Meryl collected recipe books. She had what appeared to be hundreds. They were all ordered on shelves according to type: pickles and chutneys, desserts, foreign recipes, and so on. Of course, many recipe books were collections of all sorts, so she had shelves for all sorts as well.
Meryl’s carrot cake was apparently a phenomenon. “You should use my recipe,” said Meryl to Nancy. “My recipe doesn’t come out as sticky as yours. It’s perfection.”
“Your pumpkin pie,” said Meryl to Charlene, “is very nice, but I have the best pumpkin pie recipe in the world. You’re welcome to use it.”
“You overcooked your roast?” said Meryl (in wonderment) to Dottie. “I have a way of cooking roasts that’s fail-proof.”
In short, Meryl’s reputation for fine cooking had become a legend. And what a thrill it was when she was coming to the pot-luck dinner!
“Could you bring some dessert?” asked Charlene.
“We’re so looking forward to it,” said Dottie.
“I can’t wait,” said Nancy.
Meryl had to drive an hour and a half out of town – way-way out of the neighbourhood – to purchase a dessert no one would recognize.
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Weave a Web 
Ha-ha! I did see that one coming Bruce – though I have no idea why……. 🙂
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Perhaps you’ve known too many people like her!!
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The poor, silly woman. She could easily have concocted a simple pavlova and told the others how it was made with whites from a goose that laid a golden egg, cream from a cow that jumped over the moon, and fruit fresh from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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You’ve left out what in the USA they call cornstarch and we call cornflour – which has been the cause of many disastrous pavlova!
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oops, you’re right….the cornstarch was from a field of corn as high as an elephant’s eye….
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That’s for a curry with a fringe on top!
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Don’t talk to me about desserts! The cake I made yesterday is now serving as a door stop. Next time I’ll just cut out the photo of the cake and eat it. Bah.
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You could always eat humble pie.
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I’d prefer pretentious pie, not having a humble hair on my head. 🙂
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It’s good that you don’t get tressed about it.
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I collect knitting books but anyone can see I’m not much of a knitter. I never thought of calling a store bought sweater one of my creations. Thanks for the tip.
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Now you’ll be able to sock it to ’em.
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And there I was, thinking that her friends were plotting a way to kill her. Ah, the easy way out of the dilemma – buy the dessert instead. 🙂 Great story!
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Thanks. It show that you can have your cake and eat it.
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Some people only like the idea of cooking. It’s a spectator sport.
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!!
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I do it all the time – I’m known to be a good cook (brag, brag) but sometimes I’m just too tired to cook. Good for her!
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The story was modelled on the woman in the office at my last school – she collected recipe books, went on and on about her cooking, and couldn’t boil an egg!
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Those who can’t, collect!
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I collect books, but cannot pretend I wrote them all.
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! I thought I’d collect short stories, but I only got two books when someone borrowed them, and I never got them back. So that was that.
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My books have been in storage for some time, so they may fall into pieces when I get them out !
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I once used a borrowed mediaeval recipe book to cook a dish for a themed evening. I couldn’t find deer testicles anywhere
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Oh dear! How testing!
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🙂
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I must confess that I read far more recipes that cook them. Your character sounds like me – but I would never pass off someone else’s bake as my own. I would just bring my burnt offering and shock everyone.
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It’s the constant bragging that makes the food hard to swallow!
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I know it because I was the guy who sold her the dessert.
I was also the guy who sold her all those bogus books.
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OMG – you’ve been everywhere man!
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