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“Write a story in the form of a recipe, menu, grocery list, or product description.”

Posted in Short Story on Jun 6, 2025

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✍️ 72 stories

How to Bake Sourdough Bread and Alienate Everyone You Know

Shortlisted for Contest #306 ⭐️

Are you stressed out? Strapped for time? About three to five minor inconveniences away from total burnout?Now is the perfect time for you to start baking sourdough bread.Maybe you’re short-staffed at work, you’re house-training a new puppy, or one of the kids has the stomach bug and your washing machine smells vaguely of cheese curds. It could be any combination of internal or external life stressors that has convinced you that you are now the kind of person who bakes from-scratch, gut-friendly, personality-transforming sourdough bread.If th...

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Recipe for WOW: Writing Off Wounds

Weekly Contest #306

Recipe For WOW: Writing Off WoundsFamily wounds cut deep. If not treated they fester and may never heal. How are these wounds created and how can they ever hope to be written off and forgotten? Here is an old family recipe not recommended to be followed:Start with an elderly man, not quite at his expiration date, finely aged to the point of crotchety. Make sure he is left alone a lot to pursue his own interests. These interests usually involve tinkering with his antique vehicles. Best if he has been neglecting his health.Stir in plenty of gr...

38 likes 43 comments 43
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The Very Best Meal I Ever Ate In LA

Shortlisted for Contest #306 ⭐️

Los Angeles is a foodie’s haven. Mecca for anyone with a gold-plated tongue and diamond-dusted tastebuds. The choices are beyond abundant and available around the clock. Whether you crave comfort food, the elegance of fine-dining, or the thrilling adventure of a vegan kosher taco truck, LA has got you covered. I lived in the City of Angels for a decade, and while I was spoiled by all sorts of gourmet experiences, here is my recipe for the best meal I ever ate. What you will need:basil (freshly plucked from my friend Mick’s backyard)cherry to...

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Roaming Charges

Weekly Contest #306

Pork lard: Had to ask the butcher for this. We used to have it all the time when I was a kid; dripping sandwiches with doughy bread gone grey from your mucky hands; power cuts and space hoppers. Getting old now. Paddy hates lard, which is probably why I chose it when butter or oil would have done. Have some of that! Lots of yellow onions: Presumably they mean ordinary onions as opposed to red ones. Must be chopped, which is always a bore, although when you get older they stop making your eyes water. I wonder why that is. Is it just another v...

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Groceries

Weekly Contest #306

For Sunday, Other Items Should Be Purchased on Wednesday Grapes Take a photo when the man with blue gloves steals a grape. Catch him in the act. Don’t be discreet about it. Let him see you take the photo. He’ll pop a grape into his mouth right in front of you. Is it a seduction? Are you able to be seduced? There are cameras all over the store. Who does he think he is nourishing himself in front of you in such a way? Security will show up and ask you why you’re taking photos of him, but they won’t ask him what he’s done. They won’t inquire ab...

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If you can’t take the heat…

Weekly Contest #306

RECIPE FOR BAKED ALASKA INGREDIENTS You’ll need two quarts vanilla Ice cream. There you have me. What’s a quart?Siri will know. I’m wondering if I haven’t become a bit too attached to Siri lately. Maybe it’s that “manly” voice. Firm but friendly with a trace of “If you try my patience too far, you never know what might happen.” Hey Siri. (In my breeziest voice, but really just practicing for R later).Uh huh.WHAT IS A QUART? (Clear enunciation to avoid misunderstanding).(Circling of what looks like an AI brain at the bottom of the phone scre...

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Euphorica-ES Is Right for You!

Weekly Contest #306

Author's Note: This story contains themes of self-harm, depression, physical violence and references to the Boston Red Sox baseball team. If you suffer from low to moderate (or even extreme) levels of general dissatisfaction with your life, or maybe just a deep and blinding sense of malaise from working under soul-sucking fluorescent lighting in a tight, bland, cubicle sequestered in the heart of an inbred corporate landscape for the majority of your waking hours...stay tuned for this important announcement. New Euphorica-ES may be right fo...

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Our Recipe

Weekly Contest #306

Ingredients: Salt Pepper Spinach Eggs Milk Garlic Sun-Dried Tomatoes Bread Mustard (Dijon, perhaps) Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Coffee Alcohol (choice left up to you) * Instructions: 1. Realize that you have woken up on the first day after it ended – truly ended – with no food in the house. She was the one who always cooked on weekends because you spent all of your time at her place when you were not busy with your concerns about your career and deadlines. She told you that you needed to eat properly and that was the reason why she made ...

