Midwestern Writers on Food: A Review

I know this is super late but…

A couple weeks ago (right before I started getting sick) I went to the reading at People’s Church about Midwestern Writers on Food. The author Peggy Wolff gave us a brief background on why she wanted to write the novel, Fried Walleye and Cheery Pie. Wolff asked 30 Midwestern writers to pick a certain food to focus on in their chapter they wrote. Wolff then combined all the different excerpts to create a book. I thought it was such an interesting idea to have so many different writings in one book.

Bonnie Jo Campbell then discussed her chapter on how her family made a special candy that was passed down in her family. It was so cool to hear an author read some of their own writing. There were points when she would stop ad give her own personal side notes, which I thought made it more special to hear. It gave a little more personality and background to the words on the page.

When I was there I felt like I was in the wrong generation. Most of them were older so it was hard to relate when they were discussing old recipes that were passed down to them from other generations. There was one lady who said she measured her grandmother’s hand because that is how her grandmother measured the ingredient. They didn’t always have a recipe they followed; they would just make it how they knew to make it. I felt like I could not contribute to the conversation because cooking is not as big a deal in my family, and I am a terrible cook. Overall it was a pretty interesting experience, and I am glad I attended this event.