Nancy Cole Silverman
1. The Gourmand is about a popular food critic, known for his eccentric tastes and gargantuan
2. I live in Los Angeles and for years worked in talk radio where we had a food critic as a frequent guest.
3. I can’t take credit for the recipe, but my great grandmother made a steamed Christmas pudding with raisins and carrots which has become a staple around our house during the holidays.
4. Potato soup! I was pregnant with my daughter and got the idea to try a series of potato recipes for an all potato meal. Pregnancy does strange things to a woman’s body and mind! The dinner was very white and extremely bland. I’ve never tried anything like it again.
2. My story involves a marshmallow roast. Marshmallows had just been invented in the late 1800s and were somewhat of a novelty (and were very expensive). They apparently were also much more delicious than our current “machine made” variety, and roasting them brought out the flavor even more. Marshmallow roasts became social events that were even written up in the society pages of the newspaper. A writer friend suggested marshmallows to me, knowing their history.
3. Lasagna. It is an old family recipe, but not from the Italian side of our family. My dad’s side is 100% Italian and my mom’s side is 0% Italian. My mom was also not a great cook, but she got this recipe from the wife of one of Dad’s cousins (she was also not Italian). It became Mom’s signature dish, and she always made it for company and for covered dish dinners at church. Everyone loved it, everyone except my dad who said it wasn’t really Italian. In any case, hundreds of people all over the country now use my mom’s recipe for lasagna, including me.
4. Like my mom, I am not a great cook. Take your pick! But I make great lasagna.
Cynthia Kuhn
1. The Blue Ribbon focuses on two lifelong friends who discover new things about each
2. As soon as I read the theme of the anthology, I knew I would write about a pie contest in an upstate New York bakery; an image of the final scene was in my mind immediately. It's rare that ideas descend with such force or detail--usually I get just a tiny wisp to follow--so when they do, I listen.
3. Broccoli casserole. (I wish it was more exciting too.)
4. Probably something from the I Will Now Make Soup Without A Recipe phase, inspired by a cooking show I once watched. It was great fun to throw random things into a pot and see what happened, but it wasn't as much fun to eat it, sadly.
Shawn Reilly Simmons
1. My story features two old friends who started out as culinary students together, but more recently
their careers have gone in separate directions. One of them is a celebrated chef, and the other is a food critic. When a less than flattering review is published, the two men reevaluate their lives and successes, and a few crimes that may have been perpetrated over the past twenty years.
2. I tend to set my stories in places I've lived, so I chose New York City--and also, that location is a well known culinary destination. The food I describe in the story is food I'd make myself, if I owned an upscale eatery in Manhattan's West Village.
3. The style of cuisine I've cooked the most in my life is Italian, especially bolognese sauce. Basically anything Italian I'm very comfortable making. While I'm not even a little bit Italian, my step-grandmother was, and she was passionate about cooking and food, so I think that influence definitely rubbed off on me from very early on. Plus, who doesn't love a big bowl of pasta with homemade sauce?
4. I think we've all had mishaps in the kitchen, but nothing specific comes to mind. I'm rarely disappointed with any food, but I will say I much more enjoy dishes that are made with local, organic produce and proteins. I always try to buy local, visit the farmers markets in my city, and the organic section of my grocery store. I'd much rather eat a tomato from a nearby farm, or my own back yard, than one that was driven across the country, for many reasons but most importantly the freshness of the product, and the reduced carbon footprint attached to it.
Edith Maxwell
1. Nicky teaches conversational English in the greater Tokyo-Yokohama and lives off base with her
boyfriend, Terrance, who is in the US Navy. When she realizes their relationship is in rough shape and he's planning a long trip without her, she unloads her troubles to a local Mama-san bartender one evening when Terrance is at work. Nicky figures out a way to make him need her more - but her plans go terribly wrong.
2. I write two foodie series that come with recipes, both as Maddie Day, both from Kensington Publishing: the Country Store Mysteries and the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. But when I create short crime fiction, I like to branch out to other locales and sometimes darker topics. I lived in Japan for two years teaching English in the seventies, and have written only one short story set there ("Yatsuhashi for Lance"). My boyfriend and I learned to make sushi from the local fish lady, and when I saw the call for submissions for this anthology, the idea for "Sushi Lessons" rose up. Yes, I lived with a Navy man and sometimes hung out at the local bar, but the rest is fiction, trust me!
3. I'm well known for my apple pies and my sourdough bread
4. How can I pick just one? Because I often don't cook from a recipe, sometimes my improvisations are a huge success - which I can never recreate because I didn't record what went into it - and sometimes a total fail. Here's one: when I was learning to bake bread, I found some whole rye flour and baked a loaf of yeasted bread the same way I always baked with whole wheat flour. I didn't know rye doesn't have gluten in it and won't rise. My loaf was a brick. If we sliced it super thin and toasted it, it was passably edible. Never again!
1. My story features two old friends who started out as culinary students together, but more recently
2. I tend to set my stories in places I've lived, so I chose New York City--and also, that location is a well known culinary destination. The food I describe in the story is food I'd make myself, if I owned an upscale eatery in Manhattan's West Village.
3. The style of cuisine I've cooked the most in my life is Italian, especially bolognese sauce. Basically anything Italian I'm very comfortable making. While I'm not even a little bit Italian, my step-grandmother was, and she was passionate about cooking and food, so I think that influence definitely rubbed off on me from very early on. Plus, who doesn't love a big bowl of pasta with homemade sauce?
4. I think we've all had mishaps in the kitchen, but nothing specific comes to mind. I'm rarely disappointed with any food, but I will say I much more enjoy dishes that are made with local, organic produce and proteins. I always try to buy local, visit the farmers markets in my city, and the organic section of my grocery store. I'd much rather eat a tomato from a nearby farm, or my own back yard, than one that was driven across the country, for many reasons but most importantly the freshness of the product, and the reduced carbon footprint attached to it.
Edith Maxwell
1. Nicky teaches conversational English in the greater Tokyo-Yokohama and lives off base with her
2. I write two foodie series that come with recipes, both as Maddie Day, both from Kensington Publishing: the Country Store Mysteries and the Cozy Capers Book Group Mysteries. But when I create short crime fiction, I like to branch out to other locales and sometimes darker topics. I lived in Japan for two years teaching English in the seventies, and have written only one short story set there ("Yatsuhashi for Lance"). My boyfriend and I learned to make sushi from the local fish lady, and when I saw the call for submissions for this anthology, the idea for "Sushi Lessons" rose up. Yes, I lived with a Navy man and sometimes hung out at the local bar, but the rest is fiction, trust me!
3. I'm well known for my apple pies and my sourdough bread
4. How can I pick just one? Because I often don't cook from a recipe, sometimes my improvisations are a huge success - which I can never recreate because I didn't record what went into it - and sometimes a total fail. Here's one: when I was learning to bake bread, I found some whole rye flour and baked a loaf of yeasted bread the same way I always baked with whole wheat flour. I didn't know rye doesn't have gluten in it and won't rise. My loaf was a brick. If we sliced it super thin and toasted it, it was passably edible. Never again!
Watch for a MapYourMystery.com giveaway featuring Malice Domestic 14: Mystery Most Edible the week of May 13.
1 comment:
Loved everyone's answers! Thank you for hosting us--am honored to be included in this post (and in the collection) and am so excited to read all the stories.
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