I attended 12 years of schools run by Benedictine nuns and priests and I am aware of their reputation for hospitality and love of being in the kitchen. I also grew up with a mother who was a fabulous baker and whose homemade breads were famous in our town. So when Reedy Press sent me these two books to read and review I was delighted to do it and am so happy to have discovered them. They are both wonderful. The first one is a delightful book for children and you might consider buying one of Fr. Garramone's cookbooks, too. You can read your child the book while the pizza bakes.
This charming book is written for children but it is hard for me to imagine an adult not loving it too. Brother Jerome is the baker in the Monastery of St. Michael and they need to make some money. The Abbott has decided that a good way to do that would be to open a bakery featuring Brother Jerome's delicious breads, muffins and pastries. It is up to Brother Jerome's guardian angel, Gus, to see that he gets to work on time.
On the first day Brother Jerome bakes all kinds of goodies and when he opens the door to the public a bunch of angels fly in and tell him that angels love to hang out in bakeries because they smell the closest to what it smells like in heaven (I loved that!). But no customers come. Brother Jerome gets discouraged but Gus and the angels encourage him to keep trying. For several days he bakes his heart out with no customers until finally, with a little angelic intervention, people discover his wonderful treats and the bakery thrives.
The book is illustrated by Richard Bernal and the drawings are adorable in warm, soft colors and lovely, amusing detail. The moral of the story, of course, is to just keep giving whatever you do your best effort and eventually you will succeed (it helps if you have angels working for you).
The book's author, Fr. Garramone, has a cooking show on PBS called Breaking Bread and is the author of a couple cookbooks, including....
I wound up reading the whole thing in one sitting. I loved his little stories about monastic life and his recipes sound delicious – it is easy to understand his authority for writing Brother Jerome and the Angels in the Bakery. Fr. Garramone gives two basic crust recipes but gives lots and lots of tips for variations and substitutes. But it is his recipe for the sauce and toppings that made my mouth water. His “8-Minute Pizza Sauce” recipe looks delicious and is just the sort of easy yet innovative sauce that I love.
The book reminded me of another of my favorite cookbooks, Brother (now Father) Rick Curry, S.J.'s The Secret of Jesuit Breadmaking. Like that book, Fr. Garramone's book is filled with little snippets of insight into the life he and his fellow monks lead and, as I read, I admit I had mental pictures of their Thursday night pizza parties (they have them on Thursday nights instead of the traditional Friday because on Fridays they fast.)
I'm a great fan of pizza and this looks like a book that will get a lot of use. Here is another blog entry about this book with recipes!
Thanks for reading.
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