Thursday, March 22, 2012

What I’m Reading Lately

The Gastronomy of Marriage: A Memoir of Food and Love by Michelle Maisto was a charming and gentle chronicle of the merging of two lives and their respective emotional and culinary heritages.

I enjoyed Maisto’s ability to reveal crucial facets of character with her deft, concise detailing of a facial expression, action or conversation. Much of those facial expressions, actions and conversations revolved around “What’s for dinner?”

I am not the meal preparer in our family, even before my stroke last year. But I do love food and enjoy the process of creating a tasty and comforting meal, as long as someone else is in charge of the process.

But Maisto’s tales of bringing Chinese and Italian sensibilities into harmony enough to arrive every night at an answer to the dinner question made me want to step into the kitchen. Well, not really, but almost, especially when she described how she had learned to make the dishes she had loved and watched her mother make during her growing up years.

She made the recipes sound so simple that I kept thinking, “Hey, I could do that!” And that may be part of my enjoyment of this book.

I have to finish this now. Our son Jeremy called over an hour ago to alert us that he is on his way to make business calls in our area and is going to stop by. Now, if I was like the mothers or the principal characters in this book, I would be whipping up a quick and simple but elegant meal for my much loved offspring.

Alas, Jeremy knows me well. When I invited him to have supper with us, he didn’t miss a beat.

“How about if I treat y’all to dinner at Coffee Fusion!”

Good sons are such a blessing. Ours are also extremely entertaining. Oops! I just got sidetracked with shameless bragging. Son Jeremy also loaned me The Gastronomy of Marriage so I will return it tonight. I found it when I was waiting for him on a recent occasion. He had bought the book but confessed to letting it languish unread in his vehicle for quite awhile. He does love to cook, though, and definitely takes after his father in that department.

I hope he does read this book. Almost as enjoyable to me as reading a good book is interacting with someone else who has read the same book. Bon appetit!

5 comments:

  1. I hope you enjoyed the company of you son! this books sounds interesting..and fun. But then i love to cook!
    i am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

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  2. i like the cover photo of the squash. that is cool. you are blessed to have sons you can have fun with.

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  3. I will order the first book you mentioned on my kindle. Thanks for the review. It sounds unusual. Your son must be delightful to be around.

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  4. You and your husband have really trained your son well. Men who can cook are just so darn appealing.
    Enjoy your dinner out.

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  5. This sounds like a fascinating book. I may have to look into it myself.
    Cooking certainly isn't my passion but Hubby is all thumbs in the kitchen so I cook out of survival mode. I can microwave and open cans with the best of the chefs. (:0)

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