Tasty Stories

I'll admit, my slender cookbook collection doesn't get nearly the use of the righteously food-spattered library that belongs to my sister. But I do like to read them...the ones that have really good stories instead of an overload of glossy pictures (those can get depressing.) I just heard about this one that has just become available in the US: a British hit called ROAST CHICKEN AND OTHER STORIES. Head Butler quoted the following passage, which made me drool a little even though I am sitting in Florida in the exact opposite of this kind of weather:

My mother makes really good potato cakes. They are sort of misshapen, soft, gooey, and floury. They are at their best eaten on a Sunday afternoon, melting in front of the fire in their pool of butter. It should be winter, about 5 PM, dark outside, and a Marx Brothers film has just finished on the television.

Maybe it's just that butter. What little nugget of a setting could you give your favorite recipe? Bring 'em on!