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Cooking For Gracie: The Making Of A Parent From Scratch (2011)

by Keith Dixon(Favorite Author)

3.46 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0307591875 (ISBN13: 9780307591876)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Crown

review 1: Saw this while picking over the inventory of a Borders in the final death throes. Got it for a foodie / new dad friend of mine but of course I couldn't resist a quick look-see myself.The baby minutia was - unsurprisingly - totally uninteresting to me. The author is kind of a drama queen, no?The adaptive cooking he had to do (e.g. no time; no dairy; no noise) was interesting and appealed to the part of me that likes reality cooking shows. I picked up a few ideas and I liked his chatty instructions. I do think the recipes are a tad fussy (but easily simplified) and that he overuses / misuses mint and ginger.
review 2: This is a memoir of the author's experiences as a first time father, who also loves to cook. But it's not just about trying to cook while adjusting... more to having a baby in the house, it's a heartfelt and sometimes hilarious story about fatherhood and being a husband.The lessons one learns in the kitchen can also be applied to life elsewhere, such as being able to plan in advance, and how to deal when unexpected situations come up.The first few months of Gracie's life mean sleep deprivation for her mom and dad, and he learns to plan meals that wholesome, but simple, that are good without a lot of time consuming preparation; and later, when Gracie starts to sleep for hours at a time, it means being able to cook without making noise such as the clanging of pots and pans. There are recipes in each chapter of the book, and some very good ones too. Most are for 2-3 people, and you don't have to be a parent to enjoy them.I have never had children, but I still enjoyed this book. The author told the unvarnished truth of what life with a new baby is like, but I also felt the joy and love he had for his daughter come through the pages. I could not help but think that when Gracie is an adult, what a wonderful record of her first year of life this will be for her to read!I also give kudos to the author for the fact, that no matter how tired or pressed for time they were, they still made an effort to eat healthy, and did not rely on frozen or fast foods; if those two busy, tired parents can prepare healthy meals, so can everyone else; there is no excuse not to eat food that is healthy and good for you.Even though this book is aimed at parents and foodies, I think this would be good reading for teenage girls too, who think they want babies and believe they can handle it at such a young age, especially the chapters when both parents were sleep deprived; even though I've never had a baby, I felt exhausted just reading about it! less

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