My top three books of 2023: there was an old woman by Andrea Carlisly; Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver; and Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. Count me on Team Julia. I loved Lessons in Chemistry (both book and series), but Julia changed the world in real life. Imagine emigrating to a foreign country, falling in love with their food so hard you decide not only to learn how to cook it, but to evangelize it by writing a cookbook then going on television to teach your home country to cook it too! And she did it in the 1950s and 60s. A hero!
You are the reason I read Ruth Ozeki this year and I suspect you are the reason I'll check out Andrea Carlisly's book. Yes, Julia was a hero. I am not a fan of French cooking in general but I am a fan of her (even though she once dismissed Italian cuisine as less complex and interesting than French food). I think she must have been a chemist at heart -- like Elizabeth Zott, she kept working the formula until she got it right.
I'm not a fan of any kind of meat or seafood, but I do love desserts. French, Italian, Austrian, even American. Yum. I'm happy to know I've influenced you re books. You've certainly influenced me!
This is one of the reasons I love asking about books at the end of the year -- I get a chance to learn about books I missed along the way and would love to read. I just read about it and ordered it. It feels like one I'll need to mark up so I won't get it from the library.
It was incredible, wasn't it? From the subject matter/story down to the beauty of the sentences, and the way she put it all together. It was just brilliant.
This post for one thing. I about fell off the couch laughing at the pliers request. I read so much this year... it would be very difficult for me to pinpoint 3. I’ll have to think on that.
Cookbooks are a tough one, as I am a collector. I have upwards of 300 now.
I tend towards writers as opposed to one particular book, Elizabeth David, Stephanie Alexander, Mimi Sheraton, Jamie Oliver, but I must say Nigella Lawson helped me get through the worst event of my life in 2009. Her books, her shows, I clung to them like a lifeline and still do. My family call her my “spirit queen”.
Nigella, of course. She is wonderful. I'm glad you have her as your
"spirit queen!"
I think you could open a cookbook library and curate exhibitions throughout the year. Three hundred cookbooks! Do you simply like to read them or have you cooked at least one recipe from each?
Yes, I have cooked, at least, one recipe from each one and always carry several with me.
Our favorite Pub is not a good place to read fiction, but is an excellent place to read cookbooks, and I do it all the time.
I must add someone I forgot to that list, because he doesn’t have a book out yet...Frankie Celenza. He has been a huge influence on my cooking the last year.
He’s the reason I initially subscribed to Substack and I am now so grateful as I have discovered so many wonderful writers and people here.
I wish I could share with you the annual picture of my husband going at the turkey with a hatchet. It's hilarious. We get a turkey from a local farm every year, run by former students. Because they're free-range, it's hard to predict the size. This year was a 17-pounder. Every year, my husband asks, "Why do we get a turkey?" And every year I answer, "For the pot pie," which I can make at least two of with that much turkey. But, yes, the turkey is in so many ways a pain in the ass.
I have Julia's book. I think I gave away The Joy of Cooking. Neither are great for people who eat meat very rarely. My go-to is Deborah Madison, who taught me how amazingly delicious vegetables can be.
The axe photo is one I'd like to see -- as long as the turkey was not alive when your husband went at it. I'm squeamish that way even though I've seen chicks raised by my friend (and fed by her and me) lose their heads at TG time.
I've never heard of Deborah Madison and am glad to know of her. I cook a lot of veggies in this house.
No, the axe was for a very dead turkey. My husband is way too squeamish for that, too.
Deborah Madison is awesome. A disciple of Alice Waters who worked at Chez Panisse, I believe, as did David Lebowitz. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is my bible, but all of her cookbooks are great.
What a pity I cannot post a photo the cover of ‘The Daily Telegraph Cook’s Book’ by Bon Viveur Fanny and Johnnie Craddock, published by Fontana Books in 1968, a book my wife Susan has treasured from the early-70s, when she lived alone. It is full of great tips and illustrated with amusing cartoons. A book for the kitchen and not a coffee table. Simple tips like soaking dried fruit in cold tea improves the taste and how brown paper enables you to avoid a split in the top of a cake. 🐰
I saw your post on Notes and LOVED it!!!! So you are one of the ones Fanny inspired, that's good to know. She seemed wonderfully eccentric. I did not like the looks of that omelet she made in the video though...
