A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

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A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 7,277 ratings · 1,234 reviews

When Molly Wizenberg's father died of cancer, everyone told her to go easy on herself, to hold off on making any major decisions for a while. But when she tried going back to her apartment in Seattle and returning to graduate school, she knew it wasn't possible to resume life as though nothing had happened. So she went to Paris, a city that held vivid memories of a childho...more When Molly Wizenberg's father died of cancer, everyone told her to go easy on herself, to hold off on making any major decisions for a while. But when she tried going back to her apartment in Seattle and returning to graduate school, she knew it wasn't possible to resume life as though nothing had happened. So she went to Paris, a city that held vivid memories of a childhood trip with her father, of early morning walks on the cobbled streets of the Latin Quarter and the taste of her first pain au chocolat. She was supposed to be doing research for her dissertation, but more often, she found herself peering through the windows of chocolate shops, trekking across town to try a new pâtisserie, or tasting cheeses at outdoor markets, until one evening when she sat in the Luxembourg Gardens reading cookbooks until it was too dark to see, she realized that her heart was not in her studies but in the kitchen.

At first, it wasn't clear where this epiphany might lead. Like her long letters home describing the details of every meal and market, Molly's blog Orangette started out merely as a pleasant pastime. But it wasn't long before her writing and recipes developed an international following. Every week, devoted readers logged on to find out what Molly was cooking, eating, reading, and thinking, and it seemed she had finally found her passion. But the story wasn't over: one reader in particular, a curly-haired, food-loving composer from New York, found himself enchanted by the redhead in Seattle, and their email correspondence blossomed into a long-distance romance.

In A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, Molly Wizenberg recounts a life with the kitchen at its center. From her mother's pound cake, a staple of summer picnics during her childhood in Oklahoma, to the eggs she cooked for her father during the weeks before his death, food and memories are intimately entwined. You won't be able to decide whether to curl up and sink into the story or to head straight to the market to fill your basket with ingredients for Cider-Glazed Salmon and Pistachio Cake with Honeyed Apricots.(less)

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published March 3rd 2009 by Simon & Schuster

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Lists with This Book

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Food-Related Non-Fiction

28th out of 468 books — 974 voters

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

Nouvelle Cuisine

36th out of 270 books — 120 voters

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Community Reviews

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Mar 04, 2009 Jaclyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

I laughed, I cried, I put bouchons au thon on my weekly menu.

Molly Wizenberg is basically my generation's M.F.K. Fisher. Her recipes are fantastic, her descriptions are apt... but that all pales in comparison with the simple fact that her writing is full of life and joy. I've been a follower of her blog, Orangette, for some time now and I find I can always rely on Molly for a great recipe, wonderful story and stunning photography. But the book transcends that - it's something more. It's a glimps...more

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Mar 07, 2009 Laurie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Laurie by: http://orangette.blogspot.com/

Shelves: nonfiction, food

Molly Wizenberg has a wonderfully flattering way of writing about food and people. She makes both sound delightful. While readers of A Homemade Life will wish they could sit down with Molly over salad and cheese, they will especially wish they could know all these charming people: her father, mother, husband, and various friends in Oklahoma, Paris, and Seattle. Molly describes each in a vivid way that says, "I love this person! I want to share him with you." And with each person comes a recipe....more

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Apr 12, 2009 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Every once in a while I come across someone who makes me wonder. What I was doing when God was handing out talent? No, really. WHAT was I doing? Begging some mid-level angel to send me to a pastry-making family in Paris while rocket-science intellect and supermodel looks were being passed out like Halloween candy two lines down?

