Delicious Reading

We were on vacation when I found a copy of Voracious by Cara Nicoletti, in which Nicoletti wrote about books she loved from childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, all with great food scenes--and included a recipe to match each one. It is completely delightful. I related to the way she read and talked about books for her whole life, and I loved reading the recipes she included. Nicoletti is a butcher, and I was fascinated by her meat recipes, but am also too intimidated (or too tired--some of these recipes are lengthy) to do most of them.

What I can do is write, and so here, in honor of this book, is my own attempt at Voracious writing.

Katherine Center’s novel Everyone Is Beautiful tells the story of Elena, a mom of three boys under the age of five, who has moved to a new city to support her musician husband, Peter, in a new job, leaving behind her support system, her home, and her family in Texas. She’s alone with the kids all day as Peter works long hours teaching and composing, and she’s lonely--for friends, for her husband, and for something for herself.

I remember so well those days of young motherhood, when everything seemed both so hard and so perfect all at once. I used to put my son in his little sleeper and bring him to my daughter’s bed, so he could be with us while I tried to play something with her. He was only a few weeks old, and she piled her stuffed animals around to give him something while we talked or played a game. I read to both of them constantly, but not in the same way--as he got older and asked for a repeat on his books, I could only give him a couple of rereads before she would also need something. When she was his age, we could reread the same book twenty times in a row. I felt stretched, not enough, and so in love.

I also am the person who had new books waiting in the mail for me when we brought her home from the hospital. I stacked them on the coffee table and looked at them. One of them was on writing, which felt like a joke, but I remember raising my chin. I was not going to lose what I loved about me. I wrote during naptime and I read before bed and in the car and in whatever cracks of time I could find. I hung on.

My kids are older now. They try to figure out ways to do things without us now, instead of the constant “Look at me!” But they still need me, which fills me with joy, and also has me shoving a book in my bag to read occasionally in my car after work, before I go to pick them up.

At one point in the book, when Elena is searching for a piece of herself, she finds a bakery with delicious chocolate cake, and she decides that every Saturday, she will take herself there, alone, and have a slice of cake. At the end of the book, she is still doing this. I love that little date just for her. It’s something I would like to implement this year--a weekly date just for me.

But it won’t be for chocolate cake, because in this house, that’s something my kids are serious about. My daughter and I make a chocolate cake that is absolutely delicious--my son requested it for his birthday this year. And when there’s plenty of time after dinner and her sweet tooth has been activated, my daughter will spend her night making individual chocolate mug cakes for her brother and her in the microwave.

Her recipes come from How-To Cookbook for Teens, which is a great cookbook for kids, but our favorite buttercream icing recipe can be found here. Here’s hoping you can use it to delight those you love, or to give your own self a treat.