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But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!: Adventures in Eating, Drinking, and Making Merry
In her new book, But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!, Julia Reed, a master of the art of eating, drinking, and making merry, takes the reader on culinary adventures in places as far flung as Kabul, Afghanistan and as close to home as her native Mississippi Delta and Florida's Gulf Coast. Along the way, Reed discovers the perfect Pimm's Royale at the Paris Ritz, devours delicious chuletons in Madrid, and picks up tips from accomplished hostesses ranging from Pat Buckley to Pearl Bailey and, of course, her own mother. Reed writes about the bounty—and the burden—of a Southern garden in high summer, tosses salads in the English countryside, and shares C.Z. Guest's recipe for an especially zingy bullshot. She understands the necessity of a potent holiday punch and serves it up by the silver bowl full, but she is not immune to the slightly less refined charms of a blender full of frozen peach daiquiris or a garbage can full of Yucca Flats. And then there are the parties: shindigs ranging from sultry summer suppers and raucous dinners at home to a Plymouth-like Thanksgiving feast and an upscale St. Patrick's Day celebration. This delightful collection of essays by Julia Reed, a master storyteller with an inimitable voice and a limitless capacity for fun, will show you how to entertain guests with style, have a good time yourself and always have that perfect pitcher of sangria ready at a moment's notice.
272 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 2013
63 people are currently reading
1797 people want to read
About the author
Julia Reed
78 books92 followersJulia Reed was born in Greenville, Mississippi, in 1960. She went to the Madeira School for Girls at age sixteen near McLean, Virginia. She began taking classes at Georgetown University but then transferred to and graduated from American University.
She started working at Newsweek magazine as an intern in 1977 and went on to become Contributing Editor and columnist. She was contributing editor and senior writer at Vogue for twenty years. She is a Contributing Editor at Elle Magazine and at Garden and Gun Magazine (for which she also writes a column). She also writes articles for the New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and the Wall Street Journal.
Well known as a humorist and a “master of the art of eating, drinking, and making merry,” according to her publisher, her books include One Man’s Folly: The Exceptional Houses of Furlow Gatewood (2014), But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria! Adventures in Eating, Drinking, and Making Merry (Apr 30, 2013), New Orleans, New Elegance (2012) with Kerri McCaffety, Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties: An Entertaining Life (with Recipes) (Apr 28, 2009), The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story (2008) and Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena (2005)
She started working at Newsweek magazine as an intern in 1977 and went on to become Contributing Editor and columnist. She was contributing editor and senior writer at Vogue for twenty years. She is a Contributing Editor at Elle Magazine and at Garden and Gun Magazine (for which she also writes a column). She also writes articles for the New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and the Wall Street Journal.
Well known as a humorist and a “master of the art of eating, drinking, and making merry,” according to her publisher, her books include One Man’s Folly: The Exceptional Houses of Furlow Gatewood (2014), But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria! Adventures in Eating, Drinking, and Making Merry (Apr 30, 2013), New Orleans, New Elegance (2012) with Kerri McCaffety, Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties: An Entertaining Life (with Recipes) (Apr 28, 2009), The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story (2008) and Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena (2005)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
April 28, 2025
Oh my, I love to read books about food, especially regional cuisine and But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!: Adventures in Eating, Drinking, and Making Merry was such a delightful collection of essays. It resonated on so many levels as Julia Reed takes us on an adventure in eating, drinking, and making merry as she takes us on culinary adventures as distant as Kabul, Afghanistan to Dublin, Ireland to her home state of the Mississippi Delta and the Florida Gulf Coast. Julia Reed is a master storyteller with such a capacity for fun and making merry as she shares so many wonderful recipes from her childhood and her travels. Just keep a pitcher of sangria close.
There were so many favorite recipes, but I gravitated to the recipes from her home in New Orleans with the many Creole dishes. There is a great recipe for gumbo and crawfish etouffee and grilled marinated tuna with fresh herbs. This is a wonderful book as we hopscotch though the globe while sampling regional cocktails and cuisine as one enjoys the delightful narrative of Julia Reed.
