Weekend Cooking: Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley
One of the bookish things I’m doing this year is Book Riot’s 2018 Read Harder Challenge. It’s a list of 24 reading tasks (two per month) designed to expand one’s reading horizons by inviting “new genres, new authors, and new worlds, both real and imaginary, into your reading life.”
When I saw that there were not one, not two, but THREE comics-related tasks on the 2018 list, I almost reconsidered participating. I am NOT a comic book or graphic novel type of person. Although I read and even enjoyed several comic strips as a kid (“Nancy” and “Cathy” were my favorites) graphic novels have never held any sort of appeal to me as an adult. I think I was under some sort of misperception that everyone in these books was a superhero or ninja or some hybrid of human/animal. So, I never bothered to pick one up, despite working at a library where there is an entire ROOM dedicated to manga, comics, graphic novels and graphic nonfiction.
At the library we also have a Staff Pick section; every week, a rotating list of two employees select a handful of recommended books, music and movies that we think patrons might enjoy. We put these items on a special display. It’s a great way to discover something new or that you’ve forgotten.
So, last weekend was Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon and my thought was that the Readathon would be a good way to get the comics-related Read Harder challenges over with. I decided I was going to actually step foot into the library’s graphic novel room to browse. See what looked interesting. But on my way there, I spotted a coworker’s Staff Picks display which included Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley.
I picked it up, glanced at a few pages, and immediately knew this was something I would love.
For starters, it’s a food memoir. I love memoirs. Lucy Knisley is “the daughter of a chef and a gourmet” and Relish is a “collection of [her] favorite stories, crammed with the taste-memories that draw them up through [her] mind from years ago.” It’s utterly adorable, full of nostalgia, and hilarious (“When I was seven , school birthdays always meant cupcakes, but my mom brought a blowtorch! There, on the dinosaur table, while my classmates watched in awe, she caramelized sugar on an enormous crème brulée.”)
Relish is a savory trip down memory lane as Knisley recalls her mother’s jobs at Dean and Deluca, trips taken (another one of Knisley’s books, French Milk, is about a trip to Paris with her mother), and special treats. There are whimsically-drawn recipes and stories about Knisley’s own adventures (and failures) in the kitchen. It’s a reminder of how much food plays a role in our memories.
As one would imagine, Relish is a quick read. I smiled the whole time. It was so enjoyable and refreshing. And it did exactly what the Read Harder challenge promises — introduced me not only to a new writer but a whole new appreciation of an entire genre.
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
by Lucy Knisley
Macmillian Children’s Publishing Group
2013
173 pages
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.
The post Weekend Cooking: Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley first appeared on melissa firman.
No related posts.