Poignant with just a taste of vanilla.....a sweet heartfelt book of growth and experience. ( )

Butter Cake, p.165, not bad but too dry.

too much cooking for me. too much i got out of work and rushed home and bundled the kids into the car and went to miriam"s. kosher just seems too complicated and too much work for me. it's interesting that it's such an old ritual but is something valuable just because it's old? ( )

A combination of a story about Miriam, the author's mother-in-law, her own gradually increasing level of observance (I empathized), and Miriam's recipes. I enjoyed reading everything, including the recipes, but was not inspired to try them. ( )

The author examines her year-long quest to "build a floor" under her children by reconnecting to her Jewish roots and keeping a kosher kitchen. The Miriam of the title is her mother-in-law, but the author's grandmothers are also inspiration for keeping a kosher kitchen. The memories of their lives and influence over the author and her family are woven throughout the book.

The book is divided up into twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, each beginning with the author's diary entry examining her struggle to lead herself and her family towards kosher living. In the beginning, she and her generation call themselves Jewish while retaining vestiges of Jewish tradition, such as lighting candles on Friday night, or saying prayers for the dead, but lead increasingly secular lives: celebrating Christmas, running errands on Saturday morning instead of going to shul, and eating pork.

The women in this novel are defined by their kitchens, which for the author is a reflection of their faith. A scrupulously clean, kosher kitchen is a duty of the devout Jewish women described within these pages, and the glue that holds their kosher families together. It is a difficult task. There are the separate sets of dishes, containers, sponges, and cooking utensils to keep track of. There's the unwavering examination of what goes into your belly in order to not mix meat and dairy, making eating-out an all but impossible luxury. But with the kosher kitchen comes a more devout life: attending prayer services, sending the kids to Hebrew school, observing a restful Sabbath, observing all the holy days, even visiting a mikvah (ritual bath). The values of food, faith, and family are intertwined to promote a sense of togetherness that is sought after and celebrated by the author.

Recipes of the mouth-watering food described in detail are provided in each chapter, but it is emphasized that the old Jewish comfort food of the author's grandparents' generation is a dying art that recipes cannot quite capture. Women like Miriam, who were displaced and pushed from turbulent country to turbulent country before settling in America, don't use measuring cups, food processors, or other modern kitchen accessories. They use eyes and hands, and years of experience to let them know when the mixture is just right or when the cake is done. They also cook without the modern reservations against sugar, cholesterol, and fat; no wonder their foods are so beloved by subsequent generations, who are raised on diet food and health warnings.

Through this book we journey along with the author on what is means to be Jewish in today's world, while blending traditions of the past with the demands of the modern world, and coming to a compromise that is respectful and true to Judaism, as well as to the family. In the end, there's a message of hope. The old neighborhoods may change, the close-knit communities disperse, the delis and kosher bakeries close, but as long as the culture remains alive in the next generation, there is hope. ( )