Food can bring together families, communities, and cultures. It is the essence of life and yet our relationships with one another can be most fraught at the dinner table. This perpetually fascinating subject has inspired a unique collection of fiction—including flash fiction, essay, short stories, and even a "stoku" (amalgam of short story and haiku)—from a wonderfully diverse and international group of authors.

Life is delicious in the town of Chewandswallow where it rains soup and juice, snows mashed potatoes, and blows storms of hamburgers--until the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Mudge looks forward to the Mother's Day surprise that Henry and his father cook up for Henry's mother.

Both humorous and heartbreaking, Blue Plate Special serves up an uplifting exploration of the courage it takes to embrace life after loss. Thirty-three-year-old Julia Daniel doesn't really feel at home anywhere. Her life in L.A. is lonely, and her career as a food stylist for a struggling gourmet magazine falls well short of her desire to be a photographer. Although she liked growing up in Kentucky, ever since her mother's death and her father's...

A pickle tries to escape being eaten by fleeing through the city streets, pursued by a variety of other food items.

Hope's new and unusual dessert blends well with the traditional dishes prepared by her cousins and Aunt Poogee at their annual summer get-together.

Joe and his mother go to the grocery store and buy everything they need for lunch.

There's a new cafeteria lady at school. Her name is Wanda Belch. Rumour has it that she drives a garbage truck to school. Does Wanda really make a dish called "Roadkill Ravioli?" The students will soon find out!

"Aren't school lunches a bit strange? Chicken nuggets? Again? On Pizza? Covered in chocolate? Nobody wants to live on lettuce and broccoli, but children are losing teeth over this! This needs investigating. This looks like a case for Mina Mistry."--

Badger is bored with the same old meals, but his search for more exciting food only leads to trouble.