Stories and Recipes from the Kitchen Table

ISBN: 978-1416551058

In A Homemade Life contemporary food writer, Molly Wizenberg lovingly shares memories of her parents and the recipes handed down to her. If I could use just one quote or passage to sum her philosophy it would be “Food is never just food.” She explains that every time we sit down to a meal we bring with us our mothers and fathers, friends, and relatives and that the kitchen table that has nourished us. On this point I happen to agree, that in our dinner plates we could see a reflection of who we are, where we come from, and if we look closely enough where we are going.

Her father, whom she calls Burg, had a huge influence on her life and she recounts many shared experiences involving favorite foods--including many recipes, her first trip to Paris, and other family memories. Her mother is also an ever-present, even iconic, figure and is a wealth of support, companionship, and encouragement after Burg’s death. We also catch a glimpse of Molly’s first romance and a move to Seattle. Her life reaches another pinnacle before taking that next loop in its cycle and we meet the man she will ultimately marry.




This book is also available in audio book on CD. I highly recommend if you are listening to it, please check out the book at the same time. The reader of the spoken CD is great and while she imparts the flavor of Molly’s family’s favorite foods you also get a real sense of the adoration she has for the book’s characters. If you only listen to the CD you will not get the recipes and other tips that accompany each chapter in the book. By having both formats you can enjoy the story and refer to the book to jot down recipes when they appeal to you.

Please also take a minute to check out Molly’s blog, Orangette. It is beautiful! By the way, the Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger is delicious and Aunt Mia’s Hoosier Pie is divine!

If you liked this book you may also enjoy:

Hometown Appetites: the Story
of Clementine Paddleford, 
the Forgotten Food Writer 
Who Chronicled How America Ate  
by Kelly Alexander

Paddleford was a pioneer in the her field.  As a traveling food writer, her career spanned from the 1920s to the 1960s. In 1953 she was voted “Best Known Food Editor” by Time Magazine. The well respected journalist wrote primarily for The New York Herald Tribune and This Week magazine. While traipsing cross country and around the world she sampled all kinds of food and how people ate, sometimes in a piper cub that she piloted herself. Along with vintage photographs the book also contains recipes she collected along the way. Perhaps she could have been an inspiration for Ms. Wizenberg?