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Blood, Bones & Butter
Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef | Gabrielle Hamilton
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERBefore Gabrielle Hamilton opened her acclaimed New York restaurant Prune, she spent twenty hard-living years trying to find purpose and meaning in her life. Blood, Bones & Butter follows an unconventional journey through the many kitchens Hamilton has inhabited through the years: the rural kitchen of her childhood, where her adored mother stood over the six-burner with an oily wooden spoon in hand; the kitchens of France, Greece, and Turkey, where she was often fed by complete strangers and learned the essence of hospitality; Hamiltons own kitchen at Prune, with its many unexpected challenges; and the kitchen of her Italian mother-in-law, who serves as the link between Hamiltons idyllic past and her own future familythe result of a prickly marriage that nonetheless yields lasting dividends. By turns epic and intimate, Gabrielle Hamiltons story is told with uncommon honesty, grit, humor, and passion.Look for special features inside.Join the Circle for author chats and more.RandomHouseReadersCircle.com
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review
paisleyjess
Pickpick

I really enjoyed the story-telling. While it is a lot about the restaurant industry, it is less so than other chef memoirs and focuses more on her family life.

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paisleyjess
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These last two paragraphs remind me of my best friend's mother, a woman whose recipes we have tried in vain to obtain and understand.

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paisleyjess
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I can never keep a dust cover on my books. Anyone else?

Tamra ✋🏾 2y
3 likes1 comment
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Cinfhen
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Pickpick

I was not familiar with chef Gabrielle Hamilton nor her eatery Prune but that just added an element of flavor to this juicy memoir. A very gritty look at the underbelly of becoming a chef, owning a restaurant, and trying to find the right outlet for her creativity & wanderlust. My one complaint... her time spent in Turkey was never described & therefore this doesn‘t count for #ReadingEurope2020😫 A bit uneven in parts but overall satisfying. 👇🏽

Cinfhen Luckily I own the book on the right, which is indeed set in #Turkey #ReadingEurope2020 4y
squirrelbrain Ooh that‘s a bit annoying, that you can‘t use it for the prompt, but never mind, at least you enjoyed it anyway! 4y
BarbaraBB Love your fanatism ❤️ 4y
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Cinfhen At least I can use it for #UpsideDownImage for #pop20 @squirrelbrain 4y
Cinfhen I take my challenges VERY seriously @BarbaraBB 😜 4y
BarbaraBB Me too, I enjoy them a lot! 😘 4y
Librarybelle Yay that you can count it for a challenge! 4y
Megabooks I need one for Greece. Does she talk about her time there? Glad you enjoyed it!! 4y
Cinfhen Yes, you could use for Greece and Italy @Megabooks and maybe even France ..... just no TURKEY 😜 4y
Cinfhen Thanks @Librarybelle it was still an interesting read. 4y
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Cinfhen
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Started this on a whim last night and I‘m thoroughly engrossed in the author‘s colorful and unconventional story. As an added bonus look at her travel itinerary... #ReadingEurope2020

