Re: instructions

["Sharon Burton-Hardin" <sharonburton -at- earthlink -dot- net>]

As someone who is absolutely at a loss in the kitchen, I have to say that,

for me, following a recipe is awful. It always assumes some ability I simply
do not know about. At 39 years old, my stress in the kitchen, after all
these years of complete incompetence, is too much. I cannot cope with trying
anything other than the most simple things - scrambled eggs are about the
most I can manage. Thank God my husband can cook! Before he showed up, it
was pretty skinny around here. Still is when he is out of town but my
writers frequently pity me and feed me. Pretty nice group, if you ask me.

My mother was a great cook and tried to teach me. I had no interest and no
aptitude. My 22 year old son is learning to cook and I think he will do
well. His motivation is that girls like a man who can cook. We have all done
things for this reason!

To bring this on topic, recipe writing is indeed technical writing. Most
recipe books are so far over my head that I am sure I cannot be the intended
audience.

sharon

Sharon Burton-Hardin
Anthrobytes Consulting
909-369-8590
www.anthrobytes.com
Vice-president, Programs of the Inland Empire chapter of the STC
www.iestc.org

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brierley, Sean" <Sean -at- Quodata -dot- Com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Wednesday, 03 January, 2001 11:52 AM
Subject: RE: instructions
|
| There is a bigger responsibility that goes with the culinary arts, an
| environment into which children have to be introduced by adults. Even if I
| write my instructions in 50 languages, I would frame them in context of
| cooking the particular meal and not tackle the larger issue of a reader
who
| has never cooked solo before, who doesn't recognize that the finished
| macaroni and cheese meal needs to be re-prepared . . . etc. Let those
| stumbling blocks be experience-building . . . can you imagine, preparing
| macaroni and cheese only to re-submerge the mess into another bowl of cold
| water and re-boil, add more milk and cheese, and from somewhere, add
another
| packet of sauce? Indeed, I think if the chefs did this once or twice,
they'd
| catch on!



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver! (STC Discount.)
**NEW DATE/LOCATION!** January 16-17, 2001, New York, NY.
http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.

Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp, producers of PDF 2001 
Conference East, June 4-5, Baltimore/Washington D.C. area.
http://www.pdfconference.com or toll-free 877/278-2131. 

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.