I am looking for an intern for the fall! Read on!

The Basics: This is a partially paid internship: if you work an event with me where I get paid, you will also get paid. I’m also happy to fill out any paper work for you to get college credit for this internship (although you do not have to be in college to apply). Additionally, you get free admission to any Four Pounds Four events and classes. Our main goal will be to tailor this internship so you learn new skills specific to your career goals. I hope to cram your head with as much knowledge as possible. If it is of interest to you, we can complete a project over our time together keeping those goals in mind. However, a lot of of that is going to be on you: I’m here to help, teach and train, and to give you guidelines and assignments. But I also can’t force you to complete those goals: you’ll get out of it what you decide to put in.

 
Your Responsibilities: The time commitment would be no more than 8 hours a week, with one hour spent focusing on your questions and interests. I need someone who is available once a week on a weekday, but would be willing to occasionally help out on a weekend. Half the time would be spent either working from my home office or at an event, the other half doing research projects that can be done from anywhere. General responsibilities include:

-Small research projects and fact checking.

-Help out recipe testing by shopping, doing kitchen prep, and clean up.

-Assisting at Four Pounds Flour classes and events.

 
The Perks: You’ll get an inside look at what I do and how I’ve built my career. You’ll have regular exposure to primary source recipes and learn how to interpret them. You’ll learn how to research, and my process for writing. You’ll get free access to all my events, as well as a behind the scenes look at how they run. The application process should be a time when we decide how this internship could best serve your needs. For example, my last intern wanted to break into the field of recipe testing. I helped her launch her own recipe-based food blog, trained her how to use WordPress, gave her the basics of food photography and Photoshop, and walked her through how to use social media to promote her work. We also focused on having her help me recipe test for my book, and she’ll be credited for her work in the published book.

 
Testimonial: Here’s what Former Intern Jill had to say about her experience this past spring (although, she wrote it to me, so I suppose it could be all lies, but I don’t think so):

Working with/for Sarah Lohman has been unquestionably one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional career. Sarah is a delight. She clearly communicates expectations and sets very reasonable deadlines. Her energy, her passion and her enthusiasm are contagious. She is generous with her time and her knowledge. Her projects are challenging and stimulating. She is invested in the goals of her interns and works closely with them to create a path towards career advancement.

Interested? Email me ASAP! I’ll be setting up interviews before the end of August. [email protected]

Salt-rising bread: it’s made with botulism!

Since January, I’ve been working with an intern, Jill Paradiso. She has been helping me with my book (recipe testing and research, amongst other projects). I have been helping her launch a food blog–which is now live!

Welcome to The Savage and the Sage! Jill is a divine technical chef; join her as she explores recipes that are bizarre (monkfish liver), complex (puffed beef tendon), and simply delicious (super easy sour cherry jam). And, like me, Jill loves the historical; so be sure to check out her posts on candied angelica, a historic ingredient in European confections, and salt rising bread.

Jill is continuing to work with me even though her formal term as my intern is done. She’ll be getting a huge thank you in my book for all the grunt work she’s done so far, but she’s also going to be one of my official recipe testers moving forward.

If you’d be interested in an internship opportunity at Four Pounds Flour, I’m looking for a new assistant for the fall. They’ll be more details posted here soon, but you can also send me an email for details. 

Hi all–

As some of you know, I’m in the process of writing a book. My first book ever.

My deadline is LOOMING: about three and a half months away. So the book is currently consuming all of my time, in the best possible way. But the fallout out is I don’t have much time to write blog content–which you may have noticed, since I haven’t posted in a month.

I do have some blog projects in the works and I’m also working on bringing you a few guest authored posts. You can also always find me on Tumblr and Twitter, where I’m linking to some interesting stuff I’ve come across while researching.

So stick with me, and in the meantime, just know that I’m working on something big and hopefully awesome for all the world.

Love,

Sarah

Hey out there– I’m looking for an intern who lives in the New York City area for Spring 2014.

I need someone who is available once a week on a weekday, but would be willing to occasionally help out on a weekend. Half the time would be spent either working from my home office or at an event, the other half doing research projects that can be done from anywhere.  General responsibilities:

-Small research projects.

-Help out recipe testing by shopping, doing kitchen prep, and cleaning.

-Running errands.

-Assisting at Four Pounds Flour classes and events.

The perks: You’ll get an inside look at what I do and how I’ve built my career. You’ll have regular exposure to primary source recipes and learn how to interpret them. You’ll learn how to research, and my process for writing. You’ll get free access to all my events, as well as a behind the scenes look at how they run.

The time commitment would be no more than 8 hours a week, with one hour spent focusing on your questions and interests. The application process should be a time when we decided how this internship will best serve your needs.

The position is “semi-paid”; meaning, if you are working an event with me where I get paid, you will also get paid. I’m also happy to fill out whatever paperwork is needed so you can get college credit. You do not have to be in college to apply for this position.

