INDEX OF ALL BLOG POSTS FROM 3/2009 TO 8/2013

UNDATED
TEA, ANYONE?
RECIPES WORTH SHARING
AMBITIONS OF CHILDHOOD (WHAT I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP)
BATTERED, TATTERED STAINS IN A CHURCH COOKBOOK
BEFORE EMAIL
CHRISTMAS MEMORIES 2010
COLLECTING HANDWRITTEN RECIPES
FORGOTTEN RECIPES & VINEGAR PIE
I LOVE MY KITCHEN AID REFRIGERATOR
INCURABLE COOKBOOK ADDICTION
JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING
KITCHEN POETS PART 7
KITCHEN POETS PART 8
KITCHEN POETS PART 9
NO MORE MULTI-TASKING!
SPICE UP YOUR LIFE (IN THE KITCHEN)
TEA ANYONE?
WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU A GLUT …OF GREEN TOMATOES
WHEN YOUR CHRISTMAS ISN’T JOLLY
MARCH, 2009

WELCOME TO MY NEW BLOG (ARTICLE) 3/19/09
SANDY’S FUDGY WUDGY BROWNIES (ARTICLE) 3/20/09
OH HOW I LOVE OLD RECIPE CLIPPINGS (POEM) 3/20/09
BAKING SUGAR COOKIES (ARTICLE) 3/20/09
FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (ARTICLE) 3/23/09
KITCHEN MAGIC (POEM) 3/25/09

APRIL, 2009
EASTER, 2009 4/19/09
FINDING THE RIGHT TOOLS/TO COOK OR BAKE (ARTICLE) 4/15/09
COOKIES & CRAFTS (ARTICLE) 4/30/09
CHOCOLATE FROSTING RECIPES (ARTICLE) 4/27/09

MAY, 2009
WORLD’S EASIEST POT ROAST AND OTHER MAIN DISH FAVORITES (ARTICLE) 5/30/09
ANYONE CAN WRITE A COOKBOOK (ARTICLE) 5/4/09

JUNE, 2009
MAKE AHEAD SALAD RECIPES 6/09
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COOKBOOK? (ARTICLE) 6/19/09
WHEN RADIO WAS KING/THERE WERE COOKING PROGRAMS (ARTICLE) 6/21/09
PHOTOS – ASSORTED
CELERBRITY COOKBOOK BOOKS 6/21/09 (PHOTOS)
RYAN & LAURA MAKE ONION RINGS (PHOTOS) 6/22/09
WHEN RADIO WAS KING PART 1 (ARTICLE) 6/24/09
MAKING REALLY GREAT COOKIES EVERY TIME! (ARTICLE) 6/30/09
PHOTOS OLD COOKBOOKS AND RECIPE BOXES
COOKING FROM SCRATCH 6/19/09
COMFORT FOODS – BREAD PUDDING 6/19
LET THEM EAT SOUP! 6/19
SLUMGULLIAN STEW 6/19
MAKE AHEAD SALAD RECIPES 6/19
BISCUITS AND WHITE GRAVY 6/19
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT BREAD MACHINES 6/19
GRANDMA’S SWEET & SOUR CABBAGE 6/19
AUTHENTIC HUNGARIAN GOULASH 6/19
HOME ON THE GRANGE 6/19
EAT IT! (A POEM) 6/19
AN OLD RECIPE (POEM) 6/19
WHAT WAS I THINKING? 6/19
HUNGARIAN LAYERED POTATOES 6/19
WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU A GLUT OF ZUCCHINI 6/09
REALLY GOOD RAISIN BRAN MUFFINS 6/19
WHAT TO DO WITH HALF A BOTTLE OF WINE? 6/19
SWEET POTATO CASSEROLES 6/09
POTATO CHEESE SOUP 6/19
CHICKEN LIVER PATE 6/19
EDIBLE TEMPERA COLOR (PAINT FOR UNBAKED COOKIES) 6/19
MORE CUTOUT COOKIES 6/19
MY FAVORITE OATMEAL COOKIES
REMEMBERING GRANDMA 6/19
LET THEM EAT CAKE! 6/16
HELEN’S COOKBOOK 6/16
GETTING BACK TO BASICS 6/12

JULY, 2009
RECIPE CLIPPINGS (POEM) 7/27/09
THE BEAN POT (POEM) 7/27/09
A BOWL OF SOUP (POEM) 7/27/09
AT THE KITCHEN TABLE (POEM) 7/27/09
THE COMFORTS OF HOME (POEM) 7/27/09
POPPYCOCK POETRY (POEMS) 7/27/09
MORE BACK TO BASICS RECIPES (ARTICLE) 7/27/09
MY FAVORITE FOOD (POEM) 7/27/09
WHEN RADIO WAS KING PART 2 (ARTICLE) 7/27/09
HOME MADE SOUP (POEM) 7/27/09
WOK PRESENCE 7/09
CORN SEASON IN CALIFORNIA 7/09

AUGUST, 2009

WASHING DISHES (POEM) 8/3/09
MUSTARD (POEM) 8/3/09
MY FAVORITE FOOD (POEM) 8/3/09
FEEDING HUNGER (POEM) 8/3/09
FOOD FOR THOUGHT (POEM) 8/3/09
AN OLD RECIPE (POEM) 8/3/09
EAT IT! (POEM) 8/1/09
PEASE PORRIDGE HOT (ARTICLE) 8/6/09
LET THEM EAT MORE (VEGETABLE) SOUP) (ARTICLE) 8/5/09
AN OLD RECIPE BOX (POEM & RECIPE) 8/5/09

SEPTEMBER, 2009

HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS CANDIES (ARTICLE) 9/20/09
OH FUDGE! – MAKING CHRISTMAS CANDY (ARTICLE) 9/16/09
CHRISTMAS IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER (ARTICLE) 9/13/09

OCTOBER, 2009

OCTOBER AND APPLE HARVEST TIME (ARTICLE) 10/9/09
MAKE MINE LIGHT – FRUITCAKE 10/1/09

NOVEMBER, 2009

IT’S CHRISTMAS COOKIE TIME (ARTICLE) 11/22/09
A BIG YELLOW BOWL (POEM) 11/19/09
NOVEMBER 14 – NATIONAL CLEAN OUT YOUR REFRIGERATOR DAY (POEM) 11/19/09
NOVEMER 17 – NATIONAL HOMEMADE BREAD DAY (POEM) 11/19/09

DECEMBER, 2009

COMFORT FOODS 12/31/09
CHRISTMAS TREES (PHOTOS) 12/31/09
CHRISTMAS PHOTOS SANDY, BOB, GRANDKIDS 12/31/09
CHRISTMAS 2009 COOKIES (PHOTOS) 12/31/09
CLIPPING COUPONS –THE GOOD, BAD & THE UGLY (ARTICLE) 12/30/09
GOOD LUCK FOODS TO CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR (ARTICLE) 12/22/09
A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS PART 2 COOKIES (ARTICLE) 12/16/09
TWAS A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS (POEM) 12/14/09
MEMORIES OF CHRISTMASES IN CINCINNATI (ARTICLE) 12/9/09
I LOVE MY KITCHENAID REFRIGERATOR 12/09

JANUARY, 2010

THE BEST THING I EVER TASTED (ARTICLE) 1/29/10
MY GRANDMOTHER’S KITCHEN (ARTICLE) 1/29/10
BARBARA’S SEED PALS (ARTICLE) 1/29/10
FAVORITE CROCKPOT RECIPES (ARTICLE) 1/11/10
FEAST OF THE THREE KINGS & GRANDMA’S DOUGHNUTS (1/7/10

FEBRUARY, 2010

MAKE YOUR OWN SALAD DRESSING (ARTICLE) 2/25/10
BROWNIES..HOW DO I LOVE THEE? (POEM) 2/21/10
BLAST FROM THE PAST AND OTHER FAVORITES (ARTICLE) 2/4/10

MARCH 2010

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COLE SLAW? (ARTICLE) 3/25/10
YOU MAY BE A COOKBOOK COLLECTOR IF… (ARTICLE) 3/4/10
BATTERED, TATTERED, STAINS IN A CHURCH COOKBOOK 3/2010

APRIL 2010

KITCHEN MAGICIAN (ARTICLE) 4/30/10
SCRABBLE FANATICS (ARTICLE) 4/28/10
SCRIBBLED NOTES ON THE MARGIN ON A PAGE IN A BOOK (POEM) 4/23/10
APPLIANCE LOVERS (POEM) 4/23/10
THE BEAN POT (POEM) 4/23/10
OH DREARY DAY! (POEM) 4/23/10
THE TEA PARTY ((POEM) 4/23/10
TAKING FOOD OUT OF THE OVEN 2 (POEM) 4/23/10
TAKING FOOD OUT OF THE OVEN 1 (POEM) 4/23/10
THE TABLE (POEM) 4/22/10

MAY, 2010

THE DINNER PARTY (POEM) 5/26/10
WASHING DISHES (POEM) 5/11/10
THANK GOD FOR DIRTY DISHES (POEM) 5/11/10
CHILE TODAY AND HOT TAMALE (ARTICLE) 5/10/10
NESSELRODE WHAT? (ARTICLE) 5/10/10

JUNE, 2010

THE KITCHEN POETS PART 1 (ARTICLE/FOOD POETRY) 6/6/10
THE KITCHEN POETS PART 2 “ “ “ 6/8/10
THE KITCHEN POETS PART 3 “ “ “ 6/8/10
THE KITCHEN POETS PART 4 “ “ “ 6/9/10
THE KITCHEN POETS PART 5 “ “ “ 6/10/10
THE KITCHEN POETS PART 6 “ “ “ 6/11/10
THE WEDDING GOWN (POEM) 6/5/10
IN MOTHER’S KITCHEN (POEM) 6/5/10
EAT CAKE! (POEM) 6/5/10

JULY, 2010

THE KITCHEN POETS PART 7,8,9, 10

AUGUST, 2010

MAKING ECONOMICAL MEALS (ARTCLE) 8/15/10
HUNGARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS (ARTICLE) 8/10/10
WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU A GLUT….

