Rose Rosetree’s Reviews > What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories > Status Update

Today I did almost no reading of books, almost no work, just visiting with family who are here from the West Coast, plus cooking and celebrating the goodness of close relationships.

Friends on Goodreads, I wish you that kind of happiness - whatever is your equivalent.

Libby took back the book. It was time.

Now I'll have to request it again. I sure will!!!!!!!

The connection between Eleanor Roosevelt and the food movement of feminists at Cornell University -- so important for transforming her into a woman who could find her place in the world.

And not just, as noted by Laura Shapiro, dress up and conduct small talk for the rest of her life.

I'm learning more than I knew I didn't know, regarding Eleanor Roosevelt. In the process my respect for Laura Shapiro is growing fast.

She conveys so much, so naturally. Magnificent transitions in her writing, for example.

Laura Shapiro's summary of Eleanor Roosevelt's life sure rings true for me. Didn't she have the mother-in-law from Hell!

Golly, I thought I knew all about Eleanor Roosevelt by now, particularly after reading the definitive biography of her by David Michaelis.

Yet I learned more about Eleanor's fluency in French that I learned about why she served the most dreadful meals ever tasted at the White House.

Reflecting on the leadership of Rosa Lewis.

* How she paved the way for female cooks to be treated with respect as chefs.
* Her nobility and philanthropy during World War I.

Worth admiring!

What did I never expect? The generosity, even philanthropy, of Rosa Lewis to all the soldiers she put up in her hotel, all the meals she gave them; a truly remarkable legacy of her beautiful character.

Rosa Lewis' saga turns tragic, in a humdrumly eccentric way. British fine dining, as she helped create it, turned to dust. So much was lost after the war.

At a time of foodie glamour and French culinary snobbery among the upper classes, she had no status, no cachet.

To paraphrase the author, French chefs didn't believe that any females could be good cooks, other than their own mothers.