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Midnight Chicken: & Other Recipes Worth Living For
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Food & Cookbooks (2019)Recipes that reveal the life-changing happiness of cooking
There are lots of ways to start a story, but this one begins with a chicken.
Midnight Chicken (& Other Recipes Worth Living For) is a cookbook. Or, at least, you'll flick through these pages and find recipes so inviting that you'll head straight for the kitchen: roast garlic and tomato soup, uplifting chilli-lemon spaghetti, charred leek lasagne, squash skillet pie, spicy fish finger sandwiches or burnt-butter brownies. It's the kind of cooking you can do a little bit drunk. It's the kind of cooking that is probably better if you've got a bottle of wine open, and a hunk of bread to mop up the sauce.
But if you sit down with this book and a cup of tea (or that glass of wine), you'll also discover that it's an annotated list of things worth living for: a manifesto of moments worth living for. Because there was a time when, for Ella Risbridger, the world had become overwhelming. Sounds were too loud, colours were too bright, everyone moved too fast. One night she found herself lying on her kitchen floor, wondering if she would ever get up - and it was the thought of a chicken, of roasting it, and of eating it, that got her to her feet, and made her want to be alive.
This is a cookbook to make you fall in love with the world again
There are lots of ways to start a story, but this one begins with a chicken.
Midnight Chicken (& Other Recipes Worth Living For) is a cookbook. Or, at least, you'll flick through these pages and find recipes so inviting that you'll head straight for the kitchen: roast garlic and tomato soup, uplifting chilli-lemon spaghetti, charred leek lasagne, squash skillet pie, spicy fish finger sandwiches or burnt-butter brownies. It's the kind of cooking you can do a little bit drunk. It's the kind of cooking that is probably better if you've got a bottle of wine open, and a hunk of bread to mop up the sauce.
But if you sit down with this book and a cup of tea (or that glass of wine), you'll also discover that it's an annotated list of things worth living for: a manifesto of moments worth living for. Because there was a time when, for Ella Risbridger, the world had become overwhelming. Sounds were too loud, colours were too bright, everyone moved too fast. One night she found herself lying on her kitchen floor, wondering if she would ever get up - and it was the thought of a chicken, of roasting it, and of eating it, that got her to her feet, and made her want to be alive.
This is a cookbook to make you fall in love with the world again
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 10, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 334 reviews
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January 29, 2019Ever cry while reading a cookbook? No? Okay well this will probably change that. She talks honestly and openly about grieving and mental health and struggling and wants to make cooking accessible to all.
Can’t speak to the quality of the recipes as I haven’t made any but they also seem good and Risbridger is a comforting cheerleader along the way. She makes me want to cook even though I’m much more of a baker (she says at some point that baking is about following rules which is isn’t good at but for me baking is science and I love it and the precision)
Anyway I’m having emotions about a cookbook bye
Can’t speak to the quality of the recipes as I haven’t made any but they also seem good and Risbridger is a comforting cheerleader along the way. She makes me want to cook even though I’m much more of a baker (she says at some point that baking is about following rules which is isn’t good at but for me baking is science and I love it and the precision)
Anyway I’m having emotions about a cookbook bye
September 13, 2019
A vividly water-colored poetic autobiographical cookbook, quivering with playfulness and salty with grief (read all the way to the end). I'm reluctant to return it to the library and putting it on my wish list. The artwork inspired me to shove things out of my cabinets and try to make my kitchen as beautiful and functional as the pictures. As deeply personal as wearing someone's robe and drinking out of their mug, plus a scrumptious bibliography that makes you want more.
December 11, 2020
4☆ A Delightfully Heart Warming Cookbook
Wow what a delightful cookbook.
Not only does it contain some delicious recipes it has a storytelling flavour to it as Risbridger takes the reader on a journey of her personal connections to the recipes. Which was a joy to Read!
All the recipes are measured in Grams, ml, and spoon measures and uses UK ingredients. So a conversion maybe needed for those outside the UK.
The recipes are very well written and has much detail.
However my only gripe is there is no pictures to see what the food looks like, which is a bit of a bug bear for me. Especially if you have never heard of the recipes before of are new to the ingredients it helps to have a visual aid.
The chapters are broken up into
* In the Kitchen... gives an insight into store cupboard ingredients, freezer, kitchen utensils
* Breakfast... recipes
* Soups and Bread... recipes
* Picnics and Pack Ups... recipes
* Store cupboard Suppers & Midnight Feasts... recipes
* Weekend Cooking....recipes
* Sweet Things....recipes
* Taking Stock
So as you can see a variety of chapters.