There were so many favorite recipes, but I gravitated to the recipes from her home in New Orleans with the many Creole dishes. There is a great recipe for gumbo and crawfish etouffee and grilled marinated tuna with fresh herbs. This is a wonderful book as we hopscotch though the globe while sampling regional cocktails and cuisine as one enjoys the delightful narrative of Julia Reed.
“Mama always put vodka in her sangria.”
“They were Mississippi Delta people—Mizz-Izz-DEHLT people—and the sense of placeness they brought into the room with them was sweet to me.”
“No matter who we are or where we’ve been, we are all, apparently, ‘leveled’ by the same thing: our love of our sometimes lowly, always luscious cuisine—our love, in short, of home.”
September 4, 2013
I wanted to like this book. I really did. I wasn't familiar with the author, but I was hoping it would be a humorous look at Southern cooking. It turned out to be like reading the social calendar of someone you don't know (and don't care to know). The author just relates story after story about various and sundry people, with not a lot of transition. In Chapter 2, for instance, we get to hear about the wife of Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece (it says "princess", but since it was a wife, I'm assuming this was a mistake), Nan Kemper, Ruth Draper (?), Jean Harris (of Scarsdale fame), Charles Revson, Dick Cheney, Joe Alsop (cousin of the Roosevelts), the Roosevelts, Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway, Elizabeth Arden, the Duchess of Windsor, Pat Buckley, Bill Blass, Evangeline Bruce (?), Princess Margaret, Sally Quinn, Ben Bradlee, Margaret Visser, Baronne Staffe, Winston Churchill, Laura Delano, and Brooke Astor (I'm sure I missed a few). The chapter is only 5 pages of text and two recipes, so you can see how the anecdotes wear a little thin when packed so tightly. It's all very tedious reading. I couldn't get too enthused about the included recipes because of all the gratuitous name-dropping and statements such as, "I attended a dinner at the British Embassy" and "In my last lunch with (Bill) Blass at his Connecticut country home . . ." Yawn. I'm not really sure what audience this book is aiming for, but chances are, if you're not mentioned in the book (and it's entirely possible you might be, with all the names thrown about), you'll grow tired of it quickly.
September 24, 2013
I detested this book. It is a food memoir, which usually I love. I don't understand how this person got a book deal. Probably by being wealthy and having connections, an aspect of her life that she mentions over and over again in this book. I don't even really remember any of the stories from this book (by the way, it reads like a connection of very disjointed stories).
August 25, 2017
Stories and history of recipes, booze and friends. Excellent read, as always coming from Julia Reed. I cut out all the recipes and add them to my collection. I made the Sangria!!!! It was fabulous.
May 1, 2013
Julia Reed's books are comfort reads for me: She writes like the friend you wish you had (or were) -- a hoot at a party, resourceful, and smart without taking herself too seriously. Best of all, Julia writes about good food, good drink and good company without a hint of finger-wagging moralism. In an era where we all-too-easily pass judgment on someone's character based on the contents of their plate, it's refreshing to find a food writer who focuses simply on the universal pleasures of gustatory pleasure and pleasant company.
If you like food and can't stand the preciousness or sermonizing of modern food writing-cum-blogging, snap this up.
If you like food and can't stand the preciousness or sermonizing of modern food writing-cum-blogging, snap this up.
May 15, 2014
I started out liking this book. But gradually, Julia Reed's "And then this interesting person dropped by and then this fascinating guy dropped in and pretty soon this bunch of fascinating people were there" writing style began to just bore me witless.
The endless stories are supplemented by recipes which are interesting enough, in a retro "this is what used to be served back in the day" way. The heavy emphasis on drinking and cocktails, including advice on how to recover from over-imbibing (drink in the morning, of course) give many of the accounts of "then this interesting person dropped by" a boozy, practiced feel.
The author's arch, intellectual, breezy tone succeeded for me some of the time, but as the book wore on, and on, I got really tired of her voice and just wanted the book to come to an end. The whole thing started to feel like that dinner party guest with the admittedly interesting life who just won't stop talking about this interesting person dropping by, and what fun they had. My attention strayed many times as I spent 7 days getting through this slim book.
