I smiled, I giggled, I chuckled and I marveled at all the clever writing. Many thanks to all 41 people brave enough to enter my humor writing contest.
One post made me laugh out loud. It’s from Sharon Graves of Cheesy Pennies, who wins a copy of The Sweet Life in Paris:
“Most of my favorite funny posts are about my dog…here’s an original recipe posted on the occasion of his 3rd birthday.
Peanut Butter Bonanza Bowser Birthday Extravaganza
An original recipe by my daughter
4 Trader Joe’s Natural Dog Treats, Peanut Butter Flavor
1/4 jar of peanut butter of your choice
1 birthday candle
Slather 1/2 of peanut butter between 2 treats to form sloppy, sticky sandwich. Set on counter without a plate, then turn around and touch a lot of other things in the kitchen. Repeat with other treats and remaining clean kitchen surfaces. Reach into cupboard without washing hands and get out a dinner plate. Arrange cookies precariously on the plate, add candle. Sing loudly to the bewildered but salivating dog, while camera flashes in his face. Remove candle before serving. Wipe hands on dog. Leave peanut butter covered knife somewhere in the sofa.”
I enjoyed this post because I could visualize the whole event. I like Sharon’s point of view of a kid who has no idea about the mess she’s making, and I love how the dog goes along with it. Both kid and dog sound adorable. My favorite line is “Sing loudly to the bewildered but salivating dog.”
Congratulations, Sharon!
Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons/Karen.tkr
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Announcements:
- This Saturday’s food writing class in Berkeley, CA is almost sold out. Hope you’ll join me and other food-obsessed students who might like to start a blog, or write a cookbook or food memoir.
- I sent out the second of my annual quarterly newsletters about food writing recently. If you’d like to get on my mailing list, click on the link above to sign up.
- The May/June issue of Writer’s Digest magazine features tons of how-to details on food and travel writing. Pick up a copy on a newsstand and you’ll find my cover story on food writing.
Thank you, Dianne! There were so many great entries…what a treat. We’re all thrilled (me, my daughter, and my dog) Here’s a link to the original post…it has a great photo of the occasion:
http://cheesypennies.blogspot.com/2009/10/happy-birthday-blackjack.html
Terrific photo, Sharon. Thanks for linking to it.
Dianne – I just got the email from Writers Digest about this month’s publication and wondered if you knew about the food writing articles. Silly Me. Now for sure I have to go out and buy it – can’t miss out on probably the best thing they will have this year! Bravo.
Karen
See you in Atlanta?
Congrats Sharon! That was funny – and with a fresh litter of puppies I can SO relate!
Somehow, I missed this contest but absolutely love the entry that won. Congrats, Sharon! Visualizing the scene play out reminds me of the time my husband and I took care of a very young lab puppy. It was pure chaos from our perspective, but the dog was always ecstatic — no matter what.
Congrats to Sharon! The pacing and point of view was perfect (alliteration not intended.) My favorite lines have to be “Set on counter without a plate, then turn around and touch a lot of other things in the kitchen,” “Repeat with other treats and remaining clean kitchen surfaces,” “Wipe hands on dog,” and “Leave peanut butter covered knife somewhere in the sofa.”
I love this! Congratulations Sharon. I can totally relate because my 10-year-old has been begging me to give our dog a birthday party. She (the dog) is also 3-years-old and is incrediblly patient. I think my kids would do a similar job but they would also try to put a hat on her I’m sure. 🙂 And she would likely put up with it.