I learned years ago that expectations for Thanksgiving would never, ever be met, especially after I lost ALL of my adopted LGBTQ family members. Jorge & I have a planned outing that includes a stop at MO's for a burger & fries. Our expectations are almost ALWAYS met (this year I cooked up the burgers and fries myself at home since we were monitoring our dog, Kali's post spay operation that was conducted the day prior).
I have some tattered recipes from a beloved aunt which I like to look through when I’m feeling low. They remind me of the many happy hours we spent together in the kitchen making jam and chutney. She was an excellent cook and a good friend.
I am team Elizabeth but I do agree that she comes across as cold sometimes. I think this is because she feels too much and needs to keep it contained. Sometimes that can be misconstrued as aloofness.
My favourite books this year were All the Water in the World by Karen Raney, The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue and Stealing by Margaret Verble.
Your aunt sounds special. I'm glad you have the recipes to remind you of the times you spent together.
I actually don't mind Elizabeth Zott's coldness or her bluntness. I love these things about her. I plan to write more about my reaction to the book to see if I can get to the bottom of why I felt a little "empty" when it was done.
One item I hope to inherit from my mother is my great-grandmother's recipe book. She was born in the 1880's and died the year I was born. Her recipe book is a hard bound blank book printed, I'm guessing in the 40's. It contains her notes for making pickles (if you have a bushel or so you'd like to put up) and numerous recipes using dates. Evidently, she loved dates, so the book is full of directions for date bread, date candy, date cookies. Many of the recipes aren't really recipes, just lists and notes she followed to get what she wanted out of various ingredients. It's a historical and personal record of a woman I know only through stories and this book.
This book sounds like a treasure beyond anything I can imagine. What a gift to have these notes from a woman you could not have known in any other way. Thank you for sharing a bit of it here!
Also, I too keep a beat up binder in the kitchen of recipes that I’ve tried and actually liked that weren’t too hard. If I find them in a book, I photocopy the page and stick it in the binder, or I’ll print offline ones I liked that I found on my phone.
Team Julia forever! Lessons in Chemistry (the book) left me with the same strange emptiness (perfectly named) - I liked it, I think? Didn't love it? A strange emptiness. I may watch the show, though, out of curiosity.
Thanks for tagging me, Elizabeth! I have been in the “Christmas Zone” not unlike the “Twilight Zone” and meant to comment days ago! 😂 I love Julia! I also love learning about all the other people who were part of the period, Judith Jones, Simca, James Beard .... Jacques Brel!!! What is not sitting right with you this season? Inquiring minds want to know! 😉
I think it is the pacing of the first three episodes combined with Sarah Lancashire 's interpretation of Julia. I have loved Lancashire in other roles but I don't buy the level of simpering and coquettishness she is bringing to the part of.Julia. I'm hoping things will balance out when they get back to Boston. I did enjoy Isabella Rossellini. Actually I found myself enjoying many of the scenes without Julia which is dismaying. I think the man who played Beard is excellent.
Fair enough! I’ve written about my time working for Sara Moulton who was an apprentice of Julia’s and life long friend. Sara, when being talking about or being interviewed about Julia, always lovingly teases the Julia voice and sounds much like Sarah L! 😂 For my part, I met Julia a few times and the last time she came and sat down next to me as she was leaving a breakfast in her honor (she was making the rounds of tables and it had emptied out). She leaned over and touched the 1940’s brooch I was wearing on my jacket and said “Oooh this reminds me of a brooch I had during the war!!” It was the VOICE 🎶!!! ☺️
Then I withdraw all my objections. I am so impressed that you met Julia! I interviewed James Beard in his later years while working as a small town reporter. He was very kind and told me that Danny Kaye cooked some of the best Chinese dishes he'd ever had.
