Ann Hood's newest memoir--- ahhh! Touching, fun to read, and stuffed with lovely recipes, this will fit a niche for many gift-givers, lovers of sentimental memoirs, and libraries. Readers familiar with Ann's previous memoirs may wonder at the repeated mention of family tragedies. It seems the book was written as separate essays or articles, and thus background information was repeated. But I'm a fan. 4.5 stars

I was thrilled to receive a NetGalley ARC for Ann Hood’s Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love, and Food. I adore her writing, warmth and big-heartedness, and have followed her story since the tragic death of her daughter Grace at age five from a virulent form of strep.

The Publisher’s Note is perfect, so I’ll let it spin the rest of KITCHEN YARNS’ yarn, except to say I’m raising a glass of chianti as I sup on Ann’s perfect recipe for Chicken Marbella, while awarding this beauty of a meal-infused memoir with a hearty 5/5!

From her Italian American childhood through singlehood, raising and feeding a growing family, divorce, and a new marriage to food writer Michael Ruhlman, Ann Hood has long appreciated the power of a good meal. Growing up, she tasted love in her grandmother’s tomato sauce and dreamed of her mother’s special-occasion Fancy Lady Sandwiches. Later, the kitchen became the heart of Hood’s own home. She cooked pork roast to warm her first apartment, used two cups of dried basil for her first attempt at making pesto, taught her children how to make their favorite potatoes, found hope in her daughter’s omelet after a divorce, and fell in love again—with both her husband and his foolproof chicken stock.

Hood tracks her lifelong journey in the kitchen with twenty-seven heartfelt essays, each accompanied by a recipe (or a few). In “Carbonara Quest,” searching for the perfect spaghetti helped her cope with lonely nights as a flight attendant. In the award-winning essay “The Golden Silver Palate,” she recounts the history of her fail-safe dinner party recipe for Chicken Marbella—and how it did fail her when she was falling in love. Hood’s simple, comforting recipes also include her mother’s famous meatballs, hearty Italian Beef Stew, classic Indiana Fried Chicken, the perfect grilled cheese, and a deliciously summery peach pie. With Hood’s signature humor and tenderness, Kitchen Yarns spills tales of loss and starting from scratch, family love and feasts with friends, and how the perfect meal is one that tastes like home.

Pub Date 04 Dec 2018

Thanks to W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

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