A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was a favorite book long before we moved to this fine city. Thanks to author Betty Smith's vividly descriptive prose, this coming-of-age story is the kind of book you curl up with and dive in, head first.
Young Francie Nolan is growing up in early 20th century Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and her family's struggles with poverty mean they make do with less, and go without. With a little ingenuity, scarcity can paired with plenty.
An excerpt below.
From A Tree Grows in Brooklyn:
The Nolans practically lived on that stale bread and what amazing things Katie could make from it! She'd take a loaf of stale bread, pour boiling water over it, work it up into a paste, flavor it with salt, pepper, thyme, minced onion and an egg (if eggs were cheap), and bake it in the oven. When it was good and brown, she made a sauce from half a cup of ketchup, two cups of boiling water, seasoning, a dash of strong coffee, thickened it with flour and poured it over the baked stuff. It was good, hot, tasty, and staying. What was left over, was sliced thin the next day and fried in hot bacon fat.
There's some good advice on stretching your food dollar, but mostly we love these vignettes for reminding us that simple pleasures can be as fine as luxurious ones.
Here's one more:
It was still early in the evening and the street lights had not yet come on. But already, the horse-radish lady was sitting in front of Hassler's grinding away at her pungent roots. Francie held out the cup that she had brought from home. The old mother filled it halfway up for two cents. Happy that the meat business was over, Francie bought two cents worth of soup greens from the green grocer's. She got an emasculated carrot, a droopy leaf of celery, a soft tomato and a fresh sprig of parsley. These would be boiled with the bone to make a rich soup with shreds of meat floating in it. Fat, homemade noodles would be added. This, with the seasoned marrow spread on bread, would make a good Sunday dinner.
Things to do with stale bread:
• Strata with Cipollini Onions and Arugula
• Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Simple Soup Recipes:
• Easy Green Minestrone
Image from Amazon.com.
Copyright © 2007 Apartment Therapy
I just began reading this for the first time on Tuesday, and I read those passages last night. I'm only six or seven chapters in, but am already thoroughly enjoying it.
Regarding food passages, I also like the passage about Francie's being able to enjoy the aroma of her coffee without having to drink it, and also the description of getting the freshly ground meat, with onion.
view wrtrmaus's profile
Ahhh, I love this book so much I named my food blog after it! But I'm Spanish, so it has a twist.
www.anolivetreegrows.blogspot.com
view Laura (murray hill)'s profile
i love how francie's mom lets her pour her coffee down the sink instead of drinkinging it in the morning to make her feel rich.
what a wonderful book that was.
view thinkingwoman's profile
One of my favorite books of all time--great to see it mentioned here.
view budino's profile
I read this when I was just a wee lass, and I remember writing in my diary that I didn't want to read another book anytime soon after finishing it (unusual for me) because I liked it so much that anything else would be a let-down. I always remember her father buying paper dickies because they couldn't afford a real shirt. Thanks for reminding me about this book... :)
view D. Humbird's profile
this was the first real novel that i read when i was young, and i loved it so much that i read it over and over again. those scenes with the chicory, the day-old pies, francie's candy shopping, and katie's creativity in the kitchen, stick with me to this day (every time i hear the word chicory i think of this book). thanks for posting those passages!
view bokeh's profile
The childhood book that always made my stomach growl was the "Little House on the Prairie" series. I once pestered my grandmother into giving me pound cake with molasses. My grandmother was right, I didn't like it but it was nice of her to let me try anyhow.
view Slim's profile
This, too, was one of my most favorite books growing up. Even though I've gotten rid of a lot of books (you can find me at the library at least twice a week instead), you would have to pry this old yellowed paperback from my hands.
view pidgeon92's profile