Quote I really liked, “Now and again he paused, a venerable, wheezing monument, and the audience could not have told whether he was in pain, asleep, swimming, about to spawn, or merely taking a breath” (p 49). It is strange how the trauma of events in childhood can inform decisions in adulthood without us knowing how or why. There were a lot of unexpected aha moments while reading Blue Plate. Another similarity was when she shared that she salivated at the thought of the breakfasts in Little House on the Prairie. I can remember feeling exactly like her when, at seven years old, the best present in the world was to have a space, separate from the house, in which to hide from the world a place to call my own. The thread of food is woven in and out of Christensen’s story, sometimes as a integral character and other times as supporting cast, pivotal moments are remembered as meals. Childhood delicacies like soft boiled eggs and Tapioca pudding could bring author Kate Christensen back to six years old, much the same way a steaming hot bowl of Cream of Wheat with melting swirls of butter and sparkling brown sugar still can for me in my middle age.

The tongue can hold memories longer than the heart sometimes even longer than the mind.

I think I have said it before, but I will say it again. Reason read: this was a gift from my sister. Blue Plate Special: an Autobiography of My Appetites.

Blue plate special by kate christensen