You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but I do it all the time…with books. The cover of Eskin’s book caught my eye. Before I noticed the decorative typography, The slice of cake caught my attention. The cake slice turns into a book. The symbolism implies that the book is more than a collection of recipes. From an artistic perspective, I appreciated this. Eskin could have easily placed a photograph oh her family in a kitchen setting, but this took the book a step further.
Food is life, culture, and home. Leah Eskin is an accomplished journalist, wife, and mother. Eskin’s column “Home on the Range” gave birth to her book Slices of Life: A Food Writer Cooks through Many a Conundrum. Though she no longer lives in Chicago, Her column is published in the Chicago Tribune on Sundays.
Slices of Life is a cross between a cookbook and memoir. The eclectic illustration of her memories and recipes are humorous. The typical cookbook has recipes separated by ingredients. Not Eskin’s. Interestingly, her recipes are split into chapters labeled by cooking instructions. If you were looking for a structured cookbook, Slices of Life is not one of them. Life is full of twists and turns. The memories in this cookbook do not go in chronological order. It would not be practical to follow the average structure of a cookbook.
There is one downside. There is no index at the back of the book. If you were looking for a specific recipe, you won’t be able to find it. Instead, you will have to sit back relax and thumb through Eskin’s life.
At the end of the cookbook you will be proud of the recipes you finished and sad that you’ve ended a conversation with a friend.
Leah Eskin’s Slices of Life will be available March 25, 2014 where books are sold and April 1, 2014 on Amazon. Feel free to pre-order your copy today!
In the meantime, you can connect with Leah Eskin on her Facebook page , place her book on your GoodReads bookshelf, or tweet her at @LeahEskin
Photo Courtesy of NetGalley