SEPTEMBER, 2010

CORN COB JELLY & WATERMELON PICKLES (ARTICLE) 9/21/10
THE WHITE LIE CAKE (SHORT STORY) 9/14/10

OCTOBER, 2010

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU A LEMON 10/14/10
CITY FARMERS 10/16/10

NOVEMBER 2010 – NO ENTRIES

DECEMBER, 2010
FORGOTTEN RECIPES & VINEGAR PIE (ARTICLE)
WHEN YOUR CHRISTMAS ISN’T JOLLY
INCURABLE COOKBOOK ADDICTION
MY MOTHER DIDN’T READ TO ME (ARTICLE) 12/23/10
REFLECTIONS – BECOMING A VOLUNTEER (ESSAY) 12-22-10
REFLECTIONS – THE SCHOOL YARD 12/22/10
REFLECTIONS – THE EMPTY LOTS (ESSAY) 12/22/10
REFLECTIONS – INNOCENTS ABROAD (ESSAY) 12/22/10
REFLECTIONS – WALKING HOME FROM SCHOOL (ESSAY) 12/22/10
REFLECTIONS – THE SCHOOL PLAY (ESSAY)
REFLECTIONS – THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE (ESSAY)
REFLECTIONS – SCHOOL DAZE (ESSAY)
REFLECTIONS – PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS (ESSAY)
REFLECTIONS – A BICENTENNIAL TO REMEMBER (ESSAY)
REMEMBERING GRANDMA’S WAR TIME KITCHEN (CB REVIEW) 12/31/10
DINNER AT THE DINER (ARTICLE) 12/31/10
101 TINGS TO DO WITH A CAKE MIX (CB REVIEW) 12/31/10
REMEMERING DUNCAN HINES (ARTICLE) 12/26/10
WHAT WE KEEP, WHAT WE THROW AWAY (POEM) 12/25/10
I LOVE YOU IDA BAILEY ALLEN WHEREEVER YOU ARE (COOKBOOK AUTHOR-ARTICLE) 12/25/10

JANUARY 2011

REMEMBERING HENRI CHARPENTIER 1/2011
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2011 (ARTICLE) 1/12/11
POLITICAL COOKBOOKS (ARTICLE CB) 1/13/11
CAJUN MEN COOK (CB REVIEW) 1/13/11
DINNER ON THE DINER (ARTICLE) PART 1 1/3/11
DINNER ON THE DINER (ARTICLE) PART 2 1/3/11
BEFORE EMAIL (ARTICLE) 1/3/11
MORE RECIPES WORTH SHARING (CB REVIEW) 1/5/11
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT BREAD MACHINES (ARTICLE) 1/13/11
BLUE PLATE SPECIAL (ARTICLE) 1/13/11
MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN (ARTICLE) 1/12/11
GROWING UP WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, GROWING UP WITH OUTHOUSES (COLLECTION OF MEMOIRS FROM RETIREE GROUP) 1/13/11
AMBITIONS OF CHILDHOOD (ARTICLE-MEMOIR) 1/2011
WHO IS JEAN ANDERSON? (CB AUTHOR) 1/15/11
DINNER IN A DISH OR A DASH (CB REVIEW) 1/15/11
WHERE’S WALDO? (CB AUTHOR) 1/15/11
APRONS (ARTICLE) 1/27/11
EASY AS PIE PARTS 1-2-3 1/14/11
INTRODUCING CEIL DYER (CB AUTHOR) 1/27/11
SEARCHING FOR NIKA HAZELTON – THE NO-NONSENSE COOK (CB AUTHOR) 1/2011
COOKS, GLUTTONS & GOURMETS- IN SEARCH OF BETTY WASON, 1/2011
SALUTING THE CHEF- LOUIS SZATHMARY (CB AUTHOR) 1/2011
MORE COMFORT FOODS 1/31/2011

FEBRUARY, 2011
IS THERE A NUTMEG IN THE HOUSE? REMEMBERING ELIZABETH DAVID (ARTICLE) 2-1-2011
FUNNY MEAT (ARTICLE) 2-1-2011
BAD FOOD (ARTICLE) 2-1-2011
MARGUERITE PATTEN – THE DOYENNE OF ENGLISH COOKERY (ARTICLE) 2-1-2011
GETTING SAUCED 2-4-2011 PARTS 1, 2, 3 – (ARTICLE ) 2-5-2011
MY FAVORITE TOP TEN COOKBOOKS (ARTICLE) 2-6-11
MOCK APPLE PIE AND OTHER FOODIE WANNABEES 2-6-11
THINGS WE REMEMBER; GROWING UP IN CINCINNATI IN THE 30S, 40S 50S 2-9-11
THOSE INCOMPARABLE BROWNS; CORA, ROSE, AND BOB BROWN COOKBOOK AUTHORS 2-13-11
PUTTIN’ UP APPLESAUCE – MY BLOG 2-9-11
REMEMBERING JEANNE VOLTZ 2-9-11
SEARCHING FOR META GIVEN 2-14-11
FORGOTTEN RECIPES, COOKBOOK REVIEW 2-14-11
FROM HARD TACK TO HOME FRIES CB REVIEW 2-14-11
CHEF ANN COOPER—WHAT ARE YOU WRITING NOW? 2/15/11
JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING… 2/2011

MARCH, 2011

PROCESS THIS! 3/2011
REDISCOVERING PRESSURE COOKERS 3/8/11
MORE FAVORITE MAKE-AHEAD SALAD RECIPES 3/10/11
AMBITIONS OF CHILDHOOD, ETC, REPOSTED 3-10-11
YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY TOMATOES 3-11-11
GOOD OLD DAYS IN THE KITCHEN, COOKBOOK REVIEW 3-11-11
AT GRANDMOTHER’S TABLE cookbook talk 3-12-11
GRANDMA’S FAVORITE…RECIPES (THE GRANDMA TOUCH) 3-14-11
LOST ARTS 3-17-11
ONE BITE WON’T KILL YOU! (originally 2005, my blog 3/19/2011
ANYONE CAN WRITE A COOKBOOK! 3-20-2011
HELEN’S COOKBOOK – THE SEQUEL 3/20/11

APRIL 2011

TRACING THE LIFE OF MASTER CHEF LOUIS P. DE GOUY 4/1/11
BLUE COLLAR FOOD, COOKBOOK REVIEW 4-2-11
FOG CITY DINER COOKBOOK REVIEW 4-3-11
BETTY CROCKER CAKE MIX COOKBOOK REVIEW 4-3-11
WILLIAM WOYS WEAVER 4-4-11
AMERICA SAYS GOODBYE TO BERNARD CLAYTON, JR 4-7-11
HARD TIMES PART-1 4-7-11
HARD TIMES PART-2 4-7-11
HOW I WRITE 4-10-11
MY BETTER HOMES & GARDENS COOKBOOKS 4-10-11
THE KITCHEN DIARIES, 4-10-11
CONTEMPORARY COOK BOOK AUTHOR LORNA SASS 4-11-11
THEN ALONG CAME THE BETTY CROCKER COOK BOOK 4-12-11
POTATOES & VEGETABLES 4-15-11
THE MOTHER BOOKS 4-19-11
MOMISMS 4-28-11
MEMORIES OF MY MOTHER 4-28-11
HARRY BAKER AND HIS FAMOUS CHIFFON CAKE 4-29-11
MOM’S CLOTHESLINE 4-30-11

MAY 2011

THE PRICELESS GIFTS OUR MOTHERS GAVE TO US 5-1-11
KITCHEN TABLE MEMORIES 5-3-11
THE GREATEST REWARD 5-3-11
URBAN LEGENDS 5-4-11
MY FRIEND CONNIE 5-5-11
THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW 5-5-11
THE DINING ROOM TABLE 5-5-11
LET THEM EAT CAKE – UPDATED 5-6-11
THE INVISIBLE MOTHER – 5-7-11
MY GRANDMOTHER’S KITCHEN 5-7-11
GROWING UP WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, GROWING UP WITH OUTHOUSES 5-9-11 (RETIREE GROUP MUSINGS)
MORE COOL RISE DOUGH RECIPES 5-11-11
UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF THE MYSTERY CHEF 5-13-11
WEIRD FOOD AND WEIRD FOOD REQUESTS 5-15-11
CROSS CREEK REVISITED 5-19-11
CROSS CREEK COOKERY 5-19-11
WILDFLOWERS IN THE DESERT 5-20-11 (POEM)
REMEMBER THE FALLEN 5-20-11 (POEM)
WHAT WE KEEP, WHAT WE THROW AWAY, (A POEM) 5-20-11
BOOK ENDS: THE RISE AND FALL OF USED BOOKSTORS 5-25-11
A PEEK INTO THE PAST – ANTIQUE COOKBOOKS 5-31-11
ANNA DU SABLON – A CINCINNATI RECIPE TREASURY 5-30-11

JUNE 2011

JAM SESSIONS 6-1-11
WILD FLOWERS IN THE DESERT (A POEM) 6-2-11)
THE COWBOY (A POEM) 6-2-11
GROWING UP POOR (A POEM) 6-2-11
NATIONAL DOUGHNUT DAY, JUNE 3, 2011 (essay/poem)
AMERICA’S COLLECTIBLE COOKBOOKS BY MARY ANNA DU SABLON (COOKBOOK REV) 6-5-11
“SONGS OF A HOUSEWIFE” book of poems by MARJORIE KINNAN RAWLINGS review 6-6-11
MORE JAMMING SESSIONS 6/8/11
MARGUERITE PATTEN’S STICKY GINGERBREAD RECIPE 6/20/11
MORE BATTERED, TATTERED, STAINED RECIPES FROM OLD CHURCH COOKBOOKS 6/20/11
FALLING OFF THE BONE BY JEAN ANDERSON, COOKBOOK REVIEW 6/22/11

JULY 2011
RECIPE CLIPPINGS – A POEM 7/1/11
UNCLE BOB’S HOUSE 7/3/11
THE 4TH OF JULY – ARE WE HAVING ANY FUN YET? 7/4/11
SUMMER SUNSHINE – A POEM 7/13/11
RAIN – A POEM -7/13/11
THE WIND – A POEM 7/13/11
WHEN MAMA’S IN THE KITCHEN – A POEM 7/14/11
IN MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN – A POEM 7/14/11
WHEN MAMA BAKES A CAKE – A POEM 7/14/11
IS THERE A NUTMEG IN THE HOUSE & THE LIFE OF ELIZABETH DAVID 7-15-11
WHAT’S IT WORTH? 7-21-11 (determining the value of cookbooks)
SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION – WHAT I KNOW ABOUT HELEN EVANS BROWN 7/22/11
ELMORE LEONARD’S 10 RULES OF WRITING 7-24-11
WHEN MA STARTS BAKING COOKIES 7/24/11 (A POEM)
WHEN MAMA MAKES SOME CANDY 7-24-11 (A POEM & A RECIPE)
AN ARMFUL OF OLD CHURCH AND CLUB COOKBOOKS 7-31-11
WOK PRESENCE OR CULINARY ALCHEMY * reprint, update, from July 2009

AUGUST, 2011
ANOTHER ARMFUL OF OLD CHURCH AND CLUB COOKBOOKS 8-7-11
WITH GREAT GUSTO – COOKBOOK REVIEW 8-8-11
OLD FRIENDS AND OLD BOOKS 8-8-11
THE FOUNDING FOODIES 8-12-11
WHEN IT’S NOT A BATTERED, TATTERED, STAINED, CHURCH OR CLUB COOKBOOK, WHAT IS IT? 8-14-11
SALUTING MICHIGAN FRIENDS & KINFOLK – A FEW OF THEIR COOKBOOKS 8/20/11
CATCHING FAIR FEVER 8/21/11
A FEW MORE MICHIGAN FAVORITES 8/23/11
WHERE DOES IT ALL COME FROM? 8/27/11

SEPTEMBER 2011

FOR MY GODSON, KEVIN BOREN, 9/2/11
OFF-THE-WALL FASCINATING COOKBOOKS 9/12/11
WHAT’S UNDER THE BED? 9/21/2011

OCTOBER, 2011

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT TIL IT’S GONE 10/5/11
THE BUCKET LIST 10/5/11
THE BUCKET LIST – 2 10/5/11
GRANDMA BECKMAN’S COOKBOOK 10/8/11
THREE QUITE UNRELATED COOKOOKS – PART 1 WORLD FAMOUS CHEFS, 10/14/11
THREE QUITE UNRELATED COOKOOKS- PART 2 JANE BUTEL’S SOUTHWESTERN COOKBOK 10/16/11
THREE QUITE UNRELATED COOKOOKS-PART 3 FORGOTTEN SKILLS BY DARINA ALLEN 10/17/11
JANE BUTEL’S COOKBOOKS AND GREMLINS IN MY COMPUTER 10/18/11
WHO WAS COOKBOOK AUTHOR/RECIPE COLUMNIST MARY MARTENSEN? 10/22/11
CAN YOU MAKE A ROUX? 10-28-11 (RE COOKBOOKS WHO’S YOUR MAMA, ET AL, AND CAN YOU MAKE A ROUX?

