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Life's A Gift When You Write About Food

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 6, 2008

The knock at the door at 9 a.m. was soft. Through the window, I could see it was my new neighbor, Beth, and her small daughter, Adrianna. They had just returned from a trip to Pittsburgh and had visited one of the Carnegie Museums. At the gift shop, they picked up a souvenir for me.

"Here you go," Beth said. "We saw it and thought of you."

In her hand was a white box with chocolate-covered larvae inside. Only six weeks in the neighborhood and she knew me already.

When you write about food, people tend to bring you fun things. My colleague Pat Kane, who designs the Flavor pages, once brought me a chef's-hat-wearing wind-up robot that shimmies with grilling tools in each hand as a T-bone rotates on his abdomen.

David Williams, the Tribune's graphics chief, gave me dried minnows and a tiny bento box charm that he says everyone in Tokyo puts on their cell phone. TBOExtra.com editor Rommie Johnson returned from a dollar store venture with Hannah Montana sweet and sour gummy "concert candy" in microphone shapes that were disturbingly phallic.

I cherish them all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some chocolate bugs to chew on.

Jeff Houck

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