Megabooks Mmmm...eggplant! I never eat that in Kentucky, but there was a great Greek restaurant near my college. 4y
Cinfhen Eggplant is a staple where I live @Megabooks it‘s easily served 100 different ways 😊💜 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I‘d definitely eat eggplant if I came to Israel!! And you could eat barbecued mutton if you visited me. Our small area - mainly just my county - prefers it over pork. 👍🏻 4y
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Cinfhen I‘d love to share my favorite eateries with you @Megabooks but mutton is not on my menu 😆 4y
erzascarletbookgasm Here we call it brinjal, and I love them in all sorts of curry! 😋 @Cinfhen @Megabooks 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen nooooo!!! 👎🏻👎🏻 well, I can‘t have gluten, so that almost makes me afraid to do travel where I don‘t know the language and cross contamination, which makes me wish I had traveled more pre-celiac because I love food!! 4y
Megabooks @erzascarletbookgasm mmmmm...curry!! I love all sorts of curries. 4y
Cinfhen Most of the menus here have English too and most places have a pictorial guide for all allergies but I TOTALLY get your hesitation @Megabooks what about where u live @erzascarletbookgasm ?? Because I eat Kosher it‘s super hard to travel to certain places. 4y
TrishB As a veggie, aubergine is one of my can‘t eats! It‘s like the liver of the veggie world. I also can‘t stand olives!! 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen that‘s nice to know that I would be able to travel in Israel and have an idea of what I could eat. 😊👍🏻 it would be hard to travel kosher! I don‘t eat pork or shellfish, but I think it would be hard to live in (or travel in) the South without mixing meat and milk. That‘s definitely got to be as hard as gluten as far as traveling to countries/areas where English is not understood and the Jewish community is small/nonexistent. 4y
Megabooks @TrishB aubergine is such a better sounding word than eggplant. Seriously. Sounds so much more regal! 4y
Megabooks @TrishB I also like courgettes. To eat and the word. 4y
Cinfhen Hahaha @TrishB “ the liver of the veggie world” brilliant!!! I just so happen to enjoy liver 🤭 4y
Cinfhen Traveling is getting much easier because of all the vegan / veggie options @Megabooks but it can be tricky at times. I love the word aubergine & courgettes too. Sounds so much more sophisticated 4y
Librarybelle This conversation is making me hungry! 😂 @Megabooks @TrishB 4y
erzascarletbookgasm @Cinfhen For me, I just avoid pork in certain places/countries. And I like liver too! 4y
Cinfhen It takes a brave connoisseur to admit they like liver @erzascarletbookgasm 😊😊 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen that is true! It‘s much better than it used to be. Around 2000 when I was in college, I had a vegetarian best friend and a halal roommate, we ate a lot of spaghetti pomodoro, Indian food (the Pakistanis who ran it would cook halal if you gave them notice & of course they had veggie too), veggie burgers, and tacos with those fake meat crumbles. The vegetarian bff also loved eggplant Parmesan sandwiches. And the halal roommate liked fish. 4y
Megabooks I just went with the flow and ate whatever!! 😂😂 4y
kspenmoll @Librarybelle Me too! Especially for “aubergine”! @Megabooks @Trish (edited) 4y
87 likes20 comments
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Cinfhen
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I‘m ALL over the place this week with my reads. Just started reading this foodie memoir. It‘s got a bit of The Glass Castle vibe, mixed with some Sex in the City and a dash of Coyote Ugly. In other words I‘m loving it❣️❣️❣️I think you might like this @KarenUK and it will hopefully cover #ReadingEurope2020 #Turkey #PoP20 #UpsideDownImageOnBookCover

KarenUK Oooh... sounds really good! Thank you for sharing my lovely 😘💕 (ps I‘m really liking trust exercise so far) x 4y
Cinfhen Yay!!!! I‘m sooo glad about Trust Exercise 🤗🤗🤗🤗I miss you ❣️❣️❣️❣️hope all is well with you and P is feeling stronger 4y
Librarybelle What a fun combination - Sex in the City and Coyote Ugly! 4y
Cinfhen Exactly @Librarybelle parts of her memoir are in 1980s NYC and that‘s the vibe I‘m getting. She‘s led a colorful life 😉 4y
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Pam.Kokomo
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Pickpick

I love behind-the-scenes books, and this did not disappoint.

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DebinHawaii
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Pickpick

Posted on the blog on 7/31, Gabrielle Hamilton‘s Celery Toasts for our virtual foodie book club‘s pick of her memoir, “Blood, Bones & Butter. I ate them 2-nights in a row for dinner & want to get cambazola blue cheese to make more.😋 Hamilton has the same pungent assertiveness as the garlic, lemon & blue cheese that too these buttery celery toasts—her book is honest, at times uneven, but very absorbing. Link to the NYTimes recipe & my thoughts👇🏻

Hollie That looks good, I‘m going to have to try those! 5y
Christine Your post makes me want to reread this book (and try this recipe)! 5y
68 likes3 comments
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Susan
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liveship
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Is it considered more hospitable to discover your guests‘ preferences, their likes and dislikes? Is it rude to deny your guests choice and control over their experience? I don‘t know, but I forever want to arrive somewhere hungry and thirsty and tired and be taken care of as Iannis took care of us.

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liveship

In college, I had met the Southern writer Jo Carson and she said, “Be careful what you get good at doin‘ ‘cause you‘ll be doin‘ it for the rest of your life.”

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liveship

It was kind of tremendous timing to hit adolescence just as the family was disintegrating. It's not too bad to live out your Pippi Longstocking fantasy right when you most seek independence from your parents and are practicing it so ardently.

