At Grandmother's Table: Women Write about Food, Life and the Enduring Bond between Grandmothers and Granddaughters (Hardcover)

by Ellen Berkeley (Author)
Key Phrases: preheat your oven, nay grandmother, trying pan, World War, United States, Mania Willis (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Catching the rich scent of sugar cookies baking, the savory aroma of a roasting chicken, or the spicy steam from a pot of borscht transports many of us back to childhood and our seats at our grandmothers' kitchen tables. A unique relationship, bound by family and freed by generations, the bond between grandmother and granddaughter is often forged over creaming butter or shelling peas. At Grandmother's Table celebrates this special friendship with essays and recipes by women remembering the food prepared by and conversations they had with their grandmothers.

Adriana Millenaar Brown recalls her grossmutter's soft body and calm eyes during the bombing of Berlin in 1944 and the potato cakes she would make using whatever ingredients she could forage. Nana's Kern (Currant) Teacakes were a staple growing up for Dianne S. Lodge-Peters. She and Nana would drink oolong tea and eat the warm teacakes as Nana told her stories and songs reflecting their ethnic heritages; not until the author was getting her doctorate did she realize Nana's stories were classic medieval folktales. When her mother was angry with her, Lilla M. Waltch's grandmother would comfort her by making Mon (Poppy Seed) Cookies and Waltch could feel "[my] spirits lifting as we beat the eggs and stirred the fragrant mixture."

"This is a book about connections," says editor Ellen Perry Berkeley. "And in connecting across the dividing lines of our own time, we can see our deepest selves reflected in women of very different backgrounds, beliefs, advantages, and pursuits." Often poignant, At Grandmother's Table is filled with the stories of hard-working, loving, difficult, loyal women and the meals they created for their beloved grandchildren. --Dana Van Nest

Review
"A veritable mosaic of grandmothers. Their granddaughters recollect them with tasty recipes and vivid, satisfying essays." -- Julia Alverez, author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

"Black, Chinese, Italian, German, Irish grandmothers---in the company of young girls whose lives they would imprint forever." -- Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith, authors of Pioneer Women: The Lives of Women on the Frontier

"God bless grandmothers! And bless this wonderful collection of true stories by the granddaughters who bring them back to us." -- Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and author of Under a Wing: A Memoir

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Fairview Press; 1 edition (October 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577490967
• ISBN-13: 978-1577490968
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #917,025 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A heart-warming book that makes a wonderful gift..., April 4, 2001

By	scducharme (Concord, MA USA) - See all my reviews

I was given this book by my best friend; we both feel a strong attachment to our gandmothers. Even just flipping through it, I knew right away that I'd like it. The quality of the paper, the photographs, layout, binding are all excellent. Once I started reading it, I was glued. It's not a cookbook to use as a resource; it's a book of essays, each accompanied by a recipe. Each essay is a like a snapshot into a family of long ago, and each woman is writing about my favorite topic - the strong "grandmother-pull" she feels. Many of the women write of grandmothers they barely knew but with whom they feel some connection, while others write of grandmothers who raised them or who were active in their families. In all cases, the love, respect, awe, and gratitude the writers feel toward their grandmothers is evident in each piece. The recipes are a fun supplement to each essay. They tell another story of the grandmother in the way they were handed down or written down, and I swore I could smell the smells of each grandmother's cooking as I read. I read this book cover to cover and hated to see it end. It transported me to times long gone, times of grace, times with my grandmother, Grace.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old Memories, Good Times, Great Food, October 23, 2000

By	John Edwards "neg2000" (Saint Paul, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What a great book! I purchased this for my mother and it became the topic of conversation in our family and extended family over a recent birthday. Both my mother and father related stories about their parents I hadn't heard before. And this book is what started it.

This book is a collection of 68 women who share moving stories about their grandmothers. Along with these stories are recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. Some of the recipes covered are: Gran's Blackberry Spice Cake with Burnt Caramel Icing, Grandmother Rushmore's Wednesday Casserole, Grandma Layton's Violet Jam (yum!), and Mildred's Wild Blackberry Tarts just to name a few.

But don't think this is just a cookbook. It is so much more! I bought it for the recipes but I savored it for the stories and photos that brought me back to my family history and made me look closer at my grandparents. The book is broken down by decade starting in 1870 and running through to 1910. My grandmother, who was 3 during the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1910, would have fit perfectly into this book.

To top it off I loved the whole presentation of the book itself. The cover reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen that I would play in when I was younger. The book is beautifully put together as well. I feared that with some of these old recipes you wouldn't get exact ingredient amounts. Because isn't that what makes your grandmother's cooking so good? She know exactly how much of each ingredient to use! I rarely saw my Grandmother measurre anything. But I was happy to find that the recipes were easy to follow and provided detailed instructions.

The book must have been a labor of love for the editor, just as the recipes were for the grandmothers whose lives are collected in this book. I will be giving this book as Holiday/Christmas gifts this year and I plan to buy a few at Mother's Day as well. Trust me, your Grandmother would have wanted you to have it.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A feast for the soul...and tummy, December 19, 2000

By A Customer

This book is more than memories and recipes, it presents a cross section of cultures, personalities, and tastes. Each grandmother's story touches the heart--some are humorous, others poignant, but all reminded me in some way of my grandmothers. As a grandmother, it made me reflect on my role in my grandchildren's lives. The recipes are an added bonus. Delicious! And, most important, doable!