NOVEMBER 2011

MOUNTAIN COUNTRY COOKING – COOKBOOK REVIEW 11-6-11
THE ORIGINS OF WEIRD RECIPES 11/6/11
SOME KIND OF CHRISTMAS FOOL 11-15-11
CHRISTMAS LOVE FROM YOUR KITCHEN 11-16-11
NOVEMBER 17 IS NATIONAL HOMEMADE BREAD DAY 11-17-11

DECEMBER 2011

THAT’S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE SOUTH PART 1, 12/1/11
THAT’S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE SOUTH PART 2, 12/1/11
THAT’S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE SOUTH PART 3, 12/3/11
THAT’S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE SOUTH PART 4 12/12/11
‘TWAS A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS (POEM) 12/22/11
THE APPROACH OF WINTER (POEM) 12/22/11
NO TIES ON EARTH TO BIND HIM – FOR ROBERT 12/23/11 (POEM)
ONE DAY WHEN MAMA AND PAPA WENT TO TOWN 12/23/11 (POEM)
WHEN IT’S CHRISTMAS ON THE PRAIRIE (POEM) 12/23/11
WHEN MAMA BAKES A CAKE (POEM) 12/26/11

JANUARY 2012

DAY 1, JANUARY 1, 2012 NEW BEGINNINGS 1/1/12
LEFTOVER CAKE 1/5/12 (POEM)
MARDI GRAS TO MISTLETOE 1/9/12 (COOKBOOK REVIEW)
SQUARE TABLE 1/20/12 (COOKBOOK REVIEW)
WOMEN WHO CAN DISH IT OUT, 1/28/12 (COOKBOOK REVIEW)
MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH DOLL HOUSES 1/30/12 (MEMOIR)
THE KITCHEN DIARIES – COLLECTING RECIPE BOXES 1/31/12 (article)

FEBRUARY, 2012

THOSE FABULOUS FIFTIES 2/13/12 (ARTICLE)
CHILI – SOMEWHAT CHASEN’S 2/21/12 (ARTICLE)
SOMEWHAT CANADIAN COMMUNITY COOKBOOKS FROM SHARON’S COLLECTION 2/24/12 (COOKBOOK REVIEWS)
REDISCOVERING SASSAFRAS! 2/13/12 COOKBOOK REVIEW
SHARON’S GRANDMOTHER – ALICE MAUDE FISHLEIGH – 2/26/12 COOKBOOK REV & TRIBUTE

MARCH, 2012

SEASONED TO TASTE –JR LEAGUE COOKBOOK REVIEW 3-1-12
ONE MORE SOUTHERN COOKBOOK –SOUTHERN SCRUMPTIOUS BY BETTY SIMS COOKBOOK REVIEW, 3/4/12
I LEFT MY HEART IN TENNESSEE – TENNESSEE COOKBOOKS 3/7/12
THE COMMON THREAD PART 1 3/10/12
THE COMMON THREAD PART 2 3/10/12
HELEN’S COOKBOOK – THE UPDATE 3/15/12

APRIL 2012

CASTLE FARE – VISITING HEARST CASTLE 4/17/12
BRIDES IN THE KITCHEN (ARTICLE) 4/27/12

MAY, 2012

COOKBOOKS FOR BRIDES & GROOMS 5/5/12 COOKBOOK REVIEWS
AN UPDATE ON THE INCOMPARABLE BROWNS: CORA, ROSE AND BOB BROWN 5/14/12 (REVIEW OF COOKBOOK AUTHORS)
LET’S TALK ABOUT COOKBOOKS (ARTICLE) 5/31/12

JUNE, 2012

LET’S TALK ABOUT COOKBOOKS (COOKIES MADE WITH CAKE MIX) PART 2, 6/2/12
COOKBOOKS WITH “SUN” IN THEM, PART 3, 6/4/12
LET’S TALK ABOUT COOKBOOKS, PART 1, 6/4/12
A WOMAN’S PLACE IS IN THE KITCHEN, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 6/21/12 (CHEFS)
SMOKE & SPICE COOKBOOK, COOKBOOK REVIEW, THE JAMISONS 6/21/12
CRAZY FOR CASSEROLES, COOKBOOK REVIEW, JAMES VILLAS, 6/21/12
THE LOUIE BACKYARD COOKBOOK, COOKBOOK, JANE AND MICHAEL STERN, 6/21/12
TASTES OF JEWISH TRADITION, COOKBOOK, HIRSCH, 6/21/12
1001 4-INGREDIENT COOKBOOK, GREGG GILLESPIE, COOKBOOK 6/22/12
NESSELRODE WHAT? ARTICLE 6/22/12
FOOD IN HISTORY ARTICLE 6/22/12
THE FOOD JOURNAL OF LEWIS AND CLARK (RECIPES FOR AN EXPEDITION) COOKBOOK/HISTORY REVIEW BY MARY GUNDERSON, 6/22/12
THE WORST THING I EVER TASTED/THE GALLERY OF REGRETTABLE FOODS, BY JAMES LILEKS, COOKBOOK REVIEW W/PERSONAL MEMORIES 6/23/12
REDISCOVERING BREAD PUDDING, ARTICLE, 6/23/12
THE BLUE PLATE SPECIAL OR DINNER AT THE DINER, COOKBOOK REVIEW 6/23/12
WOK PRESENCE – OR LEAVING YOUR THUMBPRINT, ARTICLE 6/24/12
SPAM, THE COOKBOOK, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 6/24/12
LET US EAT CAKE, COOKBOOK REVIEW, SHARON BOORSTIN, 6/24/12
POST SCRIPT TO 1001 4-INGREDIENT COOKBOOK (C00KBOOK REVIEW) 6/25/12
FIX IT AND FORGET IT COOKBOOK, COOKBOOK REVIEW RANCK AND GOOD, AUTHORS, 6/25/12
THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL/PICNICS UNDER THE STARS, 6/26/12
FOOD FESTIVAL USA, COOKBOOK REVIEW, BECKY MERCURI, AUTHOR, 6/27/12
POTATOES AND VEGETABLES, COOKBOOK REVIEW 6/27/12
KITCHEN CULTURE, FOOD REFERENCE/50 YEARS OF FOOD FADS, BY GERRY SCHREMP, REVIEW, 6/28/12

JULY 2012

FEAST HERE AWHILE, BRANS, FOOD REFERENCE, 7/13/12
ENDLESS FEASTS, RUTH REICHL, FOOD HISTORY/REF. 7/14/12
AMERICAN HOME COOKING, THE JAMISONS, COOKBOOK REVIEW 7/16/12
A HISTORY OF COOKS AND COOKING, FOOD HISTORY AND REFERENCE 7/17/12
SOUTHERN HEIRLOOM RECIPES, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 7/17/12
EAT MY WORDS, FOOD REFERENCE 7/19/12
CAN SHE BAKE A CHERRY PIE? COOKBOOK/FOOD REFERENCE REVIEW 7/19/12
MARION CUNNINGHAM, COOKBOOK AUTHOR, ARTICLE/TRIBUTE 7/20/12
COURT FAVOURITES BY ELIZABETH CRAIG RECIPES AND FOOD HISTORY 7/21/12
PASS THE POLENTA, TERESA LUST, MEMOIR W/RECIPES 7/21/12
BEST OF THE BEST, WASHINGTON QUAIL RIDGE PRESS, REVIEW, 7/24/12
THE SOUTHERN COOK’S HANDBOOK, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 7/24/12
500 TREASURED COUNTRY RECIPES, COOKBOOK REVIEW 7/26/12
COOKBOOKS WORTH COLLECTING, COOKBOOK REFERENCE, BARILE, 7/27/12
BEST OF THE BEST DESSERT COOKBOOK QUAIL RIDGE PRESS, 7/28/12
THE BREAKFAST BOOK, MARION CUNNINGHAM, COOKBOOK REVIEW 7/29/12

AUGUST 2012

ACKNOWLEDGING MICHIGAN FRIENDS AND KINFOLK – A FEW OF THEIR COOKBOOKS, 8/1/12
THE MCCLELLANDVILLE COAST COOKBOOK, REVIEW, 8/2/12
THAT’S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE SOUTH, PART 2, ARTICLE, 8/3/12
AT GRANDMOTHER’S TABLE, COOKBOOK REVIW, 8/5/12
TAKING COMFORT, FAVORITE “COMFORT” COOKBOOKS, REVIEW 8/11/12
COLLECTING PILLSBURY BAKE OFF CONTEST COOKBOOKS ARTICLE 8/13/12
MAKING HOME MADE BREAD (VARIOUS BREAD COOKBOOKS) 8/17/12
THE ALL AMERICAN COWBOY COOKBOOK, REVIEW, 8/19/12
A TASTE OF TEXAS RANCHING, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 8/20/12
NEW COOKBOOK FROM THE OLD WEST, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 8/21/12
SPIRIT OF THE WEST, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 8/21/12
SPIRIT OF THE HARVEST, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 8/24/12
WEST OF THE ROCKIES COOKBOOK, REVIEW, 8/24/12
TRAIL BOSS’S COWBOY COOKBOOK, REVIEW, 8/25/12
KITCHENS WEST, PART 1, ARTICLE/HISTORY 8/26/12
MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COWBOYS, PART 2, ARTICLE 8/27/12
THE WISDOM OF THE CHINESE KITCHEN, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 8/28/12
THE EMIGRANTS, OREGON TRAIL PART 3, ARTICLE, HISTORY, 8/31/12

SEPTEMBER, 2012

FOOD FOR THE SETTLER, COOKBOK REVIEW, 9/1/12
FEAST OF EDEN, JR LEAGUE COOKBOOK REVIEW, 9/1/12
THE SETTLERS (SURVIVORS OF THE OREGON TRAIL) PART 4, 9/1/12
TRIBUTE TO ROBERT – GOLDEN GATE GARDEN, 9/3/12
MIDEAST AND MEDITERRANEAN CUISINE, COOKBOOK REVIEW 9/4/12
DEAR S.O.S., COOKBOOKS WRITTEN BY ROSE DOSTI, ARTICLE 9/4/12
THE TASTE OF TIME, COOKBOOK REVIEW 9/6/12
ARIZONA STATE FAIR BLUE RIBBON RECIPES COOKBOOK REV, 9/6/12
TULSA STATE FAIR COOKBOOK AND A FEW OTHER FAVORITE FAIR COOKBOOKS, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 9/6/12
A TASTE OF THE FAR EAST COOKBOOK REVIEW 9/7/12
THE PRIMAL HAMBURGER, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 9/9/12
FINDING MORE COMFORT COOKBOOK REVIEW 9/13/12
WHEN THOSE BED AND BREAKFAST PLACES PUBLISH A COOKBOOK, B&B COOKBOOKS AND REVIEWS, 9/16/12
THE VEGETARIAN TABLE: THAILAND, COOKBOOK REVIEW 9/20/12

OCTOBER 2012

AMERICAN DISH, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 10/4/12
FOOD JOURNAL OF LEWIS AND CLARK, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/4/12
TASTE OF THE TERRITORY, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 10/4/12
COOK-OFF AMERICA, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/5/12
SUPER CHEFS, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 10/5/12
THE GLASS PANTRY, COOKBOOK REVIEW (CANNING) 10/8/12
CRUISE SHIP COOKBOOKS, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/11/12
RECIPES FOR READING, FOOD REFERENCE/HISTORY 10/11/12
PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH COUNTRY COOKING/AUTHOR WILLIAM WOYS WEAVER, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/13/12
COMFORTABLE ENTERTAINING, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/24/12
SOME KIND OF CHRISTMAS FOOL, ARTICLE/MEMOIR 10/15/12
NORTH AFRICA, THE VEGETARIAN TABLE, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/25/12
MISSISSIPPI MEMORIES, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/26/12
BLUE RIBBON WINNTERS- AMERICA’S BEST STATE FAIR RECIPES, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/28/12
SAVORING SAVANNAH, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 10/30/12
SAVANNAH SEASONS, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 10/31/12

