Friday, July 31, 2009

Essay #1 Final Draft

Something to Look Forward to
Every family has traditions. My family is no exception. I think traditions make any occasion more meaningful and memorable. They give you something to look forward to at certain times of the year. It can build up anticipation of an event, to almost make it out to be more than what it really is. There are many different types of traditions, from large ones to small ones, but each tradition has its own special and meaningful significance. Every tradition varies in type, but they all can bring about a common thing, happiness. The main tradition that my family has is definitely with food. Everyone in my extended family loves it, but who doesn’t.
The main cook in my family is definitely my mom. She has a few specialty dishes that she always makes on special occasions. She makes sausage and egg casserole, green bean casserole, and something she calls Hotsy Totsy. I like all of these dishes except for her green bean casserole. I have never really liked it, even though she makes it for almost every family get together. My favorite dish however, is definitely Hotsy Totsy. I’m not sure of everything that is in it, but I know it is some kind of Italian dish that has meat and marinara sauce, but also has layers of crumbled Doritos chips. It certainly is not the healthiest meal in the world, which is why we only have it once or twice a year. The one time of year that you know my mom is making Hotsy Totsy is on my birthday. Its one thing that you know is definitely going to happen. When I wake up on the morning of my birthday, I can’t help but have a smile on my face, because I know exactly what’s for dinner, and I know it’s going to be delicious. It’s been a tradition since the first time I ate it when my mom was experimenting with new meals out of a cookbook she had. From that first bite I took, I knew that meal was a keeper. Ever since then I have always asked my mom to make that on my birthday, and it’s always something to look forward to.
There are certain dishes that are a tradition for special occasions. My mom always makes green bean casserole for almost every occasion. She loves it. Whether it's just a get together with friends, or a family reunion, she always brings that dish. People would probably think that something was wrong if she showed up at our family reunion without her green bean casserole. It’s just one thing that everybody associates with her, but as long as it’s a good association, then she’s perfectly fine with it.
Every Thanksgiving my family and other relatives go down to my grandparent’s house. It's about a 2 hour drive from my house and we usually arrive around 11 or 12. As soon as we open the door to go inside, you can smell everything that is cooking in the kitchen, and you know you're in the right place. My grandma always makes a delicious turkey while my other aunts help prepare mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, peas, green beans, yams, rolls, and all of the other foods people enjoy on Thanksgiving. Usually at family reunions everyone brings some kind of dish. My mom, of course, brings her green bean casserole, but the other dish that is a must have at family events is my aunt’s chip dip. Nobody knows what kind of dip it is, or what is in it, but the one thing people do know, it that it is amazing. It's something I’ve never seen around at a store or anywhere else. I think it's just some random thing she has thrown together. However it's made though doesn't matter to me, as long as it continues to be delicious. As soon as you bite into it you get a hint of something spicy and adds all of the flavor you could ask for to the chip. You could have the worst chip you’ve ever tasted, but if you put some of the dip on it, it will quickly turn into the best. That’s one thing that makes family members want to arrive early, to ensure that they would get their turn at the famous chip dip. If the dip ran out before you got there, the day was sure to be a tiny let down.
On Christmas we always have sausage and egg casserole for breakfast that my mom prepares the night before. You can start to smell it throughout the house on Christmas Eve when she is preparing the dish. After it is prepared, she puts it in the fridge so on Christmas morning, all she has to do is put it in the oven, and breakfast is served. Then for kind of a “lupper” type of meal, a lunch and supper time mix, at around 3 or 4ish we have a big ham that my mom has cooking in the oven all day. Most of my family members that live in town come over to my house to celebrate. As people are walking in the door they comment on how good everything smells. The smell sets the appropriate atmosphere that tells you this is a time for celebration. After dinner on Christmas Day, my grandma always brings out her home cooked fudge. Whether it the peanut butter or the chocolate fudge, you know you will enjoy every bite. The fudge is the perfect ending for the perfect day of perfect food.Having the traditional foods at get-togethers and holidays is important because if my mom didn't make her usual sausage and egg casserole for breakfast on Christmas morning, then the day just wouldn't seem to have started right. As well as having ham for dinner, the whole Christmas experience just wouldn't feel the same. I think having the same dishes gives you something special to look forward to on every occasion, and makes those occasions seem that much more special when you get to eat the dishes that you have been craving for since last thanksgiving ended. The special dishes signifies the importance and the happiness that comes with getting people get together and just having a good time while enjoying each other’s company. If every holiday is just people bringing different foods all of which are just OK, then the whole experience can become kind of bland and boring. When you get that one dish that everybody loves and someone brings it every time, you know you are going to have something to look forwards too other than just seeing all of your relatives that you have seen in a while. Tradition can carry on family bonding and happiness for years, and hopefully generations.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Essay #1 Rough Draft