What a great memory of meeting James Beard! Danny Kaye was a real-deal chef. No need to withdraw objections, Elizabeth, it’s the performance 😂 that’s certainly a fair critique, I’m just a ‘Julie groupie’ whether the person or the portrayal! Have a great Sunday, this was fun, I’m thinking of doing a podcast next year, we will talk! :)
Such a grand post and wonderful comments to boot!!! I was supposed to be asleep an hour ago! But how does one stop reading? I am such a lightweight compared to the rest of you all. None-the-less, I have collected cookbooks from an early age. I have a much used and much loved Joy of Cooking that was gifted to me when my favorite bookstore went out of business. I suppose that they had seen me using it as a reference book whenever I dropped by. As others have said, it is so hard to pick a favorite.
I have the complete 10-12 volume set that Woman's Day put out with James Beard umpteen years ago. It is fun for all of the local recipes by state as well as the forgotten ingredients of another age. I quite love a little paperback cookbook (circa 1975) by Suzy Benghiat and illustrated in comic strip style by Peter Maddocks. I love that it is so obvious that she makes these recipes often and sweetly reminds you of how to stay on top of what you are cooking! And then there is Whatchagot Stew by Patrick F. McManus. I could say it is included for the sour dough recipes, but it is so much more than that! Highly recommended for anyone who loves the backwoods of America and a good storyteller.
Your collection sounds amazing. I want the recipe for Watchagot Stew to see if it is anything like the "ice box soup" that my dad used to make and that I often replicate with whatever I have on hand. I also will look up the Suzy Benghiat and Peter Maddocks book. How cool is that? Thank you so much for sharing all these.
Suzy Benghiat's book is actually titled Suzy Cookstrip and is a Penguin book. As she says in the opening, I was born and brought up in Egypt of a British father and an Italian mother - both of Spanish Sephardic origin. And she also says that she traveled extensively in France, Italy, Yugoslavia and Jamaica! All of this said, I found the recipes are very doable and a treat!
Whatchagot Stew may be a little easier to find as Patrick McManus had quite a following for his many other books. And yes, Whatchagot Stew is a version of your father's (and my) ice box soup! Though according to McManus there were arguments as to whether an old boot should be added. The recipes are mingled with both memories and humorous stories made up from his childhood in Idaho raised by a loving if domineering mother and sister, who only strengthened his resolve to live with gusto! There are some very wonderful recipes for things like sour dough pancakes and cinnamon rolls, as well as his family favorites.
A). Favorite cookbook. Well, it's not exactly a cookbook. It's a special 1970 edition of Family Circle magazine, titled Holiday Helps. The binding no longer holds; it's just a bunch of tattered. pages. It's special because on p. 159 is our family recipe (my mother's, now mine) for our Christmas eve dinner, roast goose with fruit stuffing. A close second, also passed down from my mom: the Joy of Cooking, 1971 edition. Among other things, a great recipe for eggnog with a kick to it. B) Books read this year. 1: "Absolution" by Alice McDemott. Published about a month ago. It takes place mostly in Saigon during the Vietnam War, and is told entirely from the perspectives of American women who were there. 2) "Stella Maris," Cormack McCarthy's last book before he died. Told entirely as a series of dialogues between a beautiful female mathematician and her almost equally brilliant psychiatrist at Stella Maris, a mental institution. 3) "Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House," poetry by Katerina Stoykova (University Press of Kentucky). In 1995, in her early 20's, the author emigrated from her native Bulgaria to the U.S. The book is a memoir in poetry about her adjustment and adventures in her new home, as well as flashbacks to episodes, good and bad, back in the old one. At it's core is the push and pull of the two homes; when she's here, she wants to be there, and vice-versa. Brilliant.
My top three books of 2023: there was an old woman by Andrea Carlisly; Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver; and Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. Count me on Team Julia. I loved Lessons in Chemistry (both book and series), but Julia changed the world in real life. Imagine emigrating to a foreign country, falling in love with their food so hard you decide not only to learn how to cook it, but to evangelize it by writing a cookbook then going on television to teach your home country to cook it too! And she did it in the 1950s and 60s. A hero!
You are the reason I read Ruth Ozeki this year and I suspect you are the reason I'll check out Andrea Carlisly's book. Yes, Julia was a hero. I am not a fan of French cooking in general but I am a fan of her (even though she once dismissed Italian cuisine as less complex and interesting than French food). I think she must have been a chemist at heart -- like Elizabeth Zott, she kept working the formula until she got it right.
