“Gleaming skin; a plump elongated shape: the eggplant is a vegetable you’d want to caress with your eyes and fingers, even if you didn’t know its luscious flavor.” ~ French Chef Roger Vergé

Ahhhh . . . the eggplant has returned! *kisses bunched fingertips**

Remember when I shared Lori Levy’s wonderful poem, “Not a Hollywood Movie” for Valentine’s Day? We learned she squeezes fresh orange juice for her husband in the morning, while he patiently fries eggplant for dinner, eggplant that she loves stuffing into pita bread “with anything, everything.” That’s how I learned about sabich, a popular Israeli street food.

Recently, Lori sent along another delectable food poem in which we learn a little more about her love of eggplant and a practice suggested by her niece that I’m totally on board with. See if you agree. (This poem will appear July 9 in Certain Age Magazine.) 🙂

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WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY NIECE
by Lori Levy

When asked what her hobbies are,
my 22-year-old niece says one is food—
eating it, not cooking it. Good food, 
which, for her, means anything from shawarma to
endive salad with fruit and cheese, gnocchi with
pink sauce, purple soup with kubeh and beets.
I love that a hobby can be as simple as
savoring—not riding a bike over rough terrain
or kayaking down a river, like others in my family.
No action required but
bringing a fork or spoon to your mouth.

Maybe my hobby is eggplant.
On this visit to Israel, I scan the menu
for anything with eggplant: pasta, sandwiches, salad.
My brother-in-law Hiski
fries eggplants for us because I crave sabich.
I fill pita with chopped salad, hard-boiled eggs,
tahini, amba, and my beloved eggplant,
almost closing my eyes in anticipation
of the first bite.

My niece, Ofri, says another hobby is
sitting on the beach.
I could claim that one, too.
Not sailing or surfing or scuba diving.
Just sitting on a beach chair,
still and silent as a rock,
as the sky turns red over the Mediterranean—
pita with eggplant in a picnic basket beside me.

~ Posted by permission of the author, © 2025 Lori Levy.

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About her poem, Lori said: It’s often a comment someone makes that grabs my attention and sparks my interest. I always thought a hobby is some kind of action, so when my niece said two of her hobbies are eating good food and sitting on the beach, that surprised me and made me think. I liked the idea that a hobby could be savoring good food or enjoying the moment on the beach. I began to think that maybe I could call eggplant a hobby because I love it in any form. I like using things that appeal to the senses in my poems–color, taste, visual imagery–so my niece’s comments on her hobbies really inspired me.

In addition to making my mouth water, Lori’s poem also got me thinking more about hobbies. If anything one does regularly for enjoyment in his/her leisure time is considered a hobby, why not savoring good food? If eggplant is Lori’s hobby, then mine could be chocolate or cookies. 🙂

And there’s no need to rappel, sky dive, or white water raft when sitting quietly on a beach will do just fine. No special equipment or physical exertion required. No need for advance training. Yes, my kind of hobby. Just be still. Reflect. Observe. After all, you just never know when Colin Firth might stroll by.

How about you? What are some of your favorite hobbies? Do you think “action” hobbies are sometimes overrated? I say yes to relaxing hobbies (knitting, crocheting, reading, crafting, painting, listening to music), and of course eating. Ofri is my kind of person. 🙂

**Special thanks to Lori for permission to share her poem and the wonderful personal photos. Love learning what inspired her to write it and seeing the actual people referenced.

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🎉 NPM GIVEAWAY WINNERS 🎈

The increasingly handsome, ever erudite Monsieur Random Integer Generator had a field day picking winners for this month’s four poetry book giveaways. Naturally we had to offer small bribes for his participation.

After Basil and Cornelius located him at his Tuscan retreat, we shipped the following: 3 cases of Chardonnay, 5,432 pistachio macarons, 4 Virginia hams, 43 dozen cases of Chocorooms, a new Top Hat to replace the one he lost in Denmark, complete set of Dylan CDs, a crate of mini seedless watermelons, and 39 packages of Tunnock’s Dark Chocolate Teacakes. With great aplomb and a studied flair for the dramatic, he picked the following names from his new Top Hat:

🌈 A UNIVERSE OF RAINBOWS: Kathleen E. 💦

🍷 SAVOR: Poems for the Tongue: Terri Michels 🍴

✏️ TWO EMILYS: Sarah Tuttle 🖌

🪑 A MAZE ME + GRACE NOTES: Carol Reed 🛎

Congratulations to all the winners!! And thanks to everyone for entering with such interesting comments. Poetry Month flew by, didn’t it?

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The ever marvelous Mary Lee Hahn is hosting the Roundup at A(nother) Year of Reading. Zip on over to check out the full menu of poetic goodness being served up around the blogosphere this week. Happy May!!

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*Copyright © 2025 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.