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Summary: A Great Novelist Writes About The Foods We Love
Review: I've always loved Laurie Colwin's novels and short stories. I've always been an avid (and an immodestly talented) home cook. So I was delighted when she first began writing her monthly food columns in Gourmet magazine. What a brilliant idea to ask a skillful writer of fiction to create columns devoted to food. Of course, I've owned the two collections gathered from those wonderful columns, but decided I had to get a new set to give to a friend. This month's Gourmet magazine offers Anna Quindlen's loving memories of Laurie Colwin, which triggered my ordering the books.After reading the first volume, I had to write her a letter. I was telling her about a recipe to which she responded by saying, "sounds way too complicated to me." The recipe had only three ingredients. We would periodically exchange letters (she actually sent postcards). So when she died of a heart attack at the age of 48, I was stunned and profoundly sad. I thought I would be reading her Gourmet columns for years to come. Now that wonderful voice was silenced. I've made Colwin's simple roast chicken many times. Her chocolate cakes are predictably wonderful, but it is her recipe for "Damp Gingerbread," that I return to most often. And when I do, I invariably reread one of her chapters. You can't imagine a more vivid and cozy writer. It's Colwin's distinct voice that captures my imagination--the simplicty of her prose style, the elegance of her thoughts and her refusal to take anything too seriously (except her daughter) that I find most appealing. This is writing that makes you smile. You can actually smell things cooking in these stories. I hope they stay in print forever for generations to admire. So the next time you're thinking of roast chicken (and who doesn't) pull down a copy of HOME COOKING.
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Summary: good, but....
Review: It think the author scores points for writing this book because of her fame AFTER her death.
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Summary: A very pleasant read
Review: Lauri Colwin takes an easy attitude to cooking and claims to enjoy simple meals that are simple to make. Her writing was very enjoyable and even humorous, but I'm always a little suspicious of cooks who say, "Oh, it's easy." These things probably are easy for people who like to cook or at least don't dislike it. I don't like to cook. Unfortunately, I sometimes get hungry, and I like to eat good food. Liking good food and not liking to cook don't go together very well. Lauri Colwin devotes an entire chapter to potato salad, a chapter she begins "There is no such thing as really bad potato salad. So long as the potatoes are not undercooked, it tastes pretty good to me." I'm here to tell you that is simply not true. Colwin never had the misfortune of eating some of my early potato salads. For years, I made really bad potato salad, and the potatoes were not undercooked. What exactly was wrong with my potato salad? I wish I knew. I followed Mother's recipe. She made great potato salad, but mine tasted like dirt. Have you ever tasted dirt? It's nasty. Finally, I gave up potato salad (I don't care for supermarket potato salad) and just regarded it as a gourmet treat whenever someone else served it. About five years ago, I decided to try again. It was delicious. Now I'm not ashamed to take my potato salad anywhere, and it often gets compliments. Sometimes I think the food knows when you don't want to have anything to do with its preparation and refuses to cooperate. I have a very long list of foods that don't want to cooperate. Reading Lauri Colwin's book isn't likely to make me a better cook, but at least it made me think it might be pleasant to be one. Her breadmaking saga is especially entertaining.
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Summary: The Most Fabulous Book in the Universe
Review: Laurie Colwin wrote a gem. It should be read at home, on trains, in airplanes, on the subway. It should be bought for loved ones, for brides and grooms, for parents and siblings, for best friends. It should have won the Pulitzer.
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Summary: Wonderful food writing by a wonderful writer
Review: Laurie Colwin wrote evocative, funny novels and short stories. Here, she shows that she was also a terrific cook. With a few words, she can conjure up images of splendid meals, as well as some spectacularly awful ones. This is a book to keep in your kirchen, and maybe by your night-table, too. It's something to read when the world seems slightly overwhelming and you don't quite know what to cook for dinner.
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Summary: Home cooking and great writing
Review: Laurie Colwin's columns in "Gourmet" were a reason to subscribe to that publication. Unfortunately, heart problems claimed her life when she was 48. Her writings have been compiled in this book, Home Cooking, and a sequel (unpublished columns she left after her untimely death in More Home Cooking.) Ms. Colwin was always opinionated, so you may find her obsessions with such things as yogurt, beets and boiled beef not to your food tastes. But even if you never make a single recipe in this book, the writing is some of the sharpest and best there is. The book does have a set of gingerbread recipes that make it entirely worthwhile. Colwin spent some time trying to find the Holy Grail of gingerbread. This homey treat is often overlooked, but greeted with glad cries at the end of a simple meal of soup, especially if served with a lump of good vanilla ice cream, or even home-made applesauce. This book will save you a search for a better recipe than ones typically found in standard cooking books. Her roast chicken advice is also not to be despised. All in all, one of my favorite books just to read on a dreary day.
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Summary: A 'COOKBOOK' TO READ AND SHARE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Review: LAURIE COLWIN'S WONDERFUL COOKBOOK IS FULL OF WONDERFUL RECIPES AS WELL AS HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS TO THE NOVICE OR EXPERIENCED COOK. BUT THIS IS A BOOK WHICH IS SO MUCH MORE--PART RECIPES, FAMILY EXERIENCES, JOYFUL AS WELL AS HUMEROUS MOMENTS ALL IN THE NAME OF GOOD EATING. LAURIE COLWIN WAS A GIFTED STORYTELLER AND THE TALES SHE SHARES HERE ARE AN INSIGHT INTO HER HOME LIFE AMIDST HER FRIENDS AND FAMILY. THE RECIPES THEMSELVES ARE ENJOYABLE IN THE READING AND IN THE EATING. HER CAREFREE APPROACH TO COOKING AND HER OBVIOUS ENJOYMENT OF PREPARING FOOD AS WELL AS EATING IT ARE EVIDENT THROUGHOUT. YOU CAN USE THIS AS A COOKBOOK, BUT YOU WILL RELISH IT AS A DELIGHTFUL FORAY INTO THE COOKING EXPERIENCE. LAURIE'S WRITING IS TERRIFIC. THIS IS A FUN READ WHICH SOMETIMES CAUSES YOU TO LAUGH OUT LOUD. READ THIS WITH A GLASS OF WINE WHILE YOUR OWN MEAN SIMMERS, OR IN BED AT NIGHT AS YOU WOULD A GOOD NOVEL.
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Summary: This book is truly a feast for foodies.
Review: Lori Colwin brings a smile to your face and makes you laugh out loud as you read through her experiences of living and loving food. The "homecooked" recipes,included in annecdotale format make you want to get into the kitchen and cook something wonderful to share with your family. My copy of this book is dog eared with recipes I've tried and must try. This book is an excellent addition to anyone's collection, and a must for Foodies !
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Summary: Outstanding
Review: This book is so much fun to read. It feels like you're in her kitchen, having a good chat with an old friend. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys food, cooking and/or entertaining.
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Summary: Tasty Reading
Review: This book was my first by Laurie Colwin, and I have re-read it many times. I especially love the recipe for beef barley soup, which I had always wanted to make but wasn't sure how to go about. She makes cooking seem a very natural part of living and family life, like you can fit a home-cooked meal into all the other things you do like the carpool and the laundry and your job. I also love the horrible meal chapter.
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