As a mother, and let me say that I hesitate to criticize mom’s even fictional ones because I’m not one, she wasn’t great. Her mother was awful to her, abandoned her after a traumatizing accident and before that constantly blamed little Malka for the horribleness that was their LES New York immigrant experience. Yet as she became a mother, she wasn’t much better. I’m particularly thinking of older Lillian. She was awful to her son, just awful. She, in turn, became her mother and she so clearly did not see that. Book of Cookery was followed by her third book, Mrs A. B. Marshall's Larger Cookery Book of Extra Recipes (1891), dedicated "by permission" to Princess Helena and devoted to more high-end cuisine than the previous book. [8] Marshall's fourth and final book, Fancy Ices, was published in 1894 and was a follow-up to The Book of Ices. [8] The cooking books written by Marshall contained recipes she had created herself, unlike many other books of the age which were simply compilations of work by others, and she assured readers that she had tried out every recipe herself. Among the various foods featured, Marshall's books contain the earliest known written recipe for Cumberland rum butter. [5] Ever since my arrest at NBC, and my conviction for tax evasion, it has become open season on Lillian Dunkle. Never mind that the U.S. embassy was bombed in Beirut. Or that President Reagan has announced he's deploying a missile shield in outer space. Some weasel-faced journalists have nothing more important to do, it seems, than to dig up dirt about me."

there was a time I shared a container of rum raisin Häagen-Dazs ice cream every night with Paul. I was nursing our first born daughter….. Eschner, Kat (22 September 2017). "The Amazing, Portable, Edible Ice Cream Cone". Smithsonian Magazine . Retrieved 3 August 2022. Recent research has discovered that she was three years older than she claimed; and her birth certificate shows that she was in fact born on 24 August 1852 in Haggerston, in the East End of London, as Agnes Beere Smith, the illegitimate daughter of Susan Smith. [2] Her birth was registered in the customary fashion for illegitimate births under her mother's surname, and giving the father's name, 'Beere', as an extra forename. She was raised by her maternal grandmother, Sarah Smith, in Walthamstow, and can be found living there in the 1861 census. [2] This view of the character felt very disjointed with the young girl/young woman that I had just read about. I truly love tough, sassy old ladies (my Nana was queen of sassy ol' ladies!) but Lillian came off as much more of a clichéd, rich old dame who doesn't give a rat's patoot what anyone thinks of her. I also couldn't imagine my Grandma or Nana doing some of the things that Lillian does with her grandson.

Agnes Bertha Marshall ( néeSmith; 24 August 1852 [2] – 29 July 1905) was an English culinary entrepreneur, inventor, and celebrity chef. [3] An unusually prominent businesswoman for her time, Marshall was particularly known for her work on ice cream and other frozen desserts, which in Victorian England earned her the moniker "Queen of Ices". [3] [4] Marshall popularised ice cream in England and elsewhere at a time when it was still a novelty [5] [6] and is often regarded as the inventor of the modern ice cream cone. [3] Through her work, Marshall may be largely responsible for both the look and popularity of ice cream today. [7] a b c d e f Kurlansky, Mark (2018). Milk!: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp.133–135. ISBN 978-1-63286-384-3. However, with all that I will also say that she overcame incredible odds to be a strong, successful business women in an industry (world really) dominated by men — men who lied to her and treated her like she was less-than. I will not deny that she’s smart and deserved her success. She just didn’t deal with some stuff in the best way. I am utterly enchanted by Susan Jane Gilman’s novel. This is an immigrant story the likes of which I had never read before. Even the living conditions in Manhattan’s Lower East Side are described better than in many novels I’ve read, filled with the foul smells and ceaseless din of life, with despair and hopelessness. The events in little Malka’s life, the repeated losses and abandonment, the utter poverty and searing loneliness—topped by becoming crippled—would have broken any child. Instead, the story of her struggles, of her resourcefulness and wits is inspiring. Within three months of arriving in New York, her Papa abandons her, and her mother blames her for their misfortune-- Malka gets trampled by a horse, leaving her crippled. Abandoned by her parents, fate steps in---the man steering the horse takes pity on Malka, welcoming her into his home and world, where she becomes part of the family.

This is a delicious story, despite - or perhaps because of - the fact that there is nothing sweet about the protagonist: Lillian Dunkle. Despite her grandmotherly, good-ole-family-values TV persona, the Queen of Ice Cream hates kids, with the exception of her grandson, Jason, with whom she enjoys smoking pot and listening to new music. Lillian is a snarky, kleptomaniac, alcoholic "wisenheimer" who prefers a G&T to ice cream and is facing trial for tax evasion and assaulting a child on her kiddies' TV show. She does whatever she needs to do to survive (seriously), and assure that her company remains on top. Playing the caring, motherly Ice Cream Queen in the public while scheming, lying and drinking too much in private can only last so long, as the two worlds collide, forcing Lillian to take a good hard look at her life or risk losing it all. Lillian Dunkle is in legal hot water but she still The Ice Cream Queen. And don't you forget it, darlings!As the ice cream industry was directly affected by the greatest events of the twentieth century and American history, parallels as Lillian’s own life is shaped and her motivations for some of the things which led her down certain paths. (loved the ice cream flavors, interesting facts, and research about the entire industry).

a b This, Hervé (2010). Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking. New York: Columbia University Press. p.137. ISBN 978-0-231-14171-0. So…. whether you have a craving to eat ice cream after reading this book, (or during) or have a story to share about a special time in your life where ice cream was a part of a great love or friendship connection — the personal pleasures will be multi-faceted. The story progresses through her marriage to Albert Dunkle and her savvy business skills. In an era when women and the drive for success in business did not usually mix, Lillian faces obstacles and each one only makes her stronger. She believes that her hard work makes her superior and says wonderful things like: "So your eldest brother, Lord Such-and-Such, inherited the family estate, and you, Poor Thing, had to make your fortune in the New World instead? Please. Don't even bother me with that." She is "old school" and definitely makes her opinions known, and like anyone that's had to pull themselves up from the gutter, she has no time for things she considers frivolous and unneccessary such as paperwork: "Today, if one of our franchises wants to hire a sixteen-year-old to scoop ice cream for a summer, the management is required to provide more information than my entire family was asked to supply at Ellis Island." Which leads to some problems..... A female protagonist with a survivor mentality, not short on moxie, full of tenacity and intelligence, Lillian steals the show. A character driven story with a truly memorable character, undoubtedly Lillian with have her share of allies and adversaries, either way she will have your undivided attention leaving you with plenty of laughs along the way.Hopkins, John-Bryan (2018). Foodimentary: Celebrating 365 Food Holidays with Classic Recipes. New York: Quarto Knows. p.103. ISBN 978-1-57715-153-1. A special thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.