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LMJenkins
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1. Hmmm....I‘d say The Shawshank Redemption, probably.
2. My husband and I went to Positano before we were married and it was so beautiful.
3. I like chef/cooking memoirs.
4. Green and brown, colors of nature.
5. If you could only have one book for a year, what would it be?

#FriyayIntro

ralexist I've been to Italy be I still need to get to Positano. And only one book? I think I'd have to go with the Complete Works of Shakespeare. I'd do some random goal to memorize a few plays or such so that it kept it interesting 🙂 6y
CouronneDhiver Shawshank 🖤 6y
GlassAsDiamonds One of the Sherlock Holmes anthologies!! (Slight cheat I suppose...😂😂😂) 6y
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raeintheworld
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Pickpick

I loved this book! So much of Gabrielle‘s early years in restaurants are so familiar to me. She didn‘t glamorize it or romanticize it, which I loved. And, oh, the way she describes a meal. I was hungry the whole time.

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parttimedomestic
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This book pretty much demands to be read while eating a cheese board-but my pantry didn‘t have a lot of options tonight! 🙈Ah well, at least I have wine and can pretend to be fancy!

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Crystalblu
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1. So, my husband is a manager at our local organic food co-op. I get a text about ten minutes from the time he is off asking what we need for dinner. I do a big shop about once a month 2. the local olive oil store sells this awesome siracha mango vinegar that is great all on its own. 3. Cook! 4. Nope 5. The tagged book was interesting, but I liked her cookbook more 😜

GondorGirl I loved this book! I went through a phase where I read nothing but food memoirs for months... 😂 6y
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TheBookHippie
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Pickpick

I read this book and loved it. Then I looked up the chef and was disappointed with the recent news about who she is choosing to partner with. Alas and sigh. Trying to reserve judgement and hope her intentions are good. The book is very well written, Gabrielle's voice is amazing. Cooking for me when done without restriction, is zen, alone in a kitchen with loud music and recipes in my head of how I want to cook is one of the sources of joy for me.

Leftcoastzen I loved this book. 6y
TheBookHippie @Leftcoastzen me too!!! Great read . 6y
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TheBookHippie
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Oh my GOOOOODNESSSSS!!!!!! All this and a knitted ??? Wrap!!! OH my hippie heart is so happppy!!!!!!!! Thank you so much @Pogue !!! I'm so very blessed!!!! Merry Christmas !!!!

@MrBook @BookBabe #secretsantagoespostal

Cinfhen ❤️💚❤️ 6y
MrBook Ooh! #NiceStack! 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
Christine Excellent book choices! 6y
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TheBookHippie @Christine I'm so excited!!! 6y
Betty French Milk and The Warmth of their Suns are great books (edited) 6y
Pogue I am so glad that you like everything. I tried to match your colors you picked for the shawl. Acre is a local coffee roaster that I enjoy! 6y
TheBookHippie @Pogue just gorgeous !!!! I can't wait to drink that coffee and read the books!! Winifred was excited too!🐶 6y
94 likes7 comments
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Katherself
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Yesterday after I finished Shiny Broken Pieces, I started Blood, Bones, and Butter. Today I finished it.

I start grad school in January, and the thought of losing so much leisure reading time has sent me into a frenzy of trying to get more books under my belt and off my TBR lists. So I'm off to the library website now for the next audiobook. Whatever it may be.

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misselizabetka
Pickpick

I‘m a total sucker for overblown writing about food and life and NYC and this was exactly up my alley.

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merelybookish
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Went for a hike today on North Table Mountain. This is my first fall in CO and I'm kind of amazed by the size and abundance of what I'm pretty sure is goldenrod.
I'm enjoying the tagged book, although I didn't listen to it while walking. Too risky with all the bikers on the trail.

Tamra Oh you lucky gal! 7y
AmyG Beautiful! 7y
MicheleinPhilly Stunning! 7y
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Sace Just gorgeous! 7y
Suet624 Gorgeous! 7y
89 likes2 stack adds7 comments
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Crystalblu
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Leg of lamb roasting, now time to read and do some 'homework' 😜

Texreader Mmmmmm. Haven't had roast leg of lamb in decades. My mother in law made it on one of my first trips to Norway. She gave me the recipe, in Norwegian. Oh well. 7y
ApoptyGina69 I have this on my kindle app. One of these days... 7y
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AmandaL
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The prompt #cruelsummer reminded me of the part in this memoir where the author talked about the Summer after her parents' separation where both parents disappeared and forgot to care for her and her brother. #JuneTunz

