Flash in the Pan Playing Along Still

The pages were bent and ragged from years of use, covers worn out from hands rubbing over them. There were bowls everywhere, the oven was still hot. She tasted it again, something wasn’t right. It was sweet, tangy but not right. What was missing? She scanned the room again to see. Onions maybe? No, but what could it be? She hit her head on the cabinet. A pepper that was it!

The word is pepper and the limit for this particular round is 75 words. This post is 71 words, click on the link to go to the official rules for the Flash Fiction challenge.