ponies and Proust

* Reading Donald Duck comics or pony stories at my parents' kitchen table as a child - forgetting to eat and making my meal last for hours, until my mother had to outlaw reading at mealtimes.
* During university days, sneaking away from studies and lectures in order to escape reality in a café with a magazine or a cheap thriller.
* As an overworked receptionist, hunching over a Proust or Rushdie novel during short lunch breaks in the hotel kitchen ( attracting ridicule from coworkers ).
* Browsing fanfiction on the internet while enjoying a drawn-out weekend brunch at home.

My history of combining food with literature is long and pleasant. They say it's not good for your food experience. But it sure is good for my literature experience.