Home Cooking

by Laurie Colwin

Offers thirty-four anecdotal chapters of reminiscences, experiences, and opinions on food, cooking, and eating, as well as thirty-five recipes ranging from traditional to inventive

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Memoir, Cookbooks, Cooking, Essays, Food Writing

193 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Laurie Colwin is the author of five novels: Happy All the Time, Family Happiness, Goodbye Without Leaving, Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object, and A Big Storm Knocked It Over; three collections of short stories: Passion and Affect, Another Marvelous Thing, and The Lone Pilgrim; and two collections of essays: Home Cooking and More Home Cooking. She died in 1992.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love books and food and books about food, and i love laurie colwin.

anyone who can call a terrible dinner one of "the myriad surprises and challenges in this this most interesting and amazing of all possible worlds" is someone i'll read everything by.

i enjoyed so much about this book, especially when i was able to look past the profusion of mayonnaise salads and beef teas and general english foods it foisted upon me.

in other words, good writing is timeless...but good recipes are not.

bottom line: so much fun.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

My good friend Rachel B and her mom have read Laurie Colwin for years. I always noticed a row of her novels in their home outside Cambridge, MA. Never before my visits had I seen her books, but I happened upon Clothilde (sp) from Chocolate and Zucchini mentioning Laurie Colwin's exquisite food writing. So when it came time for me to buy Rachel some presents as a "thank you for hosting me in San Francisco" gift, I knew that one item had to be the collected food writing of Laurie Colwin.

And that I needed this gift, too.

Interestingly, I've been very sparing with these essays. For a number of days, I read just one a night before going to sleep. Then two. And tonight I read the last 75 pages in one sitting. It's almost 1 am and I'm like a kid who desperately needed to eat every last crumb from the brownie pan.

I need to go get the other collection of food essays, read her novels and also use her recipe for gingerbread sometime very soon.

[Antoinette · Rating 3 out of 5]

“At night some people count sheep and others read mysteries. I lie in bed and think about food.”
Laurie Colwin is an author whom I have developed quite a passion for. I’ve read 3 of her novels over the last year and have enjoyed them all.
This book is about her passion for food and cooking. It is a collection of essays touching on her love of eggplant (me too!), cooking in a tiny apartment with only 2 burners, cooking for friends, hosting a party, experiencing her first English tea. They were amusing at times and somewhat informative. But this book is definitely dated. It was published in 1988. Fried vegetables were considered healthy then!
An interesting glimpse into a favourite author’s most favoured pastime- food and cooking. Read it for a slice of her life and not necessarily the recipes.

Published: 1988

[First Second Books]

I gave my mom a copy of Lucy Knisley's RELISH, and in turn she pointed me to Laurie Colwin, who pioneered the food-and-recipe-driven essay style that Lucy so deftly reinvented in the graphic novel format. I read most of this book on my iphone, in the dark, between the hours of 2 and 5am, awake with a 3-week-old baby. It was exactly what I needed then - comforting and funny and nostalgic, sending me on a pleasant, hazy, remembrance of my own early childhood in Boulder in the 1980s when arugula was an exotic delicacy and many of the staples of today's kitchens could only be found in crunchy-granola health food stores like the Pearl Street Market.

[Audrey Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother read this on our trip to Greece last summer, and as I'd finished all the books I brought (a challenge by Zoya that I met and she did not!) I raced through this on the plane home. For my mom, it was a nostalgia trip (her words, not mine), but for me, I don't know what I thought. It reads like you had to be there, not of being there, if that makes any sense, and yet - I have now made several recipes from this and think of it often. Who knows, maybe nostalgia can be passed down in some ways.

[Dee (in the Desert) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. Written by an under-appreciated & long gone author, this is as much a book of essays & a memoir as it is a cookbook. Reading it took me back to my youth when people had fancy dinner parties & we all ate so, so much better without all the 💩🤮 they put in food these days. Enjoyed the chapters on Black Cake, and “Nursery food” = comfort food, LOL!

[Mir]

I haven't read this author at all -- I just happened to see the cover online and want to track down the book and find out who painted it.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't run across much food writing that can make me laugh out loud, but this book did just that. These are chatty, revelatory, often humorous essays on cooking, entertaining, and domestic life in general. Colwin's approach is warm and accessible. You need not be a cook to enjoy the book, but it might make you want to start using your kitchen for more than just the microwave oven. There are informal recipes scattered throughout the book, and some more formal ones at the end of most of the essays. She demystifies daunting tasks such as baking bread, and encourages the reader to "always try everything, even if it turns out to be a dud. We learn by doing."

