Edible Excerpts

"Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably." - C. S. Lewis

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

The charcuterie board is so beautiful she almost hates to destroy it, but then she tastes the prosciutto and worries she will eat the entire board and be found gnawing the wood by the time Ash returns. Everything is delicious: the berries sweet and fresh, the cheese creamy and cool, the meats perfectly salted and — that word again — unctuous. The bread is cut and baked into buttery crisps, and even though she’s eaten almost nothing but Ash’s bread all day, she devours it.

- Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

The afternoons when he baked were the times we were the closest. Remembering those hours, the smell of caramelized sugar, the warm crust melting in my mouth, his look while he awaited my verdict…

- Blue Hunger by Viola Di Grado, translated by Jamie Richards

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

She eyed his order of Greek-style poutine hungrily. Her Gyrito had been satisfying but not the most filling. She plucked a fry from the basket and cradled it with her other hand, careful not to drip grease all over the counter as she brought it to her mouth. Her taste buds exploded with that one perfectly balanced bite of feta cheese, tzatziki sauce, and Kalamata olives. She groaned and plucked another fry from the paper boat, scarfing it down before going back for one more.

- Hang the Moon by Alexandria Bellefleur

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

I’d had a lot of fun creating my “spooky” truffles, especially Booberry Whites, creamy white chocolate filled with tart blueberry-infused milk chocolate ganache in the shape of blue-eyed ghosts. The Screamin’ Orange Milks were filled with tangy orange ganache that made taste buds picker before flooding them with sweetness. And the Mummy Wraps had the same biting cherry ganache as my Black Forest Milks, but we’re covered in white icing ribbons to look like mummies with tiny black eyes peeking through.

- Behind Chocolate Bars by Kathy Aaron’s

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

Mom buys a box of macarons and offers me one the buttery color of sunshine … When I bite into the macaron, the outside crackles before giving way to soft cream and a bright burst of citrus.

- Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

My mouth fills with water at the aroma of the fried bread, cupping sour cream, garlic, and curled strips of crisped ham in its center…I take a bite of the bread. It crackles as my teeth cut through the fried meat, then yields with satisfying give, so greasy and chewy that my eyelids slide involuntarily closed with pleasure.

- Blood Countess by Lana Popović

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

Karter opened the door for me and I stepped into the magical little place. It smelled like warm cornbread and the familiar vinegary aroma that went with greens stewed in a pot for hours. That smell, the laughter coming from the kitchen, the woman who poked her head out that looked like my grandma — it all felt like home.

- This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

There was stewed jack rabbit with white flour dumplings and plenty of gravy. There was a steaming-hot, thick cornbread flavored with bacon fat. There was molasses to eat on the cornbread, but because this was a company supper they did not sweeten their coffee with molasses. Ma brought out the little paper sack of pale-brown store sugar.

- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

Unable to resist tasting her work, Hannah plucked an Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookie from a nearby rack and nibbled at the edge. The taste of butter and sugar blossomed on her tongue and she smiled in satisfaction. Her cookies were perfectly baked, crisp on the outside and flaky inside.

- Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

Ollie loved mushrooms. On weekends, she and her mom used to go foraging for wild ones. It had been an autumn day like this one, clouds chasing sun, when they found Ollie’s first chicken-of-the-woods... That night, they feasted on chicken-fried wild mushroom with mashed potatoes. Afterward, Ollie and her mom swam in the freezing creek and ate homemade ice cream. It was the best of days.

- Small Spaces by Katherine Arden

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

“Beef stew. Help yourself to bread to soak up the juices, and that’s horseradish crème fraîche...” I took a mouthful of the stew - which was thick and rich and delicious, the kind of meal I never had the time or organization to cook for myself at home - and let Sandra plop a blob of crème fraîche on top and ply me with a crusty chunk of bread. There was a bottle of red wine already open on the table, and she poured us out two glasses in beautifully etched Victorian goblets and pushed one across to me.

- The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

For most of the afternoon, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny cooked the puttanesca sauce according to the recipe. Violet roasted the garlic and washed and chopped the anchovies. Klaus peeled the tomatoes and pitted the olives. Sunny banged on a pot with a wooden spoon, singing a rather repetitive song she had written herself... The smell of cooking food is often a calming one, and the kitchen grew cozy as the sauce simmered, a culinary term which means “cooked over low heat.”

- The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

Rosemary Crostini of Delightfully Misspent Youth... He does not look at her as he picks up the second bite of golden-crusted toast, redolent with rosemary and crystals of sea salt. Danny was an excellent baker long before he started experimenting with the rose-thyme plant that causes the memories, and this crostini is no exception.

- The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

...she picked through the curled, sugared lemon peels laid out on parchment and arranged them like rose blossoms on the tarts, settling each strip into the still-warm center. The aromas of sweet citrus and buttery, flaky crust curled beneath her nose.

- Heartless by Marissa Meyer

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

I took a loaf of bread from the pantry and cut a thick slice. I buttered it, then slathered on a blanket of brown sugar. I folded the bread twice in half, each time pressing it down flat with the palm of my hand. I stuck it in the warming oven and left it there for as long as it took me to sing three verses of “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake.” It was not a true Chelsea bun, but it would have to do.

- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

Afterward we always go to the same chocolatier for whiskey truffles. One feels the captured storm in these, a warm storm under the tongue.

- Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore

[coffeeflavoredfiction]

When the ribs came, they were tender and juicy, slathered with a sauce that reminded Hannah of aromatic wood smoke and sweet vine-ripened tomatoes.

- Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke