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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#270: The Perfect Recipe

Writing can often feel like trying to follow the perfect recipe: with the right inciting incident, you can push your character out of their status quo or comfort zone, and if you sprinkle some challenges in there, you get character development. Then, you turn the heat up until you reach a boiling point — maybe you even toss in a third-act crisis — and just before it spills over, you add the finishing touches and plate it up.

But sometimes, no matter how carefully you stick to a recipe, things don’t turn out as planned. That’s when, like any great chef, you realize it’s better to forgo exact steps and simply season to taste.

This week’s prompts take inspiration from the world of food, so grab your aprons and preheat your ovens — let’s get cooking!

This week's prompts

Write a story in the form of a recipe.

Short Story – 82 stories

Start or end your story with two people discussing an important matter over a meal.

Dramatic – 60 stories

Write a story inspired by the saying “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

Angst – 59 stories

Set your story in a kitchen, either early in the day or late at night.

Short Story – 82 stories

Write a story about someone searching for a missing ingredient, literally or metaphorically.

Dramatic – 53 stories

Stories

“MINISERIES:" PEOPLE ARE STRANGE": EPISODE 4: "FACES IN THE RAIN"” by Darvico Ulmeli

Submitted to Contest #270

DISCLAIMER:"THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO REAL EVENTS OR PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. THE DOORS AND JIM MORRISON'S ARTISTIC WORKS ARE THE SOURCES OF INSPIRATION FOR THE STORY. STILL, IT IS IN NO WAY ASSOCIATED WITH, NOR DOES IT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT BY, THE BAND OR ITS MEMBERS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED, AND THIS STORY IS PURELY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES. ALL RIGHTS TO 'PEOPLE ARE STRANGE' BELONG TO THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHT HOLDERS."(The episode opens with a rapid-fire montage, a vivid snapshot of d...

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“Burning Love” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #270

(Sensitive content: implied burning bodies nil in-progress description, implied sexual attack with no in-progress description.) For those who crave love more than life itself a glance from the object of her desire is a tiny speck of hope. So Lee Lui Lin thinks, as she walks through the village kicking the sand path on her sixteenth birthday to buy herself a gift in the market. By her eighteenth, her hope of love has grown to melancholy when the man she loves meets the object of his affection in secret.“We should marry without telling her and...

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“A Missing Ingredient” by Audrey Yamato

Submitted to Contest #270

I’ve always liked the rain. The smell and sound have always been comforting, but I also enjoy the fact that the world seems to shut down when it rains. Like the volume was turned down and the world became quiet. One minute, the sun’s out and people are outside. Children are playing, businessmen are rushing to and from meetings and coffee shops, and the next minute it all stops. The children run inside for cartoons and hot chocolate, and the businessmen have all settled in with a latte and a scone. Quiet. I like that. These were my thou...

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“Never Full” by Ty Pape

Submitted to Contest #270

I have never seen myself as the Bobby Flay or Gordon Ramsay type of chef but more of the David Chang - Anthony Bourdain type. Rough, underground, an enemy to normal, an unacknowledged pioneer. I wish I could tell you a good story about how my love for cooking began in a small village in France. That my first oyster, slithery, slimy, and foreign popped the bubble in my mind and the rest is history. But the truth is, it is that the names above are who made me want to cook. I did not discover my love for cooking in the kitchen or at a restauran...

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“Hunting for Breath” by Constance Marie

Submitted to Contest #270

Aim across the brow, Louis reminded himself. The tip of his rifle stalked the deer amongst the golden autumn trees. Its sights lined up perfectly with the intricate black lines around the magical creature’s eyes and running down his snout. Even from his hiding spot fifty yards out Louis could tell the buck’s runes were fully formed, meaning he was mature enough. He waited for the perfect moment to put a bullet through his brain. His pop taught him one usually aims for the heart. That it’s a clean kill. “But we needin’ the lungs n...

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“Food You Can Trust” by Sydney Nyberg

Submitted to Contest #270

It’s a damn shame what’s happening to food in America. But the bigger shame is the people funneling in and out of the grocery stores, like cattle, lining up to get their steroid shots not knowing the true cost of their quick treat and promise of dinner. Not even the so-called “healthy” food choices are safe anymore, most of them chalked full of mono- and diglycerides, phosphoric acid, potassium sorbate, and on and on and on, all to extend shelf life and cut down on productions costs to satiate the corporate greed that has consumed ...

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“Jon's Cooking Class Surprise” by Odiseo Quintin

Submitted to Contest #270

Out of the kindness of her heart, retired Master Chef Rose Bowl currently teaches a Friday evening cooking class sponsored by our own Carson City Adult School. Rose studied pastry making under the tutelage of the now famous and renowned French Chef Julia Child. I was recently invited to audit the class last weekend and I would like to share my experience here in what follows. In preparation for the drive over to the campus, after a quick review of the evening weather forecast, I decided to make sure my umbrella was close at hand. Of course, ...

