****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I've always loved to bake since I was a little girl but had never really learned how to cook. A few years ago I started getting more ambitious in the kitchen and wanting to learn. Because of my baking background, I did it by finding recipes, gathering all the ingredients, precisely following instructions and making a single meal. This has definitely been helpful and gotten many ooh's and ah's from friends and family, but then in the last couple months I felt like I hit a wall in regards to cooking. I felt like I always had to have a meal picked out in advance and have all the ingredients on hand, in order to have a successful dinner. It started to feel exhausting (and not to mention, buying special ingredients every week is expensive). I wanted to be free from the shackles of Pinterest and cookbooks and just be able to whip up tasty things to eat.That's when (luckily) I came across this book. Tamar Adler first and foremost is a beautiful writer and honestly I got so much more from this book than learning how to cook. I feel like this book gave me permission to make simple meals, to trust time honored traditions from around the world, to salvage food scraps and turn them into feasts and most of all to trust my instincts when it comes to flavors and experimentation. I feel closer to being a real chef rather than just a recipe follower. I think this book also made me feel like a few vegetables and some leftover rice can be a perfectly acceptable meal when done well, whereas before if I didn't have meat or fish I felt l wasn't serving something worthwhile to my family.Because of this book I've started going to my weekly farmers market for my veggies and fruit, I bought a good bike from Craigslist that I now ride everyday (weather permitting), my grocery bill is literally HALF as expensive as it used to be, and when I look in my cupboards (or freezer, or fridge) I can't believe how much food I have just waiting to be turned into simple, but tasty meals! Suddenly a bag of rice or a few sweet potatoes looks like I could be fed well for days. I waste so much less food, odds and ends from cooking, that I completely understand why she calls this book an everlasting meal, it truly does feel like that! The author reminded me and taught me that people have been well fed for centuries and they weren't running to a specialty grocery store for weird ingredients or eating animal protein at every meal. They were feeding themselves, simply, humbly and well.Another thing about this book is that every time I pick it up I feel better after having read it. It reminds me of reading poetry or listening to "This American Life". There are certain activities that when we do them we feel elevated and simultaneously closer to ourselves and being human. This book reminds me of what is real and important in life. It's the simple things. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It has changed my life and I am forever grateful.
