Reviews for My Dear Mother : Stormy, Boastful, and Tender Letters by Distinguished Sons - From Dostoevsky to Elvis

The average rating for My Dear Mother : Stormy, Boastful, and Tender Letters by Distinguished Sons - From Dostoevsky to Elvis based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-02-20 00:00:00 Carolyn Gleason Boy, was I surprised to see this on our library's new inventory list. What's gotten into them? Their speed on cookbooks is usually something along the lines of "semi-homemade" or 1001 cookies you can make from the same basic recipe type of thing. Let me be clear that the only reason I'm rating this book only three stars is because I haven't made anything from it yet. This was pure food porn reading on my part since these are menus for parties and large dinners, neither of which we do much of anymore. OTOH, the pantry section in the back has so much good stuff that I immediately went to Amazon and snagged a used print copy just for those recipes (and, yeah, I admit it, the RebeccaRuth Kentucky Colonel candy recipe.) Camille Glenn was born around 1909 in Dawson Springs, KY. I could tell you where that is, but you still wouldn't know. (Halfway between Eddyville and Powderly. OK, fine, east of Paducah. Never mind. It's a small town. If there's 2500 people there now, I'd be surprised.) Her parents owned a small country inn, and, like all small family businesses, everyone worked, including putting little Camille in the kitchen. In later years, she ran a catering business and a cooking school, and was the food writer at the Louisville Courier-Journal for many, many years. She was sort of Kentucky's Elizabeth Davids or Michelle Ana Jordan or Edna Lewis. Maybe not as prolific or well-known outside the south, but every bit as discerning and in tune with her region's better things. Although she passed away years ago (at age 100!), her reputation in the Ohio valley lives on. This was an absolute treat to read. It is a collection of memories, menus (and, of course, accompanying recipes) for the winter holidays. Don't expect spoon bread and collards. This collection is more refined and upscale, the kinds of meals where you break out the good china and wine glasses. For example, one of her menus for Christmas Day dinner includes roast suckling pig while another features roast quail and a bibb, endive, and walnut salad. Other menus are somewhat less ambitious than suckling pig, bot no less interesting. There are no pictures, which will no doubt disappoint some. I don't mind. I know what a pig or a pie looks like. Besides, with no photos, I can let my imagination run wild and conjure up images of beautifully set holiday tables.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-10-09 00:00:00 Mary Hamlin Decadent recipes in menus for complete meals