Kid's Writing Contest!

Announcing our 1st annual Edible Story Writing Contest, brought to you by “Take My Word For It!” and 18 Reasons!

You ready? Here goes:

“Life is just a bowl of cherries”

Rewrite this idiom telling the story of what you think life is just a bowl of (500 word limit)

Please e-mail your story to us at sondra@takemywordforit.net no later than Sept. 9th! Two lucky winners will have their piece published online and will each receive a 50% discount on this Fall’s after-school creative writing class,"Peanut Butter and the Pen" beginning 9/12. All of the young writers in the class will have the opportunity to share their work at a reading for parents and friends at the end of the session. We also proudly post student writing on our blog. And as an extra perk this year, students will have a chance to read their writing at San Francisco's famous LitQuake with Anne and Kris from Bi-Rite Creamery!

More info on this workshop is available here.

See Bi-Rite Market's blog post about our contest and our food writing class here:

http://www.biritemarket.com/18-reasons/so-you-think-you-can-write/

After-School at 18 Reasons

As the end of the year draws ever closer, our kids have started presenting their work to their parents during our after-school readings. Here are some of the stars from our Peanut Butter & the Pen curriculum at 18 Reasons:

Karam’s Alliteration:

            “Roast chicken rushes right off the rim of the real plate right into my tummy.”

 

Mady’s Recipe of Me:

            “1 piece of rock salt which means your life is full of flavor

            3 dill pickles which mean everything to me

            1 oxilion olive which I love

            Cheese!!!!!

            15 lemons

            75 cups of Judaism

            100 lbs of little

            2,000,000,000,000,000 cups of happiness”

 

Kaya’s Ode to the Potato Chip: 

            “You are crispy and salty

            like day breaking into night

            like a swan hitting the surface

            of the water after a long flight.

            You are waiting to crack and

            tell me your story, your accent

            is from tears, waiting to break free

            of the bag. Alas, I seize you in my hand.

            You are the center of my mind.”

 

Anaïs’s food love letter:

            “A chocolate cake is like crunchy, happy cherries.”

Ninive’s food love letter: 

            “Dear Chocolate

            It melts in my mouth.

            You are tasty. You have

            sugar and I love sugar.

            I love you because you

            are CHOCOLATE”

 

Ally’s Adjectives:

            “I love fish and chips. Fish and chips are so crunchy on the outside and moist and soft on the inside and it tastes delicious in soy sauce which is salty and sour.”

After-School Student Writing: Peanut Butter & the Pen at 18 Reasons!

Our beloved Peanut Butter & the Pen quarterly community class and is now a series of weekly after-school classes at 18 Reasons taught by Claire Rawlins. Our meaty metaphors and saucy similes served as the perfect after-school snack - see for yourself!

Karam’s Alliteration:

“Roast chicken rushes right off the rim of the real plate right into my tummy.”

 

Mady’s Recipe of Me:

            “1 piece of rock salt which means your life is full of flavor

            3 dill pickles which mean everything to me

            1 oxilion olive which I love

            Cheese!!!!!

            15 lemons

            75 cups of Judaism

            100 lbs of little

            2,000,000,000,000,000 cups of happiness.”

 

 Kaya’s Ode to the Potato Chip: 

            “You are crispy and salty

            like day breaking into night

            like a swan hitting the surface

            of the water after a long flight.

            You are waiting to crack and

            tell me your story, your accent

            is from tears, waiting to break free

            of the bag. Alas, I seize you in my hand.

            You are the center of my mind.”

 

Anaïs’s food love letter:

            “A chocolate cake is like crunchy, happy cherries.”

 

Ninive’s food love letter:

            “Dear Chocolate,

            It melts in my mouth.

            You are tasty. You have

            sugar and I love sugar.

            I love you because you

            are CHOCOLATE”

 

Ally’s Adjectives:

“I love fish and chips. Fish and chips are so crunchy on the outside and moist and soft on the inside and it tastes delicious in soy sauce which is salty and sour.”

Some of our Favorite Picks from Last Saturday's Peanut Butter and the Pen!

Check out some of the scrumptious work our talented young writers concocted at last Saturday's "Peanut Butter and the Pen" food writing lab!

Food similes and metaphors:

 From Eliza:

"The cracking of the chips was like the sound of a thick twig being broken by feisty, impatient hands."

"The chocolate was bittersweet. It tasted optimistic and cocky at the same time."

"Hunger snaked up my body like a slippery game of tug-of-war."

From Tayte:

"The strawberry was as red as a bursting heart."

From Mila:

"The strawberry's blood red color burst into the world."

"Specialty-Me" Recipes - What are you made of?

From Noa:

1. Add 8 oz. of school to 5 tsp. of math.
2. Mix well.
3. 3 oz. of fun as well as 9 tsp. of helpful.
4. A sprinkle of writing with just a dash of chocolate should be mixed with 10 cups of family.
5. Drop into one pot and let rise.
6. After it rises, bake for about 10 mins. until golden brown.
7. At the end, arrange some sister and soccer on top.
8. (Very nice to serve some Feliza on the side).

Serve on special occasions.

From Eliza:

1. Mince smartness and caramelize great voice. Mix.
2. Put in lavender, best fruzzie and reading.
3. Put aside and take out athlete and horses and kindness and caramelize.
4. Bake older sister, soccer, and green.
5. Mix everything and stick happiness and ice cream in.
6. Boil with lots of butter and frost in razzberry and chocolate icing.
7. Put on compassion and slice it.

 Voila!

Couldn't make it Saturday? Feel free to contribute your own writing in our comments section!

SAVE THE DATE! Check Out Our Upcoming Food Writing Workshop in San Francisco

May 7 at 18 Reasons (directions)

Does your kid have an appetite for writing? Then come join us for the third installment of  "Peanut Butter and the Pen", a four-part creative writing series for 3rd-5th graders put on in collaboration between "Take My Word For It!" and 18 Reasons.

For our May workshop, "My Specialty Recipe", kid's will craft auto-biographies that use the recipe format ("whisk together one tablespoon of soccer and two tablespoons of tree climbing in a large bowl"). Together, we'll taste food, read excerpts from some of literature's greatest writing in praise of food, and talk about the art of recipe building. Each child will write an original piece to bring home and stick on the fridge. Drop off your kid with pencil and spiral notebook in hand at 10:00, and pick him or her up at 12:15, original piece in hand.

See you there!

*minimum age is 8 years old.

My Dearest Pesto - Food Writing for Kids!

What do you get when you combine 17 kids, plates full of food and plenty of pencils and paper?

You get  "Peanut Butter and the Pen", "Take My Word For It!" 's food writing for kids workshop at 18 Reasons in San Francisco's Mission District.

Young authors learned about metaphor, simile, alliteration and other juicy ways to describe food and finished the day by writing a love letter to their favorite food.

18 Reasons is a non-profit engaging the community through food and art. They offer a year-round calendar of unique wine tastings, art shows, community dinners, food classes, interactive workshops for adults. "Take My Word For It!" series of food writing workshops are their first offerings for kids.