A Book to Treasure

I have just finished reading a most wonderful book that I would like to share. My daughter, Amy, is a marvelous cook. We both have a love for cookbooks (I love to read them and she actually cooks), and she frequently gives me great books for my birthday. This year she gave me a jewel that I will always treasure - it's "The School of Essential Ingredients" by Erica Bauermeister. It is the author's first novel, and is not an actual cookbook but a story about a cooking class, the teacher and the students. It is sheer poetry in novel form, and will make you smile and cry throughout the pages as you learn about the lives of the participants. Another author gave her own description of the book: "A delicate, meltingly lovely hymn to food and friendship. Lillian's kitchen is a place where the world works the way it should. You'll want to tuck yourself into one warm corner of it and stay all day." That pretty much says it all. You will never think about food in the same way again - life is too precious and short not to appreciate the little things - the smells, the feelings, the memories. When I finished the book, I had tears and joy and felt truly uplifted.

I hope you will read it and let me know how it affects you.