Book Review: Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist

Bread and Wine is an excellent book.  I love how Shauna relates memories of people, places, events to the tastes and smells of the food she enjoyed while experiencing those moments. I can relate quite well. She writes beautifully about her families and friends, sharing engaging stories from different times in her life. She then shares a recipe for a dish that she thinks captures the moment for her. Her memories come alive as she takes in the smells, tastes and textures of certain foods.

I really enjoyed the way Shauna relates faith and food. Friends, family, faith and food. She stresses that important moments often happen around the kitchen table. And although the book doubles as a cookbook, she urges us not to forget that the moments make the meal, not the food. You can serve frozen pizza as long as you do so with love.

With love, with love, seems to be the reoccurring theme in this beautiful book. The book includes a good portion of recipes for breakfasts, sides, mains and dessert. Each one is written in a easy conversational style, that makes me want to whip up a risotto, and feel comfortable doing so, even though I could barely identify it in the grocery store. I have not yet tested any of her recipes but they all look simple and detailed enough that I want to try every single one of them.

Also, for those of you who have read and enjoyed Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life, this book is stylistically similar and equally delightful. I love the book club discussion guides and the extra sections on party planning and weeknight meal planning.

Basically, I love this book and look forward to reading her other two.

 

PS: I recieved a free copy of this book from Booksneeze, in exchange for my honest opinion.