If you've had your share of kitchen disasters, Colwin is here to commiserate. She shares some of her worst mistakes, as well as a few of the disgusting foods other people have tried to feed her. There's her attempt at Dundee Cake, where her guests were served "a ring of buttered sawdust in which was embedded a series of jujubes." And then there was the peculiarly crunchy tortellini she served to some guests who had been smoking a lot of marijuana, after which one of them said, "Hey, wouldn't it be groovy if we could dump this whatever it is in the garbage and go out for dinner?"

The 33 essays range from basics like fried chicken and potato salad to special cases such as How to Avoid Grilling, How to Disguise Vegetables, and Kitchen Horrors. The variety of topics makes the book especially useful and much more enjoyable to read. I'll be keeping it on hand for kitchen reference, and just for laughs.

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to describe the delight of reading Laurie Colwin's part memoir, part philosophical essays on food and cooking and part recipe book? Written with great warmth and humor, she tells us stories about her life, stories about her friends, about entertaining in her tiny apartment that didn't include a kitchen sink, about her cooking successes and failures, stories that instruct us on how to make the best fried chicken for example, stories that should give anyone confidence to tackle home cooking. If she could do it in that tiny apartment cooking on a hotplate and washing dishes in the bath tub, we can do it too!

I wish I had known Colwin who died way too young at age 48. But I feel I do know Colwin, and that we are kindred spirits! This from the forward says all there is to know about why:
One of the delights of life is eating with friends; second to that is talking about eating. And, for the unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends.

R.I.P Laurie Colwin


In my blurb on why I'm reading this, I indicated that this was a reread. I soon realized that in spite of having bought this in 1988 when it was first in bookstores, I had never cracked it open! Everything in its own time. :)

Why I'm reading this: I have loved Laurie Colwin's books from back in the day (late 1970's through 1980's). Her body of work has recently been republished so there's a bit of a buzz, including this great article from this week's New Yorker on her and her writing. It think it's a good time to revisit this book!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my second read on this book. While I enjoyed it, I also felt like perhaps me, as a cook, has changed. Or me as a reader has changed. Maybe I've read too many incredible food memoirs in the meantime, or my skills have improved. This time I sort of felt like I was getting advice from a 1970s earth mother in a room with a spider plant. This is not to say I didn't identify with her ("Because I am always hungry, I myself eschew hors d'oeuvres. When they come my way, I eat too many and then I am full by the time I reach the table. This does not, however, prevent me from cleaning my plate and then I am angry at myself for eating too much.") Ah, this is me. This is also not to say I didn't take away nuggets of wisdom: "Always try everything even it turns out to be a dud. We learn by doing. If you never stuff a chicken with paté, you will never know that it is an unwise thing to do, and if you never buy zucchini flowers you will never know that you are missing one of the glories of life."

Reading this was like having a friend in the kitchen, talking ever so quietly to you as you cook. Maybe I've been reading too much Melissa Clark, who is a "louder" talker to me in the kitchen, and who is fresh, young, daring, and adventurous. While I enjoyed reading this and didn't give one thought to putting it down, I was a little disappointed it didn't affect me like it did the first time I read it. Sometimes, you CAN'T go home again.

[Beth Bonini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thinking about "comfort reading" (for #bookstagram purposes) and this is one of the first books that came to mind. It's impossible to even guess how many times I have read this dear, dear friend. In her foreword to this collection of essays on food, Colwin shares this oft-quoted philosophy: "One of the delights of life is eating with friends; second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends." I would add: one of the delights of my life is drinking tea and eating a thick slice of gingerbread cake whilst rereading this charming, humorous book for the umpteenth time.

This is not a book that I actually cook from all that often, and I will admit that some of the recipes are a bit hinky, but for reading about food, and the pleasures of sharing it, I cannot think of a book that I would recommend more . . . except perhaps for its follow-up, More Home Cooking. Colwin's turn of phrase and delicious sense of humour is entirely to my taste. One of my favourite chapters is actually titled: Repulsive Dinners: A Memoir. I was going to quote some of my favourite lines from it, but then I realised (after rereading it) that they are all my favourites.