27 likes 16 comments 16
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Poured Over: Sylvan Esso’s Recipe

Weekly Contest #306

You will need:Water.Fresh Ground Coffee. Remember the first date with Ryan where he took you to Blue Bottle, back before it became what it is now? He asked if you knew what a siphon was, pointing to the blown glass exhibition. You did, but couldn’t spell it if prompted by that follow-up. Someone probably tired of cleaning the brown film from inside that coffee-marble-run, all its loopdeloops. The bow, the dip, the woo. Dating him was like that. First crushing on someone in the sunshine, at a day-date, down an alley, inside a place that echoe...

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Biryani for One Thousand People

Weekly Contest #306

Biryani for One Thousand PeopleOriginal Recipe by Radahm RasheshRecipe and notes translated from Hindi by Lynn WalkerNote from the translator:Scribbles in the margins of the original recipe have been translated to the best of my ability. Some notes have been written over, crossed out, or (presumably) ripped out. With help from the Illinois Institute of Indian Cooking, some of these sections have been restored and were included in the translation. Some notes included suggested modifications to the recipe. Thank you and get cooking.Chef's note...

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The Remains of A Romantic

Weekly Contest #306

$20 - A Wrinkle in Time Trilogy (with love poems) - good - Listed 10/17/10 If you aren’t familiar with the books and this post just happened to make its way to you, take it as a sign to indulge in the all-consuming works of Madeleine L'Engle. Covers are intact. i never dog-ear my pages, so you don’t have to worry about that ;) My grandmother gifted me the set the Christmas of ‘95, and i’ve read through each book countless times. Very dear to my heart. My ex hid a few love poems in the margins, none are inappropriate (in case you were worried...

19 likes 8 comments 8
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A Clean Shave

Weekly Contest #306

Faith’s bare feet slap against rotting planks, each step echoing down the warped dock. The old pier groans under her weight, years of storms and neglect having eaten through the support beams like ship-worm through hull. The stench of low tide and dead fish fills her nostrils as she flees, her breath ragged, tearing at her throat like splinters. Salt spray has made the wood treacherous, slick as seal skin, and she can hear the water churning angrily at the barnacle-crusted posts below. Behind her, death moves through the mist with unhurried ...

18 likes 4 comments 4
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My Mother’s Special Birthday Cake Recipe

Weekly Contest #306

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour for dry and intense conversation with my mother.2 tsp baking powder for my smiles and jokes I make to try to lighten her mood.1/4 tsp salt for reminders that I do not deserve to have a homemade cake.3/4 cup butter, room temperature for the tears that spill from my eyes while I stay quiet.1 1/2 cups granulated sugar for my siblings who join and try to make me smile.3 large eggs for my siblings’ ability to break down the walls my mother has up.1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract for the dash of sweetness I get from my mothe...

15 likes 7 comments 7
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Fresh Start Cake

Weekly Contest #306

Fresh Start CakeServes 6-8 I discovered this recipe by accident when I was in my early-30s. I’ve since tweaked the ingredients and steps now that I know what I’m doing. Enjoy! Ingredients:- A repressed queer identity. Store bought is fine, but it’s best if it is sourced from a religious upbringing.- A husband. Doesn’t matter where you found him, his quality is irrelevant to the final product.- A new living space. Must be as fresh as possible.- Friends. Best if sourced from the queer community.- A new life goal, preferably one you previously...

14 likes 6 comments 6
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Excerpts from the Maplewood Falls, Vermont Town Day Recipe Contest Winners

Weekly Contest #306

1911 – Mrs. Edith TempletonMaple Apple Brown BettyExcerpt from the Maplewood Broadside, October 1911:“It was with great pleasure that the Ladies’ Committee awarded first prize in the inaugural Town Day Cookery Contest to Mrs. Edith Templeton of Church Street. Her Brown Betty, humble in ingredients but noble in flavor, warmed the hearts of all who partook. It is said the Reverend himself returned for seconds.”Recipe:Ingredients:4 tart apples¼ cup brown sugar1 teaspoon cinnamonA pinch of nutmegA scrape of lemon peel6 slices of stale bread4 ta...

14 likes 0 comments 0
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