Sunday, October 4, 2009

A Homemade Life


I've read several books recently that I loved and failed to blog about. I had grand plans to write a long essay about faith in Kathryn Stockett's The Help. (What I actually wanted to say about this topic utterly escapes me now.) While in Maine this summer I devoured The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe, and I remember furiously pushing this book on everyone I could think of via text message. I was convinced that my book club not only needed to read it, but we also needed to travel up to Massachusetts to ... well, I can't remember. But it seemed urgent and a very good idea at the time. All this to say that this blog is a way to combat my short-term memory when it comes to books, and when I don't record my thoughts right away, they disappear altogether.

So, before I forget or move on to the next thing, I am writing this morning to say that I am really, really enjoying Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table. Wizenberg is the creator of Orangette, a spirited and whimsical blog about her life as a thirty-something foodie. I found her blog a couple of summers ago through my friend Maura's blog (Paperbluebird), and I went on a tear making these insanely good chocolate chip cookies a la Orangette that are topped with fleur de sel or kosher salt - can't remember which. Anyway, they were divine. I'm pretty sure The New York Times thought so, too, and featured the recipe online. I made batches and batches and ate them for breakfast. And then I forgot all about Orangette for awhile until I happened upon Molly Wizenberg's new book last weekend.

In A Homemade Life, Wizenberg chronicles significant moments, places, and people in her life through stories about food. This project seems to have begun as a way for her to celebrate her father, Burg, who passed away before she began this writing project and who influenced her appreciation for a good homemade recipe.

The chapters are organized chronologically, but each stands fully on its own as a vignette or snapshot. I've been opening the book at random and reading it both backwards and forwards, and this method has worked wonderfully for me. The recipes that close each chapter evolve out of Wizenberg's life experiences, and they express the same sort of whimsy and creativity with which she seems to live her life. Listen to some of these recipe titles and then go buy the book:

Radishes and Butter with Fleur de Sel
Red Cabbage Salad with Lemon and Black Pepper
Custard-Filled Corn Bread
Pistachio Cake with Honeyed Apricots

and, my personal favorite:

Bread and Chocolate



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