What book have you read, that is not a cookbook, that inspired you to cook something based on what you read or the setting of the story?
What book have you read, that is not a cookbook, that inspired you to cook something based on what you read or the setting of the story?
Anything from @Stacey! Also, she includes recipes at the back of the book.
agreed
Ditto! Plus all the other great food they are everywhere.
The Coincidence of Coconut Cake – made me want coconut cake SO BAD! There was even a recipe in the back for the cake in the book! YUM!
Louise Penny’s books make me want to cook but, oh my pasta, nothing makes me long to cook like Frances Mayes’ books on Tuscany.
Sourdough
This ?
The entire China Bayles series by Susan Wittig Albert. Good mystery series, and she includes recipes!
Under the Tuscan Sun
Blue Bistro
7 by Jen Hatmaker gave me a delicious Ina Garten Butternut Squash soup. I cooked Chicken Marsala after Bet Me. After the Storyteller, we had book club and one girl brought Babka and one girl made challah bread
@Sara Bet Me definitely had me craving chicken Marsala!
Jen Hatmaker’s big sandwich!
I love this question
My Life In France…Julia Child?
The Kitchen Congregation
Everything by Marlena di Blasi
Food from
Silver linings playbook! Lol
Like Water for Chocolate ?
All of Stacey Ballis’s books!
@Julie I love that recipes are usually included:)
Me too!
Diane Mott Davidson! Goldy the caterer! ?
@Amy I was just going to say that! ? Lots of recipes!
The recipes in any of the sweet potato queen books
The Recipe Box by Viola Shipman
Nero Wolfe. Fritz’s cooking, y’all.
All of Elin Hilderbrand’s books!! They have the BEST food descriptions.
Like Water for Chocolate
Like Water for Chocolate
My old book group used to try and feature a food from the current book at every monthly meeting. I don’t remember what some of the foods were, but I do remember having fun with it. She’s Come Undone, comes to mind. And I’d really like to remember what we served for The Alchemist or Stones From the River. \
Recipe for Disaster by @Stacey .
@Lauren ?
@Stacey braised short ribs for the win! Just sayin ?
I tried the chicken lemon pasta mentioned in How to Save a Life. WHERE HAD THAT BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!
OMG this sounds like heaven?
@Lauren OMG. It was outrageous!
I love you guys.
@Stacey ? Need. More. Reads. ?
@Jessica working on it. Stay tuned.
@Stacey waiting! With baited breath!
Do peanut butter and pickle sandwiches inspired by Kinsey Milhone (Sue Grafton) count?!
Marie Danielle Bruce Ward I’ve eaten peanut butter and pickle since I was a kid. With my third pregnancy, I added a slice of extra sharp cheddar to the mix, and it was all I ate for six months. I’m not gonna lie, I still do sometimes ?
I love them! My husband gags at the thought.
@Marie opposite her, hubby loves & I can’t stand them!
My Dad has always eaten pb and pickle sandwiches, so of course I do too! Now my daughter loves them as well. My husband and my mom think we’re all weird!
Delicious by Ruth Reichl!!!!
Also her book, My Kitchen Year
Every time I read an In Death series book I have to have spaghetti and meatballs
Patricia Cornwall actually has a lot of cooking in her books. Scarpetta is always whipping something up.
@Erina But think where her hands have been??
@Sue good point! ?
Julie and Julia! And Julia child’s autobiography. For like a hot second I thought I could cook French food and then I came to my senses and was like LOL no.
@Emilee after I read that I made Julia’s beef bourguignon…. It took all day and I didn’t think it was that amazing!
@Emilee Julia was really not a great cook, but sure sold her books well!
Nora Ephron – she’d include recipes ?
Bruno, Chief of Police books – food of the Perigord
Martin Walker’s series set in a village in France. Main character is a policeman who loves to cook.
Spiced by Dalia Jurgensen
Sourdough by Robin Sloan. Convinced to make and feed a Sourdough Starter
The Café by the Sea by Jenny Colgan had me baking bread for a hot minute.
Many of Stacey Ballis’s books!
Well just starting “The Chef” by James Patterson so I’m sure there will be something!
Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove series always makes me want to cook or bake. And then she really did put out a cookbook based on the series and I never actually use it lol!
Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler…The ABSOLUTE best sugar cookies we’ve ever had! So easy to substitute other flavors for the Peppermint.
Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran
https://marykayandrews.com/beyond-the-grave-chicken-salad/
The Hundred-Foot Journey
The Secret Ingredient by Laura Schaeffer, I was jonesing for some scones while reading it
Julie and Julia ❤️
Randomly picked that one up at a thrift store and loved it!
Randomly picked that one up at a thrift store and loved it!
@Lauren I was skeptical but really enjoyed the book. I’ve picked up a couple cookbooks by Julia Child since!
Everything on a Waffle
Survival Lessons by Alice Hoffman and Barbara Bush: A Memoir.
Any of the Sweet Potaoto Queens books. Not to mention they are pee your pants funny
Diane Mott Davidson has a series of culinary mysteries.
The Kay Scarpetta books by Patricia Cornwell. The Spenser books by Robert B Parker.
A friend made tomato aspic for book club when we read a Fannie Flagg novel. It was horrible and we still laugh about it years later. (We’re busier with kids and things now than we were several years ago so it’s relaxed a bit, but the host usually tried to create snacks/meals around the book’s theme. So fun!)
Bread Alone
Basically anything from @Stacey & Amy E. Reichert. ?
