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What role do the recipes and food shared in the Briar Club play among the women and within the story? Did any recipe stand out for you? What dish of your own would you bring to a Briar Club meeting?
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“Maybe that was the other side effect of having survived starvation: it left you wanting to feed people, feed everyone, feed them and fix them. She [Grace] hadn’t even realized it was what she was craving, back when she walked into a houseful of people sho had nothing in common but an address, but who all needed feeding and fixing.”
It’s so much easier to get strangers to open up and talk with each other when they are participating in some kind of activity vs sitting around a room looking at each other. The act of gathering together to eat opens doorways to conversations. We talk about how recipes are prepared, we talk about who the recipe is from. It gives each of the residents a way to begin fixing each other while at the same time fixing themselves. Food not only nourishes the body but it nourishes friendships as people gather around the table and share life giving sustenance. Food was the invitation that brought the otherwise isolated inhabitants of the Briarwood House together. It was the thread that stitched together the patches representing each person into a warm and comforting quilt of friendship.
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I think the food shared between the women made them into a family and provided food to some residents who couldn’t afford it. The camaraderie and the food gave the residents something to look forward to and led to a complete Thanksgiving meal which was unfortunately interrupted. No one particular recipe stood out for me, except for the culinary pornography of Arlene’s candle salad. That certainly provided a laugh. But it was the instruction of how to eat the recipe and what music should accompany it that I thought was more important. The music for Pete’s Swedish Meatballs was “I Wanna Be Loved;” love was definitely missing in Pete’s life since his father left. Each recipe’s music illuminates something about a character’s life at that particular moment–an emotion or a need.
When I was much younger, I loved to bake. So, I would bring one of three cheesecakes to a Briar Club meeting: German Chocolate Cheesecake, Chocolate Malt Cheesecake or Triple Layer Toffee Cheesecake which has a vanilla layer with incorporated chopped Heath bars sandwiched between a chocolate layer and a vanilla layer.
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Having never eaten gumbo, Claude’s recipe stood out for me as one I’d like to try as did Grace’s layered honey cake (Medovik). Food definitely brought the strangers together. As some were on low income (like Reka), having free food was no doubt enticing, as was the chance to socialize, especially for Fliss.
I agree with Libby that having a meal together helps “break the ice” among strangers and also within family gatherings too! And Arlene’s salad made me laugh too, Nancy. Poor Arlene can’t do anything right.
If I were to bring a dish to the gathering I think I’d bring something simple and not too expensive (mindful of the ingredients from the 1950s). So my mum’s Dutch apple pie recipe – simple and delicious.
Mum’s Dutch apple pie
1 1/2 cup flour
salt pinch
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 egg
cinnamon
lemon peel
Apples (best with granny smiths or hard apples; use about 3 apples; exact number depends on the size of the apples and how much you want the crust covering)Slice and peel apples. Add sliced apples in bowl and add cinnamon to coat, then add some grated lemon peel. Raisins optional.
In a large bowl put hard butter and beat with blender or dough blender. Add sugar, and then 1/2 of the beaten egg.
In separate bowl, mix flour and salt. Then add to butter mix and blend. The mix should get harder, but be soft in texture. If sticky use a bit more flour. I kneed the mix by hand (but only for a minute or two, at the end, not more). If you choose to use the dough blender then you’re mixing it completely by hand. Texture should be soft/smooth but firm. Roll into ball.
Get baking tray (square or round). Grease bottom and sides of tray with butter. Use 3/4 of the dough and press into bottom of tray. Keep it thick (don’t make too thin.) You can roll out the dough or use fingers to spread it out. But you don’t have to cut the edges or make too pretty.
Put apples into bake tray so covering dough. I like to heap the apple slices up.
Roll out and cut the remaining dough into flat strips and criss-cross the pieces on top. For this I do use roller. Wipe the remaining egg mix on top.
Bake for approx 45-50 min on 350. When a fork can go into the pie and slide out easily and dough has turned nice and golden brown, it’s ready.
Sprinkle icing sugar on top (optional).
Refrigerate to keep fresh and tasty. Pie nice hot or cold.
And here’s a recipe I found for Medovik. Quite a nice looking cake.
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