Welcome to the roundup of the 20th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007 and that I continue to host with great pleasure, as it brings together two of my passions: literature and food. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes.

Like all its predecessors, the current edition includes a lovely set of posts, each describing a literary work that the blogger read and the dish that the reading inspired. Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary tour. For each contribution, I will offer a small bite to whet your appetite for more: follow the link to read the details of the special connection between written word and food that each participant has created.

I hope that by the time you reach the end of this post, you will have a nice reading and cooking list to be used in the near future. In tune with the season, we'll have a little dose of scary, a little dose of fairy and some sophisticated pizza to make everybody scream with delight.

Inspired by the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, Elizabeth of Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary baked Bear Paws (old-fashioned soft molasses cookies)

"The [cookies] are soft and spicy and perfect for taking along on an outdoor Autumn adventure… I fondly remember many a picnic in the woods with one of these giant cookies in my hand. Bears were something we were always on the lookout for in the Canadian woods. We never saw any, but sometimes we thought we saw bear prints and we'd run home as fast as we could."

Ruhama of rumahama presents The Iron King by Julie Kagawa,
which inspired her to prepare some Fairy food

"The Iron King is the first of a series, and sets up a fantastic world of faeries, their kingdoms and their interaction with humans. Our main character is Meghan Chase, who… ends up in the court of the summer king, where she is advised to not eat any of the food, as that proves to be detrimental to humans." Some Fairy food would certainly be welcomed by our heroine.

Ana of Sweet Almond Tree read A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth
and baked (and fell in love with) Pizza quattro stagioni

"Whoever thought of the concept of a four seasons pizza is a certified genius as far as I am concerned. Scrumptious. A wonderful excuse for having a multi-topping pizza. Except, this way, the toppings are not piled one on top of the other… Here, the toppings are artfully arranged on the pizza, giving it an air of sophistication. And I like sophistication. That's why I really liked reading" this sophisticated thriller.

Inspired by Sarah McCoy's novel The Baker's Daughter,
Simona of briciole (your host) baked Almond and chocolate biscotti with a hint of spice

"In the novel, the baker of the title prepares cookies called Lebkuchen as a special treat for Christmas, one for each member of the family, near or far, alive or dead… As I could not let go of the idea of baking a lightly spiced treat, I thought of adding a bit of Lebkuchengewürz to my biscotti."

Simona of briciole was also inspired by the Outcast by Jolina Petersheim
to bake Raisin walnut braided bread

"The unhappiness wrapped around everything in the book in the end made me look elsewhere for something joyful to bring to one of the characters, little Eli, who faces a special challenge when he is diagnosed with a malignant disease," something "soft and lightly sweet, nourishing and texturally intriguing."

My special "thank you!" goes to the event's participants: I hope you had as much fun as I always do when I host this event. You will find a link to this roundup and to those of the earlier editions on this page.

The next edition of Novel Food will be in early spring: I will announce it here, on The Food Blog Diary, and other venues, so stay tuned. The Food Blog Diary is the lovely event announcement site created and maintained by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes. Visit the site to read about current events and let her know about your event and she will post it on her well-organized site. Thank you, Jacqueline!

In the meantime, read good books (maybe with the next Novel Food in mind), cook good dishes, and otherwise savor life's local and seasonal offerings.

Arrivederci!