The endless stories are supplemented by recipes which are interesting enough, in a retro "this is what used to be served back in the day" way. The heavy emphasis on drinking and cocktails, including advice on how to recover from over-imbibing (drink in the morning, of course) give many of the accounts of "then this interesting person dropped by" a boozy, practiced feel.
The author's arch, intellectual, breezy tone succeeded for me some of the time, but as the book wore on, and on, I got really tired of her voice and just wanted the book to come to an end. The whole thing started to feel like that dinner party guest with the admittedly interesting life who just won't stop talking about this interesting person dropping by, and what fun they had. My attention strayed many times as I spent 7 days getting through this slim book.
May 17, 2013
I am not a foodie (I have the tastebuds of a picky eight year old) and I am not the best cook. Well, I'm good if there are less than 5 ingredients and one pot. But the descriptions in this book really encourage me to step out of my comfort zone and try some of these recipes. And the cocktails! I'm seriously considering starting a cocktail hour for my boyfriend and I every evening. I love the little life stories that lead into the recipes and just really make you feel attached to them before you have even tried one. Definitely a great book if you want a little laughter and heart warming thrown in with your recipes.
This was a first reads book that I won. But I'm definitely going to be purchasing some as gifts!
This was a first reads book that I won. But I'm definitely going to be purchasing some as gifts!
October 6, 2013
While some of the recipes looked interesting enough to try, the rest of the book was tedious to get through. I feel like she was stroking her own ego by all of the name dropping that occurred ... After all that I'm left wondering, "who cares?" And "who the heck are you again?" ... Sheesh.
June 23, 2015
I am very sorry I spent money on this snobbery.
August 27, 2016
Fun read. I'll be making some of the recipes for sure!
August 11, 2024
Just last week I noted that I needed to take a literary vacation to the south, allowing my summer to slow down to a snail’s pace. I have one real vacation left, but then it’s back to work. I enjoy my job, but I will be the first to admit that I work to live not the other way around. If I could control the complete narrative of my life, I would stay home with my cats, read, listen to baseball on the radio, and swim in the summer. That’s pretty much the about me section of my goodreads profile, but the summer puts things into perspective- I prefer the lazy, non-programmed days of summer. I know this is not the normal for the entire year, so I enjoy it while I can hence the need to return to the south and charming words of Julia Reed. I recently discovered Reed, a southern Belle who I had never heard of before. While she grew up in the company of politicians and a community attuned to the southern way of life, she catalogued memories to use in her career as a writer. I must have been off to the side as she entertained friends sipping mint juleps on the porch. I knew I would have to revisit her writing before my own summer came to a close.
Julia Reed hails from Greenville, Mississippi. Her parents Clarke and Judy along with their neighbors the McGees hosted epic parties year round. Julia grew up in an environment where her mother was the hostess with the mostest, who created themed menus and entertainment depending on the time of year. Nearby, visitors could visit Doe’s restaurant and eat tamales and fried chicken to their hearts content, and, later Greenville even opened a McDonald’s franchise. There was also plenty of fishing and hunting, plenty of all varieties of food no matter one’s palette’s preference. Whether it was her grandmother’s sweet potato stuffed oranges at Thanksgiving or her mother’s eggplant slices fried in Ritz crackers or the tamales from Doe’s that made everyone salivate, Julia Reed grew up in an environment that appreciated quality food and drink. It was an honor to finally sit downstairs with the adults at the McGee’s Christmas party, not just because a teenager had come of age, but because instead of cookies and milk, one could partake of a variety of delicacies. Reed provides these parties that her mother and Anne McGee staged as a background for her own adult life, where she would take her food memories and utilize them to become her own hostess with the mostest.