NOVEMBER, 2012

THE AMERICAN CENTURY COOKBOOK, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 11/2/12
CLASSIC THAI CUISINE, COOKBOOK REVIEW 11/3/12
HOT & SPICY SOUTHEAST ASIAN DISHES COOKBOOK REVIEW 11/4/12
BEATRICE OJAKARIGAS GREAT HOLIDAY BAKING BOOK, COOKBOOK REVIEW 11/5/12
MEMOIRIES OF CHRISTMAS YEARS AGO IN CINCINNATI, ARTICLE, MEMOIR, 11/5/12
THE SOUP GOURMET, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 11/5/12
WHAT’S CHRISTMAS WITHOUT COOKIES? RECIPES 11/5/12
OLD-FASHIONED COUNTRY CHRISTMAS COOKBOOK, REVIEW, 11/5/12
CHRISTMAS MANIA, MEMOIR, PERSONAL 11/6/12
KEEPING IT SHORT & SWEET, MEMOIR, 11/6/12
MAKING CHRISTMAS CANDY & CONFECTIONS, RECIPES 11/7/12
THE CHRISTMAS DOLL HOUSE, MEMOIR, 11/7/12
SOME FAVORITE CHRISTMAS COOKIE COOKBOOKS, ARTICLE 11/7/12
GINGERBREAD HOUSE MANIA, MEMOIR, 11/8/12
MAKING FRUITCAKE IN JANUARY, MEMOIR W/RECIPES 11/9/12
CHRISTMAS IS COMING AND THE GOOSE IS GETTING FAT, 11/9/12
REFLECTIONS ON CHRISTMAS COOKIES 11/10/12
TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS – 2012 VERSION, 11/10/12
MORE CHRISTMAS COOKBOOK FAVORITES, ARTICLE, 11/12/12
MORE CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPES –ICEBOX COOKIES, ARTICLE/RECIPES 11/13/12
MORE CHRISTMAS COOKIE RECIPES – MAKING DROP COOKIES 11/16/12
MAKING REALLY GREAT COOKIES EVERY TIME, ARTICLE W/RECIPES 11/17/12
IN THE KITCHEN BAKING COOKIES, ARTICLE, 11/17/12
EVERYBODY’S FAVORITE CHRISTMAS COOKIES RECIPES 11/18/12
MAKING CHRISTMAS COOKIES FROM A CAKE MIX – COOKBOOK REVIEW 11/19/12

DECEMBER 2012

TWAS A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS – POEM, 12/3/12
MULTITASKING – BAKING OATMEAL COOKIES AND MAKING POMEGRANATE JELLY, 12/4/12
HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS CANDIES, 12/6/12
WHEN THINGS GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT AND DISAPPEAR FROM SIGHT, 12/16/12
BOTCHING UP RECIPES & OTHER KITCHEN CULINARY DISASTERS, 12/23/12
NEW YEAR’S EVE & NEW YEAR’S DAY MEALS FOR GOOD LUCK 12/27/12
NEW YEAR’S EVE MEMORIES, MEMOIR. 12-29/12

JANUARY, 2013

EVERYBODY’S MAKING UP LISTS (SO I WILL MAKE UP MINE) 1/2/13
READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? 1/14/13
SHEILA LUKINS ALL AROUND THE WORLD COOKBOOK, REVIEW, 1/15/13
OUTDOOR GRUB, COOKBOOK REVIEW 1/19/13
GOOD HOUSE MAGIC, COOKBOOK REVIEW 1/20/13
LOST ARTS, MEMOIR, 1/20/13
HEIRLOOM COOKIMG WITH THE BRASS SISTERS, COOKBOOK REVIEW 1/20/13
LISTS, LISTS, MORE LISTS, 1/22/13
NUTRITION ACTION HEALTH NEWSLETTER 1/22/13
A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS…COOKBOOKS, OF COURSE, 1/23/13
WHAT’S IN A NAME? 1/25/13

FEBRUARY, 2013

MORE OFF THE WALL COOKBOOKS, 2/4/13
MEMPHIS ON MY MIND, COOKBOOK REVIEW 2/11/13
JANE AND MICHAEL STERN, COOKBOOK AUTHORS ARTICLE, 2/20/13
STILL MORE OFF THE WALL COOKBOOK TITLES, 2/20/13

MARCH, 2013

LIGHT HOUSE AND LIGHT HOUSE COOKBOOKS, 3/4/13
LIGHT HOUSES AND LIGHT HOUSE COOKBOOKS, PART 2, 3/4/13
FRESH FROM THE FARMERS MARKET, COOKBOOK REVIEW 3/11/13
BOUNTIFUL OHIO, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 3/14/13
EASTER GREETINGS, 3/31/13

APRIL, 2013

EATING GERMAN FOOD IN GRANDMA’S KITCHEN 4/1/13
QUICK & EASY, VOLUME 2, COOKBOOK REVIEW 4/5/13
CLASSIC CHINESE CUISINE, COOKBOOK REVIEW 4/7/13
THE FARMER’S WIFE COOKBOOK, COOKBOOK REVIEW 4/13/13
WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU A LEMON, ARTICLE 4/13/13
HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGIDY JIG, PERSONAL, 4/29/13

MAY, 2013

LET THEM EAT SOUP, ARTICLE, 5/2/13
MAMA’S MAKING SOUP TODAY, POEM 5/2/13
BUNNY’S JOY (ABOUT JOY OF COOKING) 5/4/13
THE ALL AMERICAN TRUCK STOP COOKBOOK, REVIEW 5/4/13
MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN 5/8/13
AN ALPHABET FOR MOTHERS, 5/9/13
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE COOKBOOK? 5/9/13
MEMORIES OF MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN 5/10/13
REMEMBERING MY MOTHER ON MOTHER’S DAY, 5/12/13
BY PRESIDENTIAL DECREE…LET THEM EAT SOUP, ARTICLE 5/17/13
LOVED MUSIC, LOVED TO DANCE, MEMOIR 5/12/13
PARIS BISTRO COOKERY, COOKBOOK REVIEW 5/18/13
READY & WAITING BY RICK RODGERS, COOKBOOK REVIEW 5/25/13
MY HOMETOWN – CINCINNATI, THE QUEEN CITY, MEMOIR, 5/25/13
MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS, 5/25/13
FROM THE EARTH TO THE TABLE, COOKBOOK REVIEW 5/26/13
RECIPES 1-2-3 ROZANNE GOLD, COOKBOOK REVIEW 5/29/13

JUNE 2013

FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA, COOKBOOK REVIEWS 6/18/13
HEALTHY 1-2-3 BY ROZANNE GOLD, COOKBOOK REVIEW 6/20/13
SEARCHING FOR COOKBOOK AUTHOR META GIVEN, ARTICLE, 6/23/13
MY COUSIN CONNIE, PERSONAL MEMOIR, 6/30/13

JULY 2013

THREADGILL’S THE COOKBOOK, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 7/5/13
LIZZIE’S COOKBOOK BY THE LUND FAMILY CENTER, COOKBOOK REVIEW 7/7/13
BERRIES BY SHARON KRAMIS, COOKBOOK REVIEW 7/8/13
FOODS OF THE MAYA/ A TASTE OF THE YUCATAN, COOKBOOK REVIEW 7/8/13
WILD ABOUT TURKEY, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 7/9/13
MORE BACK TO BASIC RECIPES (REVISITED) ARTICLE 7/9/13

AUGUST, 2013

TENDER AT THE BONE BY RUTH REICHL, AUTHOR’S MEMOIR, REVIEW, 8/18/2013
THE OLD TIME BRAND NAME COOKBOOK, REVIEW. 8/11/13
FARMACOPEIA, COOKBOOK REVIEW, 8/11/13
VISITING THE FARMER’S MARKETS – ARTICLE/REVIEW OF FARMERS MARKET COOKBOOKS , PART 1 8/8/13
VISITING THE FARMER’S MARKETS – ARTICLE/REVIEW OF FARMERS MARKET COOKBOOKS PART 2, 8/9/13                                    THE OLD-TIME BRAND NAME COOKBOOK BY BUNNY CRUMPACKER, 8/11/13

SEPTEMBER, 2013                                                                                         SOME FLORIDA COOKBOOKS TO THINK ABOUT 9/1/13            FOOD FESTIVAL USA, 9/2/13 COOKBOOK REVIEW                              MYRA WALDO REVISITED, 9/25/13

OCTOBER, 2013                                                                                                             COOKING UP A STORM, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/3/13                        CANNING VEGGIES FROM A “SMALL” CITY GARDEN 10/11/13     CHEF LOUIS SZATHMARY, A TRIBUTE TO THE MASTER 10/12/13                                                                                                                            A FRESH LOOK AT FIGS, COOKBOOK REVIEW 10/21/13

 

 

 

TENDER AT THE BONE BY RUTH REICHL

I just finished re-reading Ruth Reichl’s early memoir TENDER AT THE BONE and want to tell you, this is a must for all of us—for everyone who loves to cook, for anyone who grew up in the 40s or the 50s but especially in New York; for anyone who appreciates good food, for all of us who enjoy a good story—for those of us who have suffered in the not-too-distant past the idiosyncrasies of our mothers—but mostly for all of us who appreciate the lure and calling of the kitchen.

I first read about Ruth Reichl’s TENDER AT THE BONE in a lengthy, fascinating review that appeared around the time Reichl’s memoir was first published and was reviewed in the Los Angeles Times. The review was actually a reprint of chapter two, titled Grandmothers, and it captivated everyone who read it—along with everyone who ever enjoyed having a wonderful grandmother. In it, Ruth describes the relationship she enjoyed all her life with her father’s first wife’s mother, Aunt Birdie, who was—at four feet eight, the smallest grown-up that Ruth or any of her friends had ever seen.

From Aunt Birdie and Aunt Birdie’s cook, Alice, Ruth was introduced to the kitchen and from Aunt Birdie, Ruth received the one thing all of us as children need and cherish—unconditional love. Aunt Birdied, incidentally, so desperately wanted to be a grandmother that she presented herself at the hospital when Ruth was born, and volunteered herself for the job.

Ruth Reichl has been a restaurant critic for the New York Times, New West Magazine, California magazine, and the Los Angeles Times newspaper, and was editor in chief for Gourmet Magazine until it folded (I began re-subscribing to Gourmet when Ruth became editor its chief. I loved everything she wrote and attempted to follow her career).

She also edited ENDLESS FEASTS which was a tribute to sixty years of writing from Gourmet Magazine. ENDLESS FEASTS was published in 2002. It’s the perfect book to carry around with you on errands to the post office or bank, wherever you may find yourself standing in line—the short stories are ideal for waiting-in-line and the book is small enough to fit into most purses.

Ruth Reichl was a writer and editor who was the Editor in Chief of Gourmet Magazine for ten years until its closing in 2009. Before that she was the restaurant critic of the The New York Times, (1993-1999), and both the restaurant critic and food editor of the Los Angeles Times (1984-1993). As co-owner and cook of the collective restaurant The Swallow from 1974 to 1977, she played a part in the culinary revolution that took place in Berkeley, California.

