Literally...
Books are a gift. Books allow travel to places I'll never go. Books transport me back to a time long before I existed, only to whisk me into a future I will probably never see, then gently release me content and coddled where I feel the safest. Books comfort me when I am worried, solve problems when there are questions, keep me company when I am alone, and give me council when I have taken in more than I can handle. Books stir and blend my fantasies and my reality.
There is nothing I have asked from a book that it has not delivered. Books are stimulants for the brain and imagination. Recently, I have noticed they are stimulating something else, my appetite. Yes, I am happily reading along, minding my own business, not thinking about food, then...
"We're in his kitchen, and he's making grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches,
which I'm thinking are going to be about as close to my two-American-cheese-
singles-on-white-bread as his macaroni and cheese was to my Kraft special.
He slides his creation onto my plate: multiple cheeses with cherry tomatoes
and fresh basil oozing out of slabs of homemade multigrain bread. It looks
and smells brilliant."
The Art Forger
B.A. Shapiro
...and all I can think of is a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich.
As much as I resisted I was helpless in the clutch of such descriptive writing. I had a couple of different cheeses hanging out in the refrigerator, fresh farmer's market tomatoes, basil ready for picking in the garden and a loaf of rye bread. This would be easy, I make grilled cheese sandwiches all the time. Slice a little of this, spread a little of that, sizzle, sizzle... shades of gold... and I am back to my book deeply involved in an art heist.
It looked good, and it did smelled amazing. Eating it was not so easy, it sort of fell apart. To be frank, my sandwich just wasn't as sexy. After fully analyzing the situation I decided it had to be all about the tomatoes. Make a note, next time use cherry tomatoes.
It was only a few days latter I had the chance to spend a few days in Chicago. We arrived just after noon and were a bit hungry. With dinner reservations at a nearby french restaurant we decided to avoid the crowds and slip into one of the hotel's restaurants for a small snack. We were seated and handed menus. Looking down the selections, looking for something lite, there it was dancing, singing, flashing red arrows screaming at me,
a grilled cheese with cherry tomatoes and...
oh my, bacon jam.
I tried to resist. I looked away. I ask R. if he would like to split something. Nothing worked, it was my destiny, my obligation. Yes, I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich. I didn't take a picture; it was beautiful, rich and tasted amazing...trust me, I was there. I don't even remember what R. ordered, but I shared half of my delicious sandwich.
Now, I have two things to share with you,
my latest read and the culinary cravings it creates.
Has a book ever sent you running to the kitchen craving something you just read about?
Do you have an amazing grilled cheese recipe you are willing to share?
Yes, if I don't slow down the reading I'll be spending a lot more time here.
Happy Reading and
Bon Appétit!
As much as I resisted I was helpless in the clutch of such descriptive writing. I had a couple of different cheeses hanging out in the refrigerator, fresh farmer's market tomatoes, basil ready for picking in the garden and a loaf of rye bread. This would be easy, I make grilled cheese sandwiches all the time. Slice a little of this, spread a little of that, sizzle, sizzle... shades of gold... and I am back to my book deeply involved in an art heist.
It looked good, and it did smelled amazing. Eating it was not so easy, it sort of fell apart. To be frank, my sandwich just wasn't as sexy. After fully analyzing the situation I decided it had to be all about the tomatoes. Make a note, next time use cherry tomatoes.
a grilled cheese with cherry tomatoes and...
oh my, bacon jam.
I tried to resist. I looked away. I ask R. if he would like to split something. Nothing worked, it was my destiny, my obligation. Yes, I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich. I didn't take a picture; it was beautiful, rich and tasted amazing...trust me, I was there. I don't even remember what R. ordered, but I shared half of my delicious sandwich.
Now, I have two things to share with you,
my latest read and the culinary cravings it creates.
Has a book ever sent you running to the kitchen craving something you just read about?
Do you have an amazing grilled cheese recipe you are willing to share?
Yes, if I don't slow down the reading I'll be spending a lot more time here.
Happy Reading and
Bon Appétit!
