RR: Alaina McConnell

In "Superfoods That Everyone Went Bonkers Over", I heard the reflected voice of my own mother. These are all fads that she and her holistic doctor follows and weighs into, no matter the cost. I myself also have fed into these ideas, like coconut water and goji berries. I love how McConnell's writing made me question these superfoods, while making the reading entertaining. She weaved things together so well, such as "This pointy spear may look aggressive, but studies say that asparagus is a nutritional powerhouse." It's playful, while still getting strait to the point.
In "Decadent Alternatives To Wedding Cakes" I noticed the same style of writing. "Their manageable size and vast array of flavors easily let wedding-goers have their (cup)cake and eat it too." includes wit to get the point across. I found myself smiling a lot during reading her articles, even though they were mostly informative.  The short and sweet (pun intended) descriptions made my mouth water, but also got my mind thinking about how I could apply this information to my own parties or gatherings.  The tidbit on crepes really stuck out to me, mostly because I'm a poor college student who once in a while wants to eat fancy.  Now I can think of a simple dessert (milk, flour, eggs) where I can customize based off of a budget and sweet tooth with syrups and fruit.

As someone who typically doesn't eat at Burger Chains, her "8 'Better Burger' Chains Poised to Conquer America" article made me crave burgers. Again, I blame her ability to not only weave in creativity, but also inform.  After my disappointing second attempt at writing a review for Sushiya, I recognize these two things as my weakest points in my review writing.  I didn't understand how to create flow while informing with fact and enticing with intellect and inovation. When describing Smashburger, she tells the reader, "It was originally named IconBurger, but the management team eventually changed the name to more appropriately describe how they actually create their burgers — smashing them into a grill with a metal plate." This isn't information about the taste itself, but an interesting fact about the process. It pulls the reader in more without boring them away, while phrasing it in such a way that it's pleasant for the mind.  

In reading McConnell's work (besides being excited to meet her) I was better able to understand the weaknesses in my review writing.  Yes, it was helpful to read food reviews beforehand, but I think it was also helpful to me to read more reviews after struggling with my own.  In hindsight I understand what I want to work on in my writing of reviews.