One thing’s certain: I was not in line with author Molly Wizenberg. Actually, I’m not sure anyone was in line with her that fateful pre-mortal day. She reminds me of the...more

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Mar 27, 2009 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

I heard of this book from a couple of sources and decided to pick it up. I now feel that Molly Wizenberg and I are best friends, and I have not yet even visited her blog, called Orangette. Great bedtime reading, as the "chapters" are quite short, each ending with usually one but maybe two recipes---and then I'd tell myself, "what would one more hurt?" so I'd read more. Her recipes are written as prose, leading you through each step. Along the way, she writes about her childhood, (and since she i...more

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Jan 31, 2011 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've been interested lately in food as an inspiration for writing, especially about one's life. Molly Wizenberg has a knack both for telling a great story and making something amazing out of just a few ingredients laying around in the fridge. I truly enjoyed hearing about her life in the U.S. and her periods of time spent in Paris. I will definitely be cooking using her simple recipes in the very near future. Love that very few include meat, and most are incredibly healthy. Her way of cooking re...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Gina rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book encompasses two pet peeves of mine: the blog-to-book craze and the cookbook-book combination. Blogs fodder is not always great book fodder. I enjoy a well-written blog, but I am less forgiving of a book that is not so well-written. I am not saying this book is not well-written, but I do think that the flow of the stories feel more like blog posts than short stories to me.

As for the cookbook/book issue, it's a personal matter of wondering where to house a book like this. Is it a proper...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, essay, cooking, cookbook, recipes

This girl can write. I started reading her blog when it was just a brand new, baby blog. I was intrigued. I followed her story and sampled her recipes for several years (most notably, coconut banana bread and the shortbread waffles). Her recipes are fabulous, one really cannot go wrong. She knows what is good and what is not. What differentiates Molly from others of her ilk (bloggers turned writers) is that she really can write. She has a knack for giving the reader just enough, but never too mu...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Marcia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: x2010, memoir, non_fiction, gave_away

A Homemade Life had occupied space in several book piles over the past year and a half. I would pull it out, open randomly, and read a page or two. Seemed pretty good, but something else always shouted louder from the TBR pile and took me away from Molly's stories. Then in September, it was my turn to lead the on-line monthly book discussion at On the Porch Swing, a YahooGroup. I wanted to do something in a culinary theme, and put out a list of books--fiction and non-fiction--to be selected by g...more

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Jun 15, 2010 Nute added it

Shelves: shelf-sitters, a-cooks-delight

I picked up this book because I really wanted to know how someone has a blog one day and a decent selling book the next. Yes, I understand that it probably didn't go down quite that simple, but you know what I mean.
That's what I wanted to find out from reading this book. But before I started reading it, I checked out Molly's blog site, Orangette.

After visiting Orangette, I just wanted to get to know Molly and try cooking her recipes. I knew that I had a real love for food as deep as hers, and if...more

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Apr 20, 2009 Cate rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read this immediately after It Sucked and Then I Cried, and that was probably one too many books-based-on-blogs in a row. I don't read her blog, Orangette, but I'm guessing this material works much better in blog format. It was very lightweight.

Also, while I'm glad the author and her husband are happy, she's really gushy about their relationship. She sounds very young. It's like Twilight, but with cooking instead of vampires.

None of the recipes jumped out at me as anything I want to make.

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Dec 08, 2011 Anya rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs-biographies-autobiographies, food-cooking, read-in-2011

This book is a combination of blog-short entries and recipes. The author talks about her family, especially of the illness and death of her father, her love for Paris and her husband. Each short entry contains one or two recipes. The stories are nice, but not extraordinary. Molly's telling about her father, however, was quite touching. She also talks a lot about her husband and their relationship. There's a bit too much information for me sometimes. I read her blog and I feel weird reading about...more

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Dec 07, 2008 Ron rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs, cookbooks

Based on Wizenberg's "Orangette" blog, this memoir trades off anecdotes of her family and the blossoming relationship with a fan of her website (reader, she married him) with recipes keyed to certain memories. There's a lot of desserts, but also some pretty nifty-sounding salads, and a simple formula for pickled grapes I can't wait to try. I might even take a crack at the tomato soup with fennels if I ever have a spare afternoon to myself...

