The Recipe Club Review and Recipes

Thanks to FSB Associates for giving me a copy of The Recipe Club to review.

In childhood, "LillyPad" and "Valpal" vow to form an exclusive two-person club.  Throughout the decades they wrote intimate letters in which they shared hopes, fears, deepest secrets-and recipes, from Lilly's "Lovelorn Lasagna" to Valerie's "Forgiveness Tapenade."  Readers can cook along as he girls travel through time, facing the challenges of independence; the joys and heartbreaks of first love, and the emotional complexities of family relationships, identity, mortality, and goals deferred.

My take on the book:

I absolutely loved this book!  Two young girls formed a pen-pal relationship that included sending recipes to match their moods.  It was a very captivating book.  During all the writing they still had times where they were together.  Their lives outside of their writing  led to misunderstandings and broke them apart for many years.  They had to work though these issues before they could be friends again.  When trying to get past the past they discovered a secret that has been with their parents for for a long time.  It was a heart-wrenching book.

The recipes were written beautifully on fun stationery that changed with the times.  One recipes, Peas Out of the Pod, was so named and given because Lillypad was trying out for the play, Peas in the Pod. Valerie included, Pen Pal Pecan Rice.  She said this is for them, pen pals forever.  I also loved the letter that included the recipe, Warm Amaretto Milk.  Lillypad sent this to Val while she was in college.  She sent it because she knew her friend only had a hotplate in her dorm room and this would be an easy drink recipe that she could make.

Here is the recipe:

Warm Amaretto Milk

1c. whole milk

2 shots amaretto

whipped cream (use can if you can't make your own)

thinly sliced orange rind

1. Heat the milk in a small pot until simmering.  Stir in the amaretto.

2. Pour into 2 mugs.

3. Top with whipped cream and garnish with orange rind.

If you love food and fiction this book is for you.  This is a very heartfelt story of two friendships that in the end survived ups, downs, lies and betrayals.The book has over 80 recipes! I can't wait to cook up some Food and Friendship!

Author Bios for The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship
Andrea Israel is a producer/writer for ABC's Focus Earth. She was a producer/writer on Anderson Cooper 360, Dateline, and Good Morning America (which garnered her an Emmy Award). Her story In Donald's Eyes was recently optioned for a film. Ms. Israel is the author of Taking Tea. Her writing has appeared in many publications.

Nancy Garfinkel is co-author of The Wine Lover's Guide to the Wine Country: The Best of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino(Chronicle Books, 2005). A creative strategist, design consultant, writer, and editor for magazine, corporate, and non-profit clients, she has won a host of graphic arts and editorial merit awards. She has written extensively about food and graphic arts.

For more information check out The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship

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