A Cookbook With More Than Recipes!

Food blogger I may not be, but I do enjoy a good cookbook.

And besides, what could be better than scrumptious, easy-to-follow recipes and beautifully styled and photographed food?  
Stories!  
(Right up my alley.)

This book is full of them. The stories and recipes, lovingly collected by author, Erin Farha Kimmett (who also happens to be an Orthodox iconographer and priest's wife), are a tribute to Erin's grandmother, "Sitey" (My Grandmother, in Arabic).

"Favorite recipes and cherished memories 

inspired by a grandmother's kitchen, 

where her love of God was ever-present, 

traditions of hospitality and joy were handed down, 

and lessons of faith, life and love were learned." 

  

I absolutely love the format of this large, hardcover cookbook (and how it looks in my newly remodeled kitchen!!)  Martha Stewart could not have done better!  Erin had the expert help of her good friend, photographer Alexis El Massih.

The titles of each beautifully photographed section make you want to delve right in...

Slow Mornings

Coffee And...

After Noon

Always Room at My Table

Gather

Cozy Suppers

Sweet Traditions

Just Desserts

Delve in is exactly what my husband and I did after I returned from my visit to New York to help with my new granddaughter.  (I purchased Hospitality and Joy at the St. Vladimir's Seminary Bookstore while I was there.  It's also available on Erin's website.)

I sat and read this book cover to cover with a cup of coffee! Then my husband flipped through the pages, started drooling, and decided to tackle the Maple Oat Pecan Scones (he's quite a good cook, and makes a killer Eggs Benedict, passed down from his dad.)  The scones were dee-licious!

Each mouthwatering recipe in this cookbook is carefully explained, step by step, with an Ingredients List, Make Ahead Tips, "First Things First" Preparations, then Assembly and Cooking Directions (and did I mention, beautiful photography?)

At its heart, this unique cookbook is about the role we play in ministering to others when we cook for them... it's "about food and faith, cooking and ministering: two different but integrally connected kinds of nourishment."

As someone who grew up with a loving Grandma who baked her grandchildren the world's best chocolate chip cookies, I highly recommend this lovely cookbook.  

Give it to someone you love.  It would make a perfect wedding, birthday, anniversary, Pascha, or Mother's Day gift.

You can visit Erin and Alexis' website to read their blog, try their recipes, and to order Hospitality and Joy - here.

Happy Cooking! Make some memories...