Wizenberg's an engaging raconteur, keeping the grand ar...more

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Mar 14, 2009 Jan B added it

Shelves: tried-to-read

The idea of the book has promise. I liked the design of the book, too. But after the second recipe I could tell I wasn't going to make it. And the recipes were not that great. I have no memory of Jewish foods so this book wasn't for me. Returned.

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Aug 13, 2012 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: foodie-reads

I just started reading the author's blog, Orangette, back in January, but it's good food writing. I also like her personality. So I was surprised when I found myself rolling my eyes several times while reading the introduction to this book. Maybe it's because romanticizing the crap out of mealtimes and cooking at home peaked in 2009 (when the book was published), and so it's old, old news by 2012. Maybe it's because I feel like we are similar--though I outgrew my French phase--and I'm jealous to...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Bronwyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I first came across Orangette, I was charmed by Molly, by her optimism and casual intimacy and a life focused on friends and simple pleasures. And then, exposing some rather ugly aspect of my personality, I became rather jealous of her. Even knowing that writing a blog such as that allows quite a bit of self-editing, I was jealous of how lovely her life was, how clear her spirit, how well she put words together. I've cycled back to being charmed by her, and this book only reinforced her cha...more

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Dec 07, 2011 Karen Simpson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book. Not only because Molly is a great writer with a unique ability to draw the reader right into the touching vignettes about her life; or because her recipes are varied, interesting, and appealing; or because I'm pretty sure she could totally be my best friend in real life; but because she made me realize how important good food is in my life.

It isn't even about making some amazingly gourmet meal. It's about slowing down to appreciate the time that we spend (or should...more

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Oct 11, 2011 Melee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Melee by: Mumsy

Shelves: memoir-bio

Though my mother actually hasn't read it all the way through yet, she's the one who recommended this to me. Or brought it to my attention, at least, and told me it was good when I asked. Allow me to give a hearty Thanks, mom!

I have to say, this is my favourite "food-memoir" I've ever read! So, maybe this is only my... third... but still, definitely my favourite. Of course, I couldn't tell you why. Perhaps it was because the author felt so down to earth! Her stories were amusing and, yes, heart-w...more

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Sep 12, 2011 Caroline Kipps rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book very much. It was like chatting with Ms Wizenberg at one of her favorite cafes in Paris or Seattle. I didn't read the book through, but picked it up now and again to read the next chapter. She glories in food. After reading a chapter, I would make dinner that night and try to find the same sensations in the colors, textures, and tastes. While I do take the extra time to cook a meal that tastes good, and spend extra for local and organic foods, try as I might, I can't quite re...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Allison rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: hark-i-are-a-chick, hating-is-fun, spackle-for-the-void, whatever-dude

The problem with criticizing memoirs is that it always feels like a personal attack on their authors, particularly when the author is your age, you both have dead fathers, and maybe just maybe there’s a little green-eyed monster sitting on your shoulder hissing “Hey! I can write at least as well as this! Where are MY book deal, freelance column with Bon Appetit, travel writing assignments, and True Love?” Which is of course unseemly.

Maybe if I were a regular follower of the blog, I’d get it, bu...more The problem with criticizing memoirs is that it always feels like a personal attack on their authors, particularly when the author is your age, you both have dead fathers, and maybe just maybe there’s a little green-eyed monster sitting on your shoulder hissing “Hey! I can write at least as well as this! Where are MY book deal, freelance column with Bon Appetit, travel writing assignments, and True Love?” Which is of course unseemly.

Maybe if I were a regular follower of the blog, I’d get it, but…

My problem with this book is best illustrated thusly: “I promised to tell you about the young Frenchman, and it is kind of a good story, so I won’t make you wait.” In response to which I can only feel like the author and I are on a bus, or in the post office, or some other uncomfortably crowded public place, and she, donning a tea cozy with a cloying lavender and pale pink floral pattern on her head, is leaning in uncomfortably close, in flagrant disregard of my space bubble, and carrying on as if we were long lost sisters. In response to which I can only suppress the urge to say, “GAH! Get thee behind me woman! I don’t even know you. We are not having a heart-to-heart over chamomile, and moreover, we NEVER will.”

