With the big game coming up (GO NINERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) my mind is on food! Well, my mind is always on food. But today I’m thinking about it especially.
Why, you say? Well, I’m reading Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. It’s my first Nicholas Sparks novel *facepalm* did I just admit that to the world? Hmmm. Well, anyway, I’m reading Safe Haven as part of the 52 book in 52 week challenge and I’m a bit…er….behind. But I’m loving the reading list. Click here to check it out. There’s a scene in Safe Haven where Katie, a girl who just moved to a small town in North Carolina is getting dinner ready for Alex, a recent widower. I’m really enjoying the story. Nicholas Sparks has a very cinematic way of bringing me into a story which I totally love. His description of Katie making dinner is wonderful and it actually made me hungry. I made a note of each of the dishes and want to make a Safe Haven dinner one night soon. I actually stopped reading to make a note of the menu.
Safe Haven Dinner
Bacon-wrapped brie topped with raspberry sauce (RIGHT? um….YUM!)
Steak marinade : red wine, orange juice, grapefruit juice, salt & pepper (I’ll add some garlic)
Potatoes cut up and seasoned with parsley, salt, pepper & garlic
Corn bread
shrimp stuffed with crabmeat cooked in a scampi sauce (although how you stuff shrimp with crabmeat, I’ll never know, but it sounds good)
stuffed peppers
Doesn’t this sound fabulous? I love scenes where food is front & center. The scene is amazing. Having said that, I realized in my own writing that I don’t write about food a whole lot. I’ve written a scene in Transfer Student that features Icees (laced with vodka) and popcorn. But you knew I’d write about popcorn, didn’t you? It is my favorite food on the planet. Although, I just found out that I’m a VATA, and VATAs have to stay away from light, dry foods. What, you don’t know what a VATA is? That’s a whole other post…
What’s your favorite food scene? Read any good ones lately? Who do you want to win the Super Bowl?
Here’s a little foodie scene from Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale:
I was in the middle of filling ketchup jars when some seven-foot guy walked up to the bar and leaned over in Dolly’s direction. He said, “Dolly! Why didn’t you marry me?”
Dolly leaned into him all playful and half-whispered, “Musta been outta my right mind.” It was the first time I’d seen her smile.
“Who have we here?” Sasquatch asked.
“Now, you go on and have a seat. Ginger here will take your order. You having dinner?” Dolly handed me a pen and an ordering pad.
“Now, you know what I want,” Sasquatch smiled big in Dolly’s direction. “A slice of that apricot heaven you bake. I’ll have the usual for dinner.” He winked at Dolly, and turned toward me and said, “You know it’s like they say. If life finds you a little short of where you want to be at the end of the day, have an apricot pie to keep the crazy away. Isn’t that right, Ginger?”
I smiled. Dolly was what he really wanted. He probably had for years. Decades.
“We go by the book here, Missy. No minor ain’t serving no liquor in my Pit,” Dolly said holding the beer that was his dinner.
I swallowed hard wondering what job in what book an underage murderer got to do.
“You’ll stick to serving the sodas, pies and the fresh fried foods we have so much of,” Dolly said.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Polite little thing, isn’t she?” Sasquatch smiled my way. The clear whiter-than whites of his eyes struck me, sitting in the middle of such a life-worn, suntanned face. He sat in a seat at the window like he was in his living room. So at ease I assumed he sat there every time he came in.
I’d finished filling the ketchup jars so I moved on to coffee duty. But the grounds I scooped into the coffee filter smelled so vile I was certain it had gone bad. I didn’t think coffee could, but rancid’s what it smelled like. It turns out Dolly wasn’t as well known for her Cup o’ Joe as she was for her sugary confections. The money was in the booze, not the Joe.
When I scooped the last of the grounds into the machine, a gal strutted through the saloon doors. Her short, black spiky hair topped a ghostly, thinner-than-thin body. Her noble walk’s what grabbed my attention. If fortune had smiled more favorably upon her, she’d be dressed in ball gowns with her pick of princes. Comfortable with the big lives those smart girls lead. She was the most comfortable person in her own skin I’d ever met. Stood right next to me and leaned over the bar and didn’t say hi to me. I didn’t say hi to her either.
To celebrate the Big Game & Valentine’s Day, I put Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale on sale for a limited time for 99 cents 🙂 Winnemucca is a literary romance with a dash of magical realism. I hope you enjoy Ginny’s story. Buy it here or here or here.