When a novel can wheedle your emotions from one end of the spectrum to the other, you know that it is a piece of work to be esteemed.

Although everyone has struggles and makes poor decisions a one time or another in life, we get a glimpse of humanity wrapped up in forgiveness as we go from having a putrid taste for a special person in Eva’s life, to finding sweet sorrow for this character in the end. By the time I finished reading this novel, I wanted to be a character in one of the chapters in her life. Eva, has a tragic back story that she overcomes and has you and everyone around her admiring her for her strengthen, ambition, confidence and general giftedness. We get to go through the lives of different characters who have been stirred by the heroine, Eva Thorvald. Even though, I found myself wanting to read more about the food, like a craving for a sweet dessert after a nice dinner out, I did notice that with each chapter I became more and more engaged. All of this is done throughout this beautifully written story of life’s unexpected turns and the masterfulness of resiliency. Ryan Stradal, vividly describes not only the visual experience of enticing dishes, but also the thoughts and emotions expressed when creating and tasting these plates. Without noticing I learned about Walleye fish, Hot Peppers, Sweet Corn and some fun foods, such as the “Resurrection Rolls.” Author, J. When I first picked up this book, “Kitchens of the Great Midwest,” I thought it was going to be heavy on midwestern food culture, but it delicately introduced some of the well-known foods of that region.

Kitchens of the great midwest