The Joy of Cooking

     In "The Joy of Cooking" by Elaine Magarrell there is a great deal of indirect characterizations. The speaker, who I assume is Elaine herself, describes the food she is preparing. However, the dishes are extremely odd- her sister's tongue and her brother's heart. Through these two body parts, we learn a lot about her brother and sister and how she feels towards them.
     When Elaine tells us that she has prepared her sisters tongue, I think she is revealing to us how she feels about her sister. This shows she thinks her sister talks to much- and maybe that she wants her to stop all together. The fact that she cuts the tongue out of her sister could show that this is the one thing she would change about her sister- her amount of talking.
     Towards her brother, I think Elaine shows more disgust and disappointment. She describes his heart, which she is preparing, as being "firm and rather dry" ( line 10) and says it "barely feeds two" (line 16). The way she describes it as being firm, dry, and small compared to the tongue of a cow shows that she thinks her brother is cold and unloving. Maybe it is that he doesn't love anyone or simply that he doesn't lover her.
     The way the author managed to convey a characters feelings about her sibling by describing her cooking is very unusual.