A recipe for adventure

I have been an avid reader all my life.  Starting with my first favorite book, "Whoa, Joey! Whoa!" (about a kangaroo who could never aim his jumps quite right) and graduating to the entire Nancy Drew series.  I am embarrassed to admit that I even went through a time in high school reading Harlequin Romances (Yes, I can't believe I did it, either).  I am now interested in books on food (think cookbooks, food memoirs - you get the idea).  I just finished reading "Too Many Cooks: Kitchen Adventures with 1 Mom, 4 Kids, and 102 Recipes" by Emily Franklin.

Emily Franklin makes me want to move to Connecticut, become a stay-at-home mom and experiment with cooking.  Ms. Franklin is a young mother of four whose culinary adventures are warmly amusing.  From jaunts to her father's and step-mother's home in Italy to visits to farmers' markets in the Midwest, we are swept along with Ms. Franklin and her family as they discover delicious and sometimes exotic foods.  Her storytelling includes sweet anecdotes of her family life - typical of many homes.

The real bonus is that the book is filled with the recipes of the many foods she has cooked (or sometimes attempted to cook) - from Apricot Almond Bread to Celeriac Mash.  All the recipes entice one to try them out, or better yet, make up something of your own!  Experimenting and improvisation are encouraged.

The book does not read as a cookbook. Rather, it reads as a memoir of life, parenting, travel and food.  I highly recommend it both for the good read and for the yummy recipes included.

This book has left me feeling like I can have something good come out of my kitchen and that in so doing, my life might be a little more enriched.  My life.  As in The Girl Who Is a Non-cook.  I think I will try.

So with what recipe will I begin?  Will it be Buttery Apricot Bars or Crunchy Sesame Tofu?  Maybe I will choose Polenta or Roasted Broccoli Rabe and Baby Greens.  I will let you know.  But whatever I choose, it will be an adventure for me!