Homemade Goodness

When I am not reading or napping, I spend a lot of time in my kitchen.  My first foray into blogging was encouraged by my husband because I do something a little different in the kitchen than most others:  I cook through cookbooks.  I don't mean I try out a few of the ideas and then declare the book's merits based on two recipes.  Rather, I spend time with a cookbook and get to know it's writter.  Most nights, we try a completely new recipe.  By now, I have tried well over 1,000 recipes in a matter of less than 6 years. 

I like cooking.

So when I was at Costco a couple months ago, I came across our location's last copy of A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg.  I was immediately drawn to the cover and the mention of homemade.  The book is basically a biography of her recipes.  Wizenberg tells the story of the recipes as she knows them.  She first tells the background, shares how she relates to it, and then, unveils the recipe for the reader to replicate it.  Each recipe has an origin, a feeling, a mood, a memory. For Molly, food is deeply personal.  This is what food is to me.  I found myself comparing my life in the kitchen to hers and saw much common ground.   I always tell people that food is love to me (this is not just something obese people say).  When I was growing up, I was surrounded by a lot of bakers, cooks, and generally great homemakers.  Molly had the benefit of that as a well.  As a result, she has a love of food preparation that has truly guided her life.  Her recipes are a way a of introducing others to her family members, and her family members are the providers of  many recipes.  Perhaps this quote will say it better than I can:

Food is never just food.  It's a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, who we want to be. 

If you are a culinary omnivore, this is the book for you.  It is chock-full of touching stories and anecdotes to demonstrate Molly's passion for food and food preparation. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 7

-L

Note: If you are interested in my take on the recipes, consider following my cooking blog, SeldomMade.  I will be "cooking through"  this book, leaving a few of the more shi-shi recipes.  Sorry, my palate just refuses some food items. 

Friendship Defined and Explored

But if you is lookin for a real friend, then I'll be one. Forever.

It has been a great week for fast reads.  I actually started and finished 3 books in the span of 4 days.  Kinda crazy for me.  The latest book was brought to me on Friday evening by a friend of mine.  She said she read it really fast and recommended it because we (-D and -L) are from Texas.  The book: same kind of different as me.  The book indeed is set in a town I grew up visiting very regularly.  -D was actually born in Fort Worth, my mom was born there.  I know this town.  At least, that is what I thought until I read the book.  At the same time, I was heading downtown for doctor's appointments, dinners, and concerts, there was a whole other drama unfolding just down the street.  It was shocking to hear the names of the places and streets where the action of this story took place and know them.  Not just know them, but picture them in my mind's eye.  Only my eyes had never been opened like they were when I read this book. 

The story is a true one (very hard to believe at times) of a modern-day slave (Denver Moore) and a high-end art dealer (Ron Hall) forming an unlikely friendship that would stand the test of some very difficult circumstances.  The events surrounding the meeting of these friends are common enough - a couple decides to volunteer their time down at the Rescue Mission and meets a homeless man.  But the force that drove them together is beyond normal experience.  What results is a modern-day covenant relationship - an actual declaration of true, lasting friendship - that is tested.  It is a picture of the Jonathan-David relationship seen in 1 Samuel.  It is a thing of beauty. 

My favorite line from the entire book, is one that made me cry just at the thought of the commitment.  It is the promise: "But if you is lookin for a real friend, then I'll be one.  Forever."  This caused me to think that I have never had to ask for or declare a friendship with another person.  All my friends just, sort of, happened.  But the context of this statement gives it weight.  The man who said this, Denver, had never let anyone close, never let anyone in.  And here, the one person you think would not understand friendship at all, is the one who defines it in the most simple terms possible.   The promise is reciprocated by Ron, "Denver, if you'll be my friend, I promise not to catch and release." 

I loved this book and devoured it by the half.  I truly believe they should have done some sort of cross-promotion with Kleenex (If you buy the book, you get a free box).  I cried most of the afternoon yesterday until I had to start making dinner.  Then, while I was getting dinner together, I cried some more.  Then, while dinner was simmering, I cried some more.  Sometimes you just need a good cry and yesterday was the day.  Most people aren't as sappy as me (I literally cried in the movie King Ralph!), but this book is a moving portrait of friendship, commitment, and faith. 

Rating: 6 of 7

-L

What is your favorite book about friendship?

Angela's Ashes

My covert book group and I are supposed to read Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt, so I thought this was a great week to get my assignment done.  Here are my thoughts:
The critic who stated on the back of the book that this book was a joy to read was woefully mistaken.  This was in no way a joy to read.  The pain of losing sibling after sibling, sheer hunger to the point of starvation, hospitalization including almost complete isolation, and a descent into sin are not the things of joy.  At least to this critic.  Does this mean I did not like the book?  No not really.  Rather it means I was sobered and mostly saddened by McCourt's tale.  I think there are incidents from this book that will haunt me for many years. 
The only thing which provided much of the "comic relief" was the treatment the boy Frankie receives at the hands of the Catholic Church.  This was an interesting insight into the Irish Catholic Church...eye opening.  I found myself shocked at some of the things they believe and how sad it is that they have an entire series of generations who walked through life seeing only the greed and corruption of the one organization that should have been a source of help and hope for the needy.
I did find myself rooting for Frankie, who was different to the citizens of Limerick because he had an inate intelligence which would eventually carry him away from poverty.  He was different than so much of Limerick, but he was so much the same.  Making excuses for sin and seeking absolution from a sinful and greedy church.  You could tell early on from the book that he was not long for Limerick. 

Note to Drew:  Should we do a rating system for the books we read?

L