I'm not a fan of any kind of meat or seafood, but I do love desserts. French, Italian, Austrian, even American. Yum. I'm happy to know I've influenced you re books. You've certainly influenced me!
The best nonfiction book I read this year, hands down, is 'Why Fish Don't Exist' by Lulu Miller. It may be the best nonfiction book I've ever read.
This is one of the reasons I love asking about books at the end of the year -- I get a chance to learn about books I missed along the way and would love to read. I just read about it and ordered it. It feels like one I'll need to mark up so I won't get it from the library.
I LOVED that book!
It was incredible, wasn't it? From the subject matter/story down to the beauty of the sentences, and the way she put it all together. It was just brilliant.
Okay, I'm intrigued. Off to my library site.
Best book reads for 2023: "Lessons in Chemistry," "Caste," & "Horse."
I loved Horse. She's such a fine writer.
I really must read Horse. I have had so many people tell me they loved it. Thanks for these!
This post for one thing. I about fell off the couch laughing at the pliers request. I read so much this year... it would be very difficult for me to pinpoint 3. I’ll have to think on that.
Cookbooks are a tough one, as I am a collector. I have upwards of 300 now.
I tend towards writers as opposed to one particular book, Elizabeth David, Stephanie Alexander, Mimi Sheraton, Jamie Oliver, but I must say Nigella Lawson helped me get through the worst event of my life in 2009. Her books, her shows, I clung to them like a lifeline and still do. My family call her my “spirit queen”.
Nigella, of course. She is wonderful. I'm glad you have her as your
"spirit queen!"
I think you could open a cookbook library and curate exhibitions throughout the year. Three hundred cookbooks! Do you simply like to read them or have you cooked at least one recipe from each?
Yes, I have cooked, at least, one recipe from each one and always carry several with me.
Our favorite Pub is not a good place to read fiction, but is an excellent place to read cookbooks, and I do it all the time.
I must add someone I forgot to that list, because he doesn’t have a book out yet...Frankie Celenza. He has been a huge influence on my cooking the last year.
He’s the reason I initially subscribed to Substack and I am now so grateful as I have discovered so many wonderful writers and people here.
I wish I could share with you the annual picture of my husband going at the turkey with a hatchet. It's hilarious. We get a turkey from a local farm every year, run by former students. Because they're free-range, it's hard to predict the size. This year was a 17-pounder. Every year, my husband asks, "Why do we get a turkey?" And every year I answer, "For the pot pie," which I can make at least two of with that much turkey. But, yes, the turkey is in so many ways a pain in the ass.
I have Julia's book. I think I gave away The Joy of Cooking. Neither are great for people who eat meat very rarely. My go-to is Deborah Madison, who taught me how amazingly delicious vegetables can be.
The axe photo is one I'd like to see -- as long as the turkey was not alive when your husband went at it. I'm squeamish that way even though I've seen chicks raised by my friend (and fed by her and me) lose their heads at TG time.
I've never heard of Deborah Madison and am glad to know of her. I cook a lot of veggies in this house.
No, the axe was for a very dead turkey. My husband is way too squeamish for that, too.
Deborah Madison is awesome. A disciple of Alice Waters who worked at Chez Panisse, I believe, as did David Lebowitz. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is my bible, but all of her cookbooks are great.
What a pity I cannot post a photo the cover of ‘The Daily Telegraph Cook’s Book’ by Bon Viveur Fanny and Johnnie Craddock, published by Fontana Books in 1968, a book my wife Susan has treasured from the early-70s, when she lived alone. It is full of great tips and illustrated with amusing cartoons. A book for the kitchen and not a coffee table. Simple tips like soaking dried fruit in cold tea improves the taste and how brown paper enables you to avoid a split in the top of a cake. 🐰
I saw your post on Notes and LOVED it!!!! So you are one of the ones Fanny inspired, that's good to know. She seemed wonderfully eccentric. I did not like the looks of that omelet she made in the video though...
