Books: Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl

We picked up Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl at the insistence of our Grandma Lisa. This book follows Ruth as she grows up living with a bipolar mother and dysfunctional family, and how she became a lover of food leading to her current career as the New York Times' food critic.

Ruth's mother was bipolar and had a stomach of iron. She grew up being constantly fed gross and moldy food; and protecting her parents guests from the worst offenders. She spends time at a French boarding school, learning about great cooking there; she has a black roommate who teaches her about soul food; and so forth.


Quick vote: This book was a lot of fun, and we especially enjoyed all of the recipes inside! (Our mother cooks them, we tend to struggle waiting to eat anything until it's cooked.)