Roots: Where Food Comes From and Where It Takes Us, with some Accidental Butter

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Several months ago, I was asked to send in a short essay related to food for possible inclusion in an anthology to be published in ebook form by BlogHer. After some thought, I submitted an updated version of the post I wrote back in November 2011 to commemorate my mother's 70th birthday, called Accidental Butter. I'm happy to say my essay was selected to be one of the 36 in the book, which is available now.

The book version has an update that includes the part about my struggle with cancer, my father's death (which occured just a few weeks after I wrote the original version) and some more explanations about the essential Japanese-ness of my relationship with my mom. Reading it back now it may have come off a bit more serious than I intended...but I guess it did reflect my state of mind when I wrote it.

I just got my copy of the book today and I've been enjoying reading the other essays. There are a couple of recipes that I've seen so far, but it's mostly about how food is deeply interwoven in our lives. If you enjoy reading about food and life (or is it life and food...) I highly recommend it, even if it didn't have my contribution in it. ^_^

Submitted by maki on 2013-06-18 17:16.
Filed under:  writing elsewhere

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Comments

Mikey

18 June, 2013 - 21:39

The butter story is one of my favorite posts on any blog i read. This is great news for you! Hoping the book is a hit.

Kit

18 June, 2013 - 22:58

Whenever I read "Accidental Butter," and I've read it quite a few times, I always end up with tears in my eyes. My own childhood and adolescence were (by nature) very different from yours, Maki-san, but there are some surprising echoes between them, and your essay is just so personal and beautifully written. Thank you, as always, for sharing it with us.

missmochi

18 June, 2013 - 23:40

I have to say that the accidental butter essay always makes me tear up, even if I've read it five times before. Food and cooking, and more importantly what it means to us and our families are one of my favorite topics. Thanks for letting us know about this anthology!

justme

26 June, 2013 - 23:07

and now I can't stop crying. Very well-written, thank you for sharing that experience.

jean

5 July, 2013 - 05:41

I hope the book does well. I've loved many of your recipes, and have often mentioned them to friends, but I think the only time I actually forwarded one of your posts to someone was after reading 'Accidental Butter.' It was very moving -- thank you for sharing that with us all.