M. F. K. Fisher: a treasure I'll share with you.

[trof]

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon here in coastal Alabama so naturally my thoughts turned to "what's for dinner?".
(Actually my thoughts would turn to "what's for dinner?" in the middle of a tornado.)
And then I thought about M. F. K. Fisher and went and got "The Art of Eating" down from the bookcase.
It's a compendium of five of her books.
I will share with you from "Serve It Forth":

"When a Man is Small-
When a man is small, he loves and hates food with a ferocity which soon dims. At six years old his very bowels will heave when such a dish as creamed carrots or cold tapioca appears before him. His throat will close and spots of nausea and rage swim in his vision. It is hard, later, to remember why, but at the time there is no pose in his disgust. He cannot eat; he says "To hell with it!"

In the same way, some foods are utterly delicious, and the thinks of them and tastes them with a sensuous passion which too often disappears completely with the years.

Perhaps there are little chocolate cookies as a special treat, two apiece. He eats his, all two, with an intense but delicate avidity. His small sister Judy puts one of hers in her pocket, the smug thing. But Aunt Gwen takes a bite from each of her cookies and gives what is left of one to Judy, and what is left of the other to him. She is quite calm about it.

He looks at her with dreadful wonder. How can she bear to do it? He could not, could not have given more than a crumb of his cooky to anyone. Perhaps even a crumb would be too big. Aunt Gwen is wonderful; she is brave and superhuman. He feels a little dizzy as he looks at the bitten cooky in his hand. How could she do it?"

Sadly, Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher died in 1991, but her work lives on. Not "cookbooks", but there are a lot of mouth watering recipes. How to eat simply and elegantly. Go here and enjoy.
http://www.mfkfisher.net/

[flamingyouth]

1. I love her!!

In fact, I was just leafing through The Art of Eating last night. I also have an old copy of The Measure of Her Powers around here somewhere as well.

Thanks for sharing this, trof!

[trof]

2. Here's a quote of hers I just found.

Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.

[flamingyouth]

3. Oh, that's great, and so true

I've been "accused" on many occasions of showing love through my cooking. I can't think of a higher compliment for me!

[trof]

4. Just a "casting pearls before swine" kick

for me and flamingyouth.
;-)