From Ruth Reichl’s official biography, we learned that she began writing about food in 1972, when she published “Mmmmm: A FEASTIARY”. Since then, she has authored the critically acclaimed, best-selling memoirs “Tender at the Bone”, “Comfort Me with Apples”, “Garlic and Sapphires”, and “For You Mom, Finally”, (originally published as “Not Becoming My Mother and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way”). Reichl is the editor of The Modern Library Food Series, which currently includes ten books—I was curious about this series and checked through both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble to see what all is in the series. (It looks like something I will want to order and write about—one thing that stunned me was the discovery that Henri Charpentier is the subject of one of the books. I wrote about Charpentier in January, 2011, on my blog—but had written about him long before that, for the cookbook Collectors Exchange).

Reichl has also written the introductions to Nancy Silverton’s “Breads from the La Brea Bakery: Recipes for the Connoisseur” (1996) and “The Measure of Her Powers: An M.F.K. Fisher Reader” (2000), and the foreword for “Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art”, by Shizuo Tsuji (2007). Reichl is featured on the cover of Dining Out: Secrets from America’s Leading Critics, Chefs and Restaurants, by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page (1998), History in a Glass: Sixty Years of Wine Writing from Gourmet, 2006, and Gourmet Today, 2009.

Ms. Reichl has been honored with six James Beard Awards (one for magazine feature writing and one for multimedia food journalism in 2009; two for restaurant criticism, in 1996 and 1998; one for journalism, in 1994; and Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, 1984) and with numerous awards from the Association of American Food Journalists.

In 2007, she was named Adweek’s Editor of the Year. She received the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, presented by the Missouri School of Journalism, in October 2007. Ms. Reichl received the 2008 Matrix award for Magazines from New York Women in Communications, Inc..

She is also the recipient of the YWCA’s Elizabeth Cutter Morrow Award. She holds a B.A. and an M.A. in the History of Art from the University of Michigan and lives in New York City with her husband, Michael Singer, a television news producer, and their son.

Whew! I hope you were able to keep up with me listing all of that!

Right now, I’d like to focus on TENDER AT THE BONE, an early memoir but not the very first. That would be “Mmmmm: A Feastiary” published in 1972.

TENDER AT THE BONE is the story of Reichl’s life and how it led her to the kitchen from early childhood to the present. This is not really a cookbook although it does contain some of Reichl’s favorite recipes, including Aunt Birdie’s famous potato salad and Alice’s apple dumplings with hard sauce.

Many of Reichl’s experiences in life struck a familiar chord – when she tells of being sent to a French girls school in Canada—where everyone except Ruth spoke French—and how out of place and foreign she felt – I was instantly reminded of my first year at a Catholic Girls’ High School where everyone seemed to know where to go and how to behave, except me, (one nun never forgave me for walking into the cloister to get to my science class, not believing that I had no idea what “cloister” meant—although fifty years later when we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our graduation, Sister Seraphia—reading my confession about the cloister in the school’s quarterly booklet—conceded that I probably didn’t really know what “cloister” meant). As for me, I made it my business forever after to learn the meaning of any word I was unfamiliar with. It was a good lesson). And while my mother may not have been quite as outrageous as Ruth’s, mine may have run a close second. It took many years for my siblings and I to discover that it wasn’t the food we disliked; it was the way mom cooked it. (Oh? You mean rice isn’t intended to be a hard sticky ball like library paste?) Ruth says her mother was taste-blind, as some people are color-blind. My mother was pre-occupied with managing to feed seven people with one pound of hamburger meat (you keep adding bread to the ground beef. None of us knew what a real hamburger tasted like until we grew up and could order something from a local Frisches’ diner.)

TENDER AT THE BONE, write the publishers, is the story of a life determined, enhanced, and defined in equal measure by unforgettable people, the love of tales, well told, and a passion for food. In other words, the stuff of the best literature.

The journey begins with Reichl’s mother, the notorious food-poisoner, known forevermore as the Queen of Mold and moves on to the fabled Mrs. Peavey, onetime Baltimore socialite millionairess, who for a brief but poignant moment, was retained as the Reichl’s maid. Then we are introduced to Monsieur du Croix, the gourmand who so understood and yet was awed by this prodigious child at his dinner table that when he introduced Ruth to the soufflé, he could only exclaim “What a pleasure to watch a child eat her first soufflé!…”

In an Amazon.com Internet interview with Ruth Reichl, she explains that she didn’t start out thinking she was writing a memoir; she just really wanted to do some writing that was not just restaurant reviews. We also learn from the interview that Ruth is a kindred spirit to us all—she has hundreds of cookbooks. The Fannie Farmer cookbook is one of her all-time favorites (and in TENDER AT THE BONE you discover her introduction to, and friendship with, cookbook author Marion Cunningham who wrote the latest version for the Fannie Farmer Cookbook.

Ruth says she loves Marian Morash’s vegetable book THE VICTORY GARDEN COOKBOOK and was greatly impressed with Rozanne Gold’s RECIPES 1-2-3, (previously reviewed on my blog).

Ruth Reichl also loves Richard Olney’s books, especially SIMPLE FRENCH FOOD and says that one more book she really loves and has had for about twenty years is GOOD FOOD OF SZECHWAN.

TENDER AT THE BONE is available on Amazon.com for $12.09 or from one of many private vendors starting at $3.95 for a pre-owned copy. Alibris.com also has pre owned copies starting at 99 cent.

Review by Sandra Lee Smith

THE OLD-TIME BRAND-NAME COOKBOOK by Bunny Crumpacker

For cookbook enthusiasts, this terrific offering titled THE OLD-TIME BRAND-NAME COOKBOOK by Bunny Crumpacker is a fun-filled cookbook celebrating recipes from another era.
“Take a tantalizing journey back in time to an era when good food evoked coziness, friendliness, and Home Sweet Home. invite Smithmark, the publishers—but wait til you see the illustrations.

The author’s recipe pamphlet collection began when she discovered a cache in a junk shop in Vermont. The pamphlets were beautiful to look at and, as Ms. Crumpacker discovered, fun to cook from. Since then she has added to her collection, finding pamphlets in thrift stores and at yard sales, used book stores and book fairs.

Those of us who have been collecting cookbooks for any length of time – and this includes recipe pamphlets published by food manufacturers—have long known what Ms. Crumpacker discovered: food manufacturer recipe booklets, which have evolved from the freebie booklets that came with every stove and refrigerator to the present day booklets, which, although inexpensive, are no longer free. I started my cookbook collection of booklets when I was a teenager and free booklets were offered on the backs of cereal boxes, cocoa tins and baking powder tins. Ten penny postcards filled the family mailbox with free recipe booklets and I was hooked—although I didn’t start seriously collecting cookbooks until I was in my mid-twenties and decided I wanted to find more cookbooks.

Several times over the decades, I have been gifted with boxes of booklets that a friend or relative found at a yard sale—but Bunny Crumpacker has my collection beat, hands down. Her collection of over 300 recipe pamphlets published between 1875 and 1945, some of which are featured in THE OLD-TIME BRAND-NAME COOKBOOK, are to die for.

“this delightful nostalgia-rich collection of recipes, anecdotes, advice and illustrations” claim the publishers, “hardens back to an era when families ate their meals together, refrigerators were a novelty and creating the perfect molded confection was a requisite of any dinner party…”

I am especially enchanted with the illustrations and recipes from “FAVORITE RECIPES OF THE MOVIE STARS” published in 1931 (and not in my collection of celebrity cookbooks, I am sorry to say). Check out Helen Twelvetree’s recipe for Wakimoli (sic) or perhaps Gary Cooper’s mother’s Buttermilk Griddle Cakes. Also included is George Burns and Gracie Allen’s recipe for Lamb Terrapin.

I was delighted to find a recipe called Hungarian Gulasch (sic) – as prepared by the Hungarian shepherds for it is very much like my grandmother’s goulash, containing only potatoes and tomatoes for vegetables.

(the downside to writing about food or recipes is that, invariably I have to stop typing and head out to the kitchen to start cooking.

Old time recipes, you may have discovered, are generally “from scratch” but the author has provided modern, updated instructions, where ever they are indicated.

You are sure to be charmed, as I was in the evolution of chili, in the chapter Titled “CHILI – AS IT WAS THEN”. Ms. Crumpacker’s recipe, taken from a Frigidaire booklet published in 1933, is simply a combination of ground beef, onion, catsup and kidney beans!

I would dearly love to see Ms. Crumpacker’s original pamphlet collection, but since I can’t, THE OLD-TIME BRAND-NAME COOKBOOK is the next best thing to being there.

You are sure to love THE OLD-TIME BRAND-NAME COOKBOOK. which artfully combines recipes and beautiful illustrations, many of which I have never seen before.

THE OLD-TIME BRAND-NAME COOKBOOK is available on Amazon.com starting at one cent for a pre-owned copy or new starting at $1.95.

While checking prices on Amazon.com I discovered there is a sequel to THE OLD-TIME BRAND-NAME COOKBOOK in Old Time Brand Name Desserts by Bunny Crumpacker, published in 2001.

Review by Sandra L4ee Smith

FARMACOPEIA BY PRODUCE PETE

After I finished typing an update to farmers’ markets part two – which could go on endlessly if I had all of the farmer’s market cookbooks listed on Amazon.com, – I had an internal debate with myself over some cookbooks that are not just cookbooks but a detailed list of fruits and vegetables—where do they belong? Since I can’t figure out how to categorize them, I will just bring them to your attention when one of them crosses my line of vision

Such is the case with Produce Pete’s FARMACOPEIA by Peter Napolitano, with a subtitle “From Apples to Zucchini and everything in between”, published in 1994 by Hearst Books.

I logged on to Amazon.com to make sure it’s available before I start rhapsodizing –and it is available —along with, to my surprise, a not very flattering review of the book. (To be fair, there is a positive review and a negative one). So, I did my own test—I began looking up unusual fruits and vegetables with which I am most familiar from having had, for 19 years, a yard with 26 fruit trees and a grape arbor. We had a dwarf kumquat tree—so I looked up kumquat. There are two recipes using kumquats and the author provides information about their season, selecting, storing and preparing. We also had an unusual loquat tree (which strange as it may seem, was a volunteer. We also had a volunteer nectarine tree that Bob mowed down for several years until he decided to let it grow and see what came up – it was a nectarine tree!) Loquat did not make it into Produce Pete’s book but nectarines did.

And Produce Pete makes up for sparse listings of fruit or vegetables with a more than adequate listing of mushrooms and melons.

For an apprentice cook or someone just getting acquainted with different fruits and vegetables, FARMACOPEIA is a good starter reference book—and the price is right. There are many copies available on Amazon.com starting at one cent for a pre owned book, and at $6.50 for a new copy.

–Review by Sandra Lee Smith

VISITING THE FARMER’S MARKET PART TWO

Now that I’ve laid the foundation for sharing what I know about farmer’s markets, I’d like to share with you some of the farmer’s market cookbooks that I have collected over the years.

Before I do, let me say that farmer’s market cookbooks are abundantly available. While searching for the price on one cookbook the other day, I discovered 255 hits on Amazon.com – and found myself buying one that caught my eye and the price was right. Actually, there are probably more than a dozen of the books listed on Amazon.com that I would like to add to my collection. There are farmer’s market cookbooks all over the U.S.A. – even one in Hawaii!