An unfair criticism of something that is, after all, a MEMOIR? Probably. But lesson learned: if it’s a personal food narrative and doesn’t contain some reference to bones or meat in the title, then the reading of such is probably a doomed endeavor.

Nevertheless, I made it to the end, so something kept me coming back, and it’s not just the drinking of the haterade. Despite that it commits many cardinal sins (lionizing France—I mean, do we really need another memoir that does that?; frequent use of the second-person; the incorporation of a high school essay), it has its moments, and was a nice, comforting book to read during moments of insomnia and before going to bed, like warm milk (with maybe too much sugar added) for the soul.
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Sep 02, 2011 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. Absolutely loved it. Part cookbook, part memoir, Molly Wizenberg is an amazing writer and cook. I really do wish I lived closer to her so I could meet her.

I was first introduced to Molly through her blog, Orangette. I have no idea how I came across it in the first place, but I'm glad I did. Then I heard that she had a book out, which I thought would be interesting to read. Then I saw the book at Borders, and no amount of penny-pinching could keep me from buying it. I mean, jus...more I loved this book. Absolutely loved it. Part cookbook, part memoir, Molly Wizenberg is an amazing writer and cook. I really do wish I lived closer to her so I could meet her.

I was first introduced to Molly through her blog, Orangette. I have no idea how I came across it in the first place, but I'm glad I did. Then I heard that she had a book out, which I thought would be interesting to read. Then I saw the book at Borders, and no amount of penny-pinching could keep me from buying it. I mean, just look at that cover! Gorgeous.

Reading her book is really like reading her blog, but with more consistency. I feel like I got a better view of her life, but really, the whole reason I kept reading Orangette was for the commentary (the recipes, though, are interesting enough to keep you coming back just to see what she's come up with). I loved hearing how she equated her life with food. And I guess that's why I love her book, too. Food is an essential part of life. It's what families convene for, rain or shine. There should be stories to tell.

There are three essential things you need when you pick up this book: wine, cheese, and a box of Kleenex. Now I'm not one for sob stories, and this isn't one of them. But an essential part of Molly's life, and a huge reason she loves food so much, is because of her father, who died of cancer. The book is not only dedicated to him, but many of the stories are reflections of her time spent with him, and some are tearjerkers because that's just the way life is.

Her recipes, by the way, look extraordinary. I haven't tried one yet, but I fully intend to. They are not, however, for the faint of heart. Many call for whole milk or whole-fat cream; it's a wonder she's still skinny. There is a recipe for just about everything in this book: potato salad to chocolate cake, scones to soup. You could be in the mood for absolutely anything, and you would find it here.

I have to say, I particularly enjoyed Molly's writing. It was as if she was writing a letter to a friend, and I loved her anecdotes stating that breakfast is the reason she gets out of bed in the morning (I can totally relate) and that "getting married is not for pansies" (amen). To write like this is to make the most ordinary of lives interesting. (Although I assure you, her life has been anything but ordinary. Just check out the section on her first love -- in Paris, no less.)

Easily 5 out of 5 stars. I loved it, and if you like food and the tales that go with it, you'll love it, too.(less)

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Aug 26, 2011 Gabrielle rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: francophiles

