Food For Thought

I freely admit that the first impression of this member was the attitude of the man wearing the hat. Blue Hat Man is a blog of an eclectic nature, very well written and has an appeal to one who loves to read thoughtfully composed sentences. Schuyler Ingle is into many creative ventures, food, writing, carving wood, cooking and much more. He is most recently a graduate of a cabinet certificate program and can make dolls, bowls and other objets d’ art. He is after all Blue Hat Man.

First off let me say that your Oatmeal Griddle Cakes made me hungry, as did your newest recipe, Tomato Soup with Parmesan Cheese & Popcorn. How did you come up with these tasty dishes?

The oatmeal griddlecakes come from a cookbook I co-wrote with Sharon Kramis. As I recall they were what I had just eaten when I decided to add a recipe and see how the whole thing works at Half Hour Meals. The tomato soup with popcorn was simply a fit of whimsy. I don’t really believe that adding a box of soup to a pan makes a recipe. But the popcorn was just too fun to let pass.

I know you have a family because you said Joyce is the one who puts the popcorn on top of her soup. Does she like the fact that you write a blog? How does it fit in your life and do you have family support?

Joyce is my wife and business partner. She has 10 published books under her belt and no doubt finds it amusing I write a blog. It’s the false sense of namelessness I enjoy, being Blue Hat Man. Our children are deep into graduate school and law school and production jobs in Hollywood – they have to feed themselves now.

You stated you were a food writer back in the day. How did you become involved writing about food and tell us a bit more about the famous celebrity you interviewed.  What a cool thing that was!

I wrote locally in Seattle for years, as well as nationally, for newspapers and magazines. Remember those? I had a jones for long non-fiction narrative. So my idea of food writing often had more to do with where food came from and how it got to the table than it did with the “what’s hot and what’s not” food trend writing that took over. I was raising chickens and rabbits in my back yard and maintaining a burgeoning food garden – and writing about it – long before the notion of “locavore” wandered in. I wrote about sustainability before the term got applied. I honored the hard working people who caught the fish, grew the oysters, farmed the land. And I interviewed people who came to town, usually on book tours, Julia Child among them. She was patient and gracious and gentle and stern all at once. And she had enormous earlobes.

Tell us a bit about how you brew cold coffee. What are the benefits and is it easy to do?

I have done the rounds with coffee – home espresso, French press pot, filtered drip. You name it. But I got to a place where, no matter what, the acid in coffee just wasn’t mixing well with my gastric system. Rather than give up I switched to cold water infusion where a pound of coarse ground coffee sits in cold water over night, then drains through a thick felt filter. Out goes a majority of the acid, a lot of the esters and, regrettably, some of the flavor. I grind a dark Italian roast bean to get the flavor punch. You fill a coffee cup 1/3 full with the resulting coffee liquor, and add hot water. I then spike the heat in the microwave. Could that be any easier?

You believe in great customer service, as do I. Now you are selling homemade carvings. You have your on-line shop. Tell us a little more about it and how you came to want to create from wood. From whence did this passion come?

I practice an Afro-Cuban religion called Lucummi (or Santeria, to outsiders). Dolls can play a significant role in certain ways, and at one point I needed a black female doll who looked like part of the tradition. Well, go find one. Most of what’s out there are white dolls painted black, and that didn’t work for me. So I decided I would make my own. I ended up working on carving with Berkley, CA artist Sherilyn Tharp, a fabulous carver and a terrific teacher. And gradually, a doll came out of that. But even more important, a process came out of that so I could do it over and over again. What started with carving to make a doll to fill a purpose lead to turning. And turning lead to cabinetry and furniture making. And the downfall of the housing market lead me to open my own damn store, put what I do on display, and hope for custom orders. You can see all of that at Blue Hat Man.

I make dolls for people in the same religious tradition, and for doll collectors as well. Had you told me five years ago I would be doing this I would have wondered about your grip on reality. But now, if I could do this and nothing else I would be a happy man. It’s an amazingly magical creative process.

When did you start writing your blog? Do you see yourself doing it a year or two from now? What has it brought you?

I used to have a website, back before blogs and the software that supports them. But over time I simply lost interest. It was all food oriented. It was such a pain to format and upload and tweak, none of which had much to do with writing. I drifted further and further from writing, and the website just sat there.

And then blogs arrived, the grand mushrooming, the democratization of ideas, opinions, and expertise. But it wasn’t until I stumbled on Xomba.com that I regained an interest in writing. I think the anonymity was and is appealing. It takes the weight off the name. I have food writing colleagues – famous names – who have dropped from print media like so many other writers, only to end up in food website ghettos where the maintenance of their name recognition appears to be paramount to all else. And as a result they are still punching out the same tiresome stuff they have written for the last 30 years. So Blue Hat Man has brought me a kind of solace and freedom. While I make no great effort to be invisible, there is a wholesome kind of invisibility about it that I find invigorating.

I know you are on Twitter. Do you use this venue to promote your work?

I do. Twitter and Facebook. All for nefarious reasons.

My wife and I are launching a marketing business targeted at business and product launches – that front-end window where you want everything to go just right. We call it Launchismo! So everything I am doing with and to and for Blue Hat Man, and the Blue Hat Man Mercantile, is a test of the waters. What’s the use of a blog if no one knows it is there? Or an on-line store? It’s one thing to talk knowingly about social media marketing, but another actually to tackle the problem and look at the metrics. It’s what you might call a liberal mixing of business and pleasure. And if all the lessons are learned right, the launch of Launchismo should be an obvious event to a whole world of people. Coming soon to a browser near you!

What is your inspiration for your blog? Which types of foods do you enjoy preparing the most?

We eat the majority of our meals at home and part of the inspiration for the blog comes of my deep-seated belief that the time it takes to make a meal is indeed a precious gift. It’s worth fighting for, worth carving out of a day. There’s so much information, so easily available there’s no reason for anyone not to know the basics of cooking. I think the basics of shopping are a little more tricky – what to buy, how much, how to store it properly. If you want flavorful, wholesome food today I think you need to plan on cooking it yourself. And that doesn’t mean reheating a processed product (except for tomato soup). I am happy to contribute in a way that sends people into their kitchens to feel good about themselves.

I keep several Mediterranean cookbooks within easy reach. It’s the flavor profile and diet I think is most fitting for my every day.

How did you hear about Half Hour Meals and why did you join?

I got email from the their administrator asking me to join. And it seemed harmless enough.

What are the features you like about Half Hour Meals?

I like to scan by main ingredient.

Have you tried any of our members’ recipes yet?

I have borrowed ideas.

If asked, what would you tell others about Half Hour Meals?

Food snobs should look elsewhere.

Thank you for sharing and giving us a real glimpse of Blue Hat Man!