Hi, I’m Mary! A literary scholar by training, I’m here to help readers of all ages make good food memories that connect them to great literature. Most days, you’ll either find me with my head in a book or covered in cassava flour in the kitchen. I live in Northeast Ohio with my neurologist husband and our mini goldendoodle, Banjo.
In my experience, good food and great books have the power to forge connections between us.
I’ll never forget reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince under a table laden with fish and chips in a Boston pub. Even though we were on vacation, my parents had taken me to its midnight release at a local bookstore and delighted my literature-loving heart. I recall feeling connected to the millions of readers around the world who were also experiencing this text for the first time. I remember, too, how the restaurant’s dark wood and dim lighting made me think of The Leaky Cauldron, and the feeling of giddiness that I was being allowed to read at the dinner table. If a few grease stains remain on page 102, I’ll never tell! Whenever I re-read the text, I feel that sense of contentedness return, as if I’ve just enjoyed a satisfying New England meal surrounded by family.
A few years later, some classmates and I were sipping freshly brewed maté on our professor’s living room floor during our final session on Dante’s Divine Comedy. A South American drink made from the dried leaves of a species of holly, maté is often served in a communal container made from a calabash gourd. It is a profoundly social drink—one that is often passed around to each guest in turn. In this case, we sipped maté while sharing stories. Our professor had invited us to describe which canto of the Commedia spoke to us most, and it was deeply moving to hear how the medieval text intertwined with my friends’ own memories. Our experience reading this text together made it possible for us to be vulnerable with one another, trusting that our stories would be heard and honored.
My hope is that the recipes and resources you’ll find here at The Library Kitchen help connect you to the characters you encounter in books, and to the people with whom you read them. Making a batch of plum preserves helps us appreciate the hard work that gets meals on the table in Little House on the Prairie, while homemade Turkish delight makes an unfamiliar Narnian delicacy more real. For children, in particular, roping in these other senses embeds literary lessons in the memory and creates positive associations with reading. As adults know, sharing a meal also relaxes us, freeing us to share our thoughts in an open and unhurried manner. Somehow, it’s easier to have good will and grace for one another when bread and bacon are involved. So, let’s get cooking! Pick a “book of the month” from our ever-growing collection and invite some friends to share food and fellowship!