Why waffles, why words?

Apart from work and sleep, the two things I spend the biggest chunks of my time, thoughts and concentration on, is food and books. A day without reading is as unthinkable as a day without food. And maybe this is the logical continuation of that - a blog about the two, words about waffles, writing about food.

While food and literature isn't all, and definitely not all of me, these two subjects are significant enough to warrant special attention. They also shape us in some way or other - what you read and what you eat will impact your life, and I find it hugely fascinating that more or less every single human being on this planet eats every single day. There are millions of different ways of eating, ways of cooking, foods to eat and ways to regard food, but we all have to eat. Some can't find enough food, some can't choose between too much food in the supermarket shelves. Food has taste, no taste, nutritional, cultural, emotional value - and we all eat some of it. Does that connect us or separate us?

Similarly, the same books can be read by millions of different people, in myriads of different ways. Not everyone reads, not everyone can read, and not everyone wants to. But books can contain whole universes, (often with people who eat, even every day!), and books have been such a huge part of my life, from the books my parents read to me when I was little, the books I read while other children played, to the books I studied at university or the books I surround myself with, both for reading pleasure and also just because they are so beautiful.

Cookbooks are beautiful too - sometimes so beautiful they have physical effects on the reader. Even so, I rarely buy cookbooks, there are so many recipes online, in magazines and with friends, and cookbooks are often so expensive. But cookbooks are also the books you create yourself, the recipes you put together in a grease-spotted, red wine flecked, handwritten book with crumbs in the folds and flour drizzle on the cover. I love those, and I love flicking through recipes carefully noted down over the years, with little notes for improvements, comments on taste and success, and changing trends in the food universe. They are books that describe the world in different words than novels or plays, but just like other books, there is a lot more content than the words themselves.

So here is my blog version of a union of the two, another attempt at describing a world of food and books, in the medium of words, about waffles, about food, about books, about recipes, about thoughts about the world where some people can eat what they want, some people can barely eat, some people care about the food they eat, some don't give a damn, some people read, some people can't, and some people don't.

And why the name? Well, words is what it's all about, in many ways, and as I am a big fan of alliteration, I was looking for something that went well with w. Waffle serves the purpose in more than one way - it sounds good, it tastes better, it has a cultural as well as a personal, emotional, importance for me (as for almost anyone from Norway) and it looks great. Waffles symbolise the cultural heritage for many Norwegians, and there are innumerable waffle fan clubs, waffle symbols in design and pop culture, as well as being the staple food being served to Norwegians abroad (in the Norwegian Church Abroad for instance), to Norwegians and foreign tourists visiting Norway (in cafes along Rallarvegen, for instance). I'm also going to try making this blog a positive waffle, rather than the negative connotations from the English interpretation of 'language without meaning'... And there will be concrete waffles in the blog as well, in the form of recipes and pictures. Mainly, however, in this instance the waffle represents the world of food, and there will be a lot of that. As well as words - in the form of thoughts, but more so represented by comments on books I read, authors I love, literature that is important, relevant, classic or new. So there it is - Waffles and Words.

I hope it will be a taste of a good read.