I recently found this article in the New York Times. Artist Wendy MacNaughton is obviously as obsessed as I am with famous writer’s daily routines and has compiled some illustrations of the quirky stuff pen folk turn to to get the right jolt of energy as they tap away.
I like that Maynard eats lime popsicles. Which just happens to be a recipe in my I Quit Sugar Cookbook.
I like that Walt…actually I just like Walt…eats protein. Ditto me.
I, too, drink tea from a glass. Always.
And I have a thing for beverage routines throughout the day.
Again, protein. You’ll recall Marilyn Monroe also ate protein.
Apple cider vinegar…my new tonic. I have a tablespoon before eating and it helps cut through fats and proteins. Try it.
If you’re after great snack ideas, check out my culinary inspirations here and here.
What about you? What do you snack on to think straight? Let’s compile a list…
I love raw mixed nuts, apples with almond butter, carrots/celery/capsicum with hummus/Brazil nut butter, and if I am being a good girl and working very hard some raw chocolate made from coconut oil and cacao nibs
and loads of herbal teas 
x
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Tea. I don’t know what I’d do with my life if there was no tea.
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June 12th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Ditto! I feel the same! x
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A huge jug of green tea and whatever nuts I can find in the house. Pecans are high on my list.
I usually find though, that if I’m on a roll writing-wise I don’t notice hunger. It’s the days when I am stuck that I go rummaging for snacks. And do the washing, and file my nails…
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Oh I love this!
My latest thing has been making iced chai tea lattes in the vitamix. I make mine iced since the weather is warming up here but you could make it warm for back home.
I simply take a prepared cup of chai tea (if I’m making it iced I’ll put it in the fridge to cool) then I’ll add my milk to the vitamix (I add almond milk and a bit of stevia to sweeten) and then blend blend blend on high until it’s nice and foamy on top (not sure you can make it foamy without a vitamix).
Then I pour over my prepared tea. A 1:1 ratio is good. Depending on how strong you want the chai flavour then add more teabags. Sometimes I will add a little cinnamon and vanilla powder to the milk before blending
Super yum!
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June 12th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
Sounds intriguing! I’m staying with friends who have a Vitamix at the moment, will have to give it a try!!
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June 13th, 2012 at 2:58 am
Let me know if you do Jo, you can make this with any flavour tea I just love the flavour of chai! Sometimes I’ll just blend everything together in the vitamix rather than just blending the milk and pouring over the tea. You can even freeze the milk into ice cubes if you want it cold.
I love how it becomes so foamy!
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Mint tea in a glass reminds me of this illustration http://deutschdoodles.carlahackett.com/post/21643818886/fresh-mint-tea which reminds me of illustrations in this post. As for my writing or whatever snack, I can’t go past beef jerky
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June 12th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
I love that image. And I love biltong!! (south african version of beef jerky)
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June 12th, 2012 at 6:41 pm
Ohhhhh, the kind with cinnamon is heaven! LOVE biltong!
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July 3rd, 2012 at 3:52 pm
If you’re in Sydney get your Biltong here, so effn good! http://springbokdelights.com.au/home.php?cat=251
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Tea always makes everything seem clearer. And I love the fact that Michael Pollan obviously practises what he preaches!
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Tea. But obviously also gin. Toast and marmalade (yes I know, banish me for my impure thoughts). Apples sliced in rounds and spread with peanut butter. May as well offer ‘a fresh date’ whilst I’m on a roll. Baba ghanoush scooped up not with bread but fresh mint leaves.
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I normally eat to distract myself from writing; a procrastinatory technique! Blueberries, coconut cream, macadamias and cinnamon usually fits the bill. Once the chowin’ is done, time to get typing!
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How do you not gag when taking apple cider vimegar? I’ve never had such a strong physical reaction to something!
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I love reading about what others eat when they’re writing. I go through a lot of herbal teas. I’m going to try your apple cider vinegar tip. Can you explain more about the benefit of this?
I like snacking on random quick mixtures like cottage cheese with stevia, chia seeds or psyllium husks, perhaps some pea or whey protein powder, cinnamon, sometimes natural yoghurt or stewed rhubarb all whipped up with a fork. It’s really quick. I always keep containers of chicken and veges or soup in my fridge that are quick and easy to heat up, I cook in bulk a lot as I hate having to grab anything processed.
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June 16th, 2012 at 6:21 am
I would love to hear more about the ACV too please!
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[...] clever article was originally in the NY Times book review, but I first discovered it on Sarah Wilson’s blog. I am obsessed with food, so cannot imagine writing slightly starved, like Lord Byron… and I [...]
I had a small cucumber with almonds for morning tea today, as a pre-gym snack.
I also find frozen activated almonds and pepitas, sometimes scattered through full-fat yoghurt and dusted with ground cinnamon and ginger, very satisfying.
Haloumi grilled and doused in lemon juice and cracked black pepper staves off my crazed pre-dinner hunger pangs.
I’m a huge fan of breakfast, perhaps because of how cold it is here, and tend to follow breakfast routines. At the moment I put rolled oats in a bowl with some chia seeds, cover the lot with full cream milk and leave it in the fridge over night. In the morning I’ll shake over some cinnamon. Keeps me full and happy.
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Does anyone know what’s in the lime popsicles, i can’t find that recipe in the IQS cookbook! Looks yummy
toni: Apple cider vinegar in water is great for getting the digestive juices and bile flowing and helps your digestion/breaking down food. If you can’t tolerate ACV try a squeeze of lemon or lime juice in slightly warm water before meals, it does pretty much the same thing! Also, does anyone have any other suggestions for breakfasts and snacks, i have a few ideas and recipes but would love some more, thanks!!
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What do I snack on to think straight? Never thought straight. but I have snacked on food that makes me think.
Kiwi fruit makes me think. I think why is it that some fruit needs the word “fruit” attached to it like “kiwi fruit”, “star fruit” and “passion fruit”, isn’t it obvious that they are fruit? You don’t see vegetables with “vegetable” attached to the end do you? But I guess it would be weird to ask your grocer for a bag of passion.
A bag of Jaffa’s gets me thinking. I think about the people who came up with the Jaffa, did they eat an orange followed by chocolate or did they just decide that the combination would work? What ever they did it was sheer brilliance, except for the red coating that stains your fingers, that made no sense.
Carrots make me think. I think they got they raw end of the deal because oranges got the good name. I’m going to start, in protest, to name things out of respect for carrots. “I’m sorry officer but I thought the light was carrot when I ran it”
Marijuana makes me think. I think that the police are going to bust me and that I should eat this uncooked bag of rice because it’s delicious.
Turkish Delight is a great snack until you mistakenly inhale while taking a mouthful and you cough white power everywhere, then all you’re left with is a Turkish because the delight has gone now. I think they should put the powder on the inside.
I think we should eat dolphins, they seem pretty smart, maybe eating them will make us smarter. I think a tin of dolphin would be a great snack, as long as its tuna free.
Tea makes me think. I think that it would be cool to fill an ice-tray with tea and freeze it, then pop the tea cubes out and arrange them like a village then eat them, then when people ask what you had for lunch you can say you ate a whole communi-tea.
Spring rolls make me think. I think they should re-name them as “roof of mouth removers” or “sinister tubes of molten lava”.
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December 29th, 2012 at 6:02 pm
Adam, I like the way you think.
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December 30th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Betty, thank you, I like the way you use my name first.
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