Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Love Bites: Snacks for Your Romance Heroine




by Evelyn Q. Darling
Romance Reporter At Large


February is National Snack Food Month. From greasy potato chips to chocolaty M&M’s, we all love snacks, which makes this reporter wonder: What does a romance heroine snack on between the sheets?

(I know what you’re thinking, but this reporter is not going there.)

You can’t ignore it. Snackin’ is a way of life in the 21st century with snack sales going over the $60 billion mark annually. Yes, that was B as in billion. (Who eats all those Doritos anyway?)

So this reporter was wondering (while she was snacking on peanut butter cookies), what heroines in various romance genres might be inclined to snack on. Think about it: what you give your heroine to snack on today would be different than in the Victorian era.

Crumpets (soft and spongy) dripping with honey were all the rage back in the late 19th century, served with afternoon tea and milk, while a hip modern heroine might snack on a vanilla yogurt parfait topped with granola. (Victorian heroines didn’t worry about calorie overload. They could always cinch in their corset an extra inch or two. A modern heroine doesn’t have that luxury.)

Or if your heroine is a vampire, blood oranges.

How ‘bout a zombie heroine? Zilch, nada. (What do zombies eat anyway?)

If you’re writing a romantic comedy, why not have your heroine throw caution to the wind and indulge in tortilla chips with spicy salsa or gourmet popcorn with real butter.

If your heroine’s a gun-packin’ mama, how ‘bout Snickers and black licorice sticks for fast, on-the-go snacks that she can sink her teeth into while she chasing after the bad guys.

Steampunk? You must have black tea for that British feel, then add red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a touch of fantasy.

And finally, erotic. (You thought I forgot?) Bananas, baby. Big, long, juicy bananas.

Need I say more?





10 comments:

Michelle Polaris said...

Riveting report as always. I think I'm going t have my next hero bake my next heroine oatmeal cookies and she'll munch on those, or throw them out in disgust if he's pissed her off.

Wynter said...

LOL! I once wrote a hero who cooked when he was stressed and made all sorts of yummies for his woman. I left out the banana, darn it!

Jina Bacarr said...

Thanks, Michelle! Oatmeal cookies -- love those, too! With raisins? Got to have that iron for energy when your H/H finish munching and get down to business.

Jina Bacarr said...

Wynter, I can only imagine what goodies your hero made for his woman--I'm sure you didn't leave out the banana for the love scenes!

Hot Ash Romance Novels said...

So clever!

I remember my hero giving my heroine a bowl of fresh strawberries in Demolishing Mr. Perfect...only they got tangled in the sheets before they started in on them.

She said, "Wow, I knew strawberries were an aphrodesiac, but i thought you had to eat them first." LOL

Yeah, we can have all kinds of fun with food in romance novels.

Brenda said...

Terrific post, made me think about eating as well as getting my characters some snacks. They drink...wine...water...blood, and they have dinner, but they almost never get a snack.

Jina Bacarr said...

Love the strawberry story, Ashlyn!

You're right about having fun with food in our stories. How 'bout an example of what your shapeshifting "Werewolf Upstairs" snacks on? I'm curious...

Jina Bacarr said...

Brenda, no snacking for your characters? Are they on a diet?

How 'bout red wine Jello shots?

Dalton Diaz said...

Oh yes, we must have the banana. But what about a plantain? A little firmer, a tad thicker, holds up a bit better under pressure...

Jina Bacarr said...

Dalton -- how did I miss this fab comment? Absolutely hysterical. I love it!

Three cheers for the plantain!