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“Lifetime Latte (Macchiato)” by Crystal S

Submitted to Contest #270

This drink was designed to be enjoyed in the late afternoon or evening. Choose decaf if you’re sensitive to caffeine. I like to call it a Lifetime Latte for the alliteration, but I believe it’s technically a macchiato because of the way the drink is layered. Serves: 1Time: The blink of an eye (but really about 15-20 minutes, including clean-up time) You will need:1 large styrofoam or paper cup1 glass, filled about halfway with iceEspresso machine or coffee makerMilk frotherKnifeFull-length mirrorSeparate mug or frothing pitcher Ingredients:4...

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“Fishing for Something Nordic” by Susmita Ramani

Submitted to Contest #270

Following is Soan Papdi, a.k.a. a Recipe Designed to Catch the Heart of My New Neighbor, Jergen, Who’s Just Moved Here From Finland and Said He’d Love to Try a Regional Indian Dessert of the Sort That I Grew Up Eating.Here’s the background: Jergen showed up last week at the otherwise-boring-the-ugly-sweater-off-me apartment complex’s holiday party. I’m glad, because he lives on the other side of the complex from me, and I’ve seen him coming and going. He’s a cloud-scrapingly tall blond glass of Alpine goat’s milk with a thick accent that mak...

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“Recipe for a Perfectly Cooked Workplace” by Suzana Stoimenova

Submitted to Contest #270

A Taste of the Modern Workplace: The Recipe for BurnoutOnce upon a time, there was a small team of employees who lived in a world filled with dreams of innovation, camaraderie, and success. They were a diverse group, each bringing their own set of skills, strengths, and ambitions to the table. It was a place where the future seemed promising—a workplace that seemed like it could become the next great success story, filled with possibilities and visions of change.At first, this office seemed like a utopia. It was an open-plan space, buzzing w...

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“Just Desserts” by Margaret Kelleher

Submitted to Contest #270

Just Desserts.‘Good morning mirror. Another bloody Thursday, date unknown. I’m still a sad old bat living alone in a converted schoolhouse with just you to converse with and a heart full of regret to keep me warm at night. Audrey Moloney, queen of the scrap heap. You’d never think that the platinum blonde with the purple streaks, the fashionable clothes and designer accessories is also queen of concealing the fact that she’s just a selfish cow who ruined lives because it suited her. 2020 promised so much but all it has ensured is that ...

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“Making Friends” by Fredrich TheFrogdrick

Submitted to Contest #270

Trigger warning: mention of suicide at the end and borderline/implied violenceA recipe turns many bland, simplistic elements into something more complex, but only the best make something so interesting that people hunger for it. I hunger for books who’s ingredients include a villain, like me, who cooks. I love those characters, but most stories prefer a complex protagonist, one that’s a mix between the evil that created them and the bland perfection they used to be, though a hero will never admit that they’re two parts villain. Forever flawe...

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“The Perfect Recipe: A Tale of Survival in 90s Milan” by Lete Griziotti

Submitted to Contest #270

Ingredients:500g of Concrete Jungle, freshly harvested from the gritty northern outskirts of 90s Milan, Quarto Oggiaro, to deliver that signature bitterness, unmistakably raw.1 Forgotten Corner of Housing Projects, graffiti-stained, with a musty scent of damp walls, carrying the weight of forgotten dreams and stubborn hope.3 Tablespoons of Air, infused with the sharp tang of cheap beer and stale grappa, the streets littered with empty Birella bottles for a nostalgic, bitter aftertaste.2 Cups of Community Center Graffiti, bold and rebellious,...

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“A PERFECT BOWL OF BIBIMBAP OR (K)SHIT(IJA’S) GUIDE TO HAPPINESS” by Gayatri Varma

Submitted to Contest #270

According to Kshitija's note, one can find comfort in the most unexpected places or experience the best taste of a bowl of bibimbap when they need to escape reality. Escaping reality is the best way to stay happy. The further you are away from the reality, the happier you become. Recipe Preparation time: 1 hour 45 minutes.Cooking time: 3 minutes, 32 seconds.Serves 1 in dire need of comfort. Ingredients1 Newly opened, crowded Korean restaurant with noisy people.1 corner table with seven friends loudly discussing maths (trigonometric equation)...

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“A Lavender Brother” by Perseus Patroclus

Submitted to Contest #270

Marcus Adler's mouth twisted bitterly at his brother across the table. The waiter poured a small portion of wine for him, and as Marcus swished the rich liquid around, sniffed it and tasted it, Jeremiah Adler tapped the table impatiently. More bloodred splashed into the glass after he approved, a small drop running down the cup onto the pristine white tablecloth. At this the waiter frowned, swiping it up with the fabric previously folded by the crook of his arm, taken from its resting place on the smooth black linen that ran down the man's b...

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$250

Prize money

336

Contest entries

133

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 04, 2024 EST

Won by Jay Wayne 🏆

Title: Add Vodka to Taste

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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