“Kitchen Yarns: Notes on Life, Love, and Food” by Ann Hood

When I first got married in 1989 my mom sat me down and taught me three recipes so my new husband would not starve. I took notes on lined paper, as she taught me to make creamed tuna on toast, salmon patties with mashed potatoes, and then meatballs. It was years later that I realized that these were not foods my mother enjoyed but rather food she made that my father could eat. He was allergic to everything, and only liked soft foods. She was more “a pate-and-crusty French bread” kind of girl. But these three dishes she taught me have always stay with me. This is the thread of Ann Hood’s heart-felt memoir ”Notes on Life, Love, and Food.” I am a long-time Ann Hood fan and once studied with her at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in Vermont. I was so in awe of her not only because she was a writer but also because years ago she was a TWA flight attendant, too. She learned how to cut chateaubriand for first class passengers. The essays and recipes in this book are cozy and delicious, but also laced with threads of pain and sadness. Hood’s daughter Grace died suddenly when she was only five years old, from a virulent form of strep. There also are other losses: a brother, a father and a marriage. Some of the recipes like “Grace’s Cheesy Potatoes” are a tribute to the daughter she lost, while others like “Annabelle’s Risi e Bisi” are a nod to the daughter she later adopted from China. Perhaps the most charming chapter is the one called “How to Smoke Salmon,” in which her son Sam teaches her patience by instructing her on how to tend to a smoker before he goes off to college. Hood essays are a testament to the healing powers of food, love and writing. It is interesting to note her third husband and current spouse is Michael Ruhlman, a cookbook author. To purchase this book on Amazon click here.