Homemade Goodness

When I am not reading or napping, I spend a lot of time in my kitchen.  My first foray into blogging was encouraged by my husband because I do something a little different in the kitchen than most others:  I cook through cookbooks.  I don't mean I try out a few of the ideas and then declare the book's merits based on two recipes.  Rather, I spend time with a cookbook and get to know it's writter.  Most nights, we try a completely new recipe.  By now, I have tried well over 1,000 recipes in a matter of less than 6 years. 

I like cooking.

So when I was at Costco a couple months ago, I came across our location's last copy of A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg.  I was immediately drawn to the cover and the mention of homemade.  The book is basically a biography of her recipes.  Wizenberg tells the story of the recipes as she knows them.  She first tells the background, shares how she relates to it, and then, unveils the recipe for the reader to replicate it.  Each recipe has an origin, a feeling, a mood, a memory. For Molly, food is deeply personal.  This is what food is to me.  I found myself comparing my life in the kitchen to hers and saw much common ground.   I always tell people that food is love to me (this is not just something obese people say).  When I was growing up, I was surrounded by a lot of bakers, cooks, and generally great homemakers.  Molly had the benefit of that as a well.  As a result, she has a love of food preparation that has truly guided her life.  Her recipes are a way a of introducing others to her family members, and her family members are the providers of  many recipes.  Perhaps this quote will say it better than I can:

Food is never just food.  It's a way of getting at something else: who we are, who we have been, who we want to be. 

If you are a culinary omnivore, this is the book for you.  It is chock-full of touching stories and anecdotes to demonstrate Molly's passion for food and food preparation. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 7

-L

Note: If you are interested in my take on the recipes, consider following my cooking blog, SeldomMade.  I will be "cooking through"  this book, leaving a few of the more shi-shi recipes.  Sorry, my palate just refuses some food items.