The first date in the "52 Dates for Writers" book has us "Cook Something Luxurious"
Although food doesn't play a major role in my novel, the setting sort of forces me to think about it. My novel takes place in the "ambiguous south" (or at least the South is a major influence) and food plays a huge role in Southern living.
My novel isn't some extravagant adventure story that is going to take my characters into far off lands, it takes place in one little neighborhood in the humble homes of my characters. My characters are middle class. Both parents work, kids go to public school, very similar to my own growing up. Meals aren't multi-course, fine china events, but they are cooked with love and enjoyed around the table. And while my novel doesn't take my characters on grand external adventures, they sure go on some extreme internal ones.
My MC is going to go on an emotional adventure, and it is imperative that my other characters notice, even in the most subtle of ways how she is changing, and doing this exercise helped me to realize that around the dinner table might be a good place to explore that.
So when I was deciding what to cook, I had to think of something that would be easy for a working parent to do after working their 9-5, something inexpensive, and tasty! While I have eaten a lot of fried chicken (it's how I keep my figure) I have never made it! So here is my very loose recipe.
The Wet Stuff:
Buttermilk
Hot Sauce
Various spices like garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, and salt & pepper. Basically whatever you want.
Dry Stuff:
Flour
And all the same spices you used for the wet stuff except for the hot sauce.
Soak your chicken in the wet stuff for at least an hour.
Cover it in the flour. You don't want the batter too thick, so shake off the excess.
Then, fry it. Now, this step is JUST to fry the crunchy stuff, NOT to cook the chicken, so fry it at 375 for 3 minutes.
Then, finish them in the oven. 400 degrees for about 35 minutes.
They turn out juicy and crunchy.
Admittedly my mac-n-cheese was from a box, and also not shown in the pictures is the green bean casserole leftovers and some baked beans.
We also enjoyed this with some sweet tea. Because of course.
I really tried to eat something my characters would eat on like a Sunday night. And while my novel isn't a recipe novel, and will probably not go into much detail about what my characters eat, it did make me realize how important gathering around a dinner table as a family will be.
Although food doesn't play a major role in my novel, the setting sort of forces me to think about it. My novel takes place in the "ambiguous south" (or at least the South is a major influence) and food plays a huge role in Southern living.
My novel isn't some extravagant adventure story that is going to take my characters into far off lands, it takes place in one little neighborhood in the humble homes of my characters. My characters are middle class. Both parents work, kids go to public school, very similar to my own growing up. Meals aren't multi-course, fine china events, but they are cooked with love and enjoyed around the table. And while my novel doesn't take my characters on grand external adventures, they sure go on some extreme internal ones.
My MC is going to go on an emotional adventure, and it is imperative that my other characters notice, even in the most subtle of ways how she is changing, and doing this exercise helped me to realize that around the dinner table might be a good place to explore that.
So when I was deciding what to cook, I had to think of something that would be easy for a working parent to do after working their 9-5, something inexpensive, and tasty! While I have eaten a lot of fried chicken (it's how I keep my figure) I have never made it! So here is my very loose recipe.
The Wet Stuff:
Buttermilk
Hot Sauce
Various spices like garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, and salt & pepper. Basically whatever you want.
Dry Stuff:
Flour
And all the same spices you used for the wet stuff except for the hot sauce.
Soak your chicken in the wet stuff for at least an hour.
Cover it in the flour. You don't want the batter too thick, so shake off the excess.
Then, fry it. Now, this step is JUST to fry the crunchy stuff, NOT to cook the chicken, so fry it at 375 for 3 minutes.
Then, finish them in the oven. 400 degrees for about 35 minutes.
They turn out juicy and crunchy.
Admittedly my mac-n-cheese was from a box, and also not shown in the pictures is the green bean casserole leftovers and some baked beans.
We also enjoyed this with some sweet tea. Because of course.
I really tried to eat something my characters would eat on like a Sunday night. And while my novel isn't a recipe novel, and will probably not go into much detail about what my characters eat, it did make me realize how important gathering around a dinner table as a family will be.
Okay, so ignore the messy kitchen, and just look at my cute haircut.
Golden perfection.
yum yum yum. Am I a food blogger now?
Memento Mori
&;
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