Home Cooking - Review

Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen

Rating: 4 Stars
Source: NetGalley

Description:  This is a collection of essays written by Laurie Colwin about cooking, kitchens and everything food related.  There are recipes sprinkled throughout for some of the foods she writes so poetically about.

Genre: Non-Fiction

Why I Picked This Book: I can't resist a food book and I'd heard good things about this author.

My Impression:
Pros:  Colwin's prose is beautiful and it flows in a warm comforting kind of way.  I imagine this would lovely in audio format but is still very nice in print.  She talks about cooking in all it's forms from the complicated and fancy to a tiny apartment that featured a small refrigerator, a hot plate and the bathtub she had to use to drain pasta.  Her descriptions are so vivid that you can almost taste the food, feel the textures and see the ingredients and spaces she's talking about.  I love that she isn't stuck on gadgets or "must have" tools and emphasizes working with what you have or what you want to do.  The recipes includes aren't overly fussy and connect back to the story before it.

Cons: This book was originally published in the 80s and it definitely has a slightly dated feel.  The kitchen gadget mentions especially showed age.  She mentions several things that have either disappeared or have come down in price enough that they're no longer considered a big deal - like a food processor.  While I enjoyed her writing trying to read large chunks at a time got a little monotonous.  It's all lyrical descriptions and is great for one story at a time but for story after story I could start feeling my attention wander.

Overall: This is an entertaining book and one that should never be read while hungry!  While it's not a book I'd sit down and read in one sitting since it's so descriptive is is a book that I'll pick up on and off for awhile to read a story here and there.  If you enjoy food and cooking I think you'll enjoy this book.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Yes!

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Definitely!

I'm linking up with Beth Fish Reads for Weekend Cooking