FOOD FOR THOUGHT...and then some

More Home Cooking: A Writer Returns to the Kitchen by Laurie Colwin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I first read this book, and its companion Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen in 1997. This time around I devoured it in one sitting...and it is still a satisfying read.

Food writing as it should be..true Kitchen Table talk...full of stories, anecdotes, hints, tips, victories and flops. The recipes? some work...some don't

The favor Ms Colwin did for me was mentioning Taste of Country Cooking by the inimitable Edna Lewis...which title I recommend to anyone interested in "American" cookery...besides that, Ms Lewis is one hell of a storyteller.

MORE HOME COOKING has a chapter on what to eat whilst suffering JET LAG....the bugbear of our times. Her chapter on feeding children is a gem since she does not focus so much on the "dos and donts" as she does on the "exciting the palate" of those who are not jaded..Her chapter on Lentil Soup left me with a serious craving...and are those drool spots on the page(s)???

I love this book. It's a pity Ms Colwin died so young...we lost a good Foodie....and a Good Woman to boot.

4 Stars

HISTORY

The Convent: A Novel by Panos Karnezis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


An isolated convent in the Spanish sierra...home to 6 nuns of varying ages, whose lives are devoted to God, reflection and solitude....Everything changes the day that a baby is found, in a padded suitcase, on the front steps.

Everything changes..the world comes to the convent in an emotional sense, at least. Jealousy, cruelty, zealotry, pride...make for a heady, deadly mix..The MOTHER SUPERIOR is at the center of the storm, having kept her own secret for many years. ....in the misguided belief that the orphaned child is the expiation of her own past sin...she delves into madness and shame...wherein the story becomes itself. Too many tales of this ilk become tacky..this one does not

This book is not a religious screed, nor is it a tabloid expose...it is a story of 6 women living isolated lives whose world is suddenly shattered from without...how each one deals with this new "truth". This book won't set the world on fire..but may give a reader food for thought...regarding the sanctity of the Church..and the price it exacts from its "sons & daughters"

3 Stars