Food has a way of bringing people together. We celebrate birthdays and weddings with cake, prestigious awards ceremonies are often catered, and many business deals are negotiated over lunch.
A few years ago, my entire family cornered by grandmother to solve the mystery of her delicious chicken and dressing. There’s a reason it’s called a comfort food! This lengthy explanation was secretly recorded by my husband, and I still laugh when I watch it.
Her secrets? Use a Springer Mountain Farms chicken, pull all the strings out of the celery stalks, and use just the right amount of sage. (Note: “Just the right amount” is an ambiguous measurement, so good luck.)
Cooking is an art. I can appreciate that more than most because I can butcher the simplest recipes. I did not inherit the cooking gene from my mother and grandmother.
However, I enjoy eating food. My husband and I often bond over our adventurous tastes. I’ll try most anything once, but he always seeks out the most obscure dish on the menu.
So when we traveled to Scotland a few years ago, we found dozens of new foods we enjoyed. One that really stuck with me was cullen skink, a white fish and potato soup that is more like a chowder. Surprisingly, it didn’t have a fishy taste, and we both loved it.
Fast forward a year, and I traveled back to Scotland with my friends and had the chance to try it again. Yep, it was still delicious.
In my most recent book, Keeping the Cowboy, Jade’s father is from Scotland, and she likes cullen skink! Levi, the five-year-old boy she’s homeschooling, thinks it sounds gross. I’ll admit, I would have said the same before I gave it a try.
While writing the book, I began craving that creamy soup. Of all things, why can’t I forget about that soup? I contacted my author friend, Margaret Amatt, who lives in Scotland, and she was sweet enough to provide me with her mother’s recipe. It came from an old fundraiser cookbook. I also found this recipe on The Spruce Eats website that sounds delicious.
In another one of my books, The Billionaire’s Destined Bride, the main character, Cole, loves divinity. My editor and quite a few readers hadn’t heard of it, so I shared a recipe in my newsletter a while back for the sweet treat. Here it is if you’re interested in this sugary dessert. I’ve heard you need to watch the humidity while making this one.
In Mistaking the Cowboy, the main character, Haley, learns to make white chicken chili from the matriarch of the Harding family. It was a sweet coincidence when my sister made the same dish for the first time only a few weeks after I’d written about it. I’d never tried it before she made it, but here’s the recipe she used. I highly recommend it.
In Teresa Tysinger’s upcoming book, Gwen and the Three Dates, included in the Once Upon a Summer collection, Gwen’s usual order at a certain restaurant in town is a fried green tomato sandwich. I’m not sure if it’s a strictly Southern food or not, but we have a lot of fried green tomatoes around here in Alabama. We like to fry everything, so you might also come across fried Oreos or fried sushi rolls. Yum!
Jan Thompson’s book, His Morning Kiss, features a shrimp stir-fry with vegetables over jasmine rice. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
Janine Roche takes her characters on a culinary adventure in Wildflower Road. Her poor characters are subjected to all kinds of Montana trout recipes like juiced trout! Say it with me: Eww.
In A Place to Find Love, Merrillee Whren introduces us to chess pies. I’ve never seen chess pies before, but my sister makes a delicious chess cake! Here is the recipe similar to Merrillee Whren’s chess pies.
Toni Shiloh’s Maple Run series features The Maple Pit where maple syrup plays a key part in their dishes, including fried chicken! I’d definitely try it.
Cajun foods abound in Janet Ferguson’s Magnolia Storms book. Think gumbo and a shrimp boil. My grandmother makes shrimp etouffee for Christmas dinner every year. I have her hand-written recipe, but I’m afraid to turn my favorite holiday dish into a disaster.
Jaycee Weaver has a tendency to mention green chili recipes in her books. You can check out Whatever Comes our Way or Love, Laughter, and Luminaries for some of these nods to the New Mexican staple.
