Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes

I really felt through this whole book that I was standing right beside Shauna in her kitchen. Or more likely perched on a high stool, watching her move around intentionally, passionately, but effortlessly. I loved this book. Something about the combination of stories/ thoughts and the conversationally written essays hit me exactly the right way. It's wonderful to find myself moved in my faith by a conversation about food... I mean, it is and it isn't. I'm so grateful to have read this book.

Bread and Wine - Getting Back to the TableI've been intimidated by cooking, by recipes, for as long as I can remember. Bread and Wine has helped me "see" differently. Shauna demonstrates passion, blended with simplicity, for approaching numerous recipes and learning to "create" something beautiful, something memorable--not just in our kitchens but in our hearts and lives.Shauna takes the time and care to address eating sensitivities, such as sharing that her husband Aaron eats gluten-free. This was especially helpful to me as I have been gluten-free for three years now, and that fact has further intimidated me in the kitchen. Shauna offers real, simple substitutions to make the recipes gluten-free.Shauna is back: Bread and Wine is filled with her trademark sensory details that make us feel like we are right there with her--stirring, blending, learning--our senses engaged through her imagery while she speaks to us like a real life friend. This book has also given me an education more valuable to me than my college degrees, for Shauna provides sustenance not only in the form of recipes and nutrition but also in life itself.She shows us that life in the kitchen can be messy and imperfect and that that is okay; this is another point that has held me back in my own kitchen: perfectionism. I, also like Shauna, am a "truly terrible recipe follower." I'm a bit of a rebel, a rules-breaker.Our senses feel more alive after reading this book, more inspired to do more, be more, reach out to nurture others more and in the process, feed not only our bodies, but our souls. Shauna makes me realize how much I have been waiting in my life...waiting for that perfect time, the recipe I finally perfect, or the perfect décor in the my kitchen/dining room. Always waiting... Yet what I learn from this book is that community is most important. Here and now.The table in Shauna's world is more than an object: it's a symbol. In her chapter entitled "What the table is for," Shauna states, "The table is the life raft, the center point or the home base of who we are together." This tangible item bonds, binds, and beckons us one to the other. Family and friends become one at the table.She describes friendship, like she describe cooking and recipes, masterfully: "Like a boeuf bourguignon, something you cook for hours and hours, allowing the flavors to develop over time, changing and deepening with each passing hour on the heat." She encourages us to try. "You don't always know what's going to come of it, but you put the time in anyway, and then, after a long, long time, you realize with great clarity why you put the time in: for this night, for these hours around the table, for the complexity and richness of flavors that are so lovely and unexpected you're still thinking about them the next day."So many times, we think it won't be worth it, we don't have the time, or it's too hard to coordinate it all. Then we let it all slip away... Shauna writes from the other side of all that: the end result of living and loving; she depicts the layers of life that merge over a seemingly simple meal, yet we learn how each woman in her cooking club has completed her part to create the beautiful, never-to-be-forgotten whole, and we see that yes, it is all worth it.The following words resonated with me, more than any others, in Shauna's new book: "I want so badly to release my stranglehold on my plan, my way, my calendar...I want to live without anxiety, fear, and deadlines. But it seems that every chance I get, I grab back those pretend reins and allow myself to believe the myth that I'm in control." In recent years, more than in any other time, I have learned how little control I have over my own life. That feeling fills me with dread and makes me push harder, strive more, and time after time, I am left disappointed."And I remember that people can change. That I can change. That the same old refrains can get rewritten, and that all it takes sometimes is paying attention to your tears, and ignoring that voice that tries to hypnotize us with next year, next year, next year. Later, later, later is what I tell myself. But later, really, needs to be now.At last, Shauna Niequist encourages us to "open the door": "What people are craving isn't perfection. People aren't longing to be impressed; they're longing to feel like they're home." The time is now--for friendship, for love, for abundance. "You'll miss the richest moments in life...if you're too scared or too ashamed to open the door."We learn from Shauna that "food matters." Beyond physical sustenance and maintenance, we are reminded of the holiness of sharing food--and a table. "Share food with people you love." It's that simple; it's that priceless.Shauna provides the opportunity in our lives for a fresh start. She tugs at the reader's self-doubts, as she nudges, "I remember that people can change. That I can change." All is not lost; all is not hopeless. In a constantly connected world, Shauna shifts our focus and challenges us to pay closer attention to the "hours logged," to apply this thought to friendships. To unplug from the rest of it for a while and to tune in to what really matters.We can never get this time back. "We knew when we moved away that something like this wouldn't necessarily happen again. It was a moment in time, a gift, an event that we happened to be a part of just for that season."Shauna Niequist embraces life and reaches out. Whether it's bringing Lara Bars and magazines to a friend in a crisis, taking the time to meet with her dinner club, or to simply share her stories, she "shows up." She exposes her own rawness and vulnerabilities, her heartbreaks and joys. We are bettered and renewed as we turn the pages of Shauna's new book.Most of the chapters end with a recipe that relates to each of the stories she tells. "Food is life" is what she is saying. The bread and the wine, the blood and the spirit. The self and the community, the human and the divine. It's all about community. We close the book at the end and crave fellowship, more time for deeper friendships, and physical and spiritual nourishment... Bread and Wine instructs and inspires. We hunger yet are satisfied.

