Read and Cook – This Is How We Work: Stories, Memoirs and Poems about Social Dimensions of Work and Stained Glass Biscotti for the Annual Cookie Exchange

Today, I am delighted to share my review of a unique anthology centering around work experiences in the broadest sense of the word work. This Is How We Work: Stories, Memoirs and Poems about Social Dimensions of Work was compiled by contributing editor Yvette Prior.

This Is How We Work: Stories, Memoirs and Poems about Social Dimensions of Work

This Is How We Work is a unique collection of stories, memoirs and poems which all centre around the theme of the workplace. It is a most insightful and interesting collection as the various contributors from around the world all engage/engaged in different forms of work, many quite different from my own experiences in the corporate world.

Chapter 1 by Yvette Prior, the editor and a co-contributor, provides insight into why she selected this theme for the anthology and sets out the aims of the anthology for readers. It ends with a wonderful quote: “We work to live, but stories help us understand why we live, and sometimes, why we work.”

All of the contributions are compelling and give great insight into the evolution of the contributors careers and how their ideas on work changed over time. I have experienced this happening from my own perspective in my job so it is very relatable for me. I am going to share a bit more about the contributions that resonated the most with me.

Chapter 3, The Quiet Work of Love by Sherri Matthews was particularly useful and, in many ways heart rending, for me. Sherri depicts her journey as a caregiver to her mother as she aged and became less capable. I have followed this journey to a lessor extent with my aging aunt and am also following it with my own aging parents. The emotional angst of watching those we love giving up everything they enjoy and care about over time and becoming frail is hard – very hard. Sherri’s story was relatable and a mixture of encouraging and horrifying as I read it.

Chapter 4, The Creative Dream Job That Wasn’t So Dreamy, by Mabel Kwong also interested me greatly. I am a chartered accountant with a highly creative bend and spend a lot of my spare time writing and painting. Up until recently, I cherished the idea of turning these ‘hobbies’ into income producing activities. Prior to reading Mabel’s story, I had already arrived at the conclusion that turning creative outlets into work changed them in a negative way. When you paint commissions, you lose control over the creative output on many levels. Painting on demand is very different from someone seeing something you have created and asking to buy it as it is. Commissions means dancing to the purchasers tune which curtails your own creative ideas. It is the same with writing. If you write for the traditional publishing market, you write to the rules of the traditional publishers. That doesn’t work for me and I have never attempted to find a traditional publisher for my work. Mabel’s story of disillusionment with paid writing confirmed my own views, despite the fact that Mabel did gain a great deal from the experience and she grew as a writer. Anyone contemplating writing for a living should read this memoir.

Chapter 6, The Paper Knife Incident by Brian Martin-Onraet, was a delightfully entertaining story about working in Gabon, Africa. It highlights differences in work ethics and circumstances of workers and also focuses on management choices and behaviours. Brian is an excellent writer and I hope he publishes more of his fascinating stories.

Chapter 7, Serving The Patient, Resisting The System: Work Across by Career by Mike F. Martelli, is riveting reading. Mike’s journey in the field of mental health was insightful into how the health system has changed over time and is now focused on patient turnaround rather than patient service. It was sad for me as a reader and I’m sure its incredibly disillusioning for medical practitioners who enter the system full of the eagerness to make a difference of youth. Although this piece focuses on the health industry, its content applies to many other fields like teaching and even corporate work.

Chapters 11, Eighty-five Degrees For Me by Marsha Ingrao, and 13, Asylum Ghosts (And No Escape Room) by Frank Prem (Poetry), both give incredible insight into the worlds of teaching and psychiatric nursing, respectively. I learned a great deal about these professions, which are in my mind callings, and my respect for the people who enter these professions increased tenfold.

Chapter 16, Chapter Summaries by Yvette Prior, is a lovely summary of each of the contributions including her personal thoughts on how these pieces and poems can benefit readers. Yvette also contributed some beautiful and thought provoking poems to the collection.

I highly recommend this meaningful collection.

This Is How We Work: Stories, Memoirs and Poems about Social Dimensions of Work is available form Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/This-How-We-Work-Dimensions-ebook/dp/B0FWC6BMFP/

Recipe: Stained Glass Biscotti

My recipe for December is Stained Glass Biscotti. It is also my contribution to Staci Troilo’s annual Cookie Exchange. You can read more about it here: https://stacitroilo.wordpress.com/2025/12/01/thanks-deals-treats. You can find all the cookie recipes from the last four years of the Cookie Exchange here: https://stacitroilo.wordpress.com/recipes/

This recipe comes from The Australian Women’s Weekly Christmas miniatures finger food and tiny treats. I have this book as a paperback and have used it to make Christmas treats for years.

This is a gallery of the book cover and two of the recipe pages:

Ingredients

165 grams caster sugar

2 medium eggs

200 grams plain/all purpose/cake flour

50 grams self raising flour

300 grams multi glace cherries (a mix of colours is preferable)

80 grams sliced/diced almonds

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C or 350 F. Prepare your cookie baking tray using grease or oil spray.

Mix sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl until well combined and then stir in flour, cherries and nuts. Knead the doub on a floured surface until smooth. Divide the dough into two parts and roll each part into a long sausage/log. Place logs on the prepared baking trays and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150 C or 300 F. Using a serrated edged knife, cut the logs into slices. Place the slices in a single layer on prepared baking trays and bake for a further 30 minutes until dry and crisp. I turn the biscuits half way through the second baking session.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays

About Robbie Cheadle

South African author, photographer, and artist, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated seventeen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, written and illustrated four poetry books and written and illustrated one celebration of cake and fondant art book with recipes. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

Find Robbie Cheadle

Blog https://wordpress.com/home/robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com

Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/robbiecheadle.bsky.social

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVyFo_OJLPqFa9ZhHnCfHUA

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15584446.Robbie_Cheadle

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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.

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This segment of “Read and Cook with Robbie Cheadle” is sponsored by WordCrafter Press and their themed anthologies.

Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprints of Tragedy: There exists a tree that is timeless, spanning across all dimensions, which absorbs every life as those who are hanged as they die… and it remembers every one. The stories within are a select few of the Tales From the Hanging Tree. 

Curses: Chronicles of Darkness:

There are all types of curses.

Cursed places, cursed items, cursed people, cursed families.

Curses that last throughout time. Curses which can’t be broken. Curses which are brought upon ourselves. Curses that will kill you and those that will only make you wish you were dead.

Legends: Monsters That Go Bump in the Night: Coming in 2026