The Immigrant's Table - Tapa blanda

Cooking. Poetry. "In this collection, Mary Lou Sanelli brings poems out of the ivory tower, straight to the family dinner table. No fast-food substitutes here, as the poet recreates a culture in which food preparation is a cherished ritual. Sanelli's clear-eyed, yet loving, awareness of family members' foibles, including her own, provides the reader with a menu that nourishes both body and spirit, a gourmet treat for the imagination" -- Madeline Defrees. THE IMMIGRANT'S TABLE is a beautiful collection of poems and recipes, an odd pairing until you read how Mary Lou Sanelli has managed it. In the hands of this adept poet, these seemingly disparate elements flow together like pasta sauce and garlic, like Chianti and cheese. Sanelli introduces her reader to her family in the most Italian of settings: around a table. And in introducing her family, she also reveals those long-held family recipes for a great meal as well as those for a strong and lively family.