This week we’re visited by Gail Z. Martin. I’ve been running into Gail at conventions for years. She’s the author of The Chronicles of The Necromancer series (The Summoner, The Blood King, Dark Haven, and Dark Lady’s Chosen). Her latest book is The Sworn, the first volume in The Fallen Kings Cycle, to be followed by book two, The Dread, next February.
Gail’s interviewed me several times now for her popular podcast, Ghost in the Machine. It seemed pretty obvious to return the favor, and put her on the spot about her best meal, particularly with Thanksgiving just around the corner.
LMS: Gail, this time I’m the one asking the questions, but I’ve only got one. What’s your best, most memorable meal?
GZM: The best meal I have ever eaten is the one I can’t get again. For 22 years, from the time I started dating my husband until my mother-in-law passed away in 2008, the entire extended family came to her house for holidays. She supplied the main dish, and everyone else brought salads, side dishes and desserts. We’d often have as many as 35 people squished into the kitchen, dining room and living room, overflowing onto folding tables and card tables. The elders sat at the ‘good’ table and the rest of us found seats roughly in order of age, with the high-chairs at the other end. (Although I’m in my 40s, I never got to move up from the folding tables, although as my kids got older I did get to move toward the middle.) Thanksgiving was awesome, with turkey, stuffing-to-die-for, homemade cranberry-orange relish, cheesy carrot casserole, broccoli salad, deviled eggs, homemade beets, various and sundry other salads and sides, strawberry-cream-cheese jello (with the pretzels underneath) and then homemade pie for dessert. But best of all was the company and getting to play board games all afternoon until it was time to get out the leftovers for dinner!
Thanks, Gail, you’ve stirred up my own memories of family dinners (though none of mine ever reached such epic proportions, and given me something to aspire to this week.
Next Monday: Another author and another meal!
Tags: Eating Authors