When I had finished Reed’s prior book, I looked up titles at my library. This one appeared to be the most humorous, oozing with southern charm and hospitality. The title alone does not do the book justice. Reed divides the book into three sections: eating, drinking, and making merry. Each chapter is the backstory of a party or life event that Reed hosted or attended, and then she goes on to describe the food and drink served. When she fondly reflects on the first Thanksgiving that she hosted at her college apartment in Georgetown, Reed attempted to recreate the memorable meals from her parents’ home. The attendees were content with spirits and hors devours and listening to LPs all night. In the morning, reviving spirits became necessary. Reed has noted lifelong friendships with restaurant chefs and authors, including the esteemed Jason Epstein who has edited and published a wide array of cookbooks during his own illustrious career. His apple or pear tartin sounds sinful and thankfully not too tricky to prepare. I discovered that in the south that milk and cream are added to pretty much everything, ditto bacon, and that Reed, once she discovered that the first Thanksgiving might not have included turkey, set out to recreate the menu at her first time hosting the holiday at her home in New Orleans. Of course, her ideal Thanksgiving would include fried chicken, biscuits, and gravy and only feature pecan and chess pies, no pumpkin or apple. She is from the south after all.
Part of why I enjoy summer is because as a foodie I have more time to experiment with new recipes. I did not know that this was a partial cookbook, but I discovered the history of recipes and new techniques to try in my own kitchen. As a kosher cook, a lot of these recipes contain both meat and dairy products, so that adds to the challenge of finding replacements and recreating them in my own style. Reed regales readers about her year working at McDonald’s to pay off damages to her parents’ car. She then goes on to describe a perfect hamburger, preferring an English muffin to a bun, noting that the key is in the sauce not the toppings. Let’s just say that here we agree to disagree but she does provide new ideas for burger prep that I had not thought of before including the method for preparing the perfect homemade mayo. My kids know that I will put ranch on anything so I was hooked. She also provides ideas for a summer salad niçoise where I would have to swap salmon for shellfish, and the salad components sound refreshing. Another idea is an easy salad of just four ingredients with a basic Dijon mayo, coincidently the hearts of palm salad I had been searching for, just not the one that my teenage daughters prefer to whip up each night. I selected this book for the title and was not disappointed by the drinking section where Reed regales us with the history of bourbon drinking in the United States, her preferred gin and tonic recipe, James Bond’s Vesper, and a vodka slushy that I’d like to try- vodka, orange juice, cranberry juice, and sprite mixed, placed in freezer long enough to become the consistency of a slushy. How could you go wrong with that? I have a feeling I will be trying that first along with her mother’s V.D. Spinach that includes spinach, artichoke hearts, and cheese layered in a casserole dish. Of course, there’s bacon that I will have to omit, but it’s the south, and I always enjoy incorporating new types of cuisine to my own cooking. That is how memories are created and passed down, which is what Reed accomplished with this travel, memoir, cookbook.
As the summer winds down, I could not help but smile as Julia Reed describes the lazy summer days spent at her family’s beach house in Seaside, Florida. Afternoons are spent on the beach or watching movies, leading, and playing board games. A late salad lunch and basic bean salads and tossed pasta for suppers. That would be an ideal summer for me as well, if only I had a beach house. Reed reminds me why I love summer- the laziness of a season with long days that do not need to have activities constantly scheduled. For me, summer could go on forever, and I am anticipating one last trip to the beach to cap it off. This summer has not been all that memorable, but it has been about those last days spent in my reading cocoon, taking literary trips to the west and south where time appears to past by slower and people hold to an antiquated way of life that is lost in most facets of society. That is why I work to live and not the other way around. Once the colder weather kicks in, I will need to take more trips to Julia Reed’s south, where she regales us with her own brand of humor and time seems to slow down. If only the summer could last forever.