Here are a few Examples of what you can expect inside.....
* Drop scones, * Bagels
* AGA Mama’s Milk Bread,
* Tipsy Amaretto Squash Soup,
* Danny the Champion of the Pie,
* Wildly Easy Hummus, * Danish Crackers,
* Emergency Risotto, * Needs Using Up Minestrone, * Ciao Bella Tomato Sauce (for Pizza & Pasta), * Pea Parmesan Pasta, * Marmite Spaghetti, * Uplifting Chilli & Lemon Spaghetti, * Goat’s Cheese Puff with Salsa,
* Stuck in a Bookshop Salmon & Sticky Rice, * Saturday Afternoon Charred Leek Lasagne, * How to Make Pasta, *
* Squash Skillet Pie,
* Et Cetera Apple Pie, * Reading in the Rafters Parkin, * Whiskey & Rye Blondies, * Whipped Goat’s Cheese & Ginger Nut Creams, * Salted Caramel Brown Butter Brownies, * Rhubarb & Ginger Ripple Ice Cream *
Overall this is a lovely heartwarming cookbook and would make a special gift for foodie lovers.
Wow what a delightful cookbook.
Not only does it contain some delicious recipes it has a storytelling flavour to it as Risbridger takes the reader on a journey of her personal connections to the recipes. Which was a joy to Read!
All the recipes are measured in Grams, ml, and spoon measures and uses UK ingredients. So a conversion maybe needed for those outside the UK.
The recipes are very well written and has much detail.
However my only gripe is there is no pictures to see what the food looks like, which is a bit of a bug bear for me. Especially if you have never heard of the recipes before of are new to the ingredients it helps to have a visual aid.
The chapters are broken up into
* In the Kitchen... gives an insight into store cupboard ingredients, freezer, kitchen utensils
* Breakfast... recipes
* Soups and Bread... recipes
* Picnics and Pack Ups... recipes
* Store cupboard Suppers & Midnight Feasts... recipes
* Weekend Cooking....recipes
* Sweet Things....recipes
* Taking Stock
So as you can see a variety of chapters.
Here are a few Examples of what you can expect inside.....
* Drop scones, * Bagels
* AGA Mama’s Milk Bread,
* Tipsy Amaretto Squash Soup,
* Danny the Champion of the Pie,
* Wildly Easy Hummus, * Danish Crackers,
* Emergency Risotto, * Needs Using Up Minestrone, * Ciao Bella Tomato Sauce (for Pizza & Pasta), * Pea Parmesan Pasta, * Marmite Spaghetti, * Uplifting Chilli & Lemon Spaghetti, * Goat’s Cheese Puff with Salsa,
* Stuck in a Bookshop Salmon & Sticky Rice, * Saturday Afternoon Charred Leek Lasagne, * How to Make Pasta, *
* Squash Skillet Pie,
* Et Cetera Apple Pie, * Reading in the Rafters Parkin, * Whiskey & Rye Blondies, * Whipped Goat’s Cheese & Ginger Nut Creams, * Salted Caramel Brown Butter Brownies, * Rhubarb & Ginger Ripple Ice Cream *
Overall this is a lovely heartwarming cookbook and would make a special gift for foodie lovers.
January 10, 2019
Yes I read a cookbook and cried about it.
April 4, 2021
Reread 1: it's only been two months since the first read but I desperately needed to dip back into this. Adore this so much 💖
This book wins the award for first time I've cried while reading a cookbook!
This book wins the award for first time I've cried while reading a cookbook!
August 15, 2021
Midnight Chicken (& other recipes worth living for) by Ella Risbridger is quite frankly, the EPITOME, of comfort reading.
Throughout her book, Ella offers up a steady course of deeply personal anecdotes alongside some pretty delish and tasty sounding (minus the meaty ones for me) recipes. Each born of nostalgia, love and loss.
I loved how the books focus was very much on the homeliness and redemptive affects that come from food; the cooking, eating and sharing. How food can heavily influence and shape a life, and how the aromas and process of cooking can conjure, connect and even transport you back to a place, person or memory.
Sure the book borders on being rather twee and/or trite in its messaging at times, but personally, I’m here for it and could honestly have seconds of the stuff!
“Slice your bread thickly. Spread it with butter. Spoon over some warm jam, then sandwich together. Wrap in a napkin, shove in a pocket and go.”
