Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Happy CHOMP Day!

I don't know about you, but I like to include food and drinks in my books. "Eat, drink, and be merry"--an excellent motto for real life, in my humble opinion--apparently spills over into my fiction. 

A few years ago, I showed you some of the things Ciel eats and drinks in In a Fix (click here if you're curious). 

Well, she's still eating and drinking (and *ahem* "merry-ing") her way through Quick Fix

For instance, she enjoys some yummy Thai food, including Drunken Noodles, with friends and family at her D.C. condo...

By Elliot from Castro Valley, California, USA (Drunken Noodles) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons


Has a few too many Manhattans at the Come as You Aren't Party...

By Hayford Peirce at en.wikipedia [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

And finds out stale popcorn is not the hangover remedy she hoped it would be...

Photo courtesy of MorgueFile.com
She has a moment with a frosted strawberry Pop-Tart...

By Scott Ehardt (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Pickles...

By Renee Comet (Photographer) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

...and raspberries

By www.bluewaikiki.com (originally posted to Flickr as Summer Raspberries) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
...also come into *cough* play. 

Obviously, I think food is a great prop in a book. Food is fun. It engages the readers' senses, which is always a good thing. 

This guy obviously agrees with me:

By Syed Abdul Khaliq from Shah Alam, Malaysia (Unta@Camel  Uploaded by russavia) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
So, how about you? Do you like to use food and/or drinks in your writing? If so, what kind?

If not, what's your favorite food and/or drink in real life? 


13 comments:

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Yep, I use food and drink, too. Like all kinds of yummy stuff at a ladies' card party... and steamed crabs... kielbasa... a scene about an unexpected "secret ingredient" in crab cakes... a ham and potato salad sandwich on rye... beer, too much beer. (I don't care for it, but one of my characters does.)And lots more. Come to think of it, my characters enjoy food and drink almost as much as I do.

I don't know if you've read any of her books, but Faye Kellerman always has terrific food scenes in her books.

Happy Hump Day!

Judy,Judy,Judy. said...

Cinnamon rolls are currently my drug of choice.

Jennifer Shirk said...

YES!! I love to mix food in my writing--probably because I love both. LOL

Favorite drink is a margarita (made fresh--no sour mix)

Carol Kilgore said...

I do use food and drink! Mostly Tex-Mex, BBQ, and seafood, since my books are set at the Texas Gulf Coast. Drink-wise, I usually stick to beer, wine, and coffee. Or water. But I'm fancying things up a bit in my WIP :)

Sneaky way to get that camel in LOL!

LD Masterson said...

In my WIP, I use the lack of food. My MC comes home to an empty fridge (forgot to shop again) and has to sift through some pretty sad leftovers hunting for something edible.

Love the carrot chomping camel.

Diane Henders said...

I love that Ciel gets to eat well! Hmmm, playing with raspberries... now I'm intrigued.

Of course there's always lots of food in my books. Beer and spicy chicken wings seem to make frequent appearances, but Aydan gets to chow down on everything from gourmet goodies to peanut butter and beef jerky.

Crap, now my stomach's growling...

Patsy said...

I like to include food and drink in my writing. Even better is the research part. If I mention a character drinking a glass of red for example you can be sure I've tried a Merlot and a Shiraz and a Cabernet Shiraz and maybe a Pinot Noir to see which would be best for them.

Sometimes I'll try a couple of whites and a G&T too as as alternatives. Research can never be too thorough.

J.L. Murphey said...

Being a chef in real life food takes a huge spot in my books.

the princesses that read said...

i think you should ice cream because it is sexy and yummy. now i know that ice cream is over when comes to the sexiness but it all depends on the flavor that you use. every one always uses chocolate or vanilla but what if you used a different flavor instead?

Deborah Small said...

Pie.

abby mumford said...

chocolate.

Deniz Bevan said...

I remember those - especially the popcorn [g]
Yummy raspberries!

Julie Flanders said...

Oh my gosh this post made me hungry! I love Thai food and those noodles look so yummy. Although I'm totally pathetic because the pop-tarts are the things I want the most LOL. I am obsessed with frosted pop-tarts. :D