Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Laurel's Kitchen

On the advice of both Laurie and Kelly, I purchased a (gently) used copy of Laurel's Kitchen using the Amazon gift certificate Linda sent to me.  (Wow, talk about six degrees....!)

You can get the newest publication, but I went for the original 1978 copy (for about $5!  Bargain of the year, I'm telling you what).  I'm so glad I did!  I can't speak to what changes, if any, have been made in any updated versions, but this one has the original introduction(s).  I do believe that even without the recipes/cookbook aspect of the book, I would have bought it for the colorful, folksy stories that star farm-girl transplant Hippie Laurel on the backdrop of Berkeley in the late 60s/early 70s.  I was completely charmed by the first 75 pages or so of this book!

This book is ultimately about being, or becoming, a vegetarian.   Hmmmmm....that's not exactly on my mind, so much as just eating well, so I don't think that's the path I'm on.  One of the things she talks about in the book is to sort of (lovingly, gently) dismiss 'fake meat' products.  Since she became a vegetarian for both moral and spiritual reasons, the idea of pretending to eat meat doesn't suit her.

But we are a simple folk, with no such moral or spiritual compass, and so I present to you what I like to call the Snausage Pizza.  I found a package of Gimme Lean sausage at Whole Foods, which is made from vegetable protein.  Oh!  Ha!  Gimme Lean...I just realized when I wrote that...do you think it's a play on Jimmy Dean breakfast meat?  That would be funny!

Anyway, Tommy decided he liked sausage pizza, so we've made this Snausage Pizza a couple of times now, and he never even noticed that he's not eating meat.   And it's really tasty, too!  Although, if you're willing to eat chicken, I can't recommend this enough!  I made it for Maia and Lenny when they came over this weekend (they're back from London this summer for good, and I can't wait!!!) and we were all still talking about it 24 hours later. 

I have so much to say about what I'm learning from Laurel's Kitchen that I think I'm going to start a little 'series' under the "Laurels' Kitchen" label.  I'd love to hear other people's experiences, either with being vegetarian, or with making BIG changes in eating habits....

7 comments:

  1. Mia, I'm so glad you like the book! After you had written that you ordered a copy, I thought that even if you didn't use a lot of the recipes, you would like the writing in the book. I stopped eating meat when I was eighteen. At age nineteen, I went to live in Spain. I was cooking for myself (cookies and milk, anyone?) and my hair started falling out, so I added seafood to my diet. This has worked well for me over the years, with subtle changes all along the way. Now you have me thinking about my next blog :-) If I write about raising my kids vegetarian, they're sure to chime in too.

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  2. Oh Mia, I am so happy for you! I just love my copy. I am not a vegetarian (I was for awhile in college) but even so, I love the spirit of the book--eating well with wholesome, fresh ingredients. I loved the hippie-ness of it back then and I still do (even though I don't think Laurel would think my life was very granola!) Looking forward to "Laurel's Kitchen" tagged posts. Maybe I will have to reread and do some companion posts!

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  3. Laurie ~ I didn't realize that you eat seafood. Do you eat poultry and dairy, too? I love the writing of the book. It is so charming! You should consider writing a blog post here, perhaps as a guest...? Pretty please? :)

    Kelly ~ yes! Please do! I would love to hear more from you on the subject. It's so funny, I often find myself using the phrases "I'm that kind of hippie" or, conversely, "I'm not that kind of hippie"! So many shades of hippie on the dippie-spectrum. :)

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  4. never heard of it! crazy! i HAVE to get it.

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  5. and i agree - so many shades of hippyness!

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  6. I love reading cookbooks, especially the hippyist types..........I'm keeping my eye out now.

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  7. I think you will both love this book, though you may know or practice a lot of it already for all I know! It's just a beautiful book, though, and full of useful information. I was very pleased with my used-book purchase off of Amazon. :)

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