4 stars
Throughout her book, Ella offers up a steady course of deeply personal anecdotes alongside some pretty delish and tasty sounding (minus the meaty ones for me) recipes. Each born of nostalgia, love and loss.
I loved how the books focus was very much on the homeliness and redemptive affects that come from food; the cooking, eating and sharing. How food can heavily influence and shape a life, and how the aromas and process of cooking can conjure, connect and even transport you back to a place, person or memory.
Sure the book borders on being rather twee and/or trite in its messaging at times, but personally, I’m here for it and could honestly have seconds of the stuff!
“Slice your bread thickly. Spread it with butter. Spoon over some warm jam, then sandwich together. Wrap in a napkin, shove in a pocket and go.”
4 stars
February 11, 2024
was going to be a 3.5 but the afterword and acknowledgements really got me
ty for the gift many years ago alys !!
ty for the gift many years ago alys !!
June 23, 2019
3.5, but just in terms of its general existence and what it represents, it's something much greater. This is because of the story she tells in the acknowledgments/I learned by googling that her partner, referenced lovingly throughout, passed away and the thought that all of this involved so much of him and the essence of their lives and preserving the memory of that broke me a little. Ok a lot. I have to see how I feel about this over time, it might get bumped up in my mind eventually.
But the story and sentimentality of that aside, I was disappointed. I read an NPR interview and got so excited for this and sensed shades of Laurie Colwin all over it and the more I read I realized the anticipated magic wasn't happening. I think it's mainly that my tastes are just pretty different -- she promises you'll learn to love anchovies and sardines with these recipes but I know myself too well and it's not happening. If this particular door is still open for you, go forth bravely. They can be omitted from some of the recipes, as can olives, which I'm always dismayed to see are involved in anything, but these omissions and all the other little adjustments I was mentally making mean that it's kind of taking the heart out of much of it.
On the other hand, the Midnight Chicken recipe itself sounds amazing enough for me to try cooking a whole chicken for the first time, and some things like a tomato garlic soup, "trashy ginger beer chicken", soy-lime salmon and sticky rice, "uplifting chili and lemon spaghetti", and green harissa sound fantastic. But I felt like I was wading through a ton of baking and breadmaking and sort of involved savory pastry-type things to get there. And there's an apology in the desserts section about not being big on sweets which I thought was taking the piss (am I using that right?) because there's SO much sweet stuff throughout non-dessert recipes, from amaretto in soup to pomegranate molasses in salad to blackberries on pizza (with tomato sauce). If these things sound good to you and your general tastes, you'll love this; acquire immediately.
I enjoyed some of the stories but wished there were more in general (this is a traditional cookbook, not a Colwin-style memoir in essays with recipes), the watercolors are splendid, and her spirit is really something. I'm excited to try the recipes I bookmarked and I loved the overarching message of all these little, happy, reassuring moments adding up to a life worth living. That was absolutely lovely and worthwhile and something I'll be keeping in mind on bad days. I'd say just check the recipes first as there's a specific style to them I wasn't expecting.
But the story and sentimentality of that aside, I was disappointed. I read an NPR interview and got so excited for this and sensed shades of Laurie Colwin all over it and the more I read I realized the anticipated magic wasn't happening. I think it's mainly that my tastes are just pretty different -- she promises you'll learn to love anchovies and sardines with these recipes but I know myself too well and it's not happening. If this particular door is still open for you, go forth bravely. They can be omitted from some of the recipes, as can olives, which I'm always dismayed to see are involved in anything, but these omissions and all the other little adjustments I was mentally making mean that it's kind of taking the heart out of much of it.
On the other hand, the Midnight Chicken recipe itself sounds amazing enough for me to try cooking a whole chicken for the first time, and some things like a tomato garlic soup, "trashy ginger beer chicken", soy-lime salmon and sticky rice, "uplifting chili and lemon spaghetti", and green harissa sound fantastic. But I felt like I was wading through a ton of baking and breadmaking and sort of involved savory pastry-type things to get there. And there's an apology in the desserts section about not being big on sweets which I thought was taking the piss (am I using that right?) because there's SO much sweet stuff throughout non-dessert recipes, from amaretto in soup to pomegranate molasses in salad to blackberries on pizza (with tomato sauce). If these things sound good to you and your general tastes, you'll love this; acquire immediately.
