Customer Reviews

Lutheran Church Basement Women

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My grandmother was a Norwegian immigrant who lived in a apartment down the street from our Lutheran church in Wisconsin. This book covers every recipe and nuance I remember from life in the Lutheran church, right down to the aprons. The explanations and footnotes about life as a Lutheran church basement woman are accurate and delightful. The descriptions of rituals and preparations for events are accurate to a fault, right down to the dead spreads. The hints about gossip and the social structure of these women are perfect. This book is a joy!!

A light hearted look at the traditional role of women and their work in Church kitchens. While I am a lifelong Lutheran, I appreciated it more after moving to the Midwest. The only book I have seen that pays homage to red Jell-O.

On a more serious note, I am glad that the mores honored here are changing. At my church the men join in the cooking and cleaning, and the women have many other roles too.

As I read this book, and browsed through the recipes, I remembered when I happily consumed many of these delious edibles (as well as tactfully avoided the equally noxious ones) in blissful ignorance. I still consume many of these traditional Lutheran dishes at church functions, now usually held in the Lutheran School building. Today, though, I am required to feel guilty about consuming them, can very nearly HEAR them clogging arteries. That basement holds many fond memories of more innocent times!

At one time a Lutheran and now a Catholic--I know these women and they are alive in every church kitchen in the world,and we have a sense of humor!!!!! The recipes send my mind scurrying back to my home town of Ada, Minnesota and I can once again enjoy the companionship of my family.

I have heard this book on tape and then ordered the book so that I could give it to my mother. We both have enjoyed it immensely. We, Lutherans, do have fun!

This book made the rounds among my sisters for years until a couple years ago when I treated each of them...5 in all with their own copies!! Growing up as a Lutheran in the midwest in the 50's-60's I could so relate to the comments written with the recipes! What a hoot, but even a non-Lutheran friend of mine who had no such memories laughed as hard as I did when sharing this book with her. Since that time I have bought nearly every book from these authors! What great fun entertainment!!

The title is misleading....it sounds boring. Au contraire! This book is absolutely HILARIOUS!!!! Being Lutheran helps but not a deterrant. I have shared this across the board ecumenically and everyone agrees it is a must in your library. Get it....love it....share it.

For a person who grew up Lutheran and has lots of relatives in Minnesota, I just loved the book. It is so true.

I was raised as a midwestern methodist female with lutheran aunts, therefore I could identify with all the recipes and social strata this book cleverly describes. The generations of women represented are no longer with us it seems, and so we read of their generosity along with their viewpoints of how things are done right. Don't hesitate to use as a gift to your own church lady!

As someone who has enjoyed many a pot-luck in the basement of a Lutheran church, I was pretty excited to get my hands on a copy of this. What a disappointment. This book is mostly recipes, which unfortunately don't come with very detailed instructions. As far as the jokes and (not terribly) funny stories, they are rife with spelling errors, confusing paragraphs ( I honestly had trouble telling if Lutherans eat fruitcake or not) and other indications that this book needed some serious editing. Finally, by "Lutheran" the authors apparently mean "Scandinavian" as there isn't much mention of German-Americans in the book. The best part of this book is the collection of vintage photographs, which don't have any captions.