Kitchen Bliss: Musings on Food and Happiness

by Laura Calder

James Beard Foundation Award– and Taste Canada Award–winning author Laura Calder is back with Kitchen Bliss , a warm, funny, and pragmatic collection of stories and recipes that reveal how cooking, feeding, and home-keeping can magically restore balance and calm in our out-of-sync lives.

During the years of the global pandemic, Laura Calder, like many home cooks, found herself being drawn into the kitchen and becoming reacquainted with the power that the room can have to restore us when the going gets tough. In Kitchen Bliss , she reflects on how and why the kitchen and the dining table have held such an important place in her life and indeed taught her about happiness.

In her inimitably wise, warm, and quirky voice, she shares stories about everything from her shattered childhood fantasies about Sultana cake, to a gastronomically disastrous camel safari, the perilous vicissitudes of daily dishwashing by hand, and how she identifies (positively, if you can believe it) with ground meat. Stories and musings on Emily Post’s concept of a “Little Dinner” (for eight, a mere bagatelle!), unsatisfying adventures at cooking school, hopeless kitchens and how to cook in them anyway, and the English aversion to warm toast are all accompanied by recipes to soothe, inspire, and delight. Nothing too fancy here, just perfect recipes for dishes like Disgustingly Rich Potatoes, Salted Caramel Ice Cream, Hainanese Chicken Rice, and The Full Quebecois Breakfast. Come for the stories, stay for the food!

Laura has spent her life considering the life-enhancing pleasures of cooking, eating, and feeding. The pandemic gave her a new sense of urgency to share what she has learned. She says, “Life isn’t always a candy shop of delights, pandemic or no pandemic. Often we find ourselves in uncomfortable places and we must learn to create sweetness for ourselves out of whatever it is we’ve got—and that sometimes can seem like nothing but a whole lot of lemons. Well, at least that’s a start! We all know where to find the in the kitchen.”

This is a delightfully entertaining book full of memories, insights, good advice, and humor that will inspire readers to get in the kitchen, tie on an apron, and discover their own form of kitchen bliss.

Genres: Memoir, Canada, Food, Essays, Cookbooks

304 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 2023

Reviews

[Susan's Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I deliberately took my time reading Laura Calder's appetizing "food memoir" - Kitchen Bliss. I savoured every nostalgic description of the "made from scratch" meals of her childhood, and I wanted to devour along with her the many exotic delicacies that she uncovered in various European and Middle Eastern bistros and restaurants.



I own several of this famous Canadian author's beautifully illustrated cookbooks.



Her popular Food Channel show made her famous all over Canada. Such a lovable, bubbly personality - and she can cook too! My youngest brother definitely had a huge crush on this pretty young chef who cooked with a huge dose of European Panache!



This book is full of her beautiful, well-written (indeed, engrossing!) reminiscences of her childhood in rural New Brunswick, and then the various parts of the world that she sauntered off to in pursuit of culinary excellence.



The time capsules of her life and food journeys are capped off by the recipes that Calder referred to in each respective chapter. Calder's mother's "aged chicken soup" recipe, as I have come to refer to it, is a keeper. I will definitely give that one a try.



Come travel the world and experience vicariously dinner parties put together on a shoestring in a cramped French flat with a stove hardly bigger than a shoe box to work with.



This entire book is a delight and I didn't want it to end. I eked out my time reading one chapter a day of this book for as long as I could, but I inevitably felt compelled to share this wonderfully aromatic memoir with the rest of my friends on GoodReads.



All the stars for this witty, captivating trip down memory lane with the incomparable Laura Calder! My thanks to the author, her publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Standing ovation time!

[Jamie DiPanfilo-Lucal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not someone to write a review. But after reading a few, I feel compelled. The poor reviews on this book for not having photos of the food or not have more recipes perplex me. This is not a cookbook. This is a book full of anecdotical stories, written beautifully in the authors elegant and poetic voice. I can hear her cadence and inflection with every sentence. I find the recipes to be a wonderful bonus to the end of each story. Again this is not a recipe book. It is a collection of stories with recipes. It is an extremely easy and amusing read. I could have finished it in a few days but dragged it out; only reading a chapter or two a day because I enjoyed it so much. I love Laura and hope to see more like this from her in the future. She brings an element of elegance and grace to the world of home domestication (much in the same way Nigella introduced us to being a domesticated goddess).

[Lulu333 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book! It is part memoir and part recipe book. Calder takes the reader on a journey that weaves childhood memories with current events. She talks about the importance of human connection and the role that food so often plays in uniting people. She reminds us that food is so much more than just nourishment for the body when we gather together it also feeds the soul.

[Laurie • The Baking Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitchen Bliss is part memoir and part cookbook where Laura Calder shares many recipes and personal stories about how food and cooking have impacted her life. I will admit that I'm not one to follow celebrity chefs or cookbook authors so when the publisher sent me this surprise book mail, I was excited to be introduced to this James Beard Foundation award-winning author.

Through personal anecdotes with bits of humour, Calder shows readers the importance of slowing down and how the home kitchen and recipes can be so integral in our lives. She reminds us that we should 'eat with intention' which sounds a little woo-woo guru, but I appreciate the importance of listening to your body and thinking about what it needs at that moment instead of inhaling whatever food is put in front of you.