Virtually every family has traditions. My family is no exception. I love traditions. I think they make any occasion more meaningful and memorable. Traditions give you something to look forward to at certain times of the year. They can build up an anticipation of an event to almost make it out to be more than what it really is. There are many different types of traditions, from large ones to small ones, but each tradition has its own special and meaningful significance. Every tradition varies it type but they all can bring about a common thing, happiness. The main tradition that my family has definitely is with food. Everyone in my extended family loves it, but who doesn’t.
The main cook in my family is definitely my mom. She cooks most of the time, but not all the time. When my mom isn't the one doing the cooking, my dad takes over. Whenever he has to cook, he will usually just prepare something simple and easy to make. He won't make the most extravagant thing, but it usually tastes OK. Although, sometimes I do get a little scared when I hear he is going to cook dinner. He's pretty good at making some grilled cheese, so if I smell that I know it's going to be alright. But anything else that isn’t simple to make, or that is off the beaten path, you might want to watch out for. My dad doesn't have any specialty dishes. He will usually just make some tacos or something simple like that. My mom however, has a few specialty dishes. She makes sausage and egg casserole, green bean casserole, enchiladas, and something she calls Hotsy Totsy. I like all of those dishes except for her green bean casserole. I have never really liked it, even though she makes it for almost every family get together. My favorite dish is definitely Hotsy Totsy, with enchiladas coming in a close second. I’m not sure of everything that is in the Hotsy Totsy that she makes but I know it is some kind of Italian dish that has meat and marinara sauce but also has layers of crumbled Doritos chips. It certainly is not the healthiest meal in the world, which is why we only have it once or twice a year. Anything else she makes it usually pretty good too.
There are certain dishes that are kind of a tradition for certain occasions. My mom always makes green bean casserole for almost every occasion. She loves it. Whether it's just a get together with friends or a family reunion, she always brings that dish. People would probably think that something was wrong if she showed up at our family reunion with her green bean casserole. It’s just one thing that everybody associates with her, but as long as it’s a good association, then she’s perfectly fine with it. On Christmas we always have sausage and egg casserole for breakfast that my mom prepares the night before. You can always start to smell it throughout the house on Christmas Eve when she is getting the dish prepared. After she prepares it, she puts it in the fridge so on Christmas morning all she has to do is put it in the oven and breakfast is served. Then for kind of a “lupper” kind of meal, a lunch and supper time mix, at around 3 or 4ish we have a big ham that my mom has cooking in the oven all day. Most of my family members that live in town come over to my house and we all have a good time.
Every Thanksgiving my family and other relatives go down to my grandparent’s house. It's about a 2 hour drive from my house and we usually arrive around 11 or 12. As soon as we open the door to go inside, you can smell everything that is cooking in the kitchen, and you know you're in the right place. My grandma always makes a delicious turkey while my other aunts help prepare mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, peas, green beans, yams, rolls, and all of the other foods people enjoy on Thanksgiving. Usually at family reunions everyone brings some kind of dish. My mom of course brings her green bean casserole, but the other dish that is a must have at family events is my aunt’s chip dip. Nobody knows what kind of dip it is or what is in it, but the one thing people do know, it that it is amazing. It's something I’ve never seen around at a store or anywhere else. I think it's just some random thing she has thrown together. However it's made though doesn't matter to me as long as it continues to be delicious. That’s one thing that makes family members want to arrive early, to ensure that they would get their turn at the famous chip dip.
Having the traditional foods at get-togethers and holidays is important because if my mom didn't make her usual sausage and egg casserole for breakfast on Christmas morning, then the day just wouldn't seem to have started right. As well as having ham for dinner, the whole Christmas experience just wouldn't feel the same. I think having the same dishes gives you something special to look forward to on every occasion, and makes those occasions seem that much more special when you get to eat the dishes that you have been craving for since last thanksgiving ended. The special dishes signifies the importance and the happiness that comes with getting people get together and just having a good time while enjoying each other’s company. If every holiday is just people bringing different foods all of which are just OK, then the whole experience can become kind of bland and boring. When you get that one dish that everybody loves and someone brings it every time, you know you are going to have something to look forwards too other than just seeing all of your relatives that you have seen in a while. Tradition can carry on family bonding and happiness for years, and hopefully generations.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Essay #1 gameplan

1. I am going to select the Food + Family prompt because I already know of quite a few dishes that are very popular and traditional at my family reunions and get togethers. There are certain things that people bring every time and make those get togethers just feel right. The others options for writing prompts didn't seem to interest me very much. I have tried almost every kind of food thats out there so i couldn't really do the Food + Adventure since I have encountered most foods. I also don't have anybody that I know that does certain things so they can have the type of body where they would be accepted by everyone so that kind of ruled out the Food + Practices option.

2. The modes that will help me out the most are definately description, Illustration, and Classification. I can classify certain dishes to go with specific holidays and get togethers. With illustration I can provide examples of what every one brings to the special occasions and how they bring the same thing as a tradition. I will aslo describe how having all the foods there makes the reunions and get togethers feel more important and fun.