Note: I was given my copy of Home Cooking by Martha Smith in 1990. Treasures: both the cookbook and the friend.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Laurie Colwin is like sitting in a friend's kitchen sharing a cup of tea. She shares favorite recipes, dining experiences and opinions on food along with stories of notable disasters. This book is the food writer's version of comfort food. The recipes are good and the cooking advice is sound. The creamed spinach with jalapenos is wonderful, the gingerbread delicious, and the potato salad very good. I enjoy rereading it every January while there is snow on the ground and think about it when peppers and eggplant are in season. Like Laurie, I fry them in olive oil for myself when no one else is around.

[Julie Ehlers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking and More Home Cooking are two funny, comforting volumes of food writing. Colwin intends to show that cooking is fun and easy to do at home, but sometimes the recipes themselves are a little vague or casual, so I might not recommend actually cooking from them unless you’re already a relatively experienced cook. The real reason to read these books is the writing itself. This new edition contains a lovely introduction by Ruth Reichl, herself a food writer extraordinaire. If you like food writing, these books are for you.

[Christine PNW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laurie Colwin died very young.

I discovered her when I was in law school - a friend of mine had picked up her last book A Big Storm Knocked It Over: A Novel and pressed it on me with the fervor of an evangelical, telling me that this book, this book was everything to her. I didn't know it then, but Laurie Colwin was already dead of a heart attack.

I read A Big Storm Knocked It Over, and then went on to read Happy All the Time, a book that I still own, that I left out in the rain and has a cover that separated and then dried in wrinkles, and Family Happiness, and then I discovered Laurie Colwin's food writing, and I read this book, and More Home Cooking, both of which I checked out of the public library.

And then I learned that she had died, a year before I had even discovered her and I felt grief because there would be no more books by Laurie Colwin and I hadn't even known it.

Home Cooking is an oddly wonderful book, a collection of stories about food written by someone who told stories about food and friendship and how food is friendship, and sometimes friendship is food. She's funny and self-deprecating and would have been a lovely person to sit down and have a meal with, and I've always wanted to make her gingerbread. Maybe someday I will.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read and I enjoyed this even more the second time, especially chatting about it with Susan, Melissa, and Jen. I listened to the audio through Spotify, and I loved the narrator. She captured Laurie's dry humor perfectly. It's funny how some things in this are very late 1980s while other things are timeless. Every era has its food fads. How funny it will be to look back on the 2020s in 40 years! Laurie gets into so many scrapes in the kitchen, which she shares with complete honesty and a lovely humor at her own expense. She's the first to laugh at herself. It's fun to think about my own food memories as I listened, both mishaps, triumphs, and introductions to new foods that were a revelation.

[britta ⋆˙⟡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cozy and unexpected food writing

[Dominika]

Cozy, cozy!

Some favorite bits:

On learning how to bake bread for the first time: "Very soon the dough had the springy, soft texture of a baby's bottom. I was very impressed."

On the stress of throwing dinner parties: "To the average person, the dishwasher stands in for any number of servants. Of course, some people actually have a servant who takes away the plates after each course and then brings new, clean ones. In other households, this person is often called a husband."

On the joy of salty foods (can relate!) "All my favorite foods were salty. I would gladly forgo ice cream for potato chips. I adored bacon, pickles and peanuts. As I grew up and became more sophisticated I graduated to prosciutto, anchovies, sun-dried toamtoes, Genoa salami, tapenade, and Nicoise olives."

On an obsession with red peppers (also can relate!): "If you long for bananas, it may be potassium you need. I myself once experienced a craving for red peppers so intense that I bought a large bag of them and ate them all as I walked home. Peppers contain large quantities of vitamin A and lesser amounts of vitamin C, as well as phosphorus and iron, but what the hell?...My body may have been crying out for vitamins, but my spirit wanted red peppers."

On the glory of authentic English teatime: "Low tea, taken at four, may be as humble as bread and butter and a pot of tea with a plate of biscuits, or it may be as elaborate as a large iced cake, a plate of strawberries and a heap of tea sandwiches. For inspiration, it is useful to read Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers or the early novels of Iris Murdoch, in which tea menus are elaborately described."

