Years ago, “women’s pages” were in the newspaper, and The Boston Globe featured “Confidential Chat,” I was home with young children (usually many more than my own—we got through the days by sharing kids; it’s better to have a crowd of six one day and none on the other), often baking to conquer my boredom.

Perhaps ‘Confidential Chat’ was my first ‘social media’

“Chat” readers sent in the featured recipes. Some, like this banana bread, were so good that I held onto the crumbling newsprint. The one above made it into The Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone.

Like so many ways in which writing surprises—the recipe from the Boston Globe’s Confidential Chat ended up in a pivotal place in my novel