Suzan would be happy to come to book group gatherings in New York or New Jersey. She’ll even bring the cookies! If you’re outside this area, Suzan can virtual-visit your book group via Skype. (The cookie offer still holds; they’ll arrive via mail.) Contact her at info@suzancolon.net for details.

Here are some conversation starters for your book group:

1. What was your grandmother like? What did you call her? What did she look like, and what is your favorite memory of her?
2. Do you remember your grandmother, mother, or another family member cooking for you? What was that person’s signature dish?
3. Of the difficulties discussed in this book—losing a job, growing up with one parent, being a single mother, financial issues, infertility—which did you identify with the most? How did you get through that difficult time?
4. How did your family handle adversity? What did that teach you about the way you deal with challenging issues and times?
5. What examples in the book show that good things can come from trying times?
6. There are a lot of emotions tangled up in money. For example, do you think Matilde, the great-great grandmother, was being irresponsible when she spent the food money on the vases, or do you feel that sometimes it’s okay to splurge on something meaningful, even if it means going without other things for a while? How does this relate to the credit card crisis our country recently experienced?
7. What foods traditionally served in your family help you trace your origins?
8. Suzan, the author, has strong emotional connections to food. What foods bring back pivotal moments in your life?
9. At the beginning, Suzan admits that she’s not a good cook, and Matilda didn’t learn how to cook until the family moved to Saratoga and there was no other choice. Do you cook? If so, do you enjoy cooking? Who taught you how to cook? What feelings or memories does cooking bring up for you?
10. In what way do you pass your family’s stories down to your children and grandchildren? Do you have photo albums, recipe books, or a written history? If you pass the stories down orally, would you want to tape record them or be videotaped so that your family’s history could be preserved for future generations?