Facebook Food Group Turns Into a Cookbook

When some people face difficulty, they look at their problem creatively. They consider a problem not as a barrier but as a chance to make something good.

And Americans have a saying for that: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! In other words, just add sugar and water and a sour fruit can become a sweet drink.

Well, recently a family in New York decided¹ to take on the pandemic "lemon." But instead of a popular summertime drink, the family cooked up a meal: lemon rosemary chicken.

Traci Cangiano and her daughters Daniella and Kristina launched the Facebook group Quarantine Kitchen in March 2020 when restaurants closed because of COVID-19. The family shared personal recipes on the group page and sought the same from members. The group grew into a lively, online community of tens of thousands of people.

Then, the Cangianos decided to reach out to the world in another way. The family collected the recipes from the Facebook group and created a cookbook, called In the Quarantine Kitchen. It is published and for sale on the web marketplace, Etsy.

The cookbook includes 120 recipes. All of the them were posted during the pandemic on the Quarantine Kitchen page.

"It kind of grew and grew..." said Daniella Cangiano. "We were able to take something really negative and make it something really positive."

The 250-page cookbook contains more than just recipes. It has family photos. Some people share their memories of family coming together for special meals. Others explore how food and meals can be designed to celebrate the lives of loved ones lost.

The first group of the books sold well and quickly. Now, In the Quarantine Kitchen is in its second printing.

"We started it as a way just to share our dinner with our family and friends. We didn't see in the beginning what it would become. We just thought it was something fun to do, something to distract² us," said Daniella Cangiano.

The women are giving all profits from the book's sales to The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. That organization honors firefighter Stephen Siller and all those in public emergency services.

Siller died while saving people trapped in the burning World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001, just hours after the terrorist³ attack.

Types of recipes

Some dishes are beloved family recipes, like Nanny's Stuffed Calamari in Red Sauce and Aunt Nellie's Fried Chicken.

Other dishes were made up during the pandemic. One such dish was a version of tres leches, or three milks, cake. The recipe turns it into frozen⁴ treats because ice cream shops were closed.

On the Quarantine Kitchen page, families from around the world sent messages of thanks for the meal ideas and sense of community. One woman wrote that her daughter had cancer and they checked the site together every day to see what people were cooking.

Traci said, "I would never think in a million years a Facebook page would affect people's lives like that."

Online, the community has stayed active. New postings go up every few hours. Traci added, "We could probably do five more books. I kid you not."

Now, more than a year later, the Facebook group has more than 44,000 members. The top posters by country are the United States, Canada, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. Next come Portugal, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, and South Africa.

Traci Cangiano told the AP that the cookbook grew out of that Facebook community and is a collection of the stories and recipes shared there. She said the publication is like a memory book for the year 2020.

"I hope we never see anything like 2020 again," added Traci, "but this book will serve as a nice reminder⁵."

The pandemic has unsettled life for many people around the world, including this Staten Island family.

Kristina is in her last year of high school and the Quarantine Kitchen helps to ease the pressure she feels. "There's a lot going on, but it's definitely helped," she said.

Her older sister, Daniella, graduated from St. John's University and loves to bake. She shares her creations⁶ with the Facebook group and likes to hear what others think of them.

"That kind of kept me going. I knew I had something to look forward to, even though things were kind of crazy," she said. "I was able to still bake and still enjoy that. And sharing that love of baking with others online," Daniella said, "was so much fun."

Words in This Story

sour – n. having an acid taste that is like the taste of a lemon

recipe – n. a set of instructions for making food

negative – adj. harmful or bad : not wanted

positive – adj. good or useful

printing – n. the process of producing books, magazines, etc. by using machinery⁷

distract – v. to take (attention) away from someone or something

crazy – adj. unable to think in a clear or sensible way : wild and uncontrolled

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 distract   

vt.分散注意力，转移注意力，使分心

参考例句：

• Don't distract my attention.不要分散我的注意力。
• It was all a ploy to distract attention from his real aims.那纯粹是障眼法,用以分散人们对他真正意图的注意力。

3 terrorist   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子

参考例句：

• Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪，我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
• The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。

4 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

5 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

6 creations   

创造( creation的名词复数 )； 创造物； （尤指所述由上帝）创造天地； 宇宙

参考例句：

• This artist's creations are worth collecting. 这个艺术家的作品值得收藏。
• The intellectual creations of individual nations become common property. 各民族的精神产品成了公共的财产。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

7 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。