cheese sandwich, take two

This is take two because the new cat (Mari, after my favorite video game ever) just walked all over the computer and deleted my post.

As I was saying, I've meant to respond to this column in Food & Wine magazine since March, which is when it originally ran. In it, writer Pete Wells basically criticizes people for having "dear-diary" type food blogs (yes, I am guilty, so yes, this strikes a personal chord). He argues blogs should have a point or a theme and not just be lists of things like, "Today I ate a cheese sandwich." (He cites Deep End Dining and The Bruni Digest -- which I heart, by the way -- as examples of "good" blogs with "purposes.")

I agree -- to a point. Obviously, rather than read a rundown of a complete stranger's eating habits, it's much more useful to read a blog comparing cheese sandwiches throughout, say, Northern California with the goal of finding the perfect cheese sandwich. (And really -- what can be better than the perfect cheese sandwich?) Said blog could even expand, searching for the best tomato soup to pair with the cheese sandwich. And recipes could be included, too, making the whole presentation that much more attractive. ("Utility," my editors used to call it. "Readers like utility.")

But isn't the beauty of blogging the fact that anyone can do it? And that anything can be written? The reason I started blogging was because I wanted to get away from The Editors. After three years in newsrooms/pseudo-newsrooms and two years of fiction workshops (and being rejected by pretty much every single literary magazine I sent my stories to), I needed to re-learn how to write for myself.

And that is no easy task. It is hard to silence that voice.

"Will they like it?"

"Is this too much?"

(And the worst:) "Am I being cheesy?"

I try to remind myself that cheesiness is worth the risk. Because if it's honest cheesiness and not something contrived or artificial or entirely about pleasing or attempting to please someone else, then cheesiness should be okay.

So bring on the sandwich bread, Pete Wells! I make my grilled cheese with goat's milk Cheddar and thin strips of roasted red peppers. I like sourdough, slices buttered on the outside before they hit the heat. And I like to use my fabulous Hello Kitty sandwich maker because it kicks ass and because I am obsessed with cats.

So there.