Girls Just Want to Cook!

Ever since I discovered Calvin Trillin and M.F.K. Fisher, I've been a fan of foodie books. Trillin (Alice, Let's Eat, Third Helpings, etc.) writes about food humorously (actually, make that hilariously) and Fisher (Consider the Oyster, Serve It Forth, etc.) writes about it sensually.

My latest food read, Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl is an account through food of Reichl's early years -- from learning to cook because her manic-depressive mother was apt (inadvertently) to poison guests with her peculiar cooking to Reichl's stint as chef and later co-owner of a restaurant in Berkeley -- these are the early years of the woman who grew up to be the restaurant critic for The New York Times and later, editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine.

This isn't so much a foodie book as a memoir with food. And a beautifully done memoir -- the writing is wonderful; the insights, profound. There are a few recipes as well.

Closer to home is another charming memoir with food by Asheville resident Laurey Masterton, proprietor of Laurey's: Catering and Gourmet Comfort Food. Laurey too has had a long time relationship with food, spending her first twelve years at her parents' Blueberry Hill Farm -- a well known country inn in Vermont where she watched her mother turn out meal after delicious meal for the guests.

Laurey's book gives a fascinating behind-the scenes look at the ups and down of the restaurant and catering business, as well as a nostalgic glimpse back to the days in Vermont. It's also a beautifully done memoir of the little girl whose idyllic life at Blueberry Hill ended with the early deaths of her parents. There are also recipes, many from her mother's files (Mama's Sponge Cake with Sour Cream Sauce and Hot Blueberries sounds like a winner!) and others from her restaurant (Martha's Black Bean Cakes, Richard's Sweet Potato Salad -yum!)

But wait! There's more -- the Blueberry Hill Cookbook -- a reprint of the 1959 original, is just full of good things -- much of it just the sort of food I grew up with -- from chicken pie to cucumbers in sour cream to blueberry buckle. My mother didn't have a copy of this cookbook but she would have liked it a lot.

And so do I.