The School of Essential Ingredients, Part 2

Again without the picture... not sure why I was good at it at first. Beginners luck perhaps!

There is one benefit to having sick children at home- extra tv for them and extra reading time for me. Our tv time is so limited on a regular basis that it is freeing to have an excuse to say, "Sure, one more program is fine." Both girls have had fevers, headaches and coughs on and off since Saturday and truly all they have felt like doing is watching tv. As they have watched, I have read. Everyone seems well now so I will have to find more time in my day through other means. It has felt great to finish two books in such a short time- like a mini vacation- despite the bottles of Tylenol and Motrin lining the kitchen window sill.

Today I finished The School of Essential Ingredients. Even after turning the last page, I can't wrap my mind around this book. Many times, it felt over written. The imagery, similes and metaphors felt forced. The attention to the senses in all the descriptions felt overpowering. I longed for a sentence without description. I did feel, though, like I got to know the characters despite their fleeting appearances. One chapter was devoted to each student in Lillian's cooking class- barely enough pages to get to understand a person but in many cases I did.

My favorite line appeared early in the book. As Lillian's story unfolds, we learn that she cooked as a way to bring her mother out of herself after her father leaves them. Lillian's friend tells her that her skill as a cook is a gift from her mother. Shocked, as her mother never cooked and never cared for her, Lillian looks at Abuelita skeptically.

To which Abuelita wisely responds,

"Sometimes, nina, our greatest gifts grow from what we are not given."