4 stars
Julia Reed hails from Greenville, Mississippi. Her parents Clarke and Judy along with their neighbors the McGees hosted epic parties year round. Julia grew up in an environment where her mother was the hostess with the mostest, who created themed menus and entertainment depending on the time of year. Nearby, visitors could visit Doe’s restaurant and eat tamales and fried chicken to their hearts content, and, later Greenville even opened a McDonald’s franchise. There was also plenty of fishing and hunting, plenty of all varieties of food no matter one’s palette’s preference. Whether it was her grandmother’s sweet potato stuffed oranges at Thanksgiving or her mother’s eggplant slices fried in Ritz crackers or the tamales from Doe’s that made everyone salivate, Julia Reed grew up in an environment that appreciated quality food and drink. It was an honor to finally sit downstairs with the adults at the McGee’s Christmas party, not just because a teenager had come of age, but because instead of cookies and milk, one could partake of a variety of delicacies. Reed provides these parties that her mother and Anne McGee staged as a background for her own adult life, where she would take her food memories and utilize them to become her own hostess with the mostest.
When I had finished Reed’s prior book, I looked up titles at my library. This one appeared to be the most humorous, oozing with southern charm and hospitality. The title alone does not do the book justice. Reed divides the book into three sections: eating, drinking, and making merry. Each chapter is the backstory of a party or life event that Reed hosted or attended, and then she goes on to describe the food and drink served. When she fondly reflects on the first Thanksgiving that she hosted at her college apartment in Georgetown, Reed attempted to recreate the memorable meals from her parents’ home. The attendees were content with spirits and hors devours and listening to LPs all night. In the morning, reviving spirits became necessary. Reed has noted lifelong friendships with restaurant chefs and authors, including the esteemed Jason Epstein who has edited and published a wide array of cookbooks during his own illustrious career. His apple or pear tartin sounds sinful and thankfully not too tricky to prepare. I discovered that in the south that milk and cream are added to pretty much everything, ditto bacon, and that Reed, once she discovered that the first Thanksgiving might not have included turkey, set out to recreate the menu at her first time hosting the holiday at her home in New Orleans. Of course, her ideal Thanksgiving would include fried chicken, biscuits, and gravy and only feature pecan and chess pies, no pumpkin or apple. She is from the south after all.
Part of why I enjoy summer is because as a foodie I have more time to experiment with new recipes. I did not know that this was a partial cookbook, but I discovered the history of recipes and new techniques to try in my own kitchen. As a kosher cook, a lot of these recipes contain both meat and dairy products, so that adds to the challenge of finding replacements and recreating them in my own style. Reed regales readers about her year working at McDonald’s to pay off damages to her parents’ car. She then goes on to describe a perfect hamburger, preferring an English muffin to a bun, noting that the key is in the sauce not the toppings. Let’s just say that here we agree to disagree but she does provide new ideas for burger prep that I had not thought of before including the method for preparing the perfect homemade mayo. My kids know that I will put ranch on anything so I was hooked. She also provides ideas for a summer salad niçoise where I would have to swap salmon for shellfish, and the salad components sound refreshing. Another idea is an easy salad of just four ingredients with a basic Dijon mayo, coincidently the hearts of palm salad I had been searching for, just not the one that my teenage daughters prefer to whip up each night. I selected this book for the title and was not disappointed by the drinking section where Reed regales us with the history of bourbon drinking in the United States, her preferred gin and tonic recipe, James Bond’s Vesper, and a vodka slushy that I’d like to try- vodka, orange juice, cranberry juice, and sprite mixed, placed in freezer long enough to become the consistency of a slushy. How could you go wrong with that? I have a feeling I will be trying that first along with her mother’s V.D. Spinach that includes spinach, artichoke hearts, and cheese layered in a casserole dish. Of course, there’s bacon that I will have to omit, but it’s the south, and I always enjoy incorporating new types of cuisine to my own cooking. That is how memories are created and passed down, which is what Reed accomplished with this travel, memoir, cookbook.
As the summer winds down, I could not help but smile as Julia Reed describes the lazy summer days spent at her family’s beach house in Seaside, Florida. Afternoons are spent on the beach or watching movies, leading, and playing board games. A late salad lunch and basic bean salads and tossed pasta for suppers. That would be an ideal summer for me as well, if only I had a beach house. Reed reminds me why I love summer- the laziness of a season with long days that do not need to have activities constantly scheduled. For me, summer could go on forever, and I am anticipating one last trip to the beach to cap it off. This summer has not been all that memorable, but it has been about those last days spent in my reading cocoon, taking literary trips to the west and south where time appears to past by slower and people hold to an antiquated way of life that is lost in most facets of society. That is why I work to live and not the other way around. Once the colder weather kicks in, I will need to take more trips to Julia Reed’s south, where she regales us with her own brand of humor and time seems to slow down. If only the summer could last forever.
