A Homemade Life

On the heels of Wednesday's post about Delancey, I thought today would be a good time to talk about Molly's book, A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table.


When my copy of this book arrived in the mail, I plowed through it in just a couple of days. Though it is one part cookbook, each essay is accompanied by a recipe or two, at first I was most absorbed by the stories and hardly noticed the recipe details. Having read many Orangette posts, I had gathered the basic framework of Molly's background. But, as often happens in conversation, (and what is a blog if not an extended conversation, albeit often one-way?) the Orangette version of the story jumps around depending on the events of any given day. So I loved the book for allowing me to sit down and read the stories start to finish... Or from start to time of publication, I should say.

Now I pick up the book frequently to reference a recipe and, like any that I've used from Orangette or the Cooking Life column in Bon Appétit, they are simple, seasonal and comforting. But whether I'm checking the ingredients for Sliced Spring Salad with Avocado and Feta or looking for instructions on making Chana Masala, I always find myself re-reading the accompanying story... They're a bit addictive that way.

I won't say too much else about the essays themselves because, to be honest, the descriptions that come to mind are a bit too sentimental for print. I will say that there is something magnetic about Molly's writing, and that I would absolutely recommend this book. For those of you headed to the beach soon*, you could read it there. Or in your kitchen while waiting for your potatoes to roast, or on your couch when it's cold outside, or wherever. What matters is that you read it. That, and turning to pg. 312 to bake The Winning Hearts and Minds Cake as quickly as you can.