cover image Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

Molly Wizenberg, . . Free Press, $23 (320pp) ISBN 978-1-4165-5105-8

Two food bloggers tell their stories through food.

Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table Molly Wizenberg . Free Press , $23 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4165-5105-8

Wizenberg’s debut shares the same basic format as her “Orangette” blog—favorite recipes interspersed with personal reflection—but constructed around a much tighter family narrative. Memories of her father, for example, begin with his cherished formula for potato salad and an attempt to recreate his French toast, but also include a variation on scrambled eggs that spurred a comforting moment as he was dying of cancer. The second half of the memoir focuses on her blossoming relationship with Brandon, who started out as a fan of the blog, became a long-distance boyfriend and eventually moved to Seattle and married her—of course, she shares the recipes for the pickled carrots they served at the wedding as well as the chocolate cake she baked for dessert. Though there is an emphasis on desserts, the recipes cover a variety of meals, none beyond the range of an ordinary cook, and Wizenberg’s directions are laced with a charming voice that strikes a neat balance with the reflective passages. Her strong personality stands out among her generation’s culinary voices. (Mar.)