In Elizabeth Maddrey’s A Splash of Substance, you’ll find a restaurant that focuses on sustainable eating. Paige utilizes kitchen scraps, so think beef tongue and zucchini pickles!
Valerie Comer’s book, Dandelions for Dinner, includes dandelion pesto! I’ve never heard of it before, but now I’m wondering how it would taste.
What are some other contemporary Christian romances you’ve read that include dishes that piqued your interest? I’d love it if you would share them with us in the comments. I’ll choose a winner from the comments to receive an ebook copy of my latest book, Keeping the Cowboy, and I’ll announce the winner on Friday, May 14th.
Mandi Blake was born and raised in Alabama where she lives with her husband and daughter, but her southern heart loves to travel. Reading has been her favorite hobby for as long as she can remember, but writing is her passion. She loves a good happily ever after in her sweet Christian romance books, and loves to see her characters' relationships grow closer to God and each other.
I’m sitting here scratching my head over white chicken chili. I didn’t know chicken was any other colour.
A few Amish books have had me googling recipes like Shoofly pie, Whoopie Pies, Scrapple, snickerdoodles. Also a few Christmas novellas where they feature a Swedish ancestry have some interesting Christmas foods.
Can’t remember names of hand but I do know Ruth Logan Herne often has food in her books.
My friend went overseas for about 12 months living in Scotland for over 6 months and she brought back Edinburgh Rock which I really like.
Hi Ausjenny! Your comment about white chicken chili made this German American chuckle. Yes chicken is white. The white refers to the beans in chili – cannellini beans. Chili is usually made with red kidney beans or other colored beans. White chicken chili is made with a white bean. White meat, white beans. Enjoy your day.
Hi Mandy! What an intriguing blog. For this retiree, we were told the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Our mother’s all cooked with Betty Crocker’s cookbook and subscribed to Good Housekeeping magazine. Cecelia Dowdy in her Candy Beach series has lots of delicious chocolate treats and in her Bakery Romance series has delicious cupcakes. Many cozy mysteries have recipes with the series. My favorite is set in Michigan with Gloria and the Golden Girls by Hope Callaghan. Best wishes. Looking forward to a tasty read.
I loved reading Suzanne Woods Fisher newest novel At Lighthouse Point where a recipe is attached which Blaine, the main character also makes. Thank you for this post!
Hmm, just saying, I make a pretty good chicken and dressing that my husband insists us better than his mother’s – and she taught me how to make it! Hallee Bridgeman gives great recipes at the end of her stories and Valerie Comer has me drooling for the offerings from Bridgeview!
I’ll have to check out some of these recipes! I’ve read almost all of the Tales of the Grace Chapel Inn books and they all have at least one recipe in them! One has numerous recipes in it. Not fiction, but Kelly Minter has recipes in her Bible studies!
Yes, the color refers to the beans as Renate mentioned. I’m not usually a fan of beans of any color, but I have to admit that I was pleased with the “white” chili.
The books you mentioned sound interesting. I’m especially curious about the chocolate. I’ve always thought chocolatiers probably had the most fascinating job (in my opinion).
I’ll have to look that one up. Thank you for the suggestion!
I’m very interested in your chicken and dressing! For years, both sides of my family (mom’s and dad’s family) all got together for Thanksgiving dinner, and both of my grandmothers would bring their chicken and dressing. They were completely different, and while some preferred one over the other, my dad and I found the secret was to mix them together. One had most of the sage while the other didn’t have enough. One was dry and the other juicy. So they worked so well together.
Recipes in a Bible study sounds so interesting! I’ll be looking that up.
I’d be happy to share, send me your email address!
The first book that came to mind was Becky Wade’s Sweet on You. The main character is a chocolatier and if I had the patience I’d try to make some of the chocolates myself. Saturday Night Supper Club by Carla Laureano also comes to mind, the main character’s a chef and some of the dishes sounded really good.
