posted on June 28, 2021 by Caridad Pineiro

Why South Beach Love is About More Than Food

Thank you so much to Writerspace for letting me visit to chat about “South Beach Love” my new release from Hallmark Publishing!  I’d like to also thank everyone who has read the book and left such nice reviews for it.  Finally, I’d like to apologize for making so many of you hungry while you read the book. LOL!

As you might imagine, a story about two chefs in an unexpected competition is bound to contain some mouth-watering recipes. But for me, including those recipes was about a little bit more than displaying the chef’s skills or making you hungry.

Sharing the food in “South Beach Love” was a way to share a different culture and traditions. When you think about it, food is one way to keep your traditions and family history alive.

For a moment, think back to a favorite meal that your family would have shared for a special occasion or holiday or even an everyday meal. Did someone teach you how to make it so you could one day share it with your family? While they taught you how to make it, did they tell you a story about your family’s past? Did you repeat that story to your children as you taught them to make that special dish?

If you did, you kept your family memories and traditions alive, but more importantly, kept those people in your hearts and that of your children.

That’s why it was so important for me to have the foods in “South Beach Love.” In fact, one of my favorite scenes in the story is when the heroine’s sister-in-law is sharing her family recipes with the heroine. It brings them closer together, and also helps the heroine understand why it’s so important to have those foods for her niece’s quinceañera party.

Do you have a special meal that is close to your heart? Please take a moment to share it with us and why it’s so important to you!

We will pick one person from all the comments to win this “South Beach Love” swag, an e-copy of “Cold Case Reopened”, and a $10 gift card to the retailer of your choice!

        

Caridad Pineiro

Caridad Pineiro

Caridad Pineiro is a transplanted Long Island girl who has fallen in love with the Jersey Shore. When Caridad isn't taking long strolls along the boardwalk, she's also a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author with over a million romance novels sold worldwide. Caridad is passionate about writing and helping others explore and develop their skills as writers. She is a founding member of the Liberty States Fiction Writers and has presented workshops at the RT Book Club Convention, Romance Writers of America National Conference as well as various writing organizations throughout the country. You can connect with Caridad at www.caridad.com. Want to receive Caridad's newsletter with exclusive content just for subscribers and special giveaways? Just visit Caridad's Newsletter to sign up. Caridad values your privacy and will not share your e-mail or personal information.

https://www.caridad.com

21 thoughts on “Why South Beach Love is About More Than Food”

  1. bn100 says:

    meatloaf – mom makes it every month

    1. Nom nom! Meatloaf is one of my favorite meals! My grandmother used to make an amazing meatloaf.

  2. Rachel Flesher (aka Raonaid Luckwell) says:

    Deermeat and dumplings! Deermeat was our meat staple growing up.

    My mother was the only one employed (my dad was a deadbeat, pretty much). We lived close to my grandparents. My late uncle and late grandfather went deer hunting every winter. They shared with us what they got.

    I had to ask mom for her recipe of dumplings. She gave me grandma’s recipe for dumplings from scratch. When I make chicken and dumplings, I use that recipe.

    1. OMG, I love chicken and dumplings, but have only had venison once in my life!

  3. Crystal Ramos says:

    Every holiday season my mom made divinity for my dad because his mom would always make it for the holidays. Naturally, when I got old enough I started carrying on the tradition. When I talked to my grandmother about the divinity tradition it came from her mother would would whisk and mix by hand! I can’t wrap my head around being the fourth generation to make divinity and I only hope my boys love it like I do and learn to make it they own selves instead of forcing their significant others to.

    1. That’s such a beautiful tradition. I don’t think I’ve ever had divinity!

  4. Beth says:

    I don’t have any that were taught to me but I do have a couple I have run across over the years that my family loves and asks for. I need to get them written down so my girls will have a hard copy of them. Right now I just make them from memory.

    1. Definitely write them down! I didn’t get any handwritten from my mom or grandmother but my sis and I have been writing them down for the next generation.

    2. Beth – As Caridad said, write them down! My mother-in-law was a great cook. Her health problems does not allow her to cook or bake anymore. She wishes that she wrote down her recipes to pass on to me and her daughters.

      My sister in law mourns the fact that their step dad (he’s pure Italian, born and raised in Rome) never wrote down (or shared) his Italian recipes. He passed away in February due to Covid. He always made the BEST lasagna from scratch right down to the noodles AND the sauce.

  5. Donna Burfield says:

    My mom made the best fried chicken but I couldn’t fry a chicken if it jumped in the pan!! The meal I make most often for my family is roast beef with mashed potatoes and noodles!

    1. I love fried chicken, but a good roast beef hits the spot!

  6. Ashley Fasolo says:

    I remember my mom making Zucci bread sometimes she would put m&m’s in with it as well.

    1. Wow, I wouldn’t think to put M&Ms in zucchini bread!

  7. My mom makes the best coffeecake

  8. Barbara Kennedy says:

    Rice Balls: My signature dish made in my electric fry pan. The same recipe is used to make meatloaf that my sisters make, but my meatloaf never turns out! And they can’t make the rice balls 😉 Must be all in the old electric fry pan!

    1. Rice balls are so tasty!!

  9. Colleen C. says:

    My mom’s homemade mac & cheese!

    1. I love mac & cheese. My son-in-law makes a great mac and cheese.

  10. Robyn L says:

    My Mom’s Swedish Meat Balls with mashed potatoes,etc.

  11. GB says:

    When I was growing up, my father in particular, would kick me out of the kitchen asking, “Don’t you have some studying to do?” The opinion was that I could always be working to improve in school, or to look more deeply into the subjects being taught. And that is largely why I entered marriage not really knowing how to cook. My husband is Danish and my mother-in-law passed on many of their cultural and food traditions. Things like live candles on a Christmas tree and that holiday’s dessert, Risalamande. It is a rice pudding that is mixed with a fair quantity of slightly sweetened whipped cream, mixed with a small handful of slivered skinless almonds and one whole skinless almond. Each serving is topped with cherry sauce made with preserved cherries and cherry brandy. The person who finds the whole almond in their serving must present it undamaged in order to receive a special prize (often a candy pig, or chocolates). It is a greatly loved tradition and tastes lovely. In truth, it was apparently served at the beginning of the great feast and was likely a way to fill people up, meat was comparatively quite expensive or more difficult to come by then rice, sugar, cream etc. But regardless of how it began, it is something that my children also love enough to carry on.

Leave a Reply to Rachel Flesher (aka Raonaid Luckwell) Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Latest from our Blog

Mahoney & Squire – Military Women’s Fiction – Meet The Characters

Have you met the men and women of Mahoney & Squire, my high-stakes, high-octane military action adventure series? Let me introduce you! Captain Kathryn “Kate” Mahoney, USN Call Sign “Scarlett” Ambitious, strong-willed, patriotic, and assertive, Kate Mahoney is often derided as a “bitch” by the old school naval aviation community. She struggled through dysfunctional relationships,… Read More

Read More