The Main Ingredient
The Main Ingredient Synopsis:
What does it mean to love? How does one defy death? And will people pay good money for your Friday night fish fry? These are some of the mysteries facing West Coast food editor Wendy Whitby when she reluctantly returns to her childhood home in Weewampum, Wis., to await her mother’s demise. But cantankerous Seal (Cecilia) refuses to pass into the Great Beyond according to schedule. While Wendy waits for Seal to expire, Wendy begrudgingly helps out her two high school pals, flamboyant Amber Moore and reticent Merribeth Hartwell, who have opened a restaurant in downtown Weewampum.
Wendy and her friends soon are embroiled in their hometown’s political feuds. Some of the well-heeled citizens, including Merribeth’s father, have decided they want to close the town’s hospital downtown and move it to a spiffy building along the interstate. But the women feel the downtown will deteriorate even further if the old hospital shuts its doors, so their restaurant, Amberosia’s, becomes the headquarters of the Stop the Hospital Move campaign.
After Amberosia’s burns to the ground, the women are convinced someone set the fire to scare them off because they oppose the hospital move. However, Fire Marshal Warren Caramel suspects the women torched the place to collect the insurance money. The threesome realize they’ll have to solve the arson case themselves to avoid spending the best years of their lives in Waysippee State Prison for Women.
As their arson investigation opens old wounds, causes new ones, and reveals secrets that maybe should have been left concealed, the women are forced to grapple with such issues as: How much does a friend do for a friend? How far does family allegiance go? What is the price of family, and especially, mother-daughter love? What are the magnetic and repelling forces of one’s hometown? And, of course, how much will someone pay for a plateful of fried lake perch?
What does it mean to love? How does one defy death? And will people pay good money for your Friday night fish fry? These are some of the mysteries facing West Coast food editor Wendy Whitby when she reluctantly returns to her childhood home in Weewampum, Wis., to await her mother’s demise. But cantankerous Seal (Cecilia) refuses to pass into the Great Beyond according to schedule. While Wendy waits for Seal to expire, Wendy begrudgingly helps out her two high school pals, flamboyant Amber Moore and reticent Merribeth Hartwell, who have opened a restaurant in downtown Weewampum.
Wendy and her friends soon are embroiled in their hometown’s political feuds. Some of the well-heeled citizens, including Merribeth’s father, have decided they want to close the town’s hospital downtown and move it to a spiffy building along the interstate. But the women feel the downtown will deteriorate even further if the old hospital shuts its doors, so their restaurant, Amberosia’s, becomes the headquarters of the Stop the Hospital Move campaign.
After Amberosia’s burns to the ground, the women are convinced someone set the fire to scare them off because they oppose the hospital move. However, Fire Marshal Warren Caramel suspects the women torched the place to collect the insurance money. The threesome realize they’ll have to solve the arson case themselves to avoid spending the best years of their lives in Waysippee State Prison for Women.
As their arson investigation opens old wounds, causes new ones, and reveals secrets that maybe should have been left concealed, the women are forced to grapple with such issues as: How much does a friend do for a friend? How far does family allegiance go? What is the price of family, and especially, mother-daughter love? What are the magnetic and repelling forces of one’s hometown? And, of course, how much will someone pay for a plateful of fried lake perch?