[Esteban ⚯͛ · Rating 3 out of 5]

De más a menos. Le doy tres estrellas porque no creo que sea un libro aburrido, ni flojo, ni nada por el estilo, pero siento que no me ha enamorado y cuatro me parecía excesivo. Pero sólo es mi opinión.

Me gustó cuando cuenta anécdotas de su vida en torno a una mesa, a una comida con amistades, a una escapada gastronómica, sus secretos de cocina.

No me gustó tanto, y se me hizo un poco cuesta arriba, cuando narra paso a paso recetas. El libro está bien, entretiene (es su función), pero quizás sea cosa mía y no ha encajado al 100% con lo que buscaba.

[JoAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

For two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I am obsessed with the meal... to brine or not to brine, twice baked or mashed, how many sides, will four pies suffice, etc. Never mind the logistics of fitting everyone around the table or what time dinner should be served.

As I fussed with recipes, shopping, and planning, Laurie Colwin was like an old friend whose quiet presence reassured me it would all turn out just fine. During this time, I was too preoccupied to read much, but her short essays were the perfect diversion. I made time to read a few every evening.

By 21st century standards, the essays in Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen certainly feel dated, but Colwin's warmth and personality shine through, so I didn't mind one bit.

And that's really the point, anyway. We no longer discuss whether stuffing belongs inside the bird, but our feelings behind the stuffing are timeless. Doesn't every family take pride in their special stuffing recipe?

Colwin, a prolific writer of both fiction and nonfiction, died suddenly in 1992 when she was only 48 years old. Last month Open Road Media released her work in ebook format, making it possible for a new generation of digital readers to discover her talent.

I hope they do.

(I received a copy of this book from Open Road Media via NetGalley for review consideration.)

[Yasmeen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This memoir did not age well, within the first few pages you will find yourself thinking: demanding not salting beef stew is ridiculous, and... guess what? microwaves aren't dangerous. But, I finally figured out why I disliked it: reading Laurie Colwin is exactly like tolerating a conversation with a misogynistic housewife rant about how badly other people (mostly women) cook, using her mentions of a few kitchen failures as a guard. As a baker who is used to guiding many friends through recipes, I am uncomfortable around people who perpetuate the idea you should feel inadequate if you cook badly, and find it counterproductive. Criticizing a dish or a culinary shortcut should not be extended to reflect poorly on the person who made it.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy food memoirs then you must read Home Cooking! Laurie Colwin is so adept at writing about food that even things I would never want to attempt to make sound doable. This book is steeped in a sense of time and place, New York in the 70’s, and how I wish the exotic offerings available to Laurie were available to us all now. While we are able to get a much diverse offering of foods these days, it’s not as simple as a trip to the corner store or farmer’s market (at least not in suburbia). And how I would have loved to see her cooking in her tiny apartment!

Be sure to read More Home Cooking after this one for more of Colwin’s charming foodie anecdotes.

[Mamen Monsoriu · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿Realmente estoy cocinando la vida que quiero?
Gran libro, da mucha paz. Gran prólogo, grandes recetas y mejores reflexiones.

[Katelyn Beaty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warm and unassuming with a touch of spice, just like you want a home-cooked meal to be

[JacquiWine · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5 Stars)

I have Dorian (at Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau) to thank for introducing me to Laurie Colwin. (You can read more about the background to that intro in my review of Colwin’s 1982 excellent novel, Family Happiness, by clicking on the link.) Alongside fiction, Colwin also wrote about food – specifically, home-cooked food, the kinds of simple yet flavoursome dishes that any good cook needs to have in his or her repertoire.

First published in 1988, and reissued by Fig Tree in this lovely 2012 edition, Home Cooking weaves together Colwin’s recipes, anecdotes and sage words of advice on the joys of cooking and sharing food with friends. In short, it is a delight to read – warm, generous, and completely down-to-earth, just like Colwin herself, I would imagine. In some respects, reading this book feels like having your warmest, smartest, funniest friend over for dinner – someone with a willingness to share their culinary tricks and treats alongside their unmitigated disasters.

There are chapters here on Friday Night Supper, How to Disguise Vegetables and Easy Cooking for Exhausted People. All the recipes seem eminently achievable – tried and trusted versions of Colwin’s family favourites, including Warm Potato Salad with Fried Red Peppers, Orange Ambrosia and Extremely Easy Old-Fashioned Beef Stew (which can be pimped up accordingly once the basics have been mastered). Pot roasts and baked chicken feature heavily, as do eggplants (aubergines) and broccoli, two of Colwin’s favourite vegetables. I will definitely be trying some of her ways with orzo as there’s a packet languishing in my cupboard as we speak.

