School of Essential Ingredients

The first book by author Erica Bauermeister is essentially an ode to food. In The School of Essential Ingredients we first meet Lillian, who owns a restaurant and teaches a cooking class to a small group from time to time. This story covers lives of the students and how the process of the cooking class takes them from broken and lost to healing through food. For this book to work for you, you have to buy into the notion that making food can heal broken hearts and lives. If that isn't a leap for you, then this is a sweet book with some great foodie scenes. The characters were interesting (if a little too good) and the story cut between each class and their back stories. This is a sweet cozy book that is both comforting and engaging without being too challenging. The obvious related read to this one would be Like Water for Chocolate, but only when it comes to food and the soul. While the subjects are different and the friendships forged aren't solely between women, the tone and feel of this book is more closely related to other books that focus on a groups such as Friday Night Knitting Club, The Jane Austen Book Club and How to Make an American Quilt.