Dragon Her parents were so strange. It's amazing she has been able to overcome a difficult start. If I ever visit NYC I want to visit her restaurant😀 7y
AmandaL @Dragon Agreed. I have the Prune cookbook. It's worth a read through. It's definitely written for a more experienced cook than me, but she puts together brunch, lunch and dinner menus, including desserts. If you can't make it to NYC, you could always try a couple of dishes at home. 😁 7y
Dragon Thanks @AmandaL I must check her cook book out 👍😀🐉 7y
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anniegr
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Enjoying this audible while cooking today.

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HardcoverHarlot
Mehso-so

What a strange memoir. Beautifully written, but I was hoping for more about the food. We spent a lot of time on her strange marriage (?) and her being a mother, which is frankly less interesting to me.

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KatieB
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Mehso-so

This was an interesting book which ledt me thinking differently about the food I eat. The author has obviously led a complicated life with some complicated relationships but I felt that she sometimes over simplified her feelings for a punchline. A book that makes me eyeroll can only get a 3* rating max!

RaimeyGallant A belated welcome to Litsy! #LitsyWelcomeWagon And here's a compilation of Litsy tips that some of us put together:
https://raimeygallant.com/2017/10/31/litsytips/
6y
3 likes1 comment
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Crystalblu
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I can only show off the things I got for myself ;) Happy Independent Bookstore Day!!!

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MicheleinPhilly
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#MarchIntoReading I read this a few years ago and remember thinking it was well written but HATING the author. Anyone else ever encounter this while reading memoirs? #AlliterativeTitles

Marchpane Sometimes - I would usually bail in that situation. 7y
TobeyTheScavengerMonk The idea behind Nickel and Dimed was admirable, but Barbara Ehrenreich was obnoxious and seemed to look down on the people she was working beside. 7y
JacqMac Eat Pray Love. The premise was so good, but I had to bail. I just couldn't take her anymore. 7y
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EvieBee I did too! 7y
MicheleinPhilly @Marchpane This was in my pre-DNF days. ☺ 7y
MicheleinPhilly @TobeyTheScavengerMonk I don't remember feeling that way with Nickel and Dimed but I did feel that way with one of her later books. The name escapes me at the moment but I know I DNFed it because she came across as a privileged snot. 7y
MicheleinPhilly @JacqMac I've heard enough about her and her book so I know to steer clear! I thought the movie sucked too with the exception of the Italy segment. 🍝🍷 7y
MicheleinPhilly @EvieBee84 I try very hard not to judge other people's choices but I just found myself 😒 at her the whole time. 7y
48 likes4 stack adds8 comments
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BeersAndBooks
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Planning my 2017 #litsyatoz from my #tbr pile. So excited for a fun, diverse year of reading!

Reviewsbylola I like your format! 7y
9 likes1 comment
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AmandaL
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Pickpick

One of my favorite memoirs ever. Gabrielle Hamilton narrated her book and she was fabulous.

LauraBeth I ❤ this audiobook too 😀 7y
JacqMac I read this one and I loved it. 7y
Dragon Great book and I really want to eat at her restaurant if I ever go to New York City 🌃 7y
AmandaL @Dragon Me too! 7y
AmandaL @LauraBeth @JacqMac It was so fascinating, and the way she ended it... 7y
28 likes1 stack add5 comments
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AmandaL
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My next audiobook is the food memoir Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton. I hope it's as good as Anthony Bourdain's blurb says it is. 😁

ReadingEnvy I've had this on my shelf at home, unread, for too long. 7y
BookishTrish I really liked it. 7y
AmandaL @ReadingEnvy @BookishTrish I'm one disc in, and I'm loving it so far. 7y
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fmcgeough
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Pickpick

I love food and cooking and have admiration for anyone who can work through the grind of running a restaurant and give people great food. I found the story of chef Gabrielle Hamilton's life in food interesting and worth reading. She provides a pretty clear description of how hard the work is and why it's worth it (most days anyway).

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fmcgeough
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So I came to possess, of all things, a husband. This didn't make any sense for the longest time, to anyone, myself included, but that was also before I had met his Italian mother.

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DanaKristine

This deliciously fascinating, and sometimes heartbreaking memoir captivated me! I could not put this down.