I also liked the message that cooking at home should be comfortable and easy-going and that you don't have to add special ingredients to make it exotic. By simply sticking a can of beer up a chicken's butt and throwing it on the BBQ with some corn-on-the-cob and watermelon for dessert you can make a meal that is as delicious and satisfying as any fancy restaurant meal.

But many of the recipes seem to go against this 'easy-going' vibe and there were a few instances where her observations had an ounce of snoot. I thought many of the recipes were outside typical weeknight family meals - fois gras salad, 'white radicchio and frisée bejeweled with toasted seeds and dressed with a pear vinegar' (from Normandy, no less). Just a bit too froo-froo. I did find a handful of recipes that would appeal to my family which include Fried Potato Skins, Mum's Salad Dressing, Penne alla Vodka, Salted Caramel Ice Cream...

Kitchen Bliss is a good pick for foodies, and I'm pleased to have found some recipes to try, some amusing anecdotes and appreciate Calder's reminder that recipes and cooking are powerful enough to soothe, inspire and satisfy.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for this advanced copy which was given in exchange for my honest review.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is super interesting. Have read a ton of cookbooks and quite a bit of "food writing" and this still managed to insert new material for me.

This is a philosophical and personal treatise on food, dining, the restaurant industry, and lifestyle. Calder speaks of her rather extensive travels, culinary training, and growing up in Canada. The stories are interesting and include flashbacks to childhood, dining experiences with friends, and the routine she and her husband have established which sounds rather enviable.

She has opinions. Setting a nice table, even dressing for dinner. But especially learning to trust your own instincts and honor your preferences no matter what the best French chefs suggest. The recipes are truly unique. This is not a recipe book but there are quite a few included and only two are something you might find in other books.

This is excellent food writing that broadens the horizons a bit. While I could not never entertain friends four times each week, and certainly not at her level of proper dining, this still has a simple yet classy approach to savoring both food and company. Well done.

[Jonesy.Reads]

Kitchen Bliss is written by Laura Calder, whom I learned while reading is from my home province. Each chapter is devoted to a different theme, such as memorable kitchens she's had over the years. She finishes each chapter with a selection of recipes that were either mentioned in the telling of her memories or that simply correspond with the theme. Some of the recipes sound amazing, and some seem like such a strange combination of ingredients that I can't begin to imagine how she came up with them, and which would take a seriously adventurous eater to try them. I find the stories very easy to relate to for the most part. If it had been a bit shorter it would have been perfectly fine, rather than grasping for the last few chapters which seemed like a struggle to write and didn't really add to the book. Some of my favorite recipes which I look forward to trying are, simply cherry tart, ginger and green onion sauce, chili sauce, and one-pan chocolate cake. I do really wish the recipes had pictures to go along with them, then maybe I'd be willing to try some of the more oddly interesting ones. Overall I do recommend this memoir/cookbook.

[Sylvia Barker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read all of Laura Calder's previous books, I was eagerly looking forward to this one as well. I find her recipes can sometimes be hit-and-miss but I usually find a couple of gems in each book and this books no exception. Although many of her recipes were intriguing, my favourites by far are the One-Pan Chocolate Cake and the Salted Caramel Ice Cream. These are recipes that I imagine I will turn to again and again.

My major critique of this book is that I am a fan of beautiful food photography, as much as I love good food writing, and this book sadly fell well-short in that department. I have a digital version of the book so perhaps the print version will have more photographs but they were sadly lacking from the version I received.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Although she is a renown chef and I am most definitely not, I was drawn to this book because during covid lock down she found comfort in her kitchen. Which is exactly what I did. I like to cook, so since there was not too much else we could do, I cooked.

This is part memoir, part cookbook as recipes are included after every chapter. She covers alot of foodie items from big dinners to small dinner. Formal or informal. Comfort food, gourmet food. Tablescapes and setting the scene. I enjoyed her stories and though thee are not many recipes I can see myself cooking, there are a few that I will. First up is the caramelized
bananas in coconut cream. Sounds yummy.

[Ashley Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super cute book. Not quite a recipe book in the traditional sense but has a fun personal story with each chapter making it so much more personal. I feel like this book would be for a collector of cookbooks it’s more unique than normal books. I think my favourite chapter is desserts be dammed though the stories from earlier on are more in depth and fun to read. This would be a book I’d probably want autographed with a little personal message from the author for the collection rather than a practical cookbook.

[Grace Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gem. Laura Calder gives us a very personal tour of the kitchens she has cooked in and how they influenced her. I found myself transported back to my own kitchen memories. I could really identify with this book.
I loved the format of short chapters followed by recipes. This book will occupy a special place on my bookshelf. I know it will be picked up often.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 37 short chapters (each followed by one or two recipes), Laura Calder shares brief stories about life, travel and food. Just as she did in her cooking show (which I still miss), the author recounts remembered meals, her cooking philosophy and life with her husband. A charming and easy-to-read story about life as it should be with an emphasis on food, family and friends...

[Tara Mills]

Fun!

[Joan Trout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshing and most enjoyable book about food, eating and living. Recipes not all to my taste but still worth reading about. A very well written book.

[Elisabeth Ensor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable! I just love food memoirs so much ❤️ so many good recipes I want to try also!

[Beth Oehler]

Couldn’t really find my way in here. DnF.

[Veah · Rating 5 out of 5]

god, i love food writing

[Lorrie Moy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book is perfect as I found it a blissful read. Recipes are yummy as well.