We had a great time reading A Fine Dessert and making the delicious Blackberry Fool that went with it. We looked at how making this simple dessert has changed over 300 years and then tried out some of the different technologies used.

As a mystery reader, have you noticed how often food is described in the story?  Someone is always sitting down to a meal or being called from a meal.  The following feature caterers, bakers, and recipes.

The Golden Calf by Helene Tursten ; Translation by Laura A. Wideburg

Good as gone by Douglas Corleone

Her brother's keeper: a Joan Spencer mystery by Sara Hoskinson Frommer

The Ides of April by Lindsey Davis

Illegally iced by Jessica Beck

December 8 is National Brownie Day and one of my favorite bloggers, Janet Randolph of Dying for Chocolate, has rounded up dozens of recipes for brownies. (Photo: Ghirardelli: Gluten-Free Brownies)

Do you like to have soup in the winter, when it's really cold? I do, and so does this special little girl in Soup Day. On a cold, snowy day, a young girl and her mother shop to buy ingredients for vegetable soup. At home, they work together — step by step — to prepare the meal. While the soup is cooking, they spend the time playing games and reading. Before long, Daddy's home and the family sits down to enjoy a homemade dinner. Check out some other soup stories that will warm you up on these long, cold days!

Did you know that ginger is not only fun to bake with, but a healthy spice as well? Ginger is good for digestion, used to treat nausea and motion sickness, and has anti-inflammatory properties. And of course, it's a great time of year to make some creative gingerbread houses, and yummy cookies. There's also ginger tea, ginger ale and lots of recipes you can use ginger in. Some may even remember this name on Gilligan's Island.