My Review of Bread and Wine-My New Favorite Book

Today I'm excited to share my review of my new favorite book, Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist. I have been a long time fan of Shauna and her writing style. When I first read her book Cold Tangerines, I could not put it down. It made me laugh and cry, like all three of her books have done, and I always feel like I am connecting with a friend when I read her work. She is honest and genuine and doesn't shy away from sharing her heart. It's hard for me to pick a favorite of her three books, but I might have to pick this one, just because of the fabulous recipes that are included and because of how she connects the sacredness of sharing a meal with the people you love.

Let me just start by saying that I read this book in two days, and I have two children under two. Every free moment I had, I found myself running to pick up this book. And when I finished it, I was so sad it was over. I quickly found myself in the kitchen making several of her recipes, reenergized to cook good food for my friends and family. The week after I finished her book, I hosted a gathering for a friend who is going through very difficult circumstances and a golden birthday Oscar party for my sister, all in the same weekend. It was fun to quickly incorporate some of her ideas and recipes.

Reading Bread and Wine,  put a deep desire inside of me to create the community around the table that Shauna writes about. What I love about the book is she makes it easy and points out that it doesn't matter if you make the food or serve a frozen pizza and a salad. What matters is that you invite people into your home, and your heart.

"If you don't cook, begin by inviting people over. Order pizza and serve it with a green salad and a bottled salad dressing. Get comfortable with people in your home, with the mess and the chaos. Focus on making people comfortable, on creating a space protected from the rush and chaos of daily life, a space full of laughter and safety and soul. Then next time or the time after that, try grilled flatbread pizzas and make your own vinaigrette for the salad. The next time, try a dessert and an appetizer, and little by little, build a sense of muscle memory, a body of knowledge, a set of patterns for how your home and your heart open and expand when the people you love are gathered around your table."

What I love about this book is it covers not just the practical parts of eating and serving food, but the heart parts as well. She discusses everything from her body image and struggle with food, to how to host a simple and fancy dinner party.

"That's how this is for me. I've been catastrophizing about my weight since I was six. I've lost pounds and gained them, made and abandoned plans and promises, cried tears of frustration, pinched the backs of my upper arms with hatred that scares me. And through all that, I've made friends and fallen in love, gotten married and become a mother. I've written and traveled and stayed up late with people I love. I've walked on the beach and on glittering city streets. I've kissed my baby's cheeks and danced with my husband and laughed till I cried with my best friends, and through all that it didn't matter that I was heavier than I wanted to be. The extra pounds didn't matter, as I look back, but the shame that came with those extra pounds was like an infectious disease. That's what I remember. And so these days, my mind and my heart are focused less on the pounds and more on what it means to live without shame, to exchange the heavy and corrosive self-loathing for courage and freedom and gratitude. Some days I do just that, and some days I don't, and that seems to be just exactly how life is."

As someone who has also struggled with my weight most of my life and the shame associated with it, There was something freeing for me reading this book. She put words to thoughts I've had and feelings I've felt. And I too want to live a braver more free existence, especially around the topic of food and my weight.

One of the best parts about this book, is the recipes that go along with the chapters. Her blueberry crisp and flour less chocolate brownies have become staples in our home already, especially because they are gluten free. I was so surprised how so many of the recipes are gluten free or can easily be adapted to gluten free. As a family who has recently moved to a gluten free lifestyle, it was a huge blessing.

This review is not doing the book justice. Really, you just need to go out and buy it, like when you finish reading this post, just hop on over to amazon and order a copy for yourself, and while you are at, order a few for some friends. Here is the link. I promise you will not regret it.