Holly R W's Reviews > Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen

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.