Memories of a Midwestern Farm: Good Food and Inspiration from Around the Kitchen Table
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Book Overview
With a voice as warm as a summer breeze, Nancy Hutchens recalls afternoons in the shade of the back porch, snapping beans for canning...family reunions where the gossip was as good as the food...the... This description may be from another edition of this product.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:067151072X
ISBN13:9780671510725
Release Date:November 1995
Publisher:Atria Books
Length:179 Pages
Weight:3.21 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 7.8" x 9.6"
Customer Reviews
4 ratings
Pure and Simple
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 14 years ago
This memoir of Nancy Hutchens family's farm and the good food prepared and shared there is simply touching and delicious. The memories shared can be related to by anyone growing up on a Midwest farm or anyone with memories of their grandparents' farm. The recipes which highlight the memories shared are wonderful and easy to make. I cherish this book and have shared it with others. This is a trip down memory lane and well worth the investment.
Hoosier stories that will bring back some good old days.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
If you grew up in Indiana, this book will bring back some of your own memories. Even if you didn't live on a farm, the stories of family life, and a good kitchen surely will delight you and spur your own recollections of times around the dinner table and kitchen preparations. Nancy Hutchens was gifted with a fine family and pleasant times. She shares them with us. As a "Baby Boomer" this book inspires my own mind to recall many similar experiences. Not only does the writing make you wish you had been there, it seems to put you into the the kitchen at the time the event was happening, like a mouse in the corner. But this book offers more than crumbs. A good portion of the book is devoted to recipes. They are presented in story form rather than just a list of ingredients with notes on making any attempt equal to the perfection that happened in Hutchens' southern Indiana. There is a few new twists from my own family's recipes, like the Dandelion Salad, Fried Ripe Tomatoes-instead of green, Deviled Eggs, Sweet Potato Pie, Wilted Lettuce, and Potato Cakes. A fun read even if you are not the family cook at your house.
It's All Good
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
My grandmother was the best cook in the world. Thanks to this cookbook, I now know how she made those great lumpy mashed potatoes and homemade-tasting green beans and... It's too bad terms like "homemade" and "country" have been overworked by Madison Avenue types because those adjectives apply perfectly here. It's all good, but it's not all healthy fare. In fact, I eat pretty "clean" throughout the week but on my "free" day, this is the cookbook I reach for. The only drawback is the ingredients are not listed separately with the recipes. That can become a bit problematic for a person like me, when the stove is blazing and you've got three things going at the same time and you forgot how many cups of milk the recipe called for. Still, the food always comes out tasting great. Invariably, Hutchens' recipes are the ones asked for by guests. I share the name of the cookbook and its author's identity -- but I don't share the cookbook itself. It's one of the few I would truly miss if it didn't come back.
A yummy trip back to my childhood...
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
This book is the real thing. Nancy Hutchens' stories and recipes brought back yummy memories of one of the thrills of my childhood - the day-long trips to my grandfather's Illinois farm. Growing up outside of St. Louis, life and mealtimes were pretty suburban. But meals at the farm were just as Nancy describes - two or three different meat dishes, numerous dishes of vegetables which we helped pick out of the garden that morning (no gardens back in the suburbs), several choices of pies and cakes for dessert all made that morning and LOTS of people sitting at one long table in the kitchen itself. My sister and I always requested our favorite meal from our grandmother for our birthdays - Chicky Noodles and Green Beans. This meal always was accompanied by the Angel Food cake because what else do you do with a dozen egg whites when you've used the yokes for the noodles? We've been looking for these recipes for years and thanks to Nancy, we've finally found them, just as we remembered them. Now our children can share some of the delicious and fulfilling dishes we grew up on - and we'll tell the stories. A wonderful way to pass on family history. Thanks to Nancy Hutchens for putting it all together.
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