The only one I didn’t find listed on Amazon or Alibris is my oldest FARMERS MARKET COOKBOOK BY NEILL AND FRED BECK – this is the original, 1951 farmers market cookbook located in Hollywood, California, that the Becks became a part of in 1934. Yes, nineteen-thirty-four! The original idea for the farmer’s market hit the planning stage on Mrs. Beck’s kitchen table. The book, published in 1951 by Henry Holt and Company, boasts of a foreword by M.F.K. Fisher and was dedicated to H. Allen Smith. I was just plain lucky that I found a copy with its dust jacket intact—who knows how many years ago—and bought for under $3.00.

I really didn’t get to know the Hollywood Farmer’s Market until the late 1970s, when I started working at a health plan on Sunset Boulevard. About once a week my friends and coworkers, Connie & Patti, would drive down to the Farmer’s Market to pick up some treats. My #1 favorite was the Pecan Pralines sold at one of the candy stores. #2 favorite was Sherried Walnuts, a recipe I adopted and made my own. Every so often, a group of us would make a quick trip to the Farmer’s Market and buy sandwiches to go – to bring back and eat in the office lunchroom. Hollywood was really new to me at the time – so much to see and explore. We’d see lines of tourists waiting outside of the CBS building to get inside and see some shows. You could also find CBS employees giving away tickets to shows in the Farmer’s Market. And the Farmer’s Market was always packed with tourists.

I don’t know how difficult it may be to find a copy of the Farmers Market Cookbook by Neill and Fred Beck—but it’s a great book to have in your cookbook collection.

In 1975, FARMER’S MARKET COOKBOOK by Florine Sikking was published by Armstrong Publishing in Los Angeles and is a sequel to the original Hollywood Farmer’s Market Cookbook. It’s a good companion copy to the original cookbook by the Becks—this one provides more history of the Hollywood Farmer’s Market and has photographs taken at various vendor’s stalls. This is a soft cover cookbook—and I am unable to find it listed on Amazon.com. Keep it in mind to look for.

THE FARMERS MARKET COOKBOOK by Fran Jurga Garvan was published in 1982 by the Harvard Common Press in Harvard, Massachusetts. This book is divided by months, starting logically with January, in which the author provides a list of all the fruits and vegetables you can expect to find in that month. Captivating illustrations were provided by artist W. David Powell.

Prices start on Amazon.com at one cent for a pre-owned paperback copy or $4.49 for a pre-owned hardcover. I am tempted to buy one of the hardcover copies just to get the dust jacket; mine is missing.

The Central Market Cookbook was published in 1989 and is packed with enticing recipes and mouth-watering photographs. This issue is available on Amazon.com starting at one cent for a pre-owned copy. While I was checking on a price, I discovered that Phyllis Good has published a new cookbook about Central Market, “Fresh from Central Market Cookbook, Favorite Recipes from the Standholders of the Nation’s Oldest Farmer’s Market” published in 2009 – only one copy is left on Amazon and it’s priced at $12.34.

THE FARM MARKET COOKBOOK by Judith Olney was published in 1991 and is subtitled “conversations, recipes, cooking tips, growing hints, mail-order sources, a geographical guide and everything else you should know about farmers’ markets”. This one is a hardcover cookbook with a dust jacket and does not appear to have been reprinted. It is listed on Amazon.com starting at one cent for a pre-owned copy or as low as $1.99 for a new copy. I like Judith Olney’s writing style – maybe because it is so similar to my own. If you like a cookbook that offers you a friendly, chatty style – then this one is for you.

Published in 1993 is FRESH MARKET WISCONSIN, subtitled Recipes, Resources and Stories Celebrating Wisconsin Farm Markets and Roadside Stands, by Terese Allen. The last chapter of FRESH MARKET WISCONSIN provides a list of all the farmer’s markets in operation in 1993. This is a soft cover cookbook with absolutely enticing recipes and I found it on Amazon.com starting at one cent for a pre-owned copy or new for the low price of $7.00. (it originally sold for $14.95). FYI – if you type in FRESH MARKET WISCONSIN on Amazon.com, several other interesting fresh market guides for Wisconsin follow the above listing. (This is how I get carried away and buy half a dozen cookbooks in one fell swoop on Amazon!)

Next on my list is THE FARMERS MARKET COOKIN’ FROM HILO HAWAII, Collected Recipes and Stories by Sandy Knies Foley Bonk, published in 1993. This is quite a comprehensive cookbook with loads of recipes—some you may have never encountered before, a history of the farmers’ market in Hilo, and entertaining illustrations. Overall, it’s unlike any other Hawaiian cookbook I have ever had the pleasure to read. There appears to be an updated version listed on Amazon.com, which is priced at $17.50.

One of my favorite cookbooks featuring California Farmers’ Markets is a spiral bound cookbook published in 1994. The Title is LIMES ARE YELLOW/Shopping for the Finest at California’s Farmers’ Markets, Including Recipes, by Mary Luce Wellington. I just love this cookbook. It is listed on Amazon.com for $1.18 pre-owned, or $12.99 new. What is especially likable about LIMES ARE YELLOW is the inclusion of many fruits you may not be very familiar with (such as loquats or persimmons). LIMES ARE YELLOW will tell you all you need to know about unusual fruits—vegetables, too.

From Michigan Farm Markets and Farm Stands, is a soft cover cookbook titled CELEBRATE THE HARVESTS! By Don and Nelle Frisch, published in 1995. There is an extensive introduction and lists of the various farm markets in Michigan. It took a while to find this one on Amazon.com but I finally did. It s available for $3.15 for a pre owned copy or $12.12 for a brand new copy. It reminded me of the trip my sister Becky and I made one year in the late 1990s—we drove around Lake Michigan and stopped whenever we found a fruit or vegetable stand. The highlight of our trip was venturing into the upper peninsula (we were actually searching for lighthouses) but when we found a fruit stand we pulled over to take a look. We brought back jars of cherry jam with us.

Another cookbook from Central Market in Lancaster, Pa. is RECIPES FROM CENTRAL MARKET, published in 1996. It was also written by Phyllis Pellman Good and Louise Stoltzfus. Lots of new recipes from these two prolific cookbook writers. This is a hardcover cookbook with copies starting at one cent on Amazon.com or $8.24 for a new copy.

FRESH FROM THE FARMERS’ MARKET by Janet Fletcher is one that I reviewed for you a few days ago. This one was published in 1997 by Chronicle Books.

Another cookbook from Michigan is ANN ARBOR FRESH, Recipes and Stories from the Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market and the Kerrytown Historic District, by Raquel B. Agranoff and Lois Kane, published in 1998. This one can be yours for one cent from Amazon.com, for a pre-owned copy, or $10.96 for a new copy. Anyone who loves Ann Arbor (I do! I do!) will want to add this softcover cookbook to your collection.

If you are interested in farmer’s market cookbooks—just go to Amazon.com or Alibris.com and start searching. I know there are dozens more than what I have on my shelves.
-Review by Sandra Lee Smith

VISITING THE FARMER’S MARKET – PART ONE

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,
Home again, home again, dancing a jig;
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog;
Home again, home again, jiggety-jog;
To market, to market, to buy a plum bun,
Home again, home again, market is done.
– Mother Goose nursery rhyme

And one other that I have loved for a long time:

MARKET DAY

White, glittering sunlight fills the market square,
Spotted and sprigged with shadows. Double rows
Of bartering booths spread out their tempting shows
Of globed and golden fruit, the morning air
Smells sweet with ripeness, on the pavement there
A wicker basket gapes and overflows
Spilling out cool, blue plums. The market glows,
And flaunts, and clatters in its busy care.
A stately minster at the northern side
Lifts its twin spires to the distant sky,
Pinnacled, carved and buttressed; through the wide
Arched doorway peals an organ, suddenly —
Crashing, triumphant in its pregnant tide,
Quenching the square in vibrant harmony.
–Amy Lowell (1874-1925)

The children’s nursery rhyme, “to market, to market…” reminds of us a time when it was customary throughout the country to “go to market” on certain days of the week, in particular Saturday mornings, to purchase groceries and produce, before the advent of the corner grocery stores and, later on, supermarkets.

Happily, we have had a resurgence of farmer’s markets throughout the United States. Market day is Thursday afternoon on Lancaster Boulevard in the Antelope Valley, but the market of my childhood was Findlay Market, near downtown Cincinnati. When I was a child, I – or one of my siblings – would accompany our Grandma Schmidt on the street car toting hand-sewn oilcloth shopping bags which we would fill with melons, oranges, lettuce, parsley, onions, and tomatoes – and sometimes a freshly killed hen from a butcher shop at Findlay Market. I wasn’t especially fond of the butcher shop (which remains in business to this day) but found the sawdust strewn on the floor interesting to slide around on, or make patterns in with my shoes.

Mary Anna DuSablon provided a bit of historical background to Findlay Market in her wonderful book CINCINNATI RECIPE TREASURY/THE QUEEN CITY’S CULINARY HERITAGE.

“Findlay Market,” she writes, “the first suburb to be annexed to Cincinnati was named after General James Findlay, who owned the property. Findlay was a proprietor of a prosperous log cabin store, which was founded in 1793…”

Originally, Ms. DuSablon explains, “the area was simply designed as an open air market for farmers, but in 1852, a cornerstone was laid for an open-sided cast iron market building, which would cost $12,000. It was an immense success.

In 1902 the market house was enclosed and refrigeration was added. With its colorful vegetable, fruit and flower stands along the curbs, and stores of every description around the square, Findlay Market became Cincinnati’s first shopping center, reflecting its German heritage later intermingled with the Italian.”

Dick Perry mentions Findlay Market in his book VAS YOU EVER IN ZINZINNATI? published by Doubleday in 1966, describing it this way, “The market itself is located in the dilapidated Mohawk district on an Elder Street esplanade between Elm and Race. But the esplanade can’t contain it. The market is so gregarious it spills out of the market place itself, and vendors line both sides of Elder Street between Elm and Vine, both sides of Race Street from Green to Elder, and the east side of Race Street from Elder to Findlay. Stalls, vendors, and seeming disorder are everywhere. On market days, the din, confusion and scents are beautiful. What can be bought there? Meats, poultry, fish, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, flowers and special delicacies…”.

That was in 1966 and possibly Findlay Market’s heyday. In more recent years, whenever I have made a trip to Cincinnati, my nephew Russ and I have gone down to Findlay Market to shop and look around. For a few years reconstruction was going on and only a few shops were open and doing business. I had the good fortune to be in Cincinnati shortly after Findlay Market reopened a few years ago, with one long enclosed building where private vendors offer everything imaginable from soup to nuts – but especially meat. We found many different sausages and were invited to taste some of them, when I mentioned to the butcher going to Findlay Market with my grandmother in the 1940s and 1950s. Findlay Market has undergone a facelift but the produce and meat and poultry being offered is still top notch.

Farmers markets are as old as this country itself; indeed, the practice of farmers taking their produce, chickens, and eggs to town to sell is centuries old, dating back to medieval times. Didn’t we learn that even President Jefferson often accompanied his French steward to the Georgetown market on his daily trip to pick fresh vegetables and fruit for that day’s meals? According to Kenneth Leish in his book THE WHITE HOUSE, they sometimes spent as much as $50 in a single grocery shopping expedition—certainly a vast amount of money for those times.

As a matter of record, Thomas Jefferson had this to say about markets, “I have often thought that if heaven had given me choice of my position and calling, it should have been a rich spot of earth, well watered, and near a good market for the productions of the garden.”