Shelves: france

I started this after boarding the plane en route to Brussels, and finished it before the day was over. I randomly picked up the book from BN when I was browsing through books and cookbooks that had to do with Paris. Upon purchasing this book, I was still recovering from a recent love affair with the city of lights. At first I couldn't put it down. But Molly started to lose me towards the end when she kept on gushing over how perfect her husband is, and what food they had at their wedding. I wish...more I started this after boarding the plane en route to Brussels, and finished it before the day was over. I randomly picked up the book from BN when I was browsing through books and cookbooks that had to do with Paris. Upon purchasing this book, I was still recovering from a recent love affair with the city of lights. At first I couldn't put it down. But Molly started to lose me towards the end when she kept on gushing over how perfect her husband is, and what food they had at their wedding. I wish she had written more about her childhood and family experiences. It would have given me a chance to get to know her voice better and connect with her more. The stories were too brief to get attached to any particular character, even the heroine herself. Her tales of Paris merely glossed over the surface of the city. I was hoping to feel the city come to life from her stories. I wanted to hear more about her joys in discovering the city, the difficulties she encountered while living alone in a foreign land, and how the city played a part in her grieving process (this seemed to be a major point as per the book sleeve synopsis, but I didn't find many connections). I wished badly for this book to be some sort of an investment for me - my go-to book every time I feel the desire to be transported back to Paris without spending a dime for the airfare. But it won't take me there.
The recipes are quite inspiring. I can't wait to get back home and jump right into the kitchen and try out her recipes. No doubt the food will be delicious, but I noticed that the recipes and the writing became less interesting/appetizing soon after she met her husband. Shouldn't your significant other be an inspiration to you to make better food or be a better writer? There truly was a noticeable decline in quality there. Sure he is vegetarian, but what about some great vegetarian dishes other than salads? Salads are quite boring, in my opinion. Sure they may be amazing, but I don't think I need a hundred recipes for them. I'm assuming that life really started to happen for her when she started dating Brandon, hence less time for experimentation in the kitchen with real food? In any case, I'm happy that she has found her happiness when she met Brandon and became his wife. I hope she doesn't lose herself and that she retains her flavor (in food and writing) that was so promising in the early parts of her book.
I will probably now follow her blog for more recipe and food ideas. I will also look at all my Bon Appetit mags and look for her columns. Anyway, I wish her and her husband all the best. (less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Ryan Samuel rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book with my best friend - and although we never spoke in depth about the text, I know we shared something heartwarming through reading it together.

The story line is somewhat of a coming of age theme, but with a focus on food. I instantly bonded with the voice of the main character and felt like we were friends. She shared her recipes with me and, the way she described them, I instantly wanted to taste each one. I could smell them baking in my kitchen, I could hear the pots and pans...more

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May 31, 2011 Carissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, listened-to-audiobook

hooray for foodie memoirs! i read Orangette the blog before this book came out and when it was published, I wanted to read it, but had zero time for reading. then, i realized that listening to it on audiobook would be wonderful (and it was). my only issue with the recording is that it says it's unabridged, but neither the recipes nor the recipe-specific notes are read. Now, I once listened to an audiobook where they read every single part of the recipe aloud and THAT was a bit tedious, but it wo...more

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Mar 06, 2011 Anne rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm sincerely baffled by the glowing reviews and book jacket blurbs from talented, capable writers and chefs like David Leibovitz. This book is AWFUL. The writing is trite and painfully unedited; Molly Wizenburg writes as if she's 60 and writing a touching memoir, when she in fact is oversharing about her twenties only a couple years later. The whole thing was overly precious and read like the diary of a 14-year-old who thinks she is a special unicorn because her parents love her and she met a b...more

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Oct 29, 2010 Vicki rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: cookbook, memoir

I want to do justice to how much I like this book. Yes. There are five stars up there. It's not like I'm stingy with my stars if I really like something. It's not like I don't have any five star books on my virtual shelves. But I really really mean it with this one. I loved it.

The thing about food is that, for better or for worse, it's autobiographical. To me, the taste of Cheetos equals a road trip to Canada with my parents. I was about 9 years old and I got sick off of them. (I'm sorry to bri...more

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Feb 07, 2010 Arieltsmith rated it 3 of 5 stars

“A Homemade Life” is neither fully cookbook nor fully memoir. It is instead a series of autobiographical essays with recipes the corresponding to the memories imparted. Although the essays are short and the platform is food, by the end of the book you’ll feel like you know Molly’s pert and fashionable mother, her robust, idiosyncratic father, her charming musician-vegetarian-gourmand of a husband, and of course, Molly herself. Not only is she able to bring these people fully to life, but she ach...more

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Nov 16, 2009 jess rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to jess by: olympia public library

Shelves: 2009, food, blogger

While I am skeptical of blogs-to-books, and have spent considerable hours of my life dissecting the genre in recent months, I really wanted to love this book. First, the author lives in the PNW. Me too! (Only 60 miles north of me, Molly Wizenberg has a restaurant.) She's from Oklahoma, but left the minute she could. Hey, me too! She had a long-distance sweetheart who became her spouse. Wow! Me too! So, imagine my surprise when I, self-identified emotional sap and carbohydrate connoisseur, became...more While I am skeptical of blogs-to-books, and have spent considerable hours of my life dissecting the genre in recent months, I really wanted to love this book. First, the author lives in the PNW. Me too! (Only 60 miles north of me, Molly Wizenberg has a restaurant.) She's from Oklahoma, but left the minute she could. Hey, me too! She had a long-distance sweetheart who became her spouse. Wow! Me too! So, imagine my surprise when I, self-identified emotional sap and carbohydrate connoisseur, became the first person in the universe to not adore this book.

So the first half of the book is dad stuff, family, the food, France, and a little misdirected romance of youth. Then the second half is the True Love, the marriage, and more of the food. Molly describes her LDR, the airports, the once-a-month "vacations," the courtship, the marriage, and I totally get their fresh-faced new-soul worshipful love, down to the description of her spouse as "magic," while he is proposing marriage over and over long after the wedding has passed. This is what I want to remember about this book, becuase I inhabit that space, too. I agree, gentle reader, it is completely and totally wrong that I liked the part about love BEST in a book about food.

And Molly cooks simple, honest, earnest food with fresh, local ingredients. Her food stories sound delicious and I have heard from friends that their restaurant is pretty good. Some day I will go there and eat their heirloom tomato salad. This was a blog-book I should have adored, but it just never really measured up to my expectations. I never read Molly's blog, Orangette, even though I know it is super famous. I thought I could avoid the death trap of "we already read all of this on your blog," although through some careful google-ing, I was able to determine that the book more often than not just sums up her blog. The vignettes aren't strong enough to carry the book, although many of the stories are quite funny and heartwarming and heartbreaking. By the end, I liked Molly a lot, but I do not want to read anymore of her books, which are as of yet unwritten but which I am sure she will write, because she is wildly successful and beloved.
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Oct 01, 2009 Shelah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Some books about food demand savoring, others leave a bad taste in your mouth. But I gobbled up Molly Wizenburg's A Homemade Life like it was a pan of seven-layer bars. I know that some say that writers who started as bloggers often don't make good writers, but I think Wizenburg's book is an exception. I also know that some authors (like Robert Wolke in his Einstein series) include recipes to go along with each chapter of related text. But the stories from Wizenburg's life were so interesting th...more

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Jun 21, 2009 Ciara rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: francophiles, salad devotees, people who need motivation to cook, fans of blog love stories

Shelves: autobio-memoir, read-in-2009

i would have given this book four stars, because i have tried a few of the recipes & they are pretty delicious, & the book definitely inspired me to cook more & experiment in the kitchen, which is awesome. but halfway through the book, which seems to a be a loosely chronological cooking-related autobiography, the author marries some dude she met through her blog & the qaulity of both the writing & the recipes went way downhill. the dude she married is vegetarian (maybe even v...more i would have given this book four stars, because i have tried a few of the recipes & they are pretty delicious, & the book definitely inspired me to cook more & experiment in the kitchen, which is awesome. but halfway through the book, which seems to a be a loosely chronological cooking-related autobiography, the author marries some dude she met through her blog & the qaulity of both the writing & the recipes went way downhill. the dude she married is vegetarian (maybe even vegan?). i can vouch for the fact that vegetarians eat plenty of delicious food & there are many exciting vegetarian recipes in the world, but pretty much all she offers from here on out are salad recipes. who the fuck needs a recipe for salad? it's seriously shit like, "wash off some lettuce. sprinkle with vinagairette. garnish with ground pepper & a few sliced cherry tomatoes. serve." um...thanks. i never could have figured that out on my own.

i also have a bit of an issue with people writing about losing their parents when their parents are really old. if your parent dies & is older than 70, that's really sad & i don't want to diminish the extent of your loss, but also, zip it. or at least have some respect for those of us whose parents have died at way younger ages. i don't like to get into death-related pissing contests, but i would definitely like to read more stuff from folks my age whose parents died relatively young. i find it difficult to relate to people who lost a parent to cancer at age 78 or whatever. i was barely 23 when my dad died. he was only 48. no one saw it coming. i don't know. the author's dad certainly sounded like an exciting cook, & i'd try his french toast recipe if i weren't afraid of seizing up & dying from a grease-induced heart attack on the spot, but we all have to deal with our parents dying eventually (if we're lucky & actually out-live them). sucks, but deal.

my far larger issue was all the writing about how great her husband is, how they fell in love through her blog when he wrote to ask if she had a certain cake recipe a friend was seeking, all the preparations that went into their wedding menu, etc etc. here's a tip from me to the rest of the world: your romantic relationships are really interesting to you & hopefully to the people you have relationships with. the rest of really do not give a fuck. we don't care about your delight over the way his hair curls, or how anxious you were about your outfit the first time you met. we don't really need forty pages detailing the way you basically ripped off your friend's wedding wholesale but made your own cake. we just don't care. i love my partner too, but i don't labor under the delusion that anyone else gives a fuck about it. despite the fact that he is also a really good cook.

like i said, this book made me want to cook, & that is a good thing. it also kind of made me want to go to france, but i hope i have the self-respect not to have a redezvous with a french teenage boy who never calls me again & causes me to weep & then write about it years later in my memoir. (especially because i'm almost 30, so hooking up with teenagers would be gross on a lot of levels.) i get kind of sick of solidly middle-class americans going on & on about their love of france as if it gives them some mysterious je ne sais quois & evidence that their fondness for cooking is truly sophisticated because it was honed in a country famous for its cuisine, but...whatever. i kind of chose to like this book, & i probably could have hated it if i'd read it in a different mood. but the custard-filled cornbread recipe is really good. eat it with honey instead of maple syrup.(less)

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Jun 11, 2009 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

A lovely read from a young, sentimental food writer. I am really starting to enjoy books that are a hybrid between food essays/memoirs and cookbooks, and Wizenberg's book is just that. She has somewhere in the range of 40-50 autobiographical essays in this book, and after each essay comes a corresponding recipe or two that pertains to (sometimes only loosely) the story she just told. The style and format is very similar to her monthly column in Bon Appetit, which I also enjoy.

I was a bit skepti...more

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About Molly Wizenberg

(from the "about me" section on her blog: http://orangette.blogspot.com)

I live in Seattle, but I grew up in Oklahoma City, went to college in the San Francisco Bay Area, and have spent a decent amount of time in Paris. I like peanut butter, meatballs, sausage, chaussons aux pommes, chocolate, ice cream, and nectarines, although preferably not all at once.

I started Orangette in July of 2004. I had...more

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“Even the Thanksgiving when her parents had just divorced, Hoosier Pie made the cut. ...They also, incidentally, made a pumpkin pie, but it fell on the floor, a classic example of survival of the fittest” — 3 people liked it

“To most people, I guess, turning twenty-one is all about booze. To me, turning twenty-one was all about coconut. Booze is nice, but coconut is chewable, and when push comes to shove, I will always like eating better than drinking. Everyone has their priorities.” — 2 people liked it

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