Dragon I enjoyed this one 😀 7y
Lindy A fascinating memoir. I was glad there was an epilogue update in the paperback edition. 7y
DanaKristine Yes! Epilogue was key! 7y
34 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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Bry
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Pickpick

I am a picky eater so I thought reading a food memoir for the #readharder challenge would be tough but I ended up enjoying this more than expected. The author seems bold and honest and doesn't sugarcoat her thoughts and experiences. The 'foodie' sections were kind of lost on me but the other aspects of her life more than made up for it.

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Bry
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😜 I'm not into astrology at all but this made me laugh because it's so true for me (and probably many of us!)

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balletbookworm
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Pickpick

I'm really glad Hamilton narrated her own work because it gave me a better idea of her actual voice. There are points where she comes off as insufferable - teen who lies her way into a job, grad student who can't stand other grad students, chef-owner annoyed that no "good" restaurants are open for 4pm dinner on a Sunday - but insufferableness also imparts vulnerability. Hamilton has had a really fascinating journey to get to who she is now.

ImaginativeMom This is on my list! Thanks for the review. 😊 8y
BooksForEmpathy I was so swept up by this one. And I loved her voice too! The cookbook is awesome. 8y
LauraBeth I LOVED this audiobook - I think I listened to it three times before I turned it back in 8y
Dragon Really enjoyed this book, lent it to a friend and never saw it again 🙁 8y
28 likes5 stack adds4 comments
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cherylmorton
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"[Our mother] knew how to serve mint tea and sliced oranges w onions and olives, if she was making a bisteeya, and never put a meal together in a careless, eclectic, or incoherent way. the meal was always organized correctly, traditionally, which I now appreciate, but as a kid, pigeon was not a treat, even if it was served w the traditional condiments."

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Jompa
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Freakin amazing book. If Hamilton cooks half as good as she writes Prune must be a mesmerizing dining experience.

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Baileythebookworm
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Pickpick

I would never have thought to pick this book up, but it was gifted to me by someone who loves it, and then I started it and couldn't put it down. It's a complicated, unfinished, angry, loving memoir by a woman who cares as much about how she builds a sentence as she does a dish, and that is saying something.

Liberty I loved this book! The WSJ called it "Blood, Bones, and Bitter," which I think is pretty funny and appropriate, too. ? 8y
Baileythebookworm @Liberty That is so accurate! 😂 She is ferocious. I was hooked from the first page 8y
9 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Baileythebookworm
Pickpick

I would never have thought to pick this book up, but it was gifted to me by someone who loves it, and then I started it and couldn't put it down. It's a complicated, unfinished, angry, loving memoir by a woman who cares as much about how she builds a sentence as she does a dish, and that is saying something.

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AileenRR
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Mehso-so

Lots of parts were fascinating, other parts were repetitious. Not a smooth narrative because of timeline issues; more like a series of essays. Enjoyed it overall, but it ended kind of abruptly for me.

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molly
Pickpick

I just finished listening to this on audiobook and I'm glad I chose that format. Hamilton's narration made her well-developed prose even more personal. While our lives are quite different, we share similar challenges. I feel like I read this at the perfect time in my life.

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KellyReece
Panpan

I liked her writing, but couldn't get over the author's attitude. I needed more insight to understand her life choices which just wasn't provided. It is the author's right to her privacy, but this is a memoir after all. Feel like she didn't share with us the whole truth.

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FontinaBlue
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Pickpick

A down and dirty chef's memoir about high times, humble beginnings, cooking and hard work. Also gives a peak into high rolling NYC in the late 1980s & commercial catering kitchens. Great way to remind home cooks that we aren't all cut out to become chefs.

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Treps
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autumnprivett
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Pickpick

This book made me want to have a dinner party. Hamilton chronicles her journey from catering chef to restauranteur while showing how food brings us all together. I'm not a foodie, but this memoir opened my eyes to the power of a meal with friends.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

todd @iwitzman - this sounds fun 8y
iwitzman I have a copy in CT, summer read for both of us 8y
Donna_sBookMinute I might have to check this one out. 8y
30 likes15 stack adds3 comments
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Amandajoy
Pickpick

Fantastic. The way she talked about food was mesmerizing. I loved how food, meals, and cooking were there in everything she did, even when she tried to do something else. Not only an excellent food memoir, but an excellent memoir.

BooksForEmpathy YES! So great. 8y
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