We agree about the omelette! Treat all cook books life a buffet and take from them what you want.🐰
A P.S. I have done a post on paperbagstories.substack.com about ‘All of Us’ by Esther Cohen prompted by you.🐰
I learned years ago that expectations for Thanksgiving would never, ever be met, especially after I lost ALL of my adopted LGBTQ family members. Jorge & I have a planned outing that includes a stop at MO's for a burger & fries. Our expectations are almost ALWAYS met (this year I cooked up the burgers and fries myself at home since we were monitoring our dog, Kali's post spay operation that was conducted the day prior).
Love the Silver Palate Cookbooks—the red one you are missing is likely their second book called "Good Times" and it's by season.
I have some tattered recipes from a beloved aunt which I like to look through when I’m feeling low. They remind me of the many happy hours we spent together in the kitchen making jam and chutney. She was an excellent cook and a good friend.
I am team Elizabeth but I do agree that she comes across as cold sometimes. I think this is because she feels too much and needs to keep it contained. Sometimes that can be misconstrued as aloofness.
My favourite books this year were All the Water in the World by Karen Raney, The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue and Stealing by Margaret Verble.
Your aunt sounds special. I'm glad you have the recipes to remind you of the times you spent together.
I actually don't mind Elizabeth Zott's coldness or her bluntness. I love these things about her. I plan to write more about my reaction to the book to see if I can get to the bottom of why I felt a little "empty" when it was done.
Thanks for the book recs!!!!
One item I hope to inherit from my mother is my great-grandmother's recipe book. She was born in the 1880's and died the year I was born. Her recipe book is a hard bound blank book printed, I'm guessing in the 40's. It contains her notes for making pickles (if you have a bushel or so you'd like to put up) and numerous recipes using dates. Evidently, she loved dates, so the book is full of directions for date bread, date candy, date cookies. Many of the recipes aren't really recipes, just lists and notes she followed to get what she wanted out of various ingredients. It's a historical and personal record of a woman I know only through stories and this book.
This book sounds like a treasure beyond anything I can imagine. What a gift to have these notes from a woman you could not have known in any other way. Thank you for sharing a bit of it here!
Thanks Elizabeth. Yes!
Ooh the three books I’m most glad I read this year:
1. Revelations by Erik Hoel
2. Stolen Focus by Johann Hari
3. Neurotribes by Steve Silberman
Also, I too keep a beat up binder in the kitchen of recipes that I’ve tried and actually liked that weren’t too hard. If I find them in a book, I photocopy the page and stick it in the binder, or I’ll print offline ones I liked that I found on my phone.
Team Julia forever! Lessons in Chemistry (the book) left me with the same strange emptiness (perfectly named) - I liked it, I think? Didn't love it? A strange emptiness. I may watch the show, though, out of curiosity.
The show is fun. I think Brie Larson nailed the character.
Thanks for tagging me, Elizabeth! I have been in the “Christmas Zone” not unlike the “Twilight Zone” and meant to comment days ago! 😂 I love Julia! I also love learning about all the other people who were part of the period, Judith Jones, Simca, James Beard .... Jacques Brel!!! What is not sitting right with you this season? Inquiring minds want to know! 😉
I think it is the pacing of the first three episodes combined with Sarah Lancashire 's interpretation of Julia. I have loved Lancashire in other roles but I don't buy the level of simpering and coquettishness she is bringing to the part of.Julia. I'm hoping things will balance out when they get back to Boston. I did enjoy Isabella Rossellini. Actually I found myself enjoying many of the scenes without Julia which is dismaying. I think the man who played Beard is excellent.
Fair enough! I’ve written about my time working for Sara Moulton who was an apprentice of Julia’s and life long friend. Sara, when being talking about or being interviewed about Julia, always lovingly teases the Julia voice and sounds much like Sarah L! 😂 For my part, I met Julia a few times and the last time she came and sat down next to me as she was leaving a breakfast in her honor (she was making the rounds of tables and it had emptied out). She leaned over and touched the 1940’s brooch I was wearing on my jacket and said “Oooh this reminds me of a brooch I had during the war!!” It was the VOICE 🎶!!! ☺️
Then I withdraw all my objections. I am so impressed that you met Julia! I interviewed James Beard in his later years while working as a small town reporter. He was very kind and told me that Danny Kaye cooked some of the best Chinese dishes he'd ever had.
