Autumn from the Heart of the Home
by Susan Branch
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Book Summary Information
Author: Susan BranchEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-09
ISBN: 0316088668
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Book Reviews of Autumn from the Heart of the Home
Book Review: Evocation of the Season in New England. Not just a cookbook
Summary: 4 Stars
`Autumn' by Susan Branch at first appeared to me in its Amazon listing under newly published cookbooks to be simply a cookbook of dishes appropriate to Autumn produce. As you in the know about Susan Branch's series of `Heart of the Home' books chuckle over my misunderstanding, I have to shift gears and change the criteria by which I judge the book, as it is not intended to be only an Autumn produce cookbook, and at almost $30 list price, it is not worth the money as simply a seasonal cookbook.
For those of you who are like me and are encountering Susan Branch's series of books for the first time, this is the twelfth book in a `From the Heart of the Home' series which provide at least three things.
First, the books are cookbooks in that they contain recipes appropriate to the season or holiday theme of the book. This full priced book contains only about 100 recipes, of which at least a third are very well known garnishes, drinks, cookies, dressings, and sauces. For 60 more recipes at 2/3 the list price, you can get the Food Network cookbook with a full serving of new recipes from around the world. Also, for 2/3 the price, you can get the full 800 pages of James Beard's American Cookery which, I will bet, contains virtually every recipe in this book, plus an additional 1000 more. On top of these numbers, there is the consideration that the book is `written' and not `typeset'. The pages are literally photocopied, very artistically to be sure, from what looks like handwritten text. The text is probably a computer created script font, but it is still not as easy to read as a conventional New Times Roman in a reasonable font size for reading in the kitchen while you are following the steps in the recipe. When you reach 60, your eyes need all the help they can get, and these recipes are simply not the easiest to read and follow. They are also not written in the form of numbered steps. This makes them even harder to follow and remember where you were after stopping to answer the phone or to check out Emeril's latest dish on the Food Network in the Living Room.
The second aspect of the book is the pages dedicated to Autumn crafts and entertaining techniques. In this department, the book works a little better, but it still does not work as well as some alternate sources of information. You will probably find close to the same amount of fall craft instruction in three issues of `Martha Stewart Living' as you find in these pages. And, the `...Living' editors give us much more detailed instructions on `how to'. Ms. Branch's strength is in demonstrating the efficacy of these suggestions by making them in a context which really succeeds in putting you in the mood to get your 7 closest friends or family members together for a party under the brightly colored leaves on autumn trees. Many of the suggestions on the craft / entertaining idea pages are so simple and so obvious, you wonder how anyone has the chuzpah to charge $30 for a book containing them. Examples are recommendations for using lamps instead of ceiling lights, lining tomatoes up on a windowsill to ripen, and getting a cat or dog.
The third aspect of the book is what in other contexts may be called marginalia. These are brief sayings intended to be relevant to the season, to home, and to the style of the book. Frankly, most of the quotations simply do nothing for me. Quotations from sources I recognize such as Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland), Kenneth Grahame (`The Wind in the Willows') and Woody Allan (dozens of films), are nice, like hearing an old favorite song on the car radio. Most of the quotes from unfamiliar sources simply leave me cold. For example, a quote on a page giving suggestions for prepping a guestroom is `Meet Me in Dreamland, Sweet Dreamy Dreamland...' attributed to Beth Sloater Whitson. What is the point? I have seen cookbooks make excellent use of inspirational quotes. For example, the books by Benedictine Monk Brother Victor-Antoine D'Avila-Latourrette have quotes that are not directly related to the recipes, but they have meat on their bones. Most are from Christian writers, yet they have the power of a Zen koan to mystify and reveal at the same time.
After all of this grousing about details, I confess the book comes across as much more than the sum of its parts. If you allow for the fact that it is just a bit pricy for the amount and quality of its contents, it does work as an evocation of autumn in New England. And, the book really is talking about Autumn only as it is realized in New England. But like books on Tuscany, Provence, the Galapagos, and San Francisco, the book is as pleasant to read in a Baltimore row house as it is in a Concord Cape Cod.
The place for this book and its siblings in Ms. Branch's series may be in one of the suggestions she gives about stocking a house, especially the guest bedroom, with classic feel good books such as `Heidi', `Little Women', and `Pollyanna'. I confess I am more inclined to stock up on Stephen King, `Lord of the Rings', `Catcher in the Rye', and Sherlock Holmes.
If you know and like these books, nothing I say will change your mind. If you do not know the books in this series, I would weigh very carefully what it is you want in a cookbook and judge accordingly. Martha Stewart and Sheila Lukins have great cookbooks for seasonal dishes and holidays.
Summary of Autumn from the Heart of the Home
Touchdown Chili, Grandma's Stuffing, hot chocolate, and other fall recipes are packed into Susan Branch's first all-new, large-format work in four years. Brightly illustrated and lovingly designed, this celebration of autumn also includes a bountiful harvest of cozy projects, thoughtful gifts, and seasonal decorating and entertaining ideas. Ribbon marker.Special Occasions Books
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