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Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good: A Memoir of Food & Love #Giveaway

August 28, 2014 by Elizabeth

burnt toat“I don’t have to tell you I love you. I fed you pancakes,” said the grandmother of author Kathleen Flinn, and that philosophy sums up much of this tribute to the author’s family, a hardy collection of no-nonsense hard-working people who express their love through food as often as not. There’s her maternal grandfather, who cooked a large pot of chili for all the neighbourhood kids every Saturday, seasoned with chilies and made with beans that he grew himself every summer and carefully dried for the long winter months, and her maternal grandmother, who spent a week cooking nonstop for the family at a lake cabin, making cinnamon rolls and vats of coleslaw and baked beans and pulled pork, and then told her daughter it was the best vacation she’d ever had.

Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good offer a delightful look at 3 generations of family, growing up in the Depression, moving out to California and then moving back, trying their hands at clowning or streaking, vacations in Minnesota and vacations in Florida, all the ins and outs of life in America over the span of most of the 20th century. Kathleen Flinn grew up to be a professional chef and chronicled her adventures in The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry and The Kitchen Counter Cooking School (linked to my review). But in her third book, she returns to look at her roots, at the people who made and shaped her, and at their own influences, joys and sorrows. Additionally, each chapter ends with a recipe to something referenced in that chapter, from pan-fried mushrooms that her terminally-ill aunt sat up and ate, to the chili that her grandfather fed the neighbour kids every Saturday. And through it all, she shows us again and again the connection between food and community, and the love that shines through the simple acts of feeding a family.

One of my favorite stories came in the first chapter. Her parents, married in the 50s, tasted an incredible new food called pizza in a local restaurant. So they were excited to discover a pizza kit from Chef Boyardee in the local grocery store. The box contained “all the ingredients for a Sicilian-style pizza” which meant “a package of add-water-only pizza dough, a small can of tomato sauce, and a packet of dried Parmesan cheese…They found it lacking compared to the one they’d had at the pizza parlour.” Yet they invited family over to share this new experience. “What’s this called again? Pizza?” said the author’s Uncle Bob. “I can’t see this catching on.” The recipe for this chapter is Uncle Clarence’s Oven-Fried Chicken. (p 12-13)

There are stories of the time Flinn’s parents bought 250 chicks and soon found themselves overwhelmed. Stories of vacations spent fishing on a lake, or the time her parents went on vacation to Florida and bought a vacation home on a whim, even though they had to rent out most of it to make the mortgage payments. There’s her older brother streaking through the movie theatre in 1974, her older sister working as a clown, and other family tales, all rendered with affection and plenty of stories of food. There’s the time, desperate for company, she joins a church choir. “‘Where’d you get that voice?’ she (the choir director) asked, sitting on the bench behind the church organ. ‘You sing very well, my dear.’ I answered as honestly as I could. ‘My grandmother told me as a kid that if I ate burnt toast, I’d be able to sing good.’ ‘Well I guess she was right,” Grace said, sitting up to organize some sheet music.” (p 231)

Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good is an enjoyable look at the bonds that tie us to family, and the important role that food plays in that. I have my own versions of these stories–the scones and roasts and hot cross buns made by my British mother, the German recipes she attempted in order to delight my Mennonite-raised father. This book offers something for us all, and the recipes just add to the charm. I haven’t tried any yet, but I plan to do so soon.

Kathleen Flinn’s ancestors raised her to be tough, passionate, and endlessly optimistic–and to love good food cooked well and with love. And her loving memoir to her family is something that we can all relate to and enjoy.

Enter to Win

One of you (U.S. only) can win a copy of the book. Please follow the instructions below to earn one or more entries, starting off by leaving a comment sharing your favorite family dinner.

Entry-Form

Filed Under: Elizabeth, Food and Drink, Memoir

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Comments

  1. Rhonda says

    August 28, 2014 at 9:07 am

    A dish we call sweet chicken easy delicious.

  2. JJT says

    August 28, 2014 at 9:17 am

    Love Friday night dinner with the family.

  3. Benita says

    August 28, 2014 at 10:04 am

    Pasta and ricotta. It’s a filling delicious preparation.

  4. anne says

    August 28, 2014 at 11:07 am

    Salmon with kale, tomatoes, and pasta primavera.

  5. Stacie Gorkow says

    August 28, 2014 at 11:37 am

    Growing up, I loved coming home from church to a Roast with potatoes and carrots cooking in the crock pot. It was a regular Sunday meal and whenever I make it, it reminds me a home.

  6. Janice Crespo says

    August 28, 2014 at 2:25 pm

    Yucky Monster Eggs. LOL When my girls were little we had tried Barbar’s Chicken Cordon Blue and my girls looked at it really weird, asking what it was. We told them they were yucky monster eggs and they all got inhaled. As my girls have grown up, if I mention that I am making Yucky Monster Eggs, they all arrange to be around for dinner – LOL

  7. Christina G. says

    August 29, 2014 at 8:27 am

    A favorite family meal is spaghetti with salad. Thanks for the giveaway!

  8. Sue says

    August 29, 2014 at 5:31 pm

    My favorite is Baked Spaghetti but my family has gotten tired of it saying we have it every night!

  9. Kate I. says

    August 29, 2014 at 7:33 pm

    A favorite family meal features rack of lamb served with a variety of sides such as mushroom risotto and artichokes. Our patriarch LOVES lamb.

  10. Linda Kish says

    August 29, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    We like enchiladas.

  11. Angela Saver says

    August 30, 2014 at 9:13 pm

    My favorite is Cajun Chicken Pasta! yummy!

    [email protected]

  12. Marilyn Nawara says

    September 1, 2014 at 11:21 am

    My favorite family meal is Pot Roast for Sunday Dinner

  13. Leela says

    September 2, 2014 at 5:34 am

    Fried pizza pockets.

  14. Leela says

    September 2, 2014 at 5:39 am

    Entered The Scavengers giveaway.

  15. Anita Yancey says

    September 4, 2014 at 3:00 pm

    Our favorite is spaghetti and meats balls. Thanks for having the giveaway.

  16. Nancy says

    September 5, 2014 at 6:32 am

    We like a hot meat sub sandwich with all the trimming we call Strogo Burger.

  17. Katie says

    September 5, 2014 at 11:12 am

    My favorite family meal is garlic chicken pizza!

  18. Kristen says

    September 8, 2014 at 9:45 am

    We love making tacos together.

  19. Kristen says

    September 8, 2014 at 9:46 am

    entered Stanley Board Books giveaway

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