Bread & wine : a love letter to life around the table, with recipes /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Author of the New York Times bestseller Present Over Perfect, Shauna Niequist provides the perfect read for those who love food and value the community and connection of family and friends around the table.

Bread & Wine is a collection of essays about family relationships, friendships, and the meals that bring us together. This mix of Anne Lamott and Barefoot Contessa is a funny, honest, and vulnerable spiritual memoir. Bread & Wine is a celebration of food shared, reminding readers of the joy found in a life around the table. It's about the ways God teaches and nourishes people as they nourish the people around them. It's about hunger, both physical and otherwise, and the connections between the two.

With wonderful recipes included, from Bacon-Wrapped Dates to Mango Chicken Curry to Blueberry Crisp, readers will be able to recreate the comforting and satisfying meals that come to life in Bread & Wine.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Author's note (p. 9)
• On bread and wine: an introduction (p. 11)
• Part 1 My mom's blueberry crisp: Blueberry Crisp (p. 21)
• What the table is for: Mini Mac & Cheese (p. 28)
• Hungry: Nigella's Flourless Chocolate Brownies (p. 34)
• Start where you are: Basic Vinaigrette (p. 40)
• Go-to risotto: Basic Risotto (p. 49)
• Enough (p. 55)
• The chopping block: Steak au Poivre with Cognac Pan Sauce (p. 60)
• On tea and pajamas: Breakfast Quinoa (p. 68)
• Run: Green Well Salad (p. 74)
• Hummingbird: Goat Cheese Biscuits (p. 83)
• Part 2 Delicious everywhere: Watermelon Feta Salad (p. 93)
• Jazz and curry: Mango Chicken Curry (p. 100)
• Open the door: White Chicken Chili (p. 105)
• Baking cookies with batman: Breakfast Cookies (p. 112)
• Morning, noon, and night: Sweet Potato Fries with Sriracha Dipping Sauce (p. 118)
• What my mother taught me: Real Simple Cassoulet (p. 123)
• Cupcake in the oven (p. 128)
• Feasting and fasting: Robin's Super-Healthy Lentil Soup (p. 133)
• Love and enchiladas: Annette's Enchiladas (p. 139)
• Meeting mac (p. 146)
• Part 3
• Hail mary (p. 153)
• Magical white bean soup: Magical White Bean Soup (p. 161)
• Present over perfect: Bacon-Wrapped Dates (p. 166)
• The bass player's birthday (p. 173)
• Russian dolls (p. 178)
• On scrambled eggs and doing hard things: Goat Cheese Scrambled Eggs (p. 184)
• Happy new year: Dark Chocolate Sea Salted Toffee (p. 190)
• Swimming in silence: Esquites/Mexican Grilled Corn (p. 197)
• Part 4
• What money can't buy: Gala Cookies (p. 207)
• Last-minute lunch party: Maple Balsamic Pork Tenderloin (p. 213)
• City love (p. 218)
• Better late than never: Brannon's Caesar Salad (p. 223)
• Swimsuit, ready or not: Farmers Market Potato Salad (p. 229)
• The mayor of the river: Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burgers (p. 234)
• Pont neuf: Simplest Dark Chocolate Mousse (p. 241)
• Take this bread: Sullivan Street Bread (p. 248)
• Come to the table (p. 256)
• Appendix
• Four-week book club/cooking club discussion guide (p. 261)
• Four-week book club/cooking club menus (p. 264)
• For Margaret: on weeknight cooking, with pantry list (p. 265)
• Dear Becky: my best entertaining tips, with sample menus (p. 273)
• Recommended reading (p. 280)
• Recipe index (p. 281)
• Recipe index by category (p. 282)
• Acknowledgments (p. 283)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Pull up a chair, pour yourself a glass of wine, and enjoy the friendship and hospitality found around Niequist's table. The author of Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet serves up portions of friendship, family, and faith, with sides of humor, insight, and favorite recipes, for a satisfying read that can double as a group study. (A discussion guide and recommended readings are tucked in the back of the book, with recipes and a sample menu for book/cooking clubs.) Niequist writes with vulnerability and honesty that make the reader hunger to be one of the friends and family members who grace her table. Struggles with getting pregnant, juggling family and career, and making time for deep friendships are among the life events discussed against the backdrop of meals. Cooking enthusiasts, whether they are experienced or are novices, will enjoy the talk about food and will want to try the recipes featured at the end of each chapter. Yet while recipes for bacon-wrapped dates and dark chocolate sea-salted butter toffee sound yummy, the emphasis is more on spiritual nourishment and how God feeds hungry souls through relationships. (Mar. 26) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Shauna Niequist was born in Barrington, Illinois. She studied English and French literature at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. She is an author and a blogger. Her books include Bread and Wine, Cold Tangerines, Bittersweet, Savor: Living Abundantly Where You Are, As You Are, and Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living.

(Bowker Author Biography)