4 stars
May 19, 2013
I received this book as part of a first-read give away.
This book, while good, frustrated me. The essays were often so short, I would start getting into the tale and they were done. Which I guess is better then thinking they dragged, but still...
The recipes look good, I will have to try some when I am in cooking mode rather then planting mode. The title Sangria, maybe the first one I try.
If you like essays about food, if you like Southern lifestyle, and if you like your recipes with a little story behind them, you will like this book.
This book, while good, frustrated me. The essays were often so short, I would start getting into the tale and they were done. Which I guess is better then thinking they dragged, but still...
The recipes look good, I will have to try some when I am in cooking mode rather then planting mode. The title Sangria, maybe the first one I try.
If you like essays about food, if you like Southern lifestyle, and if you like your recipes with a little story behind them, you will like this book.
October 10, 2013
It's light, entertaining, anecdotal - the text is like good cocktail party conversation. Engaging but without any real depth and quickly forgotten as you move on to the next shiny thing. One gets a clear sense of the authors stance on entertaining (hosting is serious business), being a good guest(dress for the event) and the rules for feeding a crowd (make lots of a few things, instead of a few portions of lots of things). Not bad if you're looking for something light, with a few possible recipes.
November 20, 2013
I was expecting something funny and relatable, and instead all I got was a name-dropping author who talked down and kept recommending obscure, expensive products. Only reason I gave this 2 stars instead of 1 is because the recipes ARE delicious, assuming you can substitute in cheaper brands. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone - just Google the recipes instead. The stories she pairs with each chapter just aren't worth the money. Skip it!!
June 13, 2013
It seemed like a number of the chapters were longer versions of her articles from Garden & Gun, not entirely new but still entertaining. The name dropping did seem a little gratuitous but I suppose if William F. Buckley was a regular visitor to your Delta home, that's to be expected. At the very least, I'm looking forward to trying a few of the included recipes, particularly the cocktails.
January 24, 2018
This book was written as if several wordy food blog posts were bound in print. The recipes looked good, and some of the stories were interesting, but some of the anecdotes came off as bragging. The author and I share a love of entertaining and cooking delicious food, and maybe I’m jealous of her regular black tie dinner parties, but I’m not sure I’d want to be invited to hers anyway.
July 12, 2013
Well the notion of the vodka is not new-I've been doing it forever. Even sabotaged my guests last weekend for a Running of the Bulls Party. Light and breezy book, heaving on reprinting recipes from other books but fun. And should make a good gift.
May 24, 2013
If Paula Deen had a favorite book it would definitely be this one. This book is all about southern food and having a great time. Warning: This book makes you hungry!!
*Won from Goodreads Giveaway*
*Won from Goodreads Giveaway*
May 8, 2024
[I]n general, I have a thing about hosts imposing their diet reginmens on their guests, and about guests who make outrageous requests that don't have anything to do with a life-threatening condition. [chapter 2; The Society Diet]
With this great title, we were sure we were going to love this book.
[S]mall talk, flirting, witty asides, pretty much everything that makes a dinner party bearable or even fun, comes to an abrupt halt and a topic is introduced—a recent Supreme Court ruling, say, or the fat of the latest immigration bill. the guests are then made to take turns around the table saying what they think about it.
In me, this brings up fear and loathing [chapter 22: Table Talk]
~ ~ ~
Lately [Brussels sprouts have] been enjoying a resurgence, mainly because people have finally learned that the habit of boiling them until they produce a stomach-curdling stench and taste was not, perhaps, the best way to showcase their attributes. [chapter: Kill That Taste!]
