But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!
Adventures in Eating, Drinking, and Making Merry
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In her new book, But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!, Julia Reed, a master of the art of eating, drinking, and making merry, takes the reader on culinary adventures in places as far flung as Kabul, Afghanistan and as close to home as her native Mississippi Delta and Florida's Gulf Coast. Along the way, Reed discovers the perfect Pimm's Royale at the Paris Ritz, devours delicious chuletons in Madrid, and picks up tips from accomplished hostesses ranging from Pat Buckley to Pearl Bailey and, of course, her own mother. Reed writes about the bounty—and the burden—of a Southern garden in high summer, tosses salads in the English countryside, and shares C.Z. Guest's recipe for an especially zingy bullshot. She understands the necessity of a potent holiday punch and serves it up by the silver bowl full, but she is not immune to the slightly less refined charms of a blender full of frozen peach daiquiris or a garbage can full of Yucca Flats. And then there are the parties: shindigs ranging from sultry summer suppers and raucous dinners at home to a Plymouth-like Thanksgiving feast and an upscale St. Patrick's Day celebration. This delightful collection of essays by Julia Reed, a master storyteller with an inimitable voice and a limitless capacity for fun, will show you how to entertain guests with style, have a good time yourself and always have that perfect pitcher of sangria ready at a moment's notice.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Did you know that Bill Blass makes delicious meatloaf? Or that there are eggnog purists for whom nutmeg is forbidden? These tidbits sprout like wildflowers throughout Reed's singular sagas. "The High & the Low" columnist and contributing editor at Garden & Gun magazine, Reed counts numerous notable chefs as friends and has compiled here food-focused curiosities sprinkled with a dash of travel, a pinch of sass, and a whole load of recipes some surprisingly simple and others a trifle more complex. Among the offerings are a cold lemon souffle; "the most popular bread pudding" in her adopted home of New Orleans; and, in a chapter entitled "The Tyranny of Summer Produce," succotash, cornbread, and other musings on the golden kernel. Reed's reflections and anecdotes are siren calls to the kitchen; an experience heightened by her delight in sharing tales of a Southern upbringing surrounded by good cooks. The Mama of the title is a late, close family friend; a major inspiration for Reed's free-spirited approach to top-notch dining. And that spirit hits like Chatham Artillery Punch: "when it attacketh a man, it layeth him low and he knoweth not whence he cometh or whither he goeth."