A Homemade Life

I knew Molly Wizenberg and I were kindred spirits when I tallied up 5 separate and distinct recipes for banana bread on her fabulous cooking blog, Orangette. My personal favorite is the chocolate chip banana bread, which actually isn’t on the blog, but in her book, A Homemade Life. I read this book over the summer, not knowing that a “cookbook” would evermore be present in my list of favorite books of all time. Seriously, it’s that good.

First of all, it’s only a cookbook in the sense that it includes some absolutely fabulous recipes. But more importantly, it’s a deeply personal story of Molly and her family, told through memories of food and table. The story is not especially unique (therein lies a big part of the charm), but it is warm, generous, heartfelt, funny, and infinitely moving. Molly’s writing style is what really sets this book apart. Yes, all of our stories could probably be told through food, but few of us could tell them as compellingly as Molly. I could read this book over and over again, and probably will.

I’ve also become an avid reader of Molly’s monthly column in Bon Appetit magazine. These blueberry oat scones are scrumptious and I too, now consider myself an apostle of kale!