I enjoyed some of the stories but wished there were more in general (this is a traditional cookbook, not a Colwin-style memoir in essays with recipes), the watercolors are splendid, and her spirit is really something. I'm excited to try the recipes I bookmarked and I loved the overarching message of all these little, happy, reassuring moments adding up to a life worth living. That was absolutely lovely and worthwhile and something I'll be keeping in mind on bad days. I'd say just check the recipes first as there's a specific style to them I wasn't expecting.
November 11, 2019
This is a glorious, breathtaking, heartbreaking book. The writing is stunning and soul searing. I’ve never cried over a cookbook before and, for the first time, am not complaining about the lack of photos of the recipes.
However.
Being an American who never quite caught on to the whole metric system, I am, sadly, knocking off a star. This is not the fault of the author. Oh no. I place blame solely on the editor/publisher here. This would have been a 5 star beauty if not for the idiot editor who didn’t realize that metrically averse American readers would be having a devil of a time with conversions.
Oh, and all the temperatures are in celsius. Another bummer, but lumped in with the above aforementioned star subtraction. Maybe future editions will be more US Customary Units friendly. I do hope so because I’d like to be able to cook some of these recipes without having to do a metric crap ton of conversions (you see what I did there).
However.
Being an American who never quite caught on to the whole metric system, I am, sadly, knocking off a star. This is not the fault of the author. Oh no. I place blame solely on the editor/publisher here. This would have been a 5 star beauty if not for the idiot editor who didn’t realize that metrically averse American readers would be having a devil of a time with conversions.
Oh, and all the temperatures are in celsius. Another bummer, but lumped in with the above aforementioned star subtraction. Maybe future editions will be more US Customary Units friendly. I do hope so because I’d like to be able to cook some of these recipes without having to do a metric crap ton of conversions (you see what I did there).
December 28, 2019
The writing... just know that it contains multiple references to the Famous Five and multiple uses of the phrase “like billy-o”. The preludes to recipes and chapters are great, lovely insights that aren’t like the blog posts with acres of toss when all you want is a salad dressing recipe - you actually want to read them. In fact I personally would have liked more! If the author is comfortable, a full memoir would be great, as often these snippets are so whimsical as to be lightly unreal (I mean, see Wicked Stepmother Black Bread).
Overall, it was good, and I liked it. But I wanted either more, or less. (This is purely regarding it as a book as I’ve yet try any recipes, though the instructions are clear.)
Overall, it was good, and I liked it. But I wanted either more, or less. (This is purely regarding it as a book as I’ve yet try any recipes, though the instructions are clear.)
January 28, 2019
Some books make you feel that everything will be fine with this world. This book was one such, part-memoir, part-cookbook. It made me cry, it made me laugh, it made me nostalgic. Risbridger has a flair with writing about life which a lot of food writers seem to lack. And oh the acknowledgments killed me. I sat and howled through them. It really was a book I couldn't stop reading but at the same time never wanted it to finish.
August 30, 2019
This book is my ideal book, a book with stories about food, life, feelings, alongside deliciously simple recipes. I loved it.
September 2, 2021
This was beautiful and hilarious and heartbreaking and I never expected that from a cookbook
December 31, 2018
This is a real treasure of a find on NetGalley. I’ve requested several recipe books over the years and found some wonderful new recipes to try. This book just feels as though one of your friends is sharing her favourite recipes with you. She shares memories, tough times and her recipes become stories. It’s a whole culinary experience making you want to bookmark recipes to try. I would love to get a paper copy of this one for my kitchen bookshelf and add lots of post it notes to the ones I want to try for my new recipe challenge in the new year.
September 28, 2022
Warm en lief. Geschikt voor als je eigenlijk niet echt goed bent in koken, dus perfect voor mij.
January 22, 2022
I LOVED THIS BOOK and stayed up late reading it, have got giant bags for proof. It’s so good, well written AND life affirming, packed with so much of the authors life as well as her recipes. However, it is also bloody heartbreaking so a bit of a bittersweet one. Definitely going to be a favourite for me.
January 9, 2021
"You deserve to have a nice supper and be looked after."
January 9, 2023
“...there’s always someone to eat it: someone dropping by to pick up a book, or borrow a book; someone coming with a guitar to sing; someone who just had a rough day and wanted to come and be comforted. ‘Come and be loved,’ I find myself saying, to my friends, when they are sad, and what I mean is, ‘Come and be fed.’
Ella Risbridger is a frequent guest in my favorite podcast 'Sentimental Garbage', and I’ve spent a lot of evenings cooking while listening to her and Caroline O’Donoghue talk about books, and movies, and sisters—it almost feels like I'm cooking with friends. And that’s what reading this book feels like as well. A Friday night in the kitchen with your best friends, cooking something slow and delicious, with a glass of wine in your hand, and your favorite songs playing in the background.