Goodness, I’ve forgotten the question and now my stomach is growling, mmm I think it’s time for some chocolate chip chick pea biscuits (or cookies in your vernacular) for a midnight snack, lol!
These sound delicious!
I’d take cookies or biscuits!
The foods mentioned in the Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury that Elizabeth Baxter always made for her family always made me hungry.
Thanks for mentioning these. I forgot about them.
Her Culinary Catch (A Recipe for Romance Book 3) by Bonnie Engstrom made me hungry ;)
Joanne Fluke writes the Hannah Swenson mysteries. These mysteries also have romance. She includes recipes in all the books.
I recently finished “At Lighthouse Point” where our heroine Blaine just finished two years of culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris & worked in a french restaurant. She moved back home to start up the Camp Kicking Moose full dining service….boy howdy, could she ever cook. It made me hungry reading about it, lol! I can’t remember specific dishes except for her brownies, which the recipe is included at the end of the book :-) I printed it out to make sometime because I’m a sucker for homemade brownies! I’ll share the recipe here.
I’ve read quite a few books that mention people cooking or baking and it always makes my mouth water!
~Blaine’s Outrageous Fudgy Brownies~
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 large eggs (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×13-inch pan or line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the finished brownies out. Set aside.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter and 2 ounces of chocolate chips. Melt 30 seconds at a time, whisking after each increment until completely smooth. Whisk in the sugar until completely combined (whisking the sugar into warm butter will help the sugar, during baking, to rise to the top of the batter. That’s the secret to the shiny crackly tops). One by one, whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, and instant coffee granules.
Add the cocoa powder, flour, salt and remaining chocolate chips. Fold it all together with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. Batter with be very thick. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. (Do not overbake! A little under-done is better than a little overdone).
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely in the pan before cutting squares.
Optional add-in: 1 cup chopped walnuts or hazelnuts.
I have a small collection of church cookbooks from different denominations and different regions of the country. Not romance books, but I have a lot of recipes.
Oh I learnt something. I don’t eat Chili and I was thinking what other colour would chicken be not thinking it was about the beans. (you are looking at an extremely fussy eater)
Yay! Thank you! Mine is mandiblakeauthor@gmail.com
Oh that sounds delightful!
I used to work in a bookstore, and those books are EVERYWHERE! I haven’t read them because for some reason, I can’t get into mysteries. It’s probably the only major genre I don’t like, and I don’t know why!
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this recipe! It sounds amazing.
I don’t know about other states, but the Southeastern states have the Pioneer cookbooks, and they’re considered classics in these parts. I enjoy browsing cookbooks, but I’m not very good at actually executing the recipes. I hope to master at least some form of cooking one day.
I’m known at our house for my breakfast dishes (egg sandwich with ham and smoked gouda, scrambled eggs with salsa and sausage and cheddar, etc.) but have never been a very imaginative baker either for main dishes or for desserts. I’ve read lots of stories with foody characters and some with recipes associated but I’ve never made any of them. I keep thinking that some day I will spend time learning various types of cooking (bread baking, grilling, pressure cooking and the like) but it hasn’t happened yet. I guess your ship can’t come in until you send one out!
I’m not sure about any particular recipes, but I thoroughly enjoyed Carla Laureano Supper Club series. One of the Books main characters was a chef, and the next one was a baker.
I love Adriana Trigiani’s books! In her novel Big Stone Gap, later made into a major motion picture starring Ashley Judd, Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Wilson and more, several recipes were included at the end of the book for readers to try. These were recipes the characters made during the story/movie themselves; later, caterers made the same recipes on-set for the cast and crew to eat during film production. This book was book 1 of a 4-book series; the rest did not have recipes, but the recipes were all very good southern-style recipes that hailed from the Blue Ridge Mountains, where the book’s small Virginia town is nestled. The movie was made in 2014 and I read it a while ago, although not that long ago, but I don’t remember the recipes off-hand, but I know there were dinner mints to cookies to pie to muffins, etc. — easy to fancy!!