"Of all the things our immigrant mothers carried with them to the rollicking hills of middle America, three things withstood the pressures of time and assimilation: faith in One True God, hope for better things, and love of butter . . . May God be your Rock the rest of your days, and butter be your joy."
Having little knowledge about her family roots, Nikki Werner drives miles to discover them after concluding that her faith, her hope, and her love are essentially decimated. Landing on the front stoop of her Uncle Wes' Missouri farmhouse, she seeks refuge within a place that she barely recalls from her childhood, but the memories that she does have are saturated with fondness. A short term escape becomes a summer of restoration, both for an old home place and a young woman's relationships with the people who mean (and could mean) the most . . . for Nikki Werner begins to cook, using time tested techniques from "the divine proverb of streusel".
"You can either look at what you don't have and yearn, or you can look at what you do have and give thanks . . . 'Better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Proverbs 15:16'"
This entire story is snugly wrapped in the wisdom of a life well lived, penned by Nikki's grandmother as she passes along her love of cooking and philosophy of life in the form of her recipes. It's one of the most unique books that you will ever read, and possibly one of the most convicting . . . because someone in your life may need help "doing the next thing"; perhaps it's you. And maybe, just maybe we can each accept the challenge "to be the image of God" for someone else. Starting with the stories.
"Stories are the universal heart language. They bring together what is scattered."
*I purchased this book and was under no obligation to provide a positive review.
BackCover Blurb:
Shaken
by her parents' divorce and discouraged by the growing chasm between
herself and her serious boyfriend, Nikki Werner seeks solace at her
uncle's farm in a small Missouri hamlet. She'll spend the summer there,
picking up the pieces of her shattered present so she can plan a better
future. But what awaits her at the ancestral farm is a past she barely
knows.
Among her late grandmother's belongings, Nikki finds an
old notebook filled with handwritten German recipes and wise sayings
pulled from the book of Proverbs. With each recipe she makes, she
invites locals to the family table to hear their stories about the
town's history, her ancestors--and her estranged father.
What
started as a cathartic way to connect to her heritage soon becomes the
means through which she learns how the women before her endured--with
the help of their cooking prowess. Nikki realizes how delicious streusel
with a healthy dollop of faith can serve as a guide to heal wounds of
the past.
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