Dinner: A Love Story

Dinner: A Love Story

One day Jenny Rosenstrach, magazine editor, cookbook author, and
dinner diarist, went out to lunch with a friend who was feeling
extremely guilty about not cooking for her children. She offered to
help with meal planning, shopping, list creation, and other forms of
organization. As she did she came to a key realization. For many
women supper time had become a source of serious stress rather than a
tine to relax with the family.
"Every time that Mom makes a meal that her kid doesn't eat or that
ends up being devoured hyena-like in thirty seconds flat (without a
single word uttered between bites, let alone a thank you) or eaten
while siblings are screaming at each other across the uneaten
spinach...she sees it as a referendum on her own self worth. It's not
much dinner she's looking at; it's a giant report card."
Her concern for parents with faith in family dinners but not the
ability to pull them off led to a website entitled Dinner: A Love
Story and the wonderful book with the same name I'm reviewing.
Dinner: A Love Story is a must read for the recipes alone.
Beautifully photographed, I must say. They are based on wholesome
ingredients. Prep is not too complex for that late afternoon time
when hungry kids need supervision and sometimes a referee. See if
these dishes don't sound inviting:
*curried chicken with apples
*pomegranate pork loin with cabbage
*Greek style shrimp with feta
*rainbow salad
*spicy grilled pineapple salsa
*zucchini fries
*pan fried Hawaiian pizza
Even some of the meat dishes can be adapted for vegetarian cuisine as
in curried chik patties.
Wonderful narrative surrounds the recipes. Starting with her
childhood recollections, Rosenstrach shares memories over quite a few
years. These reflections range from the practical (expanding your
food horizons and those of your children) to the whimsical.
I found this combination of recipe and reflection simply
delightful.
On a personal note, the hubby complained about hot dogs and beans. He
was the one who bought them at the store. He has decided to cook for
himself. I have no objections to that.
A great big shout goes out to my fellow vegetarians including my three
kids who introduced me to the life style.


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