3. I will include detail of what dishes are brought and how they are brought everytime. This will accomplish getting the reader to undersatnd how having the same thing makes it feel right, whereas if someone is missing and/or their dish is missing, then it just doesn't feel the same and it feels as if something is missing. I will include detail of what is in the dishes and what makes them taste so good, so that the reader can feel like they are right next to the dish, and as if they if they are about to eat it themselves.

4. I will definately try to recreate Thanksgiving and Christmas because those are two major hollidays that are well known for having delicious foods. My family is no exception. Thanksgiving is definately a holliday that is surrounded by food and my grandmas turkey is the key to it all. As well as on christmas when my mom makes ham for dinner.

5. My main reason for writing will to be able to signify the importance of tradition and how that bring a family together. When you have something to look forward to on a certain holliday it kind of makes it that much more enjoyable. If every holliday is just randomness it gets kind of boring and not nearly as enjoyable. I will try to accomplish that possibly someone could read this and try to start their own traditions of their own that they can start with their family. Then that family can carry those traditions on for generations and generations to come. Making every holliday and family get together a complete success.

6. When I write I tend to repeat myself and kind of just say the same thing but using different words. I need to be able to get more detail into my writing and not just write about the main things that everyone already knows and expects. I need to find something that intrigues the reader and wants them to continue reading on and not think about how they would rather be doing someting else. I can overcome these difficulties by just digging deep and coming up with all the little details that go along with my essay and the family get togethers. Gather all the finite details and not just the ones that are obvious.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Brainstorming Ideas--food

The main cook in my family is definately my mom. She cooks most of the time, but not all the time. When my mom isn't the one doing the cooking my dad takes over. When my dad has to cook he will usually just prepare something simple and easy to make. He won't make the most extravagent thing but it usually tastes OK. Sometime I do get a little scared though when I hear he is going to cook dinner. He's pretty good at making some grilled cheese, so if i smell that i know it's going to alright. My dad doesn't have any specialty dishes. he will usually just make some tacos or something simple like that. My mom however, has a few specialty dishes. She makes sausgae and egg casserole, green bean casserole, enchilladas, and something she calls Hotsy Totsy. I like all of those dishes except for her green bean casserole. i have never really liked it, even she makes it for almost every family get together. My favorite dish is definately Hotsy Totsy, with enchilladas coming in a close second.
There are certain dishes that are kind of a tradition for certain occasions. My mom always makes green bean casserole for almost every occasion. She loves it. Whether it's just a get together with friends or a family reunion, she always brings that dish. On Christmas we always have sausage and egg casserole for breakfast that my mom prepares the night before. Then for kind of a lunch and dinner time mix at around 3 or 4ish we have a big ham. Most of my family memeber that liove in town all come over to my house and all have a good time. Every Thanksgiving my family and other relatives go down to my grandparents house. It's about a 2 hour drive from my house and we usually arrive around 11 or 12. As soon as we open the door to enter you can smell everything that is cooking in the kitchen and you know you're in the right place. My grandma always makes delicious trukey while my other aunts help prepare mashed potatoes and corn and all the other foods people enjoy on thanksgiving. Usually at family reunions everyone brings some kind of dish. My mom of course brings green bean casserole (I'm sure you could have guessed that by now), but my aunt always brings an amazing chip dip. It's something i've never seen around at a store or anywhere else. I thinks it's just some random thing she has thrown together. However it's made though doesn't matter to me as long as it continues to be delicious.
Having the traditional foods at get togethers and holidays is important because if my mom didn't make her usual sausage and egg casserole for breakfast on christmas morning, then the day just wouldn't seem to have started right. As well as having our ham for dinner, the whole Christmas experience just wouldn't feel the same. I think having the same dishes gives you something special to look forward to on every occasion, and makes those occasions seem that much more special when you get to eat the dishes that you have been craving for since last thanksgiving ended. The special dishes signifies the importance and the happiness that comes with having people get together and just have a good time and enjoy each others company.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Food

One of my favorite foods is chicken. There are so many different ways you can cook, and differnt meals that contain chicken. My favorite meal that has involves chicken is chicken parmesan. I get it every time I go out to eat at an italian restaraunt. It's by far my favorite meal. I also enjoy to eat chicken salads and chicken fingers. I find all of them appealing. You can have fried chicken or grilled chicken. Whether you just have the chicken by itself or you make it into a sandwhich, they are both enjoyable.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Nathan Sansing.
I attend USI and am majoring in Business Administration. I've played baseball my whole life and love to play and watch it. Some of my favorite tv shows are Weeds, Prison Break, Around the Horn, and PTI. I am a manager at Walther's Golf N Fun and spend a lot of time working there. I like to watch movies and hang out with my friends just being a normal guy.