What a great memory of meeting James Beard! Danny Kaye was a real-deal chef. No need to withdraw objections, Elizabeth, it’s the performance 😂 that’s certainly a fair critique, I’m just a ‘Julie groupie’ whether the person or the portrayal! Have a great Sunday, this was fun, I’m thinking of doing a podcast next year, we will talk! :)
Such a grand post and wonderful comments to boot!!! I was supposed to be asleep an hour ago! But how does one stop reading? I am such a lightweight compared to the rest of you all. None-the-less, I have collected cookbooks from an early age. I have a much used and much loved Joy of Cooking that was gifted to me when my favorite bookstore went out of business. I suppose that they had seen me using it as a reference book whenever I dropped by. As others have said, it is so hard to pick a favorite.
I have the complete 10-12 volume set that Woman's Day put out with James Beard umpteen years ago. It is fun for all of the local recipes by state as well as the forgotten ingredients of another age. I quite love a little paperback cookbook (circa 1975) by Suzy Benghiat and illustrated in comic strip style by Peter Maddocks. I love that it is so obvious that she makes these recipes often and sweetly reminds you of how to stay on top of what you are cooking! And then there is Whatchagot Stew by Patrick F. McManus. I could say it is included for the sour dough recipes, but it is so much more than that! Highly recommended for anyone who loves the backwoods of America and a good storyteller.
Your collection sounds amazing. I want the recipe for Watchagot Stew to see if it is anything like the "ice box soup" that my dad used to make and that I often replicate with whatever I have on hand. I also will look up the Suzy Benghiat and Peter Maddocks book. How cool is that? Thank you so much for sharing all these.
Suzy Benghiat's book is actually titled Suzy Cookstrip and is a Penguin book. As she says in the opening, I was born and brought up in Egypt of a British father and an Italian mother - both of Spanish Sephardic origin. And she also says that she traveled extensively in France, Italy, Yugoslavia and Jamaica! All of this said, I found the recipes are very doable and a treat!
Whatchagot Stew may be a little easier to find as Patrick McManus had quite a following for his many other books. And yes, Whatchagot Stew is a version of your father's (and my) ice box soup! Though according to McManus there were arguments as to whether an old boot should be added. The recipes are mingled with both memories and humorous stories made up from his childhood in Idaho raised by a loving if domineering mother and sister, who only strengthened his resolve to live with gusto! There are some very wonderful recipes for things like sour dough pancakes and cinnamon rolls, as well as his family favorites.
Thank you!
A). Favorite cookbook. Well, it's not exactly a cookbook. It's a special 1970 edition of Family Circle magazine, titled Holiday Helps. The binding no longer holds; it's just a bunch of tattered. pages. It's special because on p. 159 is our family recipe (my mother's, now mine) for our Christmas eve dinner, roast goose with fruit stuffing. A close second, also passed down from my mom: the Joy of Cooking, 1971 edition. Among other things, a great recipe for eggnog with a kick to it. B) Books read this year. 1: "Absolution" by Alice McDemott. Published about a month ago. It takes place mostly in Saigon during the Vietnam War, and is told entirely from the perspectives of American women who were there. 2) "Stella Maris," Cormack McCarthy's last book before he died. Told entirely as a series of dialogues between a beautiful female mathematician and her almost equally brilliant psychiatrist at Stella Maris, a mental institution. 3) "Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House," poetry by Katerina Stoykova (University Press of Kentucky). In 1995, in her early 20's, the author emigrated from her native Bulgaria to the U.S. The book is a memoir in poetry about her adjustment and adventures in her new home, as well as flashbacks to episodes, good and bad, back in the old one. At it's core is the push and pull of the two homes; when she's here, she wants to be there, and vice-versa. Brilliant.
The best recipes are the ones that are worn thin, stained, tattered and well used. Yours sound amazing. I have never eaten goose.
Thanks for the books too. These are all wonderful.
I have my mom’s old Betty Crocker cookbook. I cook from it often. I have all of her handwritten recipes as well. They are treasures.
There is something so personal about the handwritten ones. They are like letters you never get tired of reading.