What I Made for Dinner

Autostraddle, A Most Anticipated Queer Book of the Month

“Reading [Belc’s] clear-eyed and thoughtful exploration of being primarily responsible for feeding himself, his wife, and their four children is a beautiful reminder of how both elemental and sacred a homemade meal can be.” —Emma Specter, Vogue

“The most striking thing about Belc’s work is how intimately his writing concerns itself with the desire to be a participatory actor in the creation of something much bigger than one individual and how that creation impacts who he will become and is becoming as a result . . . [Belc] proves the best ‘resolutions’ aren’t actual answers. The best ‘resolutions’ are somewhat intimidating challenges that lead us deeper and deeper into the core of who we are.” —Stef Rubino, Autostraddle

“This book is more than a memoir. It’s a commentary about how we consume food media . . . The success of What I Made For Dinner is in tying together two seemingly entirely disparate narratives into a compelling commentary on the present moment through the banality of domestic life. The book is both a close reading of celebrity culinary personalities, and a personal narrative of wanting and struggling to conceive another child. It’s smart commentary on feminism, gender, and consumerism, but also a compelling personal story . . . Belc delivers a unique, while relatable, journey of an ordinary family.” —Ian MacAllen, Chicago Review of Books

“What I love about Belc’s newest book is the way he’s able to hold space for his own trans identity, while still taking his kids, his conservative mother, and even the trad-wife movement he watches on TV seriously. He finds the ways in which his life as a trans man cooking meals for his wife Anna and their four kids overlaps with the stay-at-home wives and mothers we often assume are in opposition to queer politics. He writes with a lot of generosity, and reading his work makes me feel like he’s opening up the conversation, rather than shutting it down.” —Emily Robbins, Electric Literature

“Belc’s exquisite second memoir, ostensibly about cooking dinner for his wife and children, [has] so much to say about isolation, and loneliness, and using the internet to cope and to connect—and about allowing ourselves to be shaken awake to the present moment . . . Belc’s startling, honest essays form an antidote–but it’s medicine that tastes and feels like what it is: a lovingly crafted, deliciously original, and impeccably presented nine-course meal.” —Hannah Matthews, The Rumpus

“The work sings because Belc is not trying to prove his betterness. He situates himself (within a family, a set of cultures, a neuropsychology, a place) without trying to be better than other people’s version of those things or mourning his version. Rarely do I come across thinking suffused with enoughness that has so little to prove. It’s a delight to read.” —Leora Fridman, My Fault

“Belc is a thoroughly charming narrator of everything from finding meaning in the work of Deb Perelman and Ina Garten to parenting as a trans man to the maddening and joyful mundanity of running a household. A joyful read.” —Literary Hub

“Belc’s writing is thought-provoking, expansive, and original. Delicious.” —Booklist

“A moving exploration of Belc’s experience as a trans man. Recommended for readers interested in cooking, family life, and queer memoirs.” —Library Journal

“A charming reflection on food and identity . . . Belc proves a funny, generous guide who remains self-aware about his obsessions without undermining their sincerity. There’s plenty of sustenance in these pages.” —Publishers Weekly

“A moving and often funny account of how one man provides for his family, What I Made for Dinner feels both quietly radical and deeply comforting. In Krys Malcolm Belc’s hands, the dailiness of parenting and meal-making becomes what it truly is: a ritual of nurturing life, of meeting one another with care and respect. Neurodivergent, queer, and full of love, I missed this book whenever life took me briefly way from its pages.” —Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of a Body

“What I Made for Dinner is a tender, deliciously readable memoir told in intimate vignettes, tracing one family’s life through food during the pandemic. Writing as a transgender man and father on the brink of welcoming his fourth child, the author captures how cooking becomes an act of care, survival, and becoming—of feeding others while finding yourself. I laughed, I cried, I cried again—and I devoured every page.” —Hannah Howard, author of Plenty: A Memoir of Food and Family

“What I Made for Dinner is a captivating exploration of domesticity, parenthood, and queer family. With food and the women who make it his lens, Belc examines the complex contours of identity and isolation, masculinity and femininity, race and class, community and care. Both meditative and urgent, funny and profound, this is a deeply human story about the choices we make and the paths we take—of finding joy in the mundane and making meaning in the daily acts of service that build a family and a home. This book made me want to cook—to make Marcella’s Bolognese and pick fresh herbs in Ina’s garden, and invite all my friends to dinner. It also made me want to eat. To be in Belc’s kitchen is not just to watch a perfect roast chicken or chocolate cake come out of the oven, or to imagine the first exquisite bite; ultimately, it’s to feel cared for—like you’re sitting at the table, watching your friend cook, waiting to taste every beautiful thing he’s made.” —Melissa Faliveno, author of Tomboyland and Hemlock