I didn’t know if we were to seed the squash or not, so we were spitting out these toasted treats after every other bite of lasagna. To this, she reacted with wide eyes and an, “Oh my gosh! I didn’t say to seed the squash?!” exhibiting that sometimes it helps to be a first-timer.

Many think it’s foolishness to claim that ignorance is bliss. Well, to achieve food blog recipe perfection, sometimes ignorance is necessary.

P.S. The Butternut Squash Lasagna with Blue Cheese and Mozzarella recipe has been amended to include the omitted ingredients and instructions!

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Erica deVeer is a recent graduate of Louisiana State University, with a Bachelor’s degree in English – Creative Writing with minors in French and History. Erica will be attending the University of New Orleans’ Master of Fine Arts program — the Creative Writing Workshop — to study and to write contemporary fiction beginning in the Fall. She also recently won the Undergraduate Fiction Award at the Gulf Coast Association of Creative Writing Teachers Conference in April 2013 for her short story, “Summer.”

Brought up in a family of Louisiana foodies, Erica loves all things delicious, spicy, and, especially, sweet.

Contact: erica [at] clearlydeliciousfoodblog [dot] com

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