Compromise Cake: Lessons learned from my mother’s recipe box is surprisingly poignant. Author Nancy Spiller, like many of us, wondered about her mother’s life and what made her into the woman she was. She looks at the time before her mother was married to the time of her death, filling those gaps with stories of baking together, mother and daughter, in the kitchen and how food tied memories together with both sweet remembrances and deep, meaningful insight to a troubled woman.
Nancy was rummaging through her mother’s recipe box when she came across her teach credential. An odd place to find such a thing, but there it was. Her mother only taught for a short time before succumbing to the social traditions of that time and finding a nice husband to settle down with and have children.
Those days many women found themselves lost in a spiral of depression, unsure of who they were or how to have the things they dreamed of for themselves. But, being a housewife wasn’t always disappointment, as many of the memories of mother and daughter find life and love as they prepare food together.
This book is bittersweet, just like the chocolate, but bound in such vivid storytelling that you find yourself as warm as the food, reflecting on your own memories, relationships and favorite recipes.
