Cherries in Winter: My Family's Recipe for Hope in Hard Times

Cherries in Winter

Take one out of work writer with a rich history of strong women in her past who've overcome difficult financial times and mix generously with frugal recipes from her mother and grandmother and you have Cherries in Winter.

Cherries in Winter is an easy read that's dotted with healthy, home cooked recipes that your Grandmother would be proud to serve and probably has. I loved the easy writing style and heart felt memories of growing up in the depression and other hard financial times that the author shares.

It's particularly comforting during the tough financial times we're facing now to know that other women are in the same boat we are. Suzan Coron writes in a way that lets you laugh at your situation and smile with the hope of a better tomorrow.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Icing On the Cake

This slim book, a mere two hundred pages, is filled with tasty slice of life vignettes, interspersed with delectable recipes. The story recounts snippets of the history of five generations of the writer's family. Recipes for life are found while recalling the lessons learned through cooking and sharing love through the generations. Good times and some very lean times are measured by the recipes, from the Great Depression to the current economic recession. This would make a great holiday gift for any member of the family.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A warm tale of hope and family, Cherries in Winter satisfies.

Punished by an economy in turmoil, the newly jobless Suzan Colón turns to a swath of family recipes, long buried in her basement, hoping to find some comfort in hard financial times. She quickly realizes how closely her current challenges parallel those of her predecessors.

Childhood tales seam pleasingly into past, future and recipes, a family history powered by food. Already highly relatable in content, Cherries in Winter feels like a worn-in leather armchair, its comfortable manner ensures a steady friendship with any reader who happens along. Her gracefully wrought 'lessons' of economy and cookery, things she learns from her mother and the sheath of unearthed recipes, brim with honest disclosures, both moving and humorous by turn.

And the recipes, country cooking polished by necessary economy, glow heartily as only family fare can, from Aunt Nettie's Clam Chowder to Nana's Lemon Meringue Pie, some reprinted in spidery, early-century handwriting and some typed in 50s secretarial style. What Colón uncovers as she endeavors to survive a layoff with grim prospects is that economizing has always been part of her family's heritage.

Her message? With strengthened family ties and a few good recipes, anything's possible after you've put up soup. A warm tale of hope and family, Cherries in Winter satisfies.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What a surprise of a little book!

This book is a delight from start to finish. Equating current economic times, and a newly unemployed woman's sudden fear of the future, with her grandmother's experiences going through the depression is, surprisingly, both refreshing and inspiring. There are old-time recipes in this little book that anyone of a certain age will remember and younger readers will find themselves wanting to try. For a small book, this one presents a whole range of interest from humor, to history, to an interest in uncovering your own personal families memories. What a charming book!

A Satisfying Hard Times Food Memoir

Growing up my mother used to occasionally make "Gravy Bread" which is comprised of day old bread scraps, bacon fat, flour, and water. While the ingredients sound terrible, the dish itself is quite tasty. This Depression era recipe was handed down from my great-grandmother to my grandmother to my mother to me. Many families have similar hardship recipes that have been passed down for generations.

When Suzan Colón, author of Cherries in Winter, is let go from her six figure publishing job she decides to "put up soup." According to Colón "to put up soup" means to do "whatever will sustain you through rough going until things get better." The phrase also literally means to make soup. When Colón decides to "put up soup" she reaches for her Nana's Depression era recipe file of cheap and hearty fare such as: Chicken Pie a la Mississippi; German Potato Salad; Aunt Nettie's Clam Chowder; Quick Apple Cake; Butter Cookies; and Beef Stew with Yeast Dumplings.

Colón discovers that her Nana's recipes fill more than just literal hunger, but also nourish the spirit. As Colón reflects,

"The recipes Nana wrote and saved offer more than directions for making comfort food that sustained my family for four generations. They're artifacts from times good and bad - not vague references, but proof that we've been through worse than this and have come out okay. And right now, that's something I need to know."

Each chapter begins with a recipe that Colón deftly weaves into a poignant lesson for weathering life's storms. Particularly touching is the chapter, "Fine Vases, Cherries in Winter, and Other Lifesaving Devices" in which Colón explains that poverty of the soul is far more crippling than a zero bank account balance. As Colón muses, the little extra spent when there isn't any extra is important because it reminds "us not to become miserly in spirit. We may be broke, but we're not poor."

Cherries in Winter is a literary hot bowl of chowder for a weary reader's soul.


Publisher: Doubleday (November 3, 2009), 224 pages
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

HOPEFUL AND HEARTWARMING

As many of us do, I well remember my grandparents talking about the Great Depression. Little did I dream that some day I might be having a similar experience, so I recall what they told me and the stories of how they coped. Thus, I feel an affinity for Suzan Colon and what she learned when she went down to the basement and found her grandmother's cookbook.

Matilda was her grandmother's name and she had left not only a collection of favorite recipes but also commentary, wise words from the past. At this point in her life Colon needed all the help she could get. It was 2008 and she'd just been laid off from her magazine editor's job in the downturn that left so many out of work. (She's now a contributing editor with O (the Oprah magazine).

Nonetheless, more than the tried and true recipes from Grandmother Matilda she found a chronicle of how her family had gotten through some very tough times. Thus, what we have in CHERRIES IN WINTER is not only menu suggestions but examples to buoy our spirits.

Hearing Colon read her story is a large plus as she brings a timbre and feeling to it which would be very hard for a professional narrator to duplicate. For those who are feeling a bit down, CHERRIES IN WINTER is a viable tonic.

- Gail Cooke

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