@Amy ❤️
Every @Stacey book. Every single one.
@Kristin?
It’s a series of books set on Martha’s Vineyard. Going to have to look up the author, but the main character was always fishing and cooking. Books themselves were mysteries. Enjoyed a lot but it was along time ago.
Ok, that was quick- Philip R. Craig’s Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries (19 books) and a cookbook HA!
Any of stacey ballis books
There is a Nora Roberts trilogy where the main character is a cook at a bookstore/cafe. I read the series sixteen years ago when I first moved to where I live now and I distinctly remember making cinnamon buns because of those books.
Reading a Stacey Ballis book right now! ??
The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard Morais sparked my interest in Indian food. Trying new recipes all the time that incorporate curry , Garam Masala and fresh vegetables . The movie , a few years later turned interest into a full blown love affair!
@Jayne , if we are adding movies Tortilla Soup would be on my list!
@Leighann thanks, I’ll check that out. Love movies like Chef, Big Night
@Jayne it’s an older one!
I didn’t make it, but Memoirs of a Geisha made me want sushi and sake!
Every recipe in Joanne Flukes Hannah Swenson series…seriously the strawberry shortcake with creme fraiche was to die for
Ive made a couple of her recipes. Really enjoyed the BlackBerry cookies
Diane Mott Davidson mysteries
Read “Life from Scratch” by Sasha Martin
First of all – it’s an amazing memoir – and secondly, it has a layer cake recipe I didn’t try to make, but REALLY wanted to
Crazy Rich Asian trilogy!
I read this book once that wasn’t even very good, but there was a recipe for these chocolate filled yeast rolls in it that I saved and still use today years later.
A Gentleman in Moscow…i researched every meal described in this book!
At the time I was reading Gentleman in Moscow, I was also watching The Americans. So I decided to make Borscht.
@Leanne I loved the book, but had never considered that! What a fantastic idea
Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl
Right now I can’t think of anything recent, but I do remember reading Little House books and then asking my mom if we could make some of the food she wrote about… maple syrup candy in the snow, sugar cakes, flapjacks, etc.
All of the Sweet Potato Queen books have random recipes in them and they are fab!
Bet Me By Jennifer Crusie. Chicken Marsala plays a big role in the main characters relationship, and when I first read the book, I hated mushrooms, but after reading the book a couple of times, I became very intrigued and made it. Turns out I like mushrooms now, and this is one of my husband’s and my favorite meals.
Chickens in the Road! She included some recipes at the end, I couldn’t wait to try them (especially the boozy cookies!!?)!
@Amy boozy cookies, guess I have to get the book!
@Lila they are SO good!! Book is pretty good, some parts were frustrating, but overall, it was worth it ?
Diane Mott Davidson’s series. She always includes recipes (her main character is a caterer), and I had to try a few.
Ooh, I’ve cooked a lot from @Jeanette’s Idiot Guides food series and cheese books!
After reading the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book series – I bought a lot of Redbush/ Rooibus tea to steep and drink……does that count?
@Anita, me too!
I read about cheese and pickle sandwiches in Asymmetry…changed my life. Omg. White bread, bread and butter pickles, and cheddar. In U.K. they use a spread so it’s a little different but mine works great.
My Life in France, a biography of Julia Child written by her nephew.
Under the Tuscan Sun, even has recipes in the book! Good with a glass of Chianti ❤️
I made the coconut cake when I read The Coincidence of Coconut Cake and it was delicious!
The Secret Book and Scone Society- peanut butter and chocolate chip scones!
Does anyone remember the crime series with a detective that had a knack for amazing sandwiches that he usually ate over the kitchen sink? I CANNOT remember and it’s making me ?
Edward X. Delaney Deadly Sins series by Lawrence Sanders! Loved those!!
Thank you!!!!
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Another good series is Diane Mott Davidson with Goldie the caterer that had recipes in the books. they always sounded scrumptious! https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/diane-mott-davidson/
Her recipes are STILL some of my faves. Chocolate comfort cookies are to die for!!!
Eat, Pray, Love makes me crave Italian food.
Michele Scott’s Wine Lover’s mystery series includes recipes with a suggested wine pairing.
Game of Thrones series made me try hot buttered turnips.
One of the Stacey Ballis(I think) books got me to make gougeres.
Cleo Coyles – Coffee House mysteries such great food she makes out of whatever’s in her fridge. Recipes on authors website
Oh yes!
Most Hannah Swenson mysteries, Charmed Pie Shoppe mysteries, and several Jen’s books when she is describing the food she’s getting to eat in various locations!
Pretty much anything by @Stacey!
@Beth ❤️
@Stacey just the truth! Inappropriate Men was the first I read and I reread it annually. You rock!
Garlic and Sapphires is a wonderful read w delicious recipes throughout- my favorite is her cheesecake recipe- but they are all yummy!
Ruth Reichl has some fab books!
One of my favorites is this: https://www.amazon.com/Delicious-Novel-Ruth-Reichl-ebook/dp/B00GL3PXAM/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?adgrpid=62881453384&hvadid=274755396931&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9026930&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=13552603646631220750&hvtargid=kwd-314746619740&keywords=ruth+reichl+books&qid=1551374102&s=gateway&sr=8-5&tag=hydsma-20
And for anyone wondering who also read it: yes, I made the cake after
I made this tonight for supper – Cheese Ravioli with Sweet Italian Sausage. Scott suggests pairing it with Chianti.