Questions about things mentioned that are apparently well-known:
What is Wesson oil? We guessed that it was cooking oil. But doing an internet search, it turns out that it is a US brand name for vegetable oil. Originally, it was the brand for the "Southern Cotton Oil Company" in Savanah, Georgia. (The oil is now manufactured in Memphis, Tennesee.) How interesting that Julia Reed was so specific about the brand, rather than the type of vegetable oil. Apparently, until 2009, Wesson oil was made of cottonseed oil, but since then the oil may include a mixture of canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil or sunflower oil.
What are blinis with ossetra (specifically "ossetra")? Aha. According to Wikipedia, it is "one of the most prized and expensive types of caviar." According to Julia Reed, blinis with ossetra were a favourite of Winston Churchill.
The hot water cornbread on page 70 is intriguing. I also love that she said out loud that "Southerners who put sugar in the cornbread are imposters."
And the tip to "salt, butter, and toast the pecans first" for pecan pie is brilliant.
While we really liked the chapter entitled "Dining on the Nile", as we read further, there was too much focus on cocktails and drinking way too many cocktails. The middle section of the book was very long, filled with recipes for how to ruin perfectly good wines, liquors, fruit juices, sodas, and/or water by mixing them together into one giant bowl. It just started getting wearing.
We perked up a little when we got to the chapter entitled "Table Talk".... If half stars were allowed, the rating would be 2.5
January 12, 2019
Two stars for the interesting recipes. Otherwise I agree with many of the other reviewers. It was, "Look at me and my really wealthy family and all my really wealthy friends being way more fancy and cool than you're ever going to be. And look at all these famous cool people who you're probably not even fancy and cool enough to recognize." I had to gag a little when she asked the question "Are rich people different than the rest of us?" There is definitely nothing more annoying than a rich person who hasn't realized they're rich. I guess it hasn't occurred to her that most of us don't have mothers who throw multiple white tie Christmas parties for hundreds of guests. And most of us didn't grow up with a staff. I guess I wouldn't have minded reading about her life if she weren't so damned pretentious about it and at least recognized the silver spoon stuffed in her mouth.
December 27, 2023
This book made me long for New Orleans and its delicious food! Really enjoyed the stories and I'm hoping to try a few of the recipes. I must confess though, it made me laugh when the author mentioned her life being not of the upper class, because her upbringing and life were certainly not middle class. But then that's part of what makes the book a fun read - a unique style of living and eating many of us have never known.
November 3, 2018
This is a fun book .I have read one other book by Julia Reed and can easily relate to her because of similar backgrounds. The stories are tickling and recipes sounds very elegant. I really enjoyed the history of various cocktail and liquor. I thought she might mention Southern Comfort, made in New Orleans, but didn't. This book makes a great gift for girlfriends.
June 11, 2017
A combo memoir cookbook which was entertaining, but I never quite figured out who these fancy people were...or maybe they just enjoyed lavish parties, who knows. Only a few recipes seemed interesting to me which was surprising. super quick read though.
March 4, 2019
I got this pick from Reese Witherspoon’s book whiskey in a teacup. Fun read. Reminds me of ruth reichl’s books. Great stories that include recipes for food and a lot of cocktails. Looking forward to trying a few.
April 5, 2021
If you need a drink recipe, this is your book!!
Too much name dropping for me. The recipes are good but pretty much the same ones that anyone from the South has seen all their lives.
Too much name dropping for me. The recipes are good but pretty much the same ones that anyone from the South has seen all their lives.
January 23, 2023
Being from NOLA, I very much enjoy her style… both food and writing.
The name dropping became increasingly obnoxious as the book went on… her editors really didn’t do their jobs. I did, however, bookmark quite a few recipes.
The name dropping became increasingly obnoxious as the book went on… her editors really didn’t do their jobs. I did, however, bookmark quite a few recipes.
July 25, 2024
Although Julia Reed's no longer with us, her voice continues to be relevant in talking aobut southern culture and hostpitality. The book is sprinkled with some of her recipes along with entertaining anecdotes.
June 8, 2018
I loved reading this book.
November 28, 2018
Fun read with recipes for food and drinks. Enjoyed it a lot!
January 16, 2021
I want to own this book ❣️
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews