false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176169398m/600532.jpg 600532 2 Born in Louisiana and at home in Tennessee, author Michael Lee West makes any old body feel downright welcome at her kitchen table. The coffee's hot, the iced tea is sweet, the cake's a little dry, and the conversation shows no sign of abating, even as the last page is turned and the cover is closed on <I>Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life</I>. The subject is variously food, family, and Mama, wherein Mama is as much a state of mind as an embodied soul. This is about the South, honey, some of which is of the New South stripe, and some of the Old.<p> In an easy, talkative style, author West spins tales, shares recipes, and hands out advice. In a chapter titled "Funeral Food," she includes recipes for Lemon Chess Pie and Lemon Squares. Among her rules for funeral food, she notes that dishes must be easy to transport as well as appealing to the bereaved. Some foods are simply inappropriate. "I myself have never seen appetizers at a funeral," West writes. "This is not the time to bring Better Than Sex Cake or Death by Chocolate. And it's never a good idea to use uncooked eggs in funeral food."<p> <I>Consuming Passions</I> is about home cooking, about church-basement food, about growing up in the shadow of Mama's kitchen and learning to cook away from home. West is ever willing to try something new, to fail, to try again, and to defend to her last breath the virtues of her favorite mayonnaise. West has the spirit of a close friend who'll share all her secrets, including her best recipes, some of which her various family members (we meet them all) failed to take to their graves. Sit down, pull up a chair, and get ready to listen. <I>--Schuyler Ingle</I> 587131 book 1999 Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life total:88|5:30|4:30|3:22|2:5|1:1| 88 347 161 16 5 2 false false Mon Jul 16 18:42:25 -0700 2007 Mon Jul 16 18:44:45 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 06 13:17:16 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 10:12:10 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat May 16 20:12:14 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 20:13:29 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Apr 01 15:09:40 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 01 15:20:31 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Mar 29 08:32:38 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 08:33:12 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Aug 15 10:33:55 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 15 10:34:43 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Mon Jan 26 19:20:46 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 19:21:22 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sun May 31 13:53:52 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 13:54:31 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 01 20:07:23 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 01 20:07:40 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 28 09:16:54 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 18 10:02:20 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Mon Oct 01 22:15:43 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 01 22:15:48 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu Aug 28 10:13:24 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 28 10:15:52 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Jan 19 12:51:42 -0800 2009 Tue Jul 15 15:18:33 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 19 12:51:42 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Sat Aug 23 21:52:38 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 23 21:53:22 -0700 2008 http://dogearedandunderlined.blogspot.co...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Aug 10 12:38:54 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 10 12:39:36 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Sat Jan 24 18:49:56 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 17 20:01:05 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Nov 17 23:07:36 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 23:07:36 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Nov 10 17:12:33 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 17:12:33 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu Nov 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 10:06:36 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 10:06:50 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 06:27:36 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 06:27:36 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=600532