Sometimes good things just fall right into your lap. I first heard about this book. dinner with Edward from a podcast that I listen to called The Simple Sophisticate. At the end of each of her podcasts she presents a petite plaisir ( little pleasure). When she described this story of weekly gourmet dinners between a charming widower and a newspaper reporter who was having marriage troubles I knew I should read it.
First I recommended it to my sister Linda who found it at her library and began to read it. When she told me how good it was I looked for it today when I went to the Okean library. I couldn't wait to get home and start it. It doesn't really give recipes except to tell you how the preparations are made for those delightful dinners. For instance here is Edward's Chicken...
Brine a roasting chicken for two days in apple cider and salt. Then rub with fresh thyme, rosemary and butter. Chop carrots, onions, and celery....a mirepoix..and spoon into parchment paper. Put the chicken on top and wrap all in a paper bag. Braise in the oven for hours. Just before removing heat the oven to 500 degrees and take off the paper to make the skin crispy and charred. Doesn't this sound yummy?
Here is a review from Bookpage. I highly recommend this. I've been waiting for a good book so I am thrilled to keep sitting here and turning pages.
When Isabel Vincent’s friend suggested that she have dinner with her recently widowed, 93-year-old father, Vincent was in need of a lift. She had just moved to New York City to take a job as an investigative reporter with the New York Post, and her marriage was falling apart.
“I don’t know if the temptation of a good meal did it for me, or if I was just so lonely that even the prospect of spending time with a depressed nonagenarian seemed appealing,” she writes, adding, “Whatever it was, I could never have imagined that meeting Edward would change my life.”
She chronicles their time together in the touching Dinner with Edward: A Story of an Unexpected Friendship, in which she not only rediscovers herself, but also realizes that this lonely geriatric is a charming poet at heart, full of wisdom about love and marriage.
A refined, self-taught intellectual and old-fashioned gentleman, Edward can also cook—as in really cook. Vincent begins each chapter with a menu, full of dishes like herb-roasted chicken in a paper bag (one of Edward’s many specialties), pan-fried potatoes with gruyère and his signature dessert, apple and pear galette (the secret to which is using crushed ice and lard, he insists). Two warnings: Don’t read this book on an empty stomach because the mouth-watering food descriptions will drive you mad, and don’t expect to find recipes.
As this unexpected friendship deepens, Edward becomes Vincent’s much-needed “fairy godfather,” cheerleader, sounding board and shoulder to cry on. He advises her to wear lots of lipstick and takes her to Saks to buy a pricey dress. He tells wonderful tales of his past, while Vincent confides her marriage woes, and later, after her divorce, shares stories of her new beaus.
Soon Vincent realizes, “Joy, happiness—it snuck up on me every time I saw Edward.” Readers will savor their every encounter and turn each page wishing they could have been there.
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