Breaking bread, nourishing connections - Karin Melberg Schwier

This book is a guide for people with disabilities, their parents, their friends, and their caregivers about how to make choices about what foods to eat, how to shop for food, how to prepare meals, and how to make mealtimes more enjoyable and inclusive for people with disabilities. The book is also a reflection on food and mealtimes generally. It includes stories and examples, provided by people with and without disabilities, about the eating experience - good and bad, special and commonplace, practical and unusual. One of the book's themes is the difference between feeding and dining. Formerly, in institutions, people with disabilities enjoyed little or no choice in matters of food; caregivers and service providers now focus on what people with disabilities want to eat, how they want to prepare it (or want it prepared), and where they want to eat it. The book gives an account of this change in attitudes and provides a nice balance between definitions, history of methods, and stories from people around the world about their experiences with food and eating. The end of the book contains a collection of more than 40 recipes that range from classic items (French Toast, Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Simple Greek Salad, Baked Chicken, Marinated Veggies, and Jell-O) to new favorites (Fish Tacos, Skinny Man Chili, Duncan Pollock's Chocolate Fudge Pud, and Sam's Mulled Christmas Cider). Each recipe includes nutritional information, and some include simple illustrations to assist cooks.