FOODFIC: Settling (Solid # 2) - Shelley Workinger

As I come to the final stop on what has been a PHENOMENAL 27-stop (!) blog tour, I can’t help but think of the timeless lyrics of Mr. Frank Sinatra: “And now, the end is here, and so I face the final curtain…”

I know what you’re thinking: This is supposed to be a food blog, not a music one!  But let me remind you of the words of that other immortal bard, Mr. William Shakespeare, who said, “If music be the food of love, play on.”

So please excuse my digestion – I mean digression! – as you consume the final post and thank you all so much for following the tour. :)

They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well, I say, “Who is this mysterious ‘they’ and why don’t they take a look at the route between a woman’s heart and her stomach?” Because if they do, they’ll surely find an equal amount of licked spoons and discarded menus along the way.

Newsflash, fellas: Women Love Food, Too! The media loves to perpetuate the stereotype of dainty, tight-lipped, lettuce-picking ladies (probably because it supports the gazillion-dollar diet industry), but it’s a Big Fat Lie.

That’s right – girls don’t just cook for guys; they cook for themselves, too. And the only thing better than a fabulously-prepared dinner is having the dirty work done by someone else! My “Solid” hero, Jack, gets that, and my heroine, Clio, eats it up – in every sense of the phrase.

He puts together a romantic picnic for her, pulling items from the basket like bunnies from a hat:
Roast beef po-boys with horseradish mustard – her favorite sandwich, dressed just how she likes it;
Blue tortilla chips – which she finds “way more fun than yellow ones”; and
Guacamole laced with Tabasco – a “secret ingredient [she’d] never seen anyone else add.”

Yup, he serves up a meal so perfect that she admits she couldn’t have done better herself, which reveals the real key ingredient: he listens. Not just to her growling stomach, but to her – the things she mentions in passing as well as her greater wants and needs. That’s all we women really want, isn’t it?

So take your cues from Jack Vallard, guys, because after dinner Clio shows her appreciation for his thoughtfulness with more than just words…<3

*Like all the stops on the tour, I am giving away a signed copy of "Settling." 

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Giveaway runs from July 15 to July 22; last day to enter is Friday, July 22.