If this position sounds interesting to you, or you have some more questions, send me a letter of interest via my contact page here.

Since I announced my book deal, a lot of people have asked me how it all happened; how did my career come to this point? I’m going to try to answer–so I hope this is helpful, and not too self indulgent.

I went to art school, where I learned many things that are still very useful to me on a daily basis.  One of the most important lessons I learned was that if I don’t put my work out there, no one will see it. Everything that has happened in my career has happened because of this blog.

I started Four Pounds Flour 4 1/2 years ago, simply because my friends seemed to enjoy my historic food adventures.  I thought that if they liked it, maybe there were other people who would like it, too.  I had also spent some time working in foodie culture in New York City, and I realized that there was an unfilled niche: no one out there had my same perspective on food.

I started writing with no expectations and I promised myself that if the blog stopped being fun, I would stop writing it. I began to meet a community of people through my writing, including new friends in New York. Soon, they starting asking me if I would do an event at such-and-such historic site.  When that event went well, I would be asked to do another. And another.  I’ve always loved teaching and performing, so it was a good fit for me.

When writing a blog, after a certain point you produce enough content (and hopefully enough reliable content) that your posts start coming up in Google searches.  That’s how I ended up on Appetite City and in the Wall Street Journal–someone was searching around for “the history of restaurants” or “recreating historic food” and they found me. Over time, my blog had built a respectable following. (Correction: Appetite City found me through Liza de Guia, creator of food. curated. who produced this video about my work three years ago.)

About two years ago, a literary agent contacted me.  I had done a private event for a local chapter of the DAR and one of the members (his wife) recommended he take a look at my writing.  We had a few meetings and I made my first attempt at a book proposal.  Nothing came of it, but I learned a lot and had something to show for it.

In February 2012 I was contacted by an editor at Simon & Schuster.  He had seen this post and invited me out for coffee. He told me I should write a book and we brainstormed some ideas.  We had a lot in common and had a sense we’d enjoy working with each other. He also recommended me to an agent.

It took a LONG TIME to write the proposal.  I conceptualized it for six months and I’ve been writing it on and off since August 2012.  There was a lot to learn in the process. There were a lot of rewrites.  In the end, I actually didn’t think Simon & Schuster would buy it.

But they did.  And I still can’t believe this is happening to me.  Getting a “big break” isn’t something I thought happened to real people.

Here’s my best advice: if you’re thinking of starting a blog, just do it.  The beauty of it is there is no one to answer to and no expectations of your work. There is no risk. Just make things. Write things.  Whatever your art form is–just get the work out there, in a public forum, where people can see it. If you work hard, and make good work, good things will come of it. I really do believe that.

If you have other questions for me, please feel free to post in the comments.  I’m probably going to be in the market for an intern this fall, so if you live in the New York area, and are interested in learning what I do first hand, keep it in mind!

It is official: I’m writing my first book. And Simon & Schuster will be my publisher.

SIMON & SCHUSTER. Holy moly.

The manuscript is a long way from done, so you have some waiting to do before you can read it. What’s it about?  I’m breaking down contemporary American cuisine to its basic elements: eight flavors that define our food regardless of ethnicity or regionality  These eight flavors–including ingredients as varied as curry powder and MSG— each became a part of our culinary repertoire chronologically, and through no idle fit of fancy.  They arrived on the scene with a BOOM–a significant event and a cast of characters that turned each of these flavors into an American staple.

I’m going to lead you through the story of the flavor of American food: we’ll travel and cook and eat and perform ill-fated experiments.  And in the end, we’ll all have a better handle on what foods Americans eat and WHY.

Care to guess which eight flavors I’m going to feature?  Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Happy Birthday, Blog!  I launched Four Pounds Flour four years ago–and it’s changed my life dramatically.  Through this blog I found a career, and a niche, that I never knew existed.  I’m so happy to be allowed to do this work, and I’m so grateful for all the people I have met through writing this blog.

If you’ve ever considered writing a blog, DO IT.  You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

To celebrate, I’m going to be writing a post every day in January.  I’ll live life as a 19th century servant, a Grahamite, and a English bum.  I’ll cook up 1850s sourdough, apple cider dumplings, and photographer’s cheesecake.  And who knows what else.  Whatever takes my fancy, because that’s the beauty of having a blog: I’ll do what I want.

I’m now blogging for Etsy twice a month on all kinds of kitchen finds and histories! My first three blog posts are linked below, and from now on you can find them on the Etsy Kitchen History page here.

Kitchen Klatter and a Mysterious Recipe Box

Unearthing the shame and success of a mid-century kitchen. Read it here.

The Historic Spice Cupboard

The tell all tale of Mace and Cassia. Read it here.

The Magic Whisk

Has technology made kitchen work easier–or more complicated? Read it here.

The stories behind three fountain favorites: the egg cream, Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda, and the Lime Rickey.  Will include a demo of how to mix each drink, as well as a tasting! This program is for families–bring the kids and learn together!