Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs

Before I jump in, please note that this is not the novel of same name by Kitty Thomas – that comes with the warning on Good Reads, and I quote, “This is a story about “actual” slavery. If reading an erotic story without safewords makes you uncomfortable, this is not the book for you”. Dually noted.

Ok, now that I might have let a few of you down. Kate did a great job with this book. I had low expectations (for no good reason really) but was continuing on in my theme of audiobooks about food and cooking. She does a nice job creating the characters and I could, like in other books, see them fitting right in with people I know. The BEST Girl Scout Cookie client I had as a juvenile, Mrs. Janney, played my mind’s role of Gus, the main character. Both were graceful, well dressed and aging beautifully. It is an easy read (or listen in my case) and I did wish for sequel when it was all done as each of the characters had interesting lives that grew throughout the course of the story. I am not a literary genius but it felt like the right amount of conflict (Gus-Carmon Vega), confused love (“Sa-Troy”), letting down defenses (Aimee), breaking out of a shell (Hannah) and a born again good guy (Oliver). It leaves you with hope after trials and tribulations.

I was a little bummed that the book didn’t include actual recipes since many a tasty dish were prepared, given the fact that a frequent scene of this book is on a cooking show. But you can bet that I will for sure try to recreate a few of them in the near future: the infamous octopus salad for sure.

But being the super sleuth I am, discovered that based on reader feedback, Kate created a living breathing website with recipes from Eat, Drink and Be along with others. Woo Ha! Ok, it’s not that awesome of a page, but really has potential. This lemon (yumm!) apricot cake sounds great and I have a bit of apricot jam that needs a destination.

http://www.comfortfoodnovel.com/recipes.html

Click to access lemoncakewithapricotfilling.pdf

I will also add her first bestselling novel Friday Night Knitting Club to my list, given my level of enjoyment with this book and recommend it to others as a great way to spend some cozy afternoons.