Friday, October 21, 2016

Homemade


By Beatrice Ojakangas
Published by University of Minnesota Press


Beatrice Ojakangas, the oldest of ten children, came by it naturally—the cooking but also the pluck and perseverance that she's served up with her renowned Scandinavian dishes over the years. In the wake of the Moose Lake fires and famine of 1918, Ojakangas tells us in this delightful memoir-cum-cookbook, her grandfather sent for a Finnish mail-order bride—and got one who’d trained as a chef. 
Ojakangas’s stories, are, unsurprisingly, steeped in food lore: tales of cardamom and rye, baking salt cake at the age of five on a wood-burning stove, growing up on venison, making egg rolls for Chun King, and sending off a Pillsbury Bake Off–winning recipe without ever making it. And from here, how those early roots flourished through hard work and dedication to a successful (but never easy) career in food writing and a much wider world, from working for pizza roll king Jeno Paulucci to researching food traditions in Finland and appearing with Julia Child and Martha Stewart—all without ever leaving behind the lessons learned on the farm. As she says, “first you have to start with good ingredients and a good idea.”
Chock-full of recipes, anecdotes, and a kind humor that bring to vivid life the Finnish culture of northern Minnesota as well as the wider culinary world, Homemade delivers the savory and the sweet in equal measures and casts a warm light on a rich slice of the country’s cooking heritage.

Wow. I am completely enthralled by this cookbook/memoir from Beatrice Ojakangas' kitchen. She talks about her family's life and history in between recipes and it's just put together so beautifully. I really appreciated how Beatrice went in depth on each of her recipes explaining everything so that even my husband, who can barely cook boxed macaroni and cheese, could understand. I wish there would have been pictures of the finished product but I enjoyed looking at her family photos.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend Homemade for any kitchen. The recipes are easy to follow and Beatrice's story is a wonderful accompaniment. This would be a perfect Christmas gift in my opinion. The receiver can not only curl up on the couch planning the family dinner but enjoy a little memoir and history to go with it. Thank you to Netgalley, University of Minnesota Press and Beatrice Ojakangas for a wonderful cookbook and story to read.

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