Describing the marketplaces of the middle ages, author Reay Tannahill writes in her book, FOOD IN HISTORY (published by Stein and Day, 1973), “As the towns grew, small markets which had beg8un for the friendly bartering of produce, grew into important trading events, where coinage, spices, wine, and silks, replaced baskets of apples and day-old chicks as currency. Frequently, so much of a town’s prosperity revolved around the market that stringent precautions had to be taken to guard the stallholders against robbery, violence, and the medieval equivalent of the protection racket. A “market peace” similar to that of ancient Greece was established, symbolized in this new Christian world by a cross set up in the market place.”

“Later,” explains Tannahill, “Every great city had its great markets, and control over these became, in every sense, a royal headache. Exacting obedience from the merchants and ensuring the ‘market peace’ were feasible only if the place of sale was subject to regulation. It became the custom to establish different areas of the city, in which different types of merchants could offer their wares” (This has long been usual in the markets of Asia and the custom had also been adopted in Byzantium).
Other rules and regulations grew, says Tannahill, as merchant associations and guilds became more powerful. As an example, Ms. Tannahill tells us, “In early 14th century London, out of town poulterers* found it profitable to wander the streets selling their goods to housewives who had neither the time
nor the inclination to go to market. The guilds resented this freelance competition and in 1345, an edict was passed which flatly prohibited “folks bringing poultry to the city, to “sell it in landes, (sic) in the hostels of their hosts, and elsewhere in secret” and commanded them to take it “to the Leaden Hall and there sell it, and nowhere else.”

*A poulterer was an old term for a poultry man.

In another book titled PUBLIC MARKETS AND COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION, the author states that the public market as a type of building was firmly established by the seventeenth century. In England they continued to be the economic and social centers of urban life until the early 20th century; they still play an important role in many English cities.

One fact stands clear: the market place, as a custom, has been with us for centuries. European immigrants brought this custom to the United States, where it has flourished for several hundred years.

And the topic of farmers markets obviously makes good copy—you can find newspaper articles throughout the USA, devoted to farmers markets; I can count on one or two a year from the L.A. Times and the San Fernando Valley’s Daily News. Since I first started researching material for this article, I have been collecting both magazine and newspaper articles on farmer’s markets. Some of these markets, such as the Farmer’s Market in Hollywood, California, and the 200-year old French Market in New Orleans, the Soulard Market in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Pike Market in Seattle, Washington, are so well known that they attract millions of tourists every year.

Which market place may have been first in this country seems to be open to debate. According to PUBLIC MARKETS AND COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION, “Among the first records of market activity in the colonies, is a 1634 entry in the diary of Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts, showing that a court order had established a market in Boston, to be held every Thursday. Some years later, Boston constructed its first public market building in the center of t own, leading to the town dock. Around the same time, New York City centralized food retailing into public markets. As new cities developed the pattern continued. In Columbus Ohio, local leaders erected the first public market building even before the city received its corporate charter from the state—a reflection, perhaps, of the relative important of food and government. By 1918, the U.S. Census Bureau found that more than half of American cities with 30,000 inhabitants or more had municipal markets.

The Central Market in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, also claims to be the Nation’s oldest Farmer’s Market. (In 1730 when Lancaster began as a town, a market place was established).

The Baltimore, Maryland’s public market system dates back to 1763 when the first market was erected at Gay and Market Streets, with funds raised from a lottery. Eleven markets eventually encircled the heart of the city, each serving a distinct neighborhood and clientele.

Lexington, Market, in Baltimore, began in 1783 with the permission of Colonel John Eager Howard who allowed a farmer’s market to be placed upon Howard’s Hill. Thirty years later, the city erected a building on Howard’s Hill and officially named the market Western Precinct Market. However, in 1818, after the city of Baltimore expanded its boundaries, the market changed its name to Lexington Market. By 1822, Lexington Market was so famous that U.S. Attorney General William Wirt described it in a letter, “You may conceive the vast quantity of provisions that must be brought to this market when you are told that 60,000 people draw their daily supplies from it, which is more than twice as many people as there are in Washington, Alexandria and Richmond.”

And, Ralph Waldo Emerson, while visiting the Lexington market, described Baltimore as “the Gastronomical Capital of the Universe”.

In 1949, the Lexington Market burned to the ground; the market was rebuilt with a bond issue. Today, this farmer’s market holds many food stalls that have been in the same families for three, four and even five generations.

For a few decades in recent times, the popularity of farmers markets spiraled downward in decline, as American housewives discovered supermarkets and prepackaged cellophane-wrapped mushrooms and tomatoes, frozen TV dinners and microwave ovens. (And what brought people back to farmers markets and fresh produce? Could it be that the very same generation of children who grew up on TV dinners—of which I was one—tired of and became disenchanted with frozen tv dinners and shopping at supermarkets where prepackaged tomatoes and mushrooms usually concealed dark spots and bruises on the undersides of the vegetables, hidden from view?)

Some markets survived despite the efforts of cities to abolish them. The city of Chicago, for example began trying to disband the Maxwell Street Market soon after officially designating the area as a public market in 1912. Government efforts to close the open-air market occurred regularly in the decades that followed, including the removal of all site management functions in the 1970s, but the market miraculously survived to this day with over 800 vendors and perhaps 30,000 customers on a peak Sunday…

By the early 1970s, a number of cities began to re-evaluate their public, or farmer’s markets. Certainly, Central Market in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was one of the first recipients of federal funds for historical preservation when it was restored in the early 1970s.

In her cookbook titled THE FARM MARKET COOKBOOK (Doubleday, published in 1991) Judith Olney writes, “That I am not alone in my need for honest food, for a sense of community and change, became startlingly clear when I began to work on this book. In my travels, editors told me of new markets started in their cities. An Iowa government worker report that every town in the state with a population of over 5000 seemed to have generated a market in the past three years. Bellweather, California, was booming – 5 markets ten years ago, 120 markets in 1989. All across America, behind city halls, in parking lots of malls, in refurbished deserted warehouses, farm markets were springing up like a bountiful nationwide crop of wild edible mushrooms..those wonderful institutions, many of them established by waves of immigrants who had maintstreamed into American society in the stalls of the markets, were coming back to life…”

“And,” she continues, “so life spins around. The booming markets of our agrarian past, those links to our foreign born heritage that we rejected in the 1960s and 1970s like brash teenagers disowning embarrassing parents, we now embraced in our wiser maturity….”

Ms. Olney visited heartland markets in over a third of this country’s states while researching her book and even provides a geographical index to markets across the country and a listing of mail order market items.

An important factor to all of this, explain Richard Sax and Sandra Gluck, in their book FROM THE FARMERS’ MARKET, is not just the ability of the consumer to be able to obtain fresh produce, but that it also provides one solution to agriculture’s financial problems, allowing the farmer direct market of his produce, thereby eliminating the middleman and some of his profits.

This has become a crucial outlet for the small family-run farm, at a time when conglomerates and supermarket chains have forced many such farms to close down. In 1820, according to a recent report in Newsweek, nearly 75 percent of the United States population lived on farms. Today only 3 percent do. (FROM THE FARMERS MARKET by Sax & Gluck.

END OF PART ONE – Next I will share with you some of the Farmer’s Market cookbooks in my own collection.

–Sandra Lee Smith

FRESH FROM THE FARMER’S MARKET

I love the synchronicity of things. It was when I first began collecting Farmer’s Market cookbooks and writing about them that I discovered one I hadn’t known about.
This is FRESH FROM THE FARMER’S MARKET by Janet Fletcher. (Let me tell you; the cover of this cookbook is totally captivating).

Ms. Fletcher’s book, published in 1997 and re-published in 2008, comes to us from Chronicle Books in San Francisco (one of those names you come to recognize as hallmarks in cookbooks).

The publishers at Chronicle Books tell us “Across the country, consumers are rediscovering the old fashioned pleasures buying direct from the growers. (and as I write this, years after this book was published, I’m sure you will agree; this is as true today as it was in the 1990s.
Here in the Antelope Valley, market day is on Lancaster Boulevard on Thursday afternoons).

The publishers write, “They’re also discovering the wonderful variety of fruits and vegetables available fresh from season to season…FRESH FROM THE FARMER’S MARKET, by Janet Fletcher, offers cooks a seasonal produce guide plus eighty fabulous recipes…”

Mary Ann Gilberbloom, a publicist at Chronicle Books, says that, on a personal note. since she started working on this book, she began taking her daughter to local farmers’ markets. She says it has changed her very picky ten year old’s view of fruits and vegetables.

Explain Chronicle books, in their press release, in FRESH FROM THE FARMER’S MARKET, Fletcher celebrates America’s incomparable harvest with recipes and photographs that showcase the riches of each season. Her compelling text conveys the pleasures of shopping the farmers’ market and highlights the benefit of buying direct from the growers access to fully ripe, fresh-picked produce; the chance to buy unusual varieties, many that supermarkets never carry; and the availability of more organically grown produce….the text includes the voices of dozens of farmers describing the special attributes of the produce they bring to market, explain why it’s so often superior to the wares at the local grocery store. Then, in eighty tantalizing recipes, Fletcher puts these fruits and vegetables center stage, motivating readers to make the most of their purchases….”

“Noted photographer Victoria Pearson,” Chronicle Books proclaims, “captures the year round beauty of the farmers’ market in fifty stunning natural light photographs/…”

(Trust me, they do not lie. As someone who has studied photography and spent years trying to capture the perfect photograph, I am in awe of Ms. Pearson’s work). Victoria Pearson is a Los Angeles based photographer whose work has appeared in ”A BREAD FOR ALL SEASONS,” as well as MARTHA STEWART LIVING, CONDE NAST TRAVELER and TOWN AND COUNTRY magazines.

And if someone out there is saying “so?, I simply want to say, it isn’t often that photographs of a recipe that ensnares you and piques your interest, so that you say “I can do that!” (whether you realize it or not, a gorgeous color photograph of a recipe for, say, a collage of fruits as shown on pages 114 of Ms. Fletcher’s book—is often the impetus that motivates us into rushing out to buy the necessary ingredients to make a yummy-sounding recipes).

Even the cover of this great cookbook is a collage of fruits, veggies and the farmers’ market.

Janet Fletcher trained at the Culinary Institute of America (a name most of us are familiar with) and the Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California, and at the time of publication, (1997) was a staff food writer for the San Francisco, Chronicle, and she also contributes frequently to magazines on wine and food topics. She has authored or co-authored eight cookbooks, including MORE VEGETABLES, PLEASE, GRAIN GASTRONOMY and PASTA HARVEST. Ms. Fletcher lives in Oakland, California, with her husband, who is a Napa Valley winemaker.

“Season by season” proclaim Chronicle Books, “Fresh from the Farmer’s Market guides readers to fruits and vegetables at peak freshness and explains how to recognize quality. Did you know that a fresh strawberry is a shiny berry? Or that a squeezed artichoke squeaks when fresh? (go ahead! Squeeze the artichokes! Or that a fresh green bean will stick to your clothes? (and no, I didn’t know that!)

“Regular farmers’ market shoppers,” say Chronicle Books, “will find fresh inspiration in recipes such as Festive Spinach Salad with Roasted Beets and Feta, Tapioca Pudding with Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce and Quesadillas with Squash Blossoms and Corn…”

For my money, not much can compare with the Blackberry Macaroon Tarts, the Pasta with Eggplant, Tomato, Olives and Capers, or the fresh fig galettes (these were a must when our fig trees were in season, back in the day).

Along with the great recipes and mouth-watering photographs, you will surely enjoy Ms. Fletcher’s chatty style when she shares with you the background to her recipes, The farmer’s markets and her experiences. It’s like spending an afternoon with a good friend over for coffee and….fig galettes.

