a homemade life

i wanted a space to write about food. that's all, really.

- molly wizenberg

"a homemade life" (from her blog, orangette) by molly wizenberg is a delight to read. i simply could not get enough of her recipes! however, i really loved this book, i really do, despite its flaws and its childish drawings. i had such hopes for this book.

"in an effort to make something of my madness, i started a blog called orangette, a space where i could store all my recipes and the long-winded tales that spun from them. i named it for one of my favorite chocolate confections - a strip of candied orange peel dipped in dark chcocolate - and started to fill it with my favorite people, place, and meals." (page 5)

after her father's unexpectedly and untimely passing, molly decides to move to france. there she was supposed to continue her dissertation in graduating with a PhD, instead she finds out where she belongs: in the kitchen. if you got the tendency to get teary easily - skip the chapter titled "the mottling."

the thing that made me cringe - the pictures. the pictures. they looked like they were drawn by a third-grader - not a good combination when one might find the book to be r-rated at times. i didn't find it particularly appealing when the design on the cover and the illustrations inside the book collide - there's no consistency between the cover art and the illustrations in the book - i wished for more descriptive recipes, i.e. what it's supposed to look like... that'd definitely have helped.

a homemade life

"must try" recipes
tarte tatin on page 108
bread salad with cherries, arugula, and goat cheese on page 115 (a perfect way to recycle your day-old bread!)
roasted eggplant ratatouille on page 124
caramelized cauliflower with salsa verde on page 271

i especially liked her chapter dedicated to sharing recipes - "recipes are by nature derivative: rare is the recipe that springs, fully formed, from thin air, without the influence, wisdom, or inspiration of other prior dishes. recipes were made to be shared" (p. 177). with this, i promise to share always. "sharing is nice."

i loved that molly, our adorable chef, has fallen in love with one of her readers - isn't that too adorable? wait, isn't it too cliche-y?

i give a homemade life a 8 on the scale of 0 (absolutely cook-awful) and 10 (absolutely ex-cook-lent).