email this pageWhen I first picked up Emily Franklin’s cookbook by way of memoir, Too Many Cooks, I was not certain that family life snippets interspersed with related recipes was going to hold my attention. As a mom of three preschoolers, I was searching for new family friendly recipes to add to my repertoire but I do not actually have much time to read a book these days. Thankfully, all my initial hesitations went out the window in the very first section. I was hooked by Ms. Franklin’s funny and honest portrayal of her hectic home life with four small children, married to a finicky physician, herself a member of a large extended family that reaches all over the world.
As a mom, there is always some pleasure in getting an inside peek at another family’s life. It is reassuring to some extent to hear about other families dealing with imaginary friends, the death of a loved one, traveling across country or abroad or simply making time for meals together. At many points during this book I was laughing out loud – sometimes because I had lived the very scene Ms. Franklin had recreated for us in her book, other times because I could not even imagine what I would do faced with the same situation. Most importantly, I really enjoyed this book because I philosophically agree with her parenting “food-style.”
At the beginning of the memoir, Ms. Franklin lets the reader know that this book is not about the right or wrong way to cook for our families, nor is it about buying a certain type of food or shopping at a certain type of store. The author makes a valiant effort to reach out to a wide range of home cooks who do the best they can with the limited time, money, and resources they have on a daily basis. The author makes great use of seasonal produce and describes in vivid detail about new foods and flavors available wherever she might travel – be it Italy or Michigan – but she just as quickly lets us take a look at her pantry stocked with a wide array of canned goods and a freezer certain to have a bag of frozen peas stashed inside somewhere.
The only problem I had with this cookbook by way of memoir style of writing is that I wanted to read the book upstairs in bed at night after my own children had gone to sleep, but I found myself needing the book in the kitchen during the day to test out the recipes I had flagged throughout the chapters. The longer I kept reading, the more the sticky notes kept accumulating page after page. The first recipe I tested was Grandma Ruth’s Pumpkin Bread. For some reason, my children love to wake up super early on Monday mornings so we try to fill the time before preschool with a baking project. All three children were excited to test this recipe with me. A recipe always gets extra points with me if it involves dirtying only one bowl – Pumpkin Bread certainly fit the bill – combine all the ingredients in one bowl, split the delicious result between 2 loaf pans, and bake for an hour. Presto! Unfortunately, at the end of the hour the pumpkin bread was not quite done in either pan. Trying to stall for time, I buckled the kids in their car seats as if we were about to pull out the driveway any second for school. I put on a new music CD and ran back inside to see if the bread was making progress. The bread looked promising but was certainly not ready to cool on the counter so I shut the oven off, left the loaves inside, and hoped for the best. When I arrived back home a few hours later, I was greeted by the most delicious smells that had seeped into every corner of my first floor. I crossed my fingers, took the loaf pans out of the oven and popped them onto serving trays. Miraculously, they looked and tasted perfect!
Ms. Franklin’s vivid descriptions of a year in her family’s life – testing new foods and traveling to new places – gives the reader a realistic look at what a busy mom can do to develop adventurous eaters and not give into the demand for the ubiquitous chicken nuggets. In this house, we are certainly roasting more vegetables these days, testing new flavors, and doing our part to avoid the kids’ menu whenever we brave a sit-down restaurant. Surprisingly, the kids and my husband have embraced the endeavor and I am well equipped with 102 of Emily Franklin’s tried and true family favorites. Whether you are looking for some new ideas for your kitchen or you are just in the mood to laugh out loud, I definitely recommend Too Many Cooks.
From Too Many Cooks: Grandma Ruth’s Pumpkin Bread
1 c. oil
3 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 c. water
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. nutmeg
1 ½ c. pumpkin (about one can)
3 ½ c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 c. raisins
Preheat oven to 350. Mix oil, sugar, and eggs until smooth. Blend in water, spices, and pumpkin. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt and raisins. Combine and mix batter. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake for one hour. If you make muffins, it will take about half the time.
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