Thanks for the heads up on AJ Leibling ’Between meals: An appetite for Paris’. Sounds like my kind of book. I downloaded it from Kindle straight away onto my Ipad. Infact, thanks for mentioning those other books as well. I have of course read ’A movable Feast’ and the Bourdain books.… very good reads.

Seagrass, I too subscibe to David Lebovitz and enjoy his stories of life and food in Paris. I haven’t as yet read those two books of his so today I also bought ’L’Appart’ on Kindle to Ipad. ’The Sweet life in Paris’ was only available as audible, hard cover or paper back, none of which suit me.

Love reading and these should keep me going for a while.

I generally hate memoirs, but there are occasional gems. More report than memoire, but some of both, is Endangered Eating by Sarah Lohman. Really good and a good read. I can't remember titles. Be back.

I loved Kitchen Confidential and wanted to be the Grill Bitch.

I do like MFKF and Julia. I’ve worked with intense alcoholic macho male chefs so am not crazy about Anthony Bourdain. Laurie Colwin was one of my favorite parts of Gourmet Magazine. Have not read this yet but happy you sent me looking for it.

I love David Lebovitz! I’ve read his books, own his cookbooks, and subscribe to his blog. He’s just great.
I’ve read some MFK Fisher and loved it; likewise books by Laurie Colwin, Julia Child and Alice Waters, and some of my favorite recipes ever are from Nora Ephron’s classic “Heartburn”.

Okay, in recent years, I've not read In The Weeds, by Bourdain. I was surprised to find it in a stack. The Farmer's Wife was something I was interested in because it's by an ordinary, contemporary Englishwoman, and not Americanized. She has a lot of recipes in there, but for ordinary, wholesome farm food, and the kind of thing that actual cooks don't need recipes for. Her ideas about food and farms, however, are interesting to the food obsessed. Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl is a good read and interesting about food publishing as much as food in general and her life. I don't remember what's in Recipes for a Sacred Life by Rivvy Neshama, which should tell you something. It's not really that much about actual food recipes, and not a high recommend. OTOH, The Book of Difficult Fruit by Kate Lebo is the first that sprang to mind on seeing your question. It's weird, and strange, and charming, and sweet, and odd, and a good read, and a different way of seeing, and very much worth reading.

Not a chef's memoir but an oldie but goodie story/cookbook: The Missouri Traveler by Mary Hosford, later known as Mary Lou Whitney. For some reason I loved this book as a child and still enjoy it now.

seagrass, have you lost your identity and become a HU-something? I was one for the longest time and it was quite frustrating.

seagrass_gw Cape Cod

John Liu - when Houzz did an update a few weeks ago I was somehow assigned a HU-something. I give up trying to figure it out. I've been on these forums for about 20(?) years - when Spike was around and you had to pay to belong to GW.

I cannot remember how I returned from the gulag of HU-ville. Your old seagrass login is still there, you need to figure out how to login to it, probably using computer rather than phone.

I searched and found this link that got you freed from HU-jail before, it might work again

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6186896/hu-753479426-seagrass-try-logining-in-through-this

plllog, I have stacks of books waiting to be read, but very little time to read them. Too much reading for work, too many projects at home. I don’t even have time to veg out on the Cooking Channel. Lately I only read books on specific things I’m trying to learn about or do.

Currently trying to get through “The Invincible Mogul Skier” by Michael Mead, PE, which is sort of a terrifying treatise on how to ski moguls competition-style, which is utterly different from how mere mortals, and especially old ones, ski moguls. You are supposed to drive the ski tips directly down into the mogul and use the energy required to bend the skis to slow yourself down, converting kinetic energy to potential energy. I’m going to try this come ski season, but honestly I think I’d be better off reading David Lebovitz who has, I assume, never been known to injure his readers.

Yikes! Said she who has never seen a proper snowfall. But I've seen demonstrations on TV, and moguls looked more fun before they got the science for racing.

I thought you were looking for titles. I read a few pages here and there between doing stuff and manage a couple dozen worthwhile books per year.

Oh I am [looking for titles]. Even if I only read a bit each week, I’ll have a lot of reading stored up for retirement!

I would like to read Keith Floyd's memoirs, if they exist. I loved his show Floyd on Food, even though I have never made any of his recipes. I really enjoyed his scathing reviews of British cuisine from the 1990s.

Haven’t read it but hearing good things about Stanley Tucci’s ‘What I ate in one Year’

Thank you, John Liu, I will explore that link from the past!

seagrass

“When French Women Cook” by Madeleine Kamman, is a favorite of DD’s (and mine). It is a recipe-heavy, lovely memoir.

I third the suggestions of Ruth Reichl. I love her outlook, but I also love her recipes she includes in the book.

I have a book of letters between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto, As Always, Julia. DeVoto shepherded Mastering the Art of French Cooking to publication. If anyone would like it, PM me with your address and I’ll send it (US only, because I’m too lazy to deal with international shipping.)

I am a huge fan of Ruth Reichl. Her book about what happened when Gourmet shut down (Save Me the Plums?) was gut-wrenching. I have just completed her novel, The Paris Novel, and loved it. I’ve also read all or almost all of her non-fiction books. I was fascinated by what a bad cook her mother was… dangerous even. Seems Mother Reichl had no sense of food safety.

@John Liu, I have When French Women Cook. I bought it for the recipes and didn’t much care for it. Obviously, I need to go back and read it for the commentary!

“I was fascinated by what a bad cook her mother was… dangerous even. Seems Mother Reichl had no sense of food safety..”

I remember the side splitting description of her mother asking her father to taste something that was horrid.

@petalique I can’t remember which book, but did you read about the party her mother gave. She cooked the food days ahead of time and just left it sitting out with no refrigeration.

Dirt, by Bill Buford.

American goes to Lyon to immerse himself as a trainee in a typically French kitchen run by a tyrant chef. Amusing and very interesting.

Oh heavens! I don’t recall reading that. I wonder if mommy was stopped in time or if anyone fell ill.

That vignette I referred to was so funny that I went around asking others to read it.

Elmer, I loved “Dirt”; great book! I’ve been to Lyon a few times and enjoyed the incredible cuisine there. Great city.

Then there is “The Making of a Chef” by Michael Ruhlman. I enjoyed that book.

There is something about stories of professional chefs in hot frantic kitchens that I like.

seagrass_gw Cape Cod

@John Liu - well, I went back to that link and when I click on it I go straight to today's Kitchen Table forum with my HU-number prominantly displayed at the top. So I guess I will just accept defeat and identify myself before my posts. I'm on a MacBook Air, if that makes any difference. I don't use my cell phone to access the internet.

Suppose you log out then log back in, using your old name? Play with the "Profile" at "Your Houzz" - try editing your username back to seagrass_gw. Open a different browser?

Just ideas, I can't recall what I did to reclaim my identity.

@HU-753479426, Go to YourHouzz, then choose Edit Your Profile and Settings, then under Profile, scroll down to First Name and put in your Seagrass moniker.

seagrass_gw Cape Cod

Thought I would share this Just read an interesting interview with Stanley Tucci in today's Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/06/its-all-i-think-about-stanley-tucci-on-love-grief-and-pasta

I pre-ordered his new book "What I Ate in One Year" from the big A. Looking forward to reading it.

I just finished Smoke and Pickles last night, or more like 2am. Read cover to cover.

I've read most posted above. But tend to relate to a similar style of cooking as mine.

Not for everyone that tend to like recipes that are straight forward and linear. Having a basic Asian pantry helps. NOT a southern BBQ book.

Another i read years ago...Momofuku and still use his BoSaam dinner with all the sides. (killer and addicting pickled shitakes)

Another is Vivian Howard. Where i first saw Edward Lee's book...

I grew up in the south and MIL lives with my SIL in CharlestonSC surrounded by extended family.

Another is Marcella. My first two cookbooks when i moved to NYC from Italy. On the floor in my first apartment next to my hippie futon. 1986.

I hadn’t known of Hazan’s memoir! Have to look for it.