In „Bread & Wine“ erzählt Shauna Niequist verschiedenen Episoden ihres eigenen Lebens und verbindet diese nach jedem Kapitel mit einem Rezept. Die einzelnen Geschichten stehen in keinem direkten Zusammenhang zueinander, so dass man das Buch nicht am Stück, bzw. nicht in der vorgegebenen Reihenfolge lesen muss.Die Rezepte sind abwechslungsreich und fernab von der von uns als Europäern verurteilten „typischen amerikanischen Küche“, von einer einfachen Vinaigrette über Mango Chicken Curry bis hin zu Brownies wird hier für jeden Geschmack etwas geboten. Die Zutaten der Rezepte sind in amerikanischen Maßeinheiten angegeben, hier muss ggf. umgerechnet werden, gleiches gilt für Herd- und Ofeneinstellungen. Die Erzählungen umfassen Alltagsberichte aus dem Leben der Autorin und ganz egal ob es dabei ums Reisen oder persönlichere Erfahrungen geht, Shauna Niequist bleibt stets authentisch und gerade das macht sie so sympathisch. Sie gesteht sich eigene Schwächen und Fehler ein, berichtet ehrlich aus ihrem Familienalltag, aus den Beziehungen zu ihren Freunden und ihrem Glauben.Das Buch ist jedem zu Empfehlen, der eine Leidenschaft für Essen und Gastfreundschaft teilt und mehr über die interessante Persönlichkeit der Shauna Niequist erfahren möchte.

I purchased this book after stumbling across the authors blog and realising that I enjoyed her writing style. Consisting of a series of narratives, this is a charming book and highly recommended for anyone who enjoys entertaining, making community, or just wants to spark some thought about cooking, how God speaks to us each differently, or how friendships are made and sustained.Although primarily a book about experiences that the author has had - both difficult and lighthearted, many chapters are accompanied by recipes. I have made a few of them now and found them easy to follow and the finished results were tasty. I would particularly recommend the risotto! Worth noting that this is not a recipe book as such and the recipes are unaccompanied by pictures etc.The book itself and many of the stories woven within was touching and thought provoking. I smiled at some of the anecdotes and shed a few tears at others. Shauna Niequist writes as though she were a friend telling you a story. SHe does not shy away from difficult times or loss, but also has a lovely touch when relating the happy times in her life. She writes about her cookery club, and the friendships of the other members in a way that inspired me to be a better friend / sister.I took so much from the book that I purchased it for 2 other friends and would highly recommend to others. If you buy it - enjoy!

Comforts of home in a book. I just loved this book. It reminded me of why it is so important to have community and to enjoy being with family and friends around a table. It reminded me of why it is so important to continue those family traditions that may have been forgotten. Absolutely loved this book... could not put it down and will be a permanent fixture in my kitchen.