This book will make you fall in love—with food, with cooking, with love, with life. And most importantly, it’ll teach you how to cook some fairly easy, but absolutely amazing meals that you’ll also fall head over heels in love with. This was a truly heart-warming, life-affirming read—as unpretentious and comforting as hot soup, with fresh bread on a cold, winter night. I just adored it.
Ella Risbridger is a frequent guest in my favorite podcast 'Sentimental Garbage', and I’ve spent a lot of evenings cooking while listening to her and Caroline O’Donoghue talk about books, and movies, and sisters—it almost feels like I'm cooking with friends. And that’s what reading this book feels like as well. A Friday night in the kitchen with your best friends, cooking something slow and delicious, with a glass of wine in your hand, and your favorite songs playing in the background.
This book will make you fall in love—with food, with cooking, with love, with life. And most importantly, it’ll teach you how to cook some fairly easy, but absolutely amazing meals that you’ll also fall head over heels in love with. This was a truly heart-warming, life-affirming read—as unpretentious and comforting as hot soup, with fresh bread on a cold, winter night. I just adored it.
May 22, 2022
I love the tone and the voice of this cookbook.
Ella Risbridger may as well be sitting in your kitchen, having a cup of tea, while discussing these recipes. If you’ve never considered food and cooking healing - emotionally, mentally, and physically healing - (I do), I am convinced you will leave this book believing that going forward.
I finished the last pages on a very stormy Saturday night with a cup of tea next to me. It’s a warm and comforting book and this was a perfect way to finish the last few pages.
I’ve had a tough year. Very tough. I’ve missed cooking in my kitchen, oh so much. And this book makes me want to cook. The recipes are comfort foods. And as Elsa describes the process and the stories behind the recipes, she makes them attainable and builds confidence in the reader. You can make these foods, even when you’re pushing through a valley.
Ella Risbridger may as well be sitting in your kitchen, having a cup of tea, while discussing these recipes. If you’ve never considered food and cooking healing - emotionally, mentally, and physically healing - (I do), I am convinced you will leave this book believing that going forward.
I finished the last pages on a very stormy Saturday night with a cup of tea next to me. It’s a warm and comforting book and this was a perfect way to finish the last few pages.
I’ve had a tough year. Very tough. I’ve missed cooking in my kitchen, oh so much. And this book makes me want to cook. The recipes are comfort foods. And as Elsa describes the process and the stories behind the recipes, she makes them attainable and builds confidence in the reader. You can make these foods, even when you’re pushing through a valley.
May 16, 2024
Здесь сборник рецептов в том виде, на который всегда жалуются в сети - каждый с подводкой из воспоминаний и ассоциаций автора, но тут оно неожиданно работает. Автор переживает тяжёлые жизненные события и утраты, опираясь на любовь к еде как любовь к жизни. Как-то так светло-грустно написано, что меня этой смесью ностальгии и кулинарии закинуло прямо в детство, в летние каникулы у бабушки, когда они с мамой что-нибудь добывают и готовят, а я слоняюсь с ними по рынку, пытаюсь помогать на кухне, а потом развлекаюсь, листая их сборники рецептов. Ничего не понятно, но всё очень заманчиво. Что ж, последнее не особо изменилось, готовить я так почти и не научилась, почти все эти рецепты для меня сложноваты, но читать было по-прежнему увлекательно. Так что про её основную функцию сказать ничего не могу, но за ностальгию - спасибо автору.
July 23, 2024
11/10 so so beautiful!
As with almost all cookbooks, not all the recipes were to my liking however the way they were written and illustrated made me want to think of giving them a try! The metaphors and little peaks into the authors life were so beautifully written. This book is so much more than a simple cookbook, I feel like it taught me how to properly work in the kitchen when I thought I was doing just fine (apparently not, and I’m so glad she was here to tell me that! Better late than never) Definitely recommend giving this a read!!!
As with almost all cookbooks, not all the recipes were to my liking however the way they were written and illustrated made me want to think of giving them a try! The metaphors and little peaks into the authors life were so beautifully written. This book is so much more than a simple cookbook, I feel like it taught me how to properly work in the kitchen when I thought I was doing just fine (apparently not, and I’m so glad she was here to tell me that! Better late than never) Definitely recommend giving this a read!!!