Orzo with butter and grated cheese is very nice. Orzo with a little ricotta, some chopped parsley and scallion, butter and cheese, is even better. Orzo with chopped broccoli and broccoli di rape is heaven, and it is also a snap. While you cook the orzo, steam the two broccolis—the amounts depend entirely on how many people you are feeding—until tender. Chop and set aside.

Drain the orzo throw in a lump of butter. Stir it in, add the broccoli, some fresh black pepper and some grated cheese, and you have a side dish fit for a visiting dignitary from a country whose politics you admire. (pp. 85-86).

To read the rest of my review, please visit:

https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2021...

[Carol Bakker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laurie Colwin is plain winsome. Her (writing) voice is capable, soothing, wry, funny, unassuming. I moseyed my way through her comfort-filled chapters. I'm conflicted about the decision to keep or release this book. It's reassuring reading you could pick up, read a random chapter, and set down again.

I do not believe you have to spend a lot of money to eat well: it is hard to beat a plain old baked potato.

A long time ago it occurred to me that when people are tired and hungry, which in adult life is much of the time, they do not want to be confronted by an intellectually challenging meal: they want to be consoled.

Dishes such as shepherd's pie and chicken soup are a kind of edible therapy.

Vegetarians, for example, are enough to drive anyone crazy. Like Protestants, they come in a number of denominations.

I flagged ten recipes to try. I'm intrigued by the Latvian Birthday Cake, one she calls a saffron-flavored coffee cake. I have precious saffron from the Istanbul Spice Bazaar waiting for worthy recipes!

Really, there are so many things I appreciated, like this list of items worth spending money for: sweet butter, good olive oil, high-quality vinegar, sea salt, fresh pepper, fresh herbs, raw sugar.

So sad: Laurie Colwin didn't wake up one morning when she was 48.

I don't know who put this classic on my radar, but it's been on my TBR list at least ten years. I have her companion book, More Home Cooking on my nightstand.

[Julie Durnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A treasure of both essay-type memoirs and recipes! I've not read any of Laurie Colwin before but this was a great one to start with. The "Kitchen Horrors" chapter is laugh out loud funny and there are many amusing moments-some aimed at her and some at others. Her recipes are down-home, tried and true with a hint of gourmet to shake it up! Can't wait to read the second book, More Home Cooking!

[Leah]

relentlessly charming! I love food and people talking about food

[Holly R W · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading so many accolades about Laurie Colwin and her book, "Home Cooking", I wanted to experience it for myself. She holds legendary status in the field of food writing. Sadly, she died in her early forties.

Now I understand why her readers and fellow writers adored her. Colwin's writing is lively, opinionated and fun. Reading her is like talking with a good friend. As she writes of her food adventures, bits of her personal life are shared. I would call "Home Cooking" a food memoir rather than a cook book, although she shares recipes too. Not every recipe sounds that appealing to me.

Stand-out essays for me personally are: Red Peppers, English Food, and Without Salt. I was gratified to learn that my beef stew recipe is the same as Colwin's. I was also interested that she had translated author Isaac B. Singer's book "In My Father's Court" from Yiddish to English, a book I have also read.

It's no wonder why Colwin's writing has so many fans.

[Caroline O'Donoghue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a three star cookbook, and five star collection of essays. A friend gave this to me in 2015 with the inscription "Caroline– you don't cook, but when you do, start here". At first I thought this was bad advice, because the recipes are extremely American, the measurements are vague, the ingredients not very easy to find. Some the recipes are dated. There's a heavy preoccupation with stews and casseroles, which – even now, that i can cook – I don't ever make. The reason you read this book before you start cooking is because it psychically places you within the world of food, where meals go wrong, where disasters are frequent, but where the rewards are great. This very slim and chatty book isn't so much about how to cook but how to live a life well.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's nothing like a Laurie Colwin book and this is one of the best. She's a lovely and wonderful friend in my head and reading her is just pure comfort and joy. Her outlook on life makes me so happy. Read this! Read everything by her and, when you're done, read it again.