"The Yoos, the Korean immigrant family that owns the hyperbaric oxygen therapy business in Miracle Creek, would recommend some of their favorite Korean dishes, including galbi (marinated short ribs) and dwenjang jjigae (onion and tofu in a soybean paste soup), both served with sticky white rice and kimchi, staples of any Korean meal. Some great finger foods includ e ghim-bop ( Korean veggie rolls with rice, daikon radish and carrots, wrapped in sushi-type seaweed sheets) and yoo-boo-bop (sweet sticky rice tucked inside doll-sized pillowcases of fried tofu), two items that Young, the mom, packed for her daughter’s school lunch box back in Korea. (continued →)

For those without easy access to Korean food markets, a great menu would include gluten-free pizza, which one of the characters in the novel makes for her son who has autism and food allergies. For drinks, I’d recommend Virginia wine, as Miracle Creek is a fictional town in Virginia’s wine country. My favorites are Viognier, for white wine, and Cabernet Franc, for red wine, two varietals I think Virginia wineries do particularly well (and happen to be ones I love even if the wine is from elsewhere)! Cap all that off with chocolates, which one of the main characters has on picnic blankets by the creek during a pivotal scene!"

—Angie Kim