Category: Cookbooks

The Mysterious Allure of Savannah: Midday in the Garden of Meat and Three

November 15, 2021

There’s a place where I feel free to be me. No, it’s not Paris, although I feel free to be me there, too. It’s the historic district in Savannah, Georgia. A place exuding a vivid sense of the past, which I love. There, Spanish moss hangs like lace curtains on nearly every branch and wire … More The Mysterious Allure of Savannah: Midday in the Garden of Meat and Three

Midwest Book Review on “Stoves & Suitcases”

November 8, 2021

My newest book garnered the following review from Midwest Book Review:* Stoves & Suitcases: Searching for Home in the World’s Kitchens should be in the holdings of any collection strong in culinary biography and history. What began as a search for home and roots evolved into a culinary exploration, as Cynthia D. Bertelsen documents in chapters that … More Midwest Book Review on “Stoves & Suitcases”

Saints, Souls, and Haints: Here Come the Pumpkins

October 30, 2021

Some pumpkin-laden advice from Janet McKenzie Hill, sounding like the Martha Stewart of a much earlier generation in her  Practical Cooking and Serving: a Complete Manual of How to Select, Prepare, and Serve Food (1902, p. 566): CENTREPIECE OF FRUIT FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER OR HARVEST FESTIVAL [Halloween] Select a golden-colored, medium-sized, well-shaped pumpkin. With a … More Saints, Souls, and Haints: Here Come the Pumpkins

Saints, Souls, and Haints: Ghoulish Goodies

October 29, 2021

Check this out — a recent cookbook all about Halloween, for kids young and old: Ghoulish Goodies: Creature Feature Cupcakes, Monster Eyeballs, Bat Wings, Funny Bones, Witches’ Knuckles, and Much More! (Frightful Cookbook), by Sharon Bowers (2009). Eat, drink, and enjoy the creepy yuckiness of Monster Eyeballs, Chocolate Spider Clusters, Buried Alive Cupcakes, and Screaming … More Saints, Souls, and Haints: Ghoulish Goodies

Stoves & Suitcases, a Review by Leo Racicot

October 6, 2021

Noted food historian, Cynthia D. Bertelsen’s new book, Stoves & Suitcases: Searching for