FRESH FROM THE FARMERS’ MARKET is available at Amazon.com starting at one cent for a pre-owned copy or for $4.49 new.

If this review generates enough interest, I can review more farmer’s market cook books—while checking the prices on Amazon.com I found more farmer’s market cookbooks than I knew existed. And then there are all the farmers’ market cookbooks on my own bookshelves

Review by Sandra Lee Smith

THE TURKEY COOKBOOK BY RICK RODGERS

It was not so long ago that I was writing about Rick Rodgers – I reviewed his book READY AND WAITING for you earlier this year. Last year, I provided you with a review of one of my favorite Rick Rodgers’ books, MISSISSIPPI MEMORIES.

And, recently, I reviewed another favorite book, WILD ABOUT TURKEY – not one of Rick Rodger’s books but I had turkey on my mind at the time and it’s been my inclination to go with the flow – to review whatever captures my attention and feels worthy of reviewing. Well, I had to laugh at myself a few weeks ago; while searching for something in the poultry category, I came across THE TURKEY COOKBOOK by Rick Rodgers and wished I had had that at my finger tips when I was writing WILD ABOUT TURKEY.

All I can say is, I confess – I really don’t know anymore how many cookbooks I have, or where they are all shelved. Obviously, since I didn’t know I had THE TURKEY COOKBOOK. And I can tell by a red circle on the cover that this book had ended up in a Barnes & Noble book store bargain bin—it was most likely the primary reason I bought it at the time. I’m always on the lookout for cookbooks by authors whose names I recognize.

And one of these days, I am going to get my bookshelves updated and make more room for the collections of favorite authors. The bookcase in my spare bedroom that started out housing the collections of favorite cookbook authors is bursting at its seams and overflowing to stacks on the floor in front of the bookcase. I should have known exactly how many Rick Rodgers’ books that I have—and I don’t. My bad.

That being said, let’s take a look at THE TURKEY COOKBOOK in which the author provides us with 138 new ways to cook America’s Favorite Bird.

In the Introduction which is a better than average introduction to a cookbook, Rodgers starts out commenting that no less a patriot than Benjamin Franklin was a great fan of turkey—and he considered it a better choice for the national bird than the eagle, noting that turkey is a more respectable bird and a true original native of America. Franklin even lobbied for the turkey to be featured on or national seal.

Rodgers says that while the turkey never made official status, the large bird remains a glorious part of America’s folklore and it is a well-established staple on holiday tables. But, writes Rodgers, the new turkey choices – ground turkey, turkey cutlets, turkey sausages and boned turkey roasts, to name a few, are causing a lot of excitement these days.

He adds that with easy to prepare, reasonably priced cuts so accessible in supermarkets throughout the country, cooks are reaching for turkey as a light alternative to red meat and as a welcome change from the omnipresent chicken and high-priced veal. “As a result of developing these recipes,” says Rodgers, “I’ve learned that turkey is amazingly versatile—as shown by such diverse dishes as Guadalajara Grilled Drumsticks, Turkey Pasta and Vegetable Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing and Sweet-and-Sour Baked Turkey Cutlets—but it is so low in fat (and cholesterol) that it requires its own cooking temperatures and techniques…”

And, it’s important for you to know, quoting Rodgers, that you cant jut make a one-to-one substitution of ground turkey for ground beef or turkey cutlets for veal scallop. In flavor and texture, turkey makes a fine alternative, but to remain tender and juicy, it should be prepared according to its own standards (something I did not know!). Rodgers says that is what is offered in THE TURKEY COOKBOOK. He explains how to cook all the turkey cuts you’ll encounter to their best advantage, in the most delicious and sometimes surprising ways.

Rodgers brand new collection of recipes was inspired by seasonings and cooking styles from all over the world. “There are,” he offers, “Buffalo Turkey Wings with Blue Cheese Dip and Turkey Drumsticks Osso-Buco-Style, There’s easy Pennsylvania Dutch Turkey Noodle Supper for everyday meals and Red, White, and Green Turkey Lasagna for company. Turkey cutlets rival veal scallopini in delicate taste and speedy preparation”. He has included a large group of these recipes—such as Turkey and Mushroom Stroganoff and Chicken-Fried Turkey Steaks with Ranch-House Milk Gravy—to get you out of the kitchen in record time.

Rodgers notes that a big bird is still one of the easiest foods to cook up for a crowd and he has not neglected the piece de resistance that graces every Thanksgiv8ing table: whole roast turkey. He will let us in on the most sure-fire way he knows to create the juiciest, crispiest and most succulent turkey ever. He provides both traditional and new ways with turkeys, from Perfect Roast Turkey with Gorgeous Giblet Gravy to Wild Turkey with Glazed Chestnut Stuffing and even a Texas Turkey roasted split in half for speedier results.

And since Thanksgiving would not be complete without all the side dishes from which to choose, Rodgers has provided a cornucopia of stuffings and “other fixings to enliven any turkey dinner”. I can’t wait to try Gingery Lemon-Cranberry Chutney or Oyster and Sausage Gumbo Dressing, Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Streusel Topping and Rick’s Melt-in-Your-Mouth Corn Bread, (I just looked up Rodgers’ Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Streusel Topping and can’t wait to try this recipe. I have bellyached for years that most sweet potato recipes are cloyingly sweet. And I refuse to eat any kind of sweet potato that has marshmallows on top of it. I’ve searched for years for the sweet potato custard that used to be served in Kenny Rogers’ restaurant and failing to find what I am looking for, have experimented year after year to come up with just the right recipe. I think I’ve found it in Rodgers’ Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Streusel Topping—the only sweetener in the recipe is brown sugar that is in the streusel topping!) yowza!

The Turkey Cookbook is sure to become one of your all-time favorite cookbooks. Rodgers provides detailed information on the various kinds of turkeys available to us – from fresh to frozen, from self-basting to organic free-range, from Kosher turkey to farm-raised Wild Turkeys. Take a few minutes to read this chapter—there is new information for even the most experienced cooks and chefs and you will be able to choose exactly what you want to prepare.

Chapter One is titled the BIG BIRD: COOKING A WHOLE TURKEY and Rodgers provides comprehensive, detailed instructions—some of which surprised me. For instance, he suggests using a large shallow roasting pan with sides no higher than 2”. He says he knows many people, including himself formerly, use a deep dark-blue speckled enamel roasting pan (I have a couple of these in different sizes!) but says that the height cuts down on heat circulation and the bird doesn’t brown as well. He also says to “Always put the turkey on a roasting rack inside the pan to raise it out of the drippings and allow the hot air to circulate underneath”. I am non-plussed. Fifty years of roasting turkeys and I’ve just learned something new. He also tells us to always use a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh near the body but not touching the thigh bone. Or, he says, use an instant reading thermometer to test the bird often during the last hour of roasting. He also says if your bird has a pop-up thermometer use it as a signal to tell if the bird is done but double-check with a standard meat thermometer. And, says Rodgers, “Low slow roasting at 325 degrees yields the best results. The meat will not shrink as much as at a higher temperature, more juices will be retained and the drippings will not burn as easily.”

The first whole roast turkey offered by Rodgers is PERFECT ROAST TURKEY WITH GORGEOUS GIBLET GRAVY. This turkey is roasting without stuffing because, writes Rodgers, it cuts the cooking time by up to an hour and the aromatic vegetables and herbs used instead add a lovely fragrance to the bird. If you choose this method, simply bake your stuffing in a pan on the side.

There are many other recipes for roasting turkey, including Roast turkey with Pomegranate Sauce, one that I look forward to trying. (Hopefully my son’s friend with the pomegranate trees will keep us supplied again this year). And, much to my amusement, Rodgers uses the same method of removing the seeds and juice from pomegranates that I learned a couple of years ago and now wouldn’t do it any other way.

Chapter Two is titled SOLVING THE LEFTOVER TURKEY PROBLEM in which Rodgers offers yummy recipes for using up the leftover turkey and gravy. You might want to try Lazy Day Turkey Potpie—or Quick Turkey Curry with Fruits and Nuts, or how about “Take it Easy” Turkey and Dumpling Casserole? Californians like myself will like Turkey and Olive Enchiladas with Red Sauce or Turkey Chilaquiles—but there are pages and pages of leftover turkey recipes from which to choose.

This is a fantastic cookbook—and I’ve only touched on the first couple of chapters. I’m really excited about trying some of the recipes and Rodgers offers 138 new ways to cook America’s Favorite Bird.

My edition of The Turkey Cookbook was published in 2003 by Castle Books and was published in arrangement with HarperCollins Publishers. I found it listed on Amazon.com starting at one cent for a pre-owned copy or starting at $2.75 for a new copy. Remember that pre-owned books from private vendors have a standard shipping/handling price of $3.99. This will be a valuable addition to your cookbook collection.

And for those of you who are interested in finding more of Rick Rodgers’ cookbooks here is a list:

365 WAYS TO COOK HAMBURGER AND OTHER GROUND MEAT 1991

READY AND WAITING by Rick Rodgers, 1992

Mister Pasta’s Healthy Pasta Cookbook: More Than 150 Delicious, Low-Fat Pastas… by Rick Rodgers 1994

Slow Cooker Ready & Waiting: 160 Sumptuous Meals That Cook Themselves (paperback edition) 1998

PRESSURE COOKING FOR EVERYONE with Arlene Ward and Kathryn Russell 2000

Williams-Sonoma Comfort Food: Warm and Homey, Rich and Hearty with Chuck Williams, 2001

CHICKEN/WILLIAM-SONOMA SERIES WITH CHUCK WILLIAMS 2001
Dip It! Great Party Food to Spread, Spoon, and Scoop by Rick Rodgers, May 14, 2002

Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague by Rick Rodgers, 2002

THE TURKEY COOKBOOK 2003*

WILLIAM-SONOMA COLLECTION AMERICAN 2004
Thanksgiving 101: Celebrate America’s Favorite Holiday with America’s Thanksgiving Expert by Rick Rodgers 2007

Christmas 101: Celebrate the Holiday Season from Christmas to New Year’s by Rick Rodgers 2007

Kingsford Complete Grilling Cookbook by Kingsford Charcoal, Rick Rodgers and Ben Fink, 2007

Summer Gatherings: Casual Food to Enjoy with Family and Friends hardcover, 2008

AUTUMN GATHERINGS; CASUAL FOOD TO ENJOY WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS 2008

WINTER GATHERINGS; CASUAL FOOD TO ENJOY WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS, 2009

Cooking Essentials: Getting the Most Out of Your Stove Top & Grill (Williams-Sonoma) 2010

Breakfast Comforts (Williams-Sonoma): With Enticing Recipes for the Morning, including Favorite Dishes from Restaurants… by Rick Rodgers and Maren Caruso, 2011

I LOVE MEATBALLS! 2011

Coffee and Cake: Enjoy the Perfect Cup of Coffee–with Dozens of Delectable Recipes for Café Treats 2010
SARABETH’S BAKERY WITH Sarabeth Levine and Quentin Bacon, 2010

Carrabba’s Italian Grill: Recipes from Around Our Family Table 2011

The Essential James Beard Cookbook: 450 Recipes That Shaped the Tradition of American Cooking James Beard Author, Rick Rodgers, Editor, and John Ferrone, Consultant Editor, 2012

THE MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD SIXTIES RETRO RECIPES with Heather MacLean 2012

THE EVERYDAY DASH DIET COOKBOOK, WITH Marla Heller, 2013
The Chelsea Market Cookbook: 100 Recipes from New York’s Premier Indoor Food Market Michael Phillips and Rick Rodgers to be released,
October 2013

Review by Sandra Lee Smith