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March 26, 2022I read this for the beautiful essays not the recipes since the recipes were UK based and would require me converting measurements. This was great food writing about how cooking and food can be a comfort and a road back to yourself during hard emotional times.
September 28, 2022
I truly read this cookbook from cover-to-cover. It really is more than that - also a memoir and manifesto for living. Beautiful. I want to buy a copy so I can turn to it in tough times and remind myself that I’m worthy of a homemade cup of soup.
Read
April 28, 2024dnf. i thought this was going to be more memoir than recipe and it was not. which would be fine but the recipes didn’t interest me enough to keep going
August 19, 2024
Really beautiful recipe book and auto-biography with intricate and instructional illustrations. The watercolour pictures and stories behind each recipe make this book so tender and cosy. Also some fab recipes that I use all the time! Especially love the sticky ginger picnic chicken and fat Tuesday pancakes :)
April 17, 2022
Part cook book, part mental health memoir - right up my street. Perfectly encapsulates the relationship between, relationships and memories.
July 14, 2021
Кулинарная книга, в которой рецепты можно и не читать.
Самое интересное это не рецепты, а истории из жизни.
Самое интересное это не рецепты, а истории из жизни.
April 7, 2024
memoir-cookbooks are the best cookbooks
April 7, 2021
Something I never thought I’d say: I read a cookbook and it made me cry! 😀
Without wanting to get too personal on a public Goodreads review, this book came to me at such a specific time in my life, recommended by someone random but has served as a part of my ED recovery and (very much currently failing) Intuitive Eating journey, as I work on embodiment in therapy aaaand as I very shamefully have started to eat meat again. Its been helpful.
I heard an interview where Ella speaks about how after publication she received so much feedback of how this book had helped people in such unexpected ways and I get it because its a cook book but so much more!
Also- I’m a millennial that cooks because I have to cook, make food off the first google recipe I can find with as little words as possible and completely directive- I loved seeing food spoken about so eloquently, carefully, mindfully and descriptively.. I wanted to make every single recipe as I read!
If this book didn’t touch on MH which I’m passionate about I wouldn’t have picked it up so I’m very glad Ella skipped the rule book and made such a niche world of her own- 5/5 stars no doubt!
Oh, and the drawings.. perfection!!!
Without wanting to get too personal on a public Goodreads review, this book came to me at such a specific time in my life, recommended by someone random but has served as a part of my ED recovery and (very much currently failing) Intuitive Eating journey, as I work on embodiment in therapy aaaand as I very shamefully have started to eat meat again. Its been helpful.
I heard an interview where Ella speaks about how after publication she received so much feedback of how this book had helped people in such unexpected ways and I get it because its a cook book but so much more!
Also- I’m a millennial that cooks because I have to cook, make food off the first google recipe I can find with as little words as possible and completely directive- I loved seeing food spoken about so eloquently, carefully, mindfully and descriptively.. I wanted to make every single recipe as I read!
If this book didn’t touch on MH which I’m passionate about I wouldn’t have picked it up so I’m very glad Ella skipped the rule book and made such a niche world of her own- 5/5 stars no doubt!
Oh, and the drawings.. perfection!!!
January 29, 2019
There's much to like about this book and I'm sure it will be of great comfort to readers, especially those who live with mild anxiety and depression and who, with Risbridger's support and encouragement, feel able to contemplate cooking again. The food is good home cooking, you aren't expected to have prior knowledge and Risbridger is clearly on your side if this is the case, or you feel too demotivated, tired, or unwell to know where to begin.
I do feel that Midnight Chicken walks a fine line between inspiration and derivation and at times, falls on the side of the latter. There are very strong echoes of Laurie Colwin, and a myriad of children's authors (Nesbit, Streatfeild are just two). At times I felt a little patronised because of the tone which seems to tilt its head in the manner of a counsellor or as if Risbridger is talking to a small, slightly simple child. It's a bit twee but I don't think I am the target audience.
Midnight Chicken is undeniably moving in parts though and I think it will do well.
I do feel that Midnight Chicken walks a fine line between inspiration and derivation and at times, falls on the side of the latter. There are very strong echoes of Laurie Colwin, and a myriad of children's authors (Nesbit, Streatfeild are just two). At times I felt a little patronised because of the tone which seems to tilt its head in the manner of a counsellor or as if Risbridger is talking to a small, slightly simple child. It's a bit twee but I don't think I am the target audience.
Midnight Chicken is undeniably moving in parts though and I think it will do well.
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