I must tell you all about one of the best books I have ever read, or mostly read. To be honest, I have not finished the entire thing, but I have already gotten so much out of Bread & Wine. If you are passionate about hospitality, cooking, or opening your home to friends, family, and even strangers, this book needs to be on your reading list. Shauna Niequist promotes community and building relationships, tells stories of her dinner parties with friends, and encourages making memories around the table. She is real and raw and vulnerable. At the end of each chapter she shares her most loved recipes. We made two of these for a family dinner this week, and they were excellent!
We were able to celebrate my mom’s birthday earlier this week, continuing our second-annual tradition of my brother and I cooking a fancy family dinner. Patrick, my brother, and I both love to cook. Being in the kitchen with him is something I treasure. We have pretty opposite personalities, but can find so much common ground. He is always in charge of the mushrooms and the marinade, steak or salmon, if we’re having any of those. This post talks about how we celebrated her last year on her 60th.
This year we made browned butter scallops and shrimp, mushroom risotto, and two recipes from Bread & Wine. Her goat cheese biscuits (we made them gluten free), and go-to salad are reason enough to have this book on your shelf. I can’t decide if I should keep this on my nightstand or with my cookbooks!
Happy belated birthday to my sweet, beautiful, talented, loving mom! I inherited my love of entertaining from her. 🙂
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I am putting this on my “must read” list!! Yum!
A friend gifted a copy of Shauna Niequist’s book to me. Lovely Book! When I first read your article, you momma popped into my mind as you described “raw & vulnerable”. She is a wonderful christian example. Then I re-read the article and Shauna was described. Your momma is the best!!