Pies and Prejudice: In search of the North

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Yes, yes, I know, another northerner with a big fat chip on his shoulder, straight out of the deep fat fryer. It’s just a bit of fun. Can’t these people take a joke? Actually, we can. It would just be nice once or twice if the joke wasn’t on us. Mix in some crazy coincidences - one moment Ella Mae reminisces about a childhood crush, the next moment she stumbles on him skinny dipping at said swimming hole, only to have him be the hunky fireman who responds to said false alarm the next day!

Pies and Prejudice by Heather Vogel Frederick - review

He’s lovely isn’t he?” She gushed. “He’s just finished law school and he’s working at a small firm in L.A. I think he could go far.” That’s Sarah Blake,” Jody told them as she leaned in conspiratorially. “She’s been Novak’s advisor since forever, they go almost everywhere together.” Pies and prejudice: should obesity discrimination be illegal? For a country that is getting increasingly large around the middle, we seem to have terrible trouble with fat people. How is it that almost two thirds of British adults are now either overweight or obese, a proportion forecast to increase, and yet a new report finds that one in five people had been victimised because of their body weight and that most of us are dissatisfied with our body image? Sam started to laugh. “Oh my God, Dean,” he whispered, caught by the mood in the room. “Pam was right. This is huge.”

Dean was lost, wandering in unknown territory with no sign of rescue on the horizon. “I don’t know,” he admitted as he struggled to find familiar ground. “It was a joke. I suppose I just meant you know...” Dean tipped his head to the side and let his gaze slip down over Novak’s body, before lifting it again to meet his eyes. “You don’t exactly look like you eat a lot of cake.” You can never have your fat too cold,” his mom had told him. At four years old he sat on the counter beside her, watching in awe, as she spun this miraculous thing called ‘pie’ into being. It was a very ordinary and quiet kind of magic but he had been entranced. It was one of the few clear memories Dean had left of her, and so he had taken the advice to heart, and it had served him well over the years. Who would have thought it would suddenly become so important? The idea that she’s helping him now makes him smile, as he scrapes the squares into a large glass bowl. They fall onto the mound of flour inside with a flumping noise, and push up little white clouds that resettle lazily, sinking like glitter in a just-shaken snow-globe. A] savory blend of suspense, pies, and engaging characters. Foodie mystery fans will enjoy this.”—Booklist

Pies and Prejudice - Penguin Books UK

I finished because I needed a challenge book for a genre I usually avoid – witches. And I’ll torture myself with more from the series for the same reason. But I really don’t recommend them. I prefer my books, even cozies, like my pies – less “charm” and more filling. Discovering her hidden talent for enchantment, Ella Mae makes her own wish come true by opening the Charmed Pie Shoppe. But with her old nemesis Loralyn Gaynor making trouble, and her old crush Hugh Dylan making nice, she has more than pie on her plate. and when Loralyn's fiancé is found dead--killed with Ella Mae's rolling pin--it'll take all her sweet magic to clear her name."Maybe he’ll chill out a bit later on,” said Andy, breaking open the discontented silence that had fallen. “Maybe he’s just shy and needs a bit of time to relax.” Then he grinned impishly. “Maybe I should bake him one of my special cakes.” I don’t recognise the brand,” Dean replies, tries to act casual and put a gloss on the horrible awkwardness that’s dogged all their interactions. Part of Dean protests, begs to know why he should bother hiding the fact that he doesn’t like Novak, when Novak himself doesn’t bother to do the same in return. He has to put that aside. Right now Novak is helping, grudging though it may be, and Dean can’t risk him changing his mind. It’s butter. That is what you asked for isn’t it?” The words sound irritable but Castiel’s voice doesn’t waver, it stays contained, and as flat as the roads in Illinois (yep, robot, definitely a robot). I thought I’d do that by, you know, baking,” Dean said and batted at Sam’s hands as he held up a nasty red tie in front of Dean’s chest. She blushed and shushed him, embarrassed by the attention. “Flatterer,” she said giving him a light slap. “I don’t think it would do me much good to think things like that,” she said tartly. “At my age it’s only likely to end in disappointment.”

Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie | Waterstones

There are kind looks from his favourite contestants-in-arms; a sympathetic smile from Jody Mills, a well-that’s-life-what-can-you-do shrug from Charlie Bradbury, and then there’s Andy “I learned to bake by making space cakes” Gallagher, who has Dean huffing out a laugh as he blinks at him blearily while he droops over the top of his rolling pin (suffering from the after effects of his too enthusiastic use of the free bar last night). Dean,” he said, responding on auto-pilot, while he tried and failed to work out if that was supposed to be a joke. If not then it must be an insult. They’d been introduced less than two hours ago. There was no way he could have forgotten. Was there?

Pam laughed. “None of the places we’re going will be crumbly, Charlie, I can assure you. Most are hotels these days, and you’ll be staying in some of them. I’ll have no expense spared for my cast.” She put a reassuring hand on Charlie’s shoulder, her voice going serious. “And really, don’t worry about the marquee; it will be more like a building than a tent by the time the crew have finished with it. We’ve tested it out and it’s pretty sturdy. Crowley and Missouri helped with the design and specifications and I don’t think we can question their credentials.” First thought when finished: Hands down one of my favorite cozy mysteries--EVER! I know the name suggests it but this is NOT a Pride and Prejudice set book. But cooking in a tent in the middle of summer...” Charlie argued, “... in Georgia? That sounds to me like a whole other kind of baking. It doesn’t sound comfortable, even if it is next to some crumbly picturesque old house. It’s making me sweat just thinking about it.” It was good to know Dean wasn’t the only one with doubts about the travelling involved – surely it would be easier for everyone to just stay put for the duration; the closer to Kansas the better as far as he was concerned. He’d never been fond of travel, and not just because he had to pop a borrowed pill or two to get through the ordeal of flying. He was a home-body at heart, happiest among familiar sights and sounds and people. That doesn’t mean we should all have special protection under the law, we can’t all be a persecuted minority. More importantly, covering any and every conceivable difference could undermine the very vital protection legislation affords those groups that do suffer concerted, systematic and damaging discrimination. He blinked at the words with gritty work-tired eyes, trying hard to understand what he was reading.

Pies and prejudice: should obesity discrimination be illegal? Pies and prejudice: should obesity discrimination be illegal?

Millions?” Jody goggled. “You really don’t read the papers do you?” He shrugged. She put her mouth close to his ear and whispered. “His family’s fortune is in the billions, Dean. Multiple billions if you count the company’s value as well.” It’s a shame though,” Jody said. “It would make things much easier for Sam if you and Novak could get along.” A study led by the University of Manchester and Monash University in Melbourne found that obese women are more likely to be discriminated against when applying for jobs and receive lower starting salaries than their more slender colleagues. Perhaps not surprisingly, the study also found the higher people rated their own physical attractiveness and its importance, the greater the prejudice and discrimination. It’s still a show, Dean, and you need to get everyone on your side anyway you can. They aren’t going to want to hand the prize over to some scruffy grumpy asshole, this will be a popularity contest just as much as a test of your baking skills, whatever Pam says about it.” I wouldn’t worry, Dean.” Charlie joined the conversation; apparently all his friends had seen his epic fail. Great, that was just great. At least Sam had wandered off somewhere, so Dean didn’t have to hear his take on it as well. “Novak has already pissed off nearly everyone. I was over there making nice with the cocoon crowd.” She waved a hand towards a gaggle of grannies. “And they were pretty darn fierce about how rude he was. He flat out refused to answer their questions, then walked off without saying a word. They’ve decided they aren’t going to talk to him again, not even to give him advice during the competition.”Neither do you,” Novak said after an uncomfortably long pause. Was Novak returning the compliment? Dean could not figure it out. There was nothing in Novak’s empty look, nothing in his voice or the oddly formal and dusty delivery, to give him a clue. She bites her lip, leans forward to put a hand on his forearm and looks up into his face like she’s about to tell him the secret of life, the universe, and everything. “I can’t help you,” she confesses. “But I do know that some of the other contestants asked for more on their lists than they really needed.”