Review: Cherries in Winter

Suzan Colón spins family recipes into the stuff of family history.

By Laura Nalin
Published: November 21st, 2010 | 10:15pm

After losing her six-figure salary, Suzan Colón had to do what so many Americans have found themselves doing: cut back on her spending. Prior to her losing her job, Colón had kept a record of her expenses and was surprised at how much money she was throwing away each week on food alone. So, like anyone trying to stay afloat in our Great Recession, she decided to pare down her expenses by cooking for herself and her family. She turned to a swatch of family recipes that had been buried in her basement in hopes of finding some sort of solace, and found just that. Upon looking through her Nana’s recipe folder, she quickly realized the similarities between her present challenges and those of her ancestors.

The discovery unveiled a number of untold tales that reveal just how much food and recipes fueled her family’s history—like the story of her grandmother during the Great Depression and World War II as well as her mother’s life as a single parent in the 1960s. Thus Cherries in Winter was born.

Colón's grandmother’s accounts—comprised of recipes and notes she jotted down while struggling to stay positive and support her family on an insufficient salary—are quite powerful. After reading through these handwritten letters, Colón quickly realizes how lucky she is to have the opportunity to get paid to do what she is most passionate about: writing. And she finds strength knowing that she came from a background of strong, empowered women. (At one point, she stumbles upon an ahead-of-its time phrase “You have to be a bitch to get ahead.”)

Cherries in Winter not only recounts the tales of the author's ancestors, but also reveals a bit of her own present day family’s story as well. She recalls the memories spent in her husband’s old pickup truck that they regrettably decided to sell following her layoff in order to make some cash and pay the bills. It's something she says she never thought would have had to happen, echoing so many individuals in our country that have been forced to surrender to similar choices.

The combination of Colón's gracefully written lessons of cookery and penny-pinching, stories unearthed by her mother, and the plethora of recipes handed down from her grandmother are both emotionally resonant and entertaining. Colón finds, in recipes and in food, the hearty comfort she was seeking as well as the strength to stay hopeful during hard times. Foodies and memoir fanatics alike will appreciate each of the chapters filled with a bounty of soothing recipes and homespun plots. Reading Cherries in Winter is not unlike getting a strong, consoling hug and warm cup of chili from grandma.

About the book:

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

by Suzan Colón

Anchor paperback

224 pages