This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Dear Eve,
Do you cook?
Do you put beautiful things on beautiful dishes and set them before your friends and family as testaments of your love…
Yes. Yes and yes.
This wonderfully gentle and charming novel has food in abundance. In fact, the food is a central character next to Eve Petworth – an English, divorced home cook with a grown up daughter – and Jackson Cooper, a divorced American, who is a writer and also a home cook. The two are brought together through food and the written word. Eve reads one of Jackson's novels, is inspired to write to him after reading a passage about his main character eating a fresh peach, and Jackson replies. A friendship is born and Eve and Jackson share parts of themselves alongside recipes through their letters.
And food is mentioned every few pages. Steaks fried with oil and butter in a cast iron skillet with a slug of red wine, freshly squeezed orange juice, where Eve sets aside the husks for candying, macaroons with coffee, blueberries, which, Jackson writes to Eve, you must never wash before you store them. Then we have homemade miniature tomato tarts, homemade cinnamon rolls, even the tea tastes better when Eve makes it (she uses loose leafed tea). Eve decides to make lavender scones, Jackson cooks for a vegetarian with sliced fennel with lemon, sugar, vinegar and cream, served with white bean soup and butternut squash ravioli. Eve describes to Jackson her traditional way of making porridge and sends him a recipe for marmalade. Jackson sends Eve a jar of chili jelly with instructions to serve with corn fritters and also sends her Granny Cooper's recipe for peanut cookies.
As recipes are shared, as food is cooked and enjoyed, as a friendship blossoms, Eve and Jackson discover more about themselves and each other.
This novel is a perfect combination.
With permission from Deborah McKinlay, this is the recipe for Granny Cooper's Peanut Cookies that Jackson sent to Eve.
75g butter
150g sugar
1 large egg
150g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 dessertspoon cocoa*
150g peanuts (She liked to roast them in the oven first. Jackson did too.)
Cream the butter and sugar; add the beaten egg; then mix in the sifted flour, baking powder and cocoa; and last, add the cooled peanuts.
Place spoonfuls on a greased tray(s) and bake at 180 degrees (160 fan) for about 15-20 minutes.
Serve with milk.
*Cookies in photograph only had half the amount of cocoa powder because, tsk, I ran out.