Talking with My Mouth Full: Crab Cakes, Bundt Cakes, and Other Kitchen Stories

By Bonny Wolf

Book Overview

"As reassuring as a big bowl of buttery mashed potatoes...a delicious read."
--Library Journal

What and how do American families really eat? Bonny Wolf writes about the great regional and family food traditions in this country--birthday cake and dinner party food, hearty American breakfasts and Fourth of July picnic dishes. In Talking with My Mouth Full, she writes stories about food, and also about the people who eat it.

Many of the delightful national treasures Wolf writes about--bundt cake, barbecue, roast chicken, fair food--are timeless. Each chapter, whether it's about true regional specialties like Minnesota's wild rice, Texas' Blue Bell ice cream or Maryland's famous crab cakes or about family favorites like noodle pudding or Irish raisin soda bread, ends with a perfectly chosen group of recipes, tantalizing and time-tested.

In the tradition of Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking, Talking with My Mouth Full is a book you will turn to over and over for wonderful food writing and recipes for comfort food, a great nosh, or the ideal covered dish to take to a potluck supper.

"Charming, lighthearted...refreshingly accessible."--Publishers Weekly
"Savory collection of essays."--Washington Post
"Delightful."--Austin Chronicle

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312373856
• ISBN13: 9780312373856
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Breezy and hard to put down

TALKING WITH MY MOUTH FULL is a collection of winsome essays with recipes attached by Bonny Wolf, journalist and NPR correspondent. It seems as if today's food journalists come from one of two diametrically different backgrounds: either they were raised by parents who nearly poisoned them (think Ruth Reichl) or they were raised by parents who passed along their delight in food. Wolf belongs to the latter group, having grown up a baby boomer in Minneapolis reveling in particularly middle-class American institutions which she celebrates and has elaborated on as an adult. Just when you think America has gone to the food dogs with the endlessly vacant discussion of green bean casserole at holiday time, along comes Wolf to say, really, we're eating some good stuff here and we should just enjoy it. Much of it is comfort food and none of it is more difficult and elitist than what a family might serve at a dinner party for friends and family. Her joie de vivre is contagious as she explores everything from the history and revival of Bundt cakes, regional foods, aprons, dinner party disasters, state fair fare, pot luck suppers, DC's (pre-fire) Eastern Market, Baltimore's crab cuisine, etc. Food as she talks about it is inseparable from place, friends, family, memory and living. Before I knew it, I was marking recipes to try and jotting down titles of old cookbooks to seek out. I doubt I'll overcome my aversion to Jell-o and do the retro thing and make a molded salad, and I'm not going to use lard or suet in the pastie pastry, but Wolf otherwise has me hooked.

A Gem of a Book

"Talking with my Mouth Full" had me laughing with my mouth full of Bonny Wolf's comfy recipes.

MOST YUMMISH!!!!

What a delightful book!! A mouthwatering book with great "conversation", traveling tidbits, and recipes. I will definitely make the Gas Company Candy -- too bad today's utility bills aren't "sweetened" with such welcomed inserts. Since I live in the DC area, I really resonated with (and enjoyed) all the descriptions of the Lexington market, Eastern Market, the delightful La Cuisine, and of course, the inimitable Bawlmor - what great memories (culinary and otherwise) this evoked!! My only disappointment came when the book ended -- it felt like I was in the middle of eating a GREAT meal and suddenly all the food was taken away from the table! Oh please, if you re-issue this book -- put a picture (in color) of one of those sweet creations you wrote about, like maybe Smith Island Cake, on the last page, so we do not feel such a let-down!!!

WHO KNEW FOOD COULD BE SO INTERESTING?

For years I've enjoyed Bonny Wolf's food commentary on NPR (which, by the way, is much better than the SNL parody). Her new book captures the wit and personal touch of her radio pieces along with recipies and more in-depth background of the foods we eat. By examining how various people throughout the country enjoy and value the cultural act of eating, Wolf manages to show us the diversity of the nation through the unique foods we consume. It's a fascinating story and well worth reading.

Every Home Needs a Copy of This Book

Wolf has written an amazing book that blends the comforts of food with the frenzy of family and friends. It is chock full of recipes and antidotes that will make for a great dinner party, and even better dinner conversation. Through the lens of food Bonny makes sense out of the American experience.