Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen
by Laurie Colwin
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 286)
Read in July, 2007
My good friend Rachel B and her mom have read Laurie Colwin for years. I always noticed a row of her novels in their home outside Cambridge, MA. Never before my visits had I seen her books, but I happened upon Clothilde (sp) from Chocolate and Zucchini mentioning Laurie Colwin's exquisite food writing. So when it came time for me to buy Rachel some presents as a "thank you for hosting me in San Francisco" gift, I knew that one item had to be the collected food writing of Laurie Colwin....more
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Those of you who know me, know that I read cookbooks for fun and have a LARGE collection of my own. Laurie Colwin holds a place of honor in that she is only the second person ever to have received a fan letter ( and a gushy one at that) from me. I cried when I heard that she had died from a heart attack, probably over 15 years ago now. This is your slighty kooky pal in the kitchen who is a whiz at whipping up fabulous things to share with people she loves. I have never made anything of hers I di...more
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Read in January, 1989
recommends it for:
Cooks
I'm a fan of Colwin's fiction, and was delighted to find this in the cookbook section of the bookstore. It's a great mix of recipes and stories about food. The recipes for flank steak and gingerbread with lemon-brandy icing are go-to recipes for me. (Colwin also taught me to make my own curry paste.) I loaned the hardcover version of this to a friend, and I'm still bitter about her failure to return it. (The paperback copy lacks the food stains and bent spine that made it uniquely mine. Colwin w...more
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Read in January, 1994
recommends it for:
everyone I know
Published 20 years ago, Laurie Colwin’s engaging series of essays about food, learning to cook, discovering ingredients, confessing kitchen failures, celebrating successes, and nurturing her family and her soul is still in print, despite the fact that she died unexpectedly nearly 15 years ago. The book (and its sequel) is that good. Colwin’s style conveys the comfortable ease of old and treasured friendship. Her vivid irresistible descriptions make you nod and laugh and salivate --and if you...more
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I adore this book. I re-read it about once a year. I usually open it at random, too impatient to dive back in to take the time to turn to page 1. Like all my other favorite cookbooks-for-reading, I have never made any of the recipes within, though I always think the creamed spinach with jalapenos sounds great. My favorite essay in the collection (and likely everyone's favorite essay in the collection), "Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant," is deliciously evocative, almost romantic.
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Read in May, 2008
Delightful. I was first "introduced" to Laurie Colwin when I listened to her "Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant" read aloud on Selected Shorts. I immediately added this book to my GoodReads to-read pile, and I am so glad I finally picked it up. This collection of essays is a sheer pleasure to read, and I only wish I had known the author in real life so I could be fed by her! I plan to read everything she has written.
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Read in June, 2008
A nice read for all those who think browsing through cookbooks is an excellent way to spend a lazy afternoon. Fun essays on our relationship to food. I particularly like "Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant" (about our secret and strange eating habits--personally, I like eating a box of veggie eggrolls). She's also got some great stuff about disastrous dinner menus. Includes a few recipes that looked pretty good.
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
The Susans (Weeks & Shagwert)
This is one of those books about food and cooking where you feel like you're sitting around the kitchen table with an old friend cooking and chatting. Laurie Colwin wrote novels and short stories as well as articles for Gourmet. I can't say I copied any recipes but I enjoyed her take on stuffing poultry (she is mostly against it) and gingerbread (she's a big fan).
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Read in April, 2008
Colwin is such a good writer--even when she writes about liking instant potatoes fine for the top of a shepherd's pie, or making a salad with rapini and avocado (which sounds very odd to me)or strange ideas (not much liking eating outside, or only liking chocolate: "...it is very nice once in a while". Funny, singular voice, unapologetic...pretty perfect.
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in March, 2002
recommends it for:
Lovers of food essays/memoirs
I came over this book a bit by accident. It's a collection of essays by Colwin, who died young. I could not put the small book down. When I learned she had a sequel, I snapped it up. If only there were a part three.... I've since learned that Colwin wrote a few novels as well. I have some of them but haven't read any of them yet. She was a superb writer.
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
anyone who likes food
This book is something I never considered to exist: a narrative and cookbook in one!! Each chapter blends the author's life experiences with a food-related subject along with a recipe or two. The stories are heartwarming and entertaining and the recipes seem so easy and delicious I want to try them all.
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Read in March, 2008
As much cookbook as memoir; very nice to read a chapter each night before bed. My favorite section is "Repulsive Dinners," which begins, "There is something triumphant about a really disgusting meal."
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Read in January, 1987
Laurie Colwin, a brilliant food columnist and fiction writer, died at the too-early age of 37. She is my porbably my favorite author, someone who is able to capture the beauty in the day-to-day. I still mourn her death, and am grateful to have discovered her work.
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The most comforting book ever! I have read this book so many times and whenever I've having a rough patch, I go back to it. Insights into food and life.
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Read in January, 2003
Laurie Colwin is a real person writing about real food: for example, she talks about she and her sister, after a dinner party, would pour all the leftover dregs of people's coffee into cups and drink them over ice. But it's kind of magical.
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
people who eat food.
This might be one of my favorite books of all time. I am loving every minute. It's a collection of short essays on food and life ("Alone in the kitchen with an eggplant" and "Repulsive dinners: A memoir") and it's very well-written.
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After I read my first Laurie Colwin book, I discovered that I am a big fan of Laurie Colwin and we share the same passions. I find her writing entertaining and since I enjoy my cookbooks so very much, this was a double treat for me.
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Read in April, 2007
recommends it for:
a foodie
This is a charming book containing short essays on cooking. Laurie Colwin recounts memorable meals, complete disasters, and shares favorite recipes. It reads somewhere between a food memoir and a cookbook. Surprisingly enjoyable!
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Read in August, 2007
Part memoir, part cookbook. The title is an apt description. Interesting to see the changes in cooking style in the past 25 years. She gives a good many recipes but not always amounts, temperatures or times. A comforting read.
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I read this when I was pregnant and it was fabulous! It has recipes and writings about food and it makes you hungry.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.38 (180 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.41 (175 ratings) number of reviews: 40popular shelves
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quote
"The old days were slower. People buttered their bread without guilt and sat down to dinner en famille."
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