We had the extreme pleasure of hosting Jael McHenry and her novel, The Kitchen Daughter, for an author event with a brief reading, Q&A, and book signing. It was delightful!
Those of you who’ve had the opportunity to read The Kitchen Daughter will recognize the opening chapter, from which Jael read. In this section, Ginny, the shy 26-year-old protagonist, escapes from the crowd of mourners in her home by retreating to the kitchen, a room in which she has always found comfort. Ginny is calmed by the routine of cooking, and reaches for a familiar recipe – her Nonna’s “best ribollita” or bread soup. The audience hung on Jael’s every word as she read the rhythm of Ginny’s work – crunching garlic, chopping onions, sizzling them in oil, opening and draining cans of beans, crushing canned tomatoes, and cubing bread.
As Ginny inhales the scent of ribollita, she takes in more than the familiar spicy and creamy flavors; out of the corner of her eye, Ginny notices Nonna, her grandmother who passed away two decades earlier!
After a brief conversation between Ginny and Nonna (or Nonna’s ghost?), the apparition vanishes. Ginny is left to puzzle out a solution to some major changes in her life, with the help of deceased family and friends she conjures from her cookbooks.
The novel is a sensitive look at a woman for whom “coming of age” comes later than it does to most. Ginny is painfully uncomfortable around others; her love of routines implies that she may have Asperger’s syndrome. During the Q&A, Jael addressed the question of Ginny’s diagnosis – she vetted the book with early readers who were familiar with Asperger’s (professionals and those who have a family member on the spectrum of autism). The result is a portrait of a plausible manifestation of Asperger’s syndrome … with the ghost story lending support to Ginny’s growing coping skills.
Each chapter of the novel opens with a recipe, created by the author, and integrated into the storyline of The Kitchen Daughter. Here, with the permission of Jael McHenry, is the recipe for “Midnight Cry Brownies,” which I baked and served at the event. The rich chocolate and the salty surprise are a terrific combination. Oh, and since they were baked in an 8-inch-square pan, I was able to invert the pan and cut them with single strokes of a 12-inch bread knife – these were the neatest (least raggedy) brownies I’ve ever served!
Midnight Cry Brownies
- Ingredients:
- 1 stick butter
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1 Tbsp espresso powder
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp coarse sale
- Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350′ F
- Melt butter & stir in cocoa & espresso powder thoroughly
- Let cool slightly
- In a larger bowl, beat eggs until pale yellow, then add sugar & continue to beat
- Add butter mixture to bowl
- Stir in vanilla & flour until just combined
- Pour into 8×8″ glass pan lined with lightly oiled foil
- Sprinkle salt on top
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until toothpick in center comes out clean
Head over to Beth Fish Reads, the host of these Weekend Cooking posts. She invites everyone to join – if your post is even vaguely foodie related (cookbook review, novel with a food excerpt, a recipe, food-themed movie thoughts), link up to her weekly feature.
[...] Weekend Cooking: Jael McHenry’s *Midnight Cry Brownies* [...]
I didn’t realize that this had a protagonist with possible Aspergers. Interesting! Thanks for sharing this post. I hate cooking but love reading about it. ;O)
How funny — this book is the subject of my weekend cooking post this week too
I loved the book, but have yet to make any of the recipes. How nice that you got to host the author!
Wow, kudos on the non-raggedyness of the brownies! Very impressive!
This is on my tbr list. Think I’ll make the brownies and then read the book soon – loooove brownies!
wow, I would love to have been at that Q&A..loved that book.
But I remember the salt/sweet brownies…and I am not sure that I think of them.
I loved Jael’s novel … wonderful, wonderful story. Those brownies look divine! Plus, I can easily substitute the flour and make them gluten-free.
Those are beautiful brownies! This book was the focus of my Weekend Cooking post, too! Did you know that it’s the BookClubSandwich selection this week? There’s a Mister Linky on this post at Estella’s Revenge if you want to be part of it:
http://estellasrevenge.blogspot.com/2011/07/bookclubsandwich-kitchen-daughter.html
This sounds like a wonderful event! Jael is wonderful!
Yum! That looks like a great brownie recipe and a fun book. I just had some kind of sea salt brownie the other day and it was good.
Rose City Reader
I haven’t read this book yet but I have it on my TBR list. Still, this post about The Kitchen Daughter, more than any other review, has convinced me that this is a compelling story about a fascinating and complex young woman, Ginny. I know I don’t want to miss her story. And the cooking scenes and recipes are a wonderful perk!
Thank you for this recipe, too. I love chocolate and salt together (chocolate-covered pretzels) so I have a feeling someone’s going to have to take these brownie’s away from me so I don’t eat them all at once!
wow this sounds delicious and I would love to pick up a copy of this book…maybe even just for the recipes! I’m going to have to add it to my list.
Oh I want to read this one so bad! Midnight Cry brownies sounds like something you should have in the freezer at all times – for just such an emergency!
This is a book that I am tremendously excited about, but haven’t read yet. I love that the food is so integral to the storyline and that it includes recipes as well. The story that this book tells is also very intriguing to me, particularly Ginny’s struggle with Asperger’s. How very cool that you treated the store to those wonderful sounding brownies, and that you got the chance to mingle with the author in person! I so wish I lived down the street from this bookstore, for lots of reasons!
Sounds like a fabulous event and wonderful looking brownies. Wow.
I’m so jealous that you got to meet McHenry and eat those divine brownies all at the same time!
These look like the kind of fudgy brownies I love! Thanks for sharing the recipe — sounds like a great event.
Thanks for sharing, I loved this book!!! I usually don’t like books with spirits and ghost like themes. But, this I did not mind. Loved it!
Haven’t tried the recipes but I did love the book.
Yum, those look delicious!
[...] if you’re curious about the recipes, Dawn (She is Too Fond of Books) made the “Midnight Cry Brownies” from the book and gave them a thumbs up. Works for [...]
I had this book on my TBR list. I was planning on borrowing it from the public library, but have since moved it to be Purchase Soon list. The story line is intriguing and the brownies sound delicious. I’m looking forward to checking out the other recipes.
I loved this book so much. I mean, I seriously loved everything about it – the itty bitty bit of magical realism, the ingredients, the lovable main character, and the people she interacts with. I cannot wait for more from this author.