The Joy of Cooking 1, 2, 3

The Joy of Cooking by Elaine Magarrell came off to me in a very abrasive way. The author seemed to be attacking the problems that she faces in her life head on. She directly constructs a disturbing image of her sister's tongue as a dish that she is preparing. More than just giving a description, she adds comments that I do not understand very well. The inclusion of sauces to go along with her tongue really bothered me. The second half of the poem discussed a comparison to her brother's heart. The second reference to sauce did not really make sense once again. Maybe if i knew more cooking terminology I could recall the braising method and what a source sauce effect would have on the meat. I think that the tongue was an attempt to show more than just saying that she had a loud mouth. Instead, this visual allowed room to describe how the words were effective and used. The heart described a little bit more as someone that was supposed to be thriving and alive. The personality of the author was revealed in the comparisons because of the siblings. I found that personality can be established through the idea of being an influence of these lives and their descriptions. I liked the way that a cook can do so many things to these people. "Prepared, scrubbed, skinned, trimmed, carved, slow cooked, and served," are all actions taken on the two items by the cook. This shows the influential personality that the author must have on their lives.