Today, I am pleased to have culinary romance author Louisa Edwards here today. She is the author of Can’t Stand the Heat, On the Steamy Side and her newest release Just One Taste. Be sure to answer her question for a chance to win some goodies!
Communicating (intimately) through Food
Communication is important—we can all agree on that, right? But there are as many ways to communicate as there are seeds in a pumpkin, and not all of them involve sitting down face to face and saying the dreaded words: “We need to talk.”
In my culinary romance novels, the characters often send each other meaningful messages through food, which is a powerful way to communicate because the sense of taste is such a strong trigger for memory and emotion. One lick of a vanilla cone transports us immediately to that summer we first learned to ride a bike all the way to the ice cream parlor; the mere scent of baking bread or fresh chocolate chip cookies can help you sell your house!
The act of cooking and eating together can be intimate, as well. In Can’t Stand the Heat, the hero convinced the heroine that he was serious about getting to know her better by teaching her to poach an egg. My celebrity chef hero in On the Steamy Side was reminded of the magic of simple ingredients and basic flavors with one bite of the heroine’s down home collard greens.
Just One Taste, my latest Recipe for Love novel, features one of my favorite scenes of culinary communication, when the bad boy chef hero, Wes, seduces food chemistry nerd Rosemary by convincing her to join him in a hands-on experiment with aphrodisiacs! That, of course, involves testing the effects of foods like oysters, chocolate, and strawberries. Despite the heroine’s eventual “discoveries,” medical science has disproven the validity of aphrodisiacs many times over. However, Wes and Rosemary undeniably discover a certain kind of chemistry together—and it’s hot enough to steam up the whole lab!
ABOUT THE BOOK
He has a hungry mind.
Bad-boy chef Wes Murphy is dreading his final-semester cooking class-Food Chemistry 101-until he meets the new substitute teacher. Dr. Rosemary Wilkins is a feast for the eyes, though her approach to food is strictly academic. So Wes decides to rattle her Bunsen burner by asking for her hands-on advice-on aphrodisiacs...She's got love down to a science.
Rosemary is a little wary about working with Wes, whose casual flirtations make her hot under the collar. But once they begin testing the love-enhancing power of chocolate, oysters, and strawberries, it becomes scientifically evident that the brainy science nerd and the boyish chef have some major chemistry together-and it’s delicious...
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I grew up in Virginia, went to school in Philadelphia, spent five years in Manhattan, and now I live in a teeny town in Ohio. Once an editor of romance novels, now I'm writing my own. My Recipe for Love series combines contemporary romance with my love of food, restaurants, and smokin' hot chefs!
Find the author online: website | blog | twitter
GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
Think about the food you’ve cooked for others, and the meals that have been prepared for you. What were you trying to say? What did you hear? I have an autographed copy of Just One Taste . . . and a chocolate-covered strawberry ornament for one of you!
Giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only. To enter, leave a comment on this post and answer Louisa’s Question. Please do not leave your email address in your comment. Hopefully you have your email in your profile. If not, be sure to check back here on 10/21/2010 to see if you’ve won. Please read the Contest/Giveaway Policy for complete list of rules. Giveaway ends Wednesday, October 20th, 2010. Good luck to all who enter!
I am not a very good cook at all but I would love to read your book. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com
ReplyDeleteMy husband is the cook in our family!
ReplyDeleteLucky me...I remember when we were dating and the first meal he created for just me! I am a vegetarian and he is not, so he made exquisite vegetable lasagna, fresh greens
salad and fresh blueberry crepes.
Talk about sending a message of love and caring.
Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I cook for my husband and two sons!! I hope to fill their bellies and hearts:)
ReplyDeleteI love baking for family/friends' birthdays, it's my way of saying happy birthday, you mean a lot so I took the time to bake and decorate :D
ReplyDeleteI'm usually the one who bakes the birthday cakes for my family's birthdays. But I remember, one year, I tried to bake an apple pie for my younger sister's birthday. While I was cutting the apple, the knife got stuck inside of the apple. It took me a couple minutes to yank the knife out and when I finally got it out it somehow managed to cut my hand open. Needless to say, we didn't eat apple pie that night (my hand healed after about a week).
ReplyDeleteWhenever I cook for someone I'm trying to make sure that the food tastes good, looks good, and has them giving great feedback.
ReplyDeletelenikaye@yahoo.com
I cook almost everything by my dh is great at making breakfast on the weekend. I would love to win the giveaway.
ReplyDeletejhoorm01atyahoodotcom
When my granchildren ask for a special food, I always make it as a way of telling them how much I love them!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy cooking for my family and friends and this is a great way to let them know you love them. I always include favorite foods.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I cook I want the message to my family to be that I love and cherish them and will do my best to always protect them. I want them to connect food and taste to love as well. I love cooking and the love of my family like all women is always evident through those meals.
ReplyDeleteCarol L.
Whenever I make my peanut butter truffles, I hope to give people a blissful instant to love and indulge in that first explosion of rich chocolate on their tongues. To be one with momentary ecstasy that hopefully lasts all day.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually like paying it forward, for that is the feeling I get whenever I bite into anything I know someone has graced the dish with that intense feeling and care! :D
I am a horrible woman, I can't cook to save my life. My specialties are Kraft mac-n-cheese, and noodles with store sauce. It's horrible... But when the hubs cooks... it's a masterpiece. Love his food. I think with his cooking, he is trying to tell me that he will always take care of me and provide for me. When I cook, it's usually punishment! LOL unless I pick something up, then it's love! :D
ReplyDeleteLately I have been cooking cakes to make my family feel happy, I am trying to spread love. I am also using this as practice to make my fiance a birthday cake to show how much I love him and he means to me.
ReplyDeleteI would love to be entered into the competition. Thank you
I cook for my children, husband, and grandparents. I enjoy learning new things and having old things reemerge.
ReplyDeleteI cook to support my family, to show them I love them, to make sure they get some nutrition into their diets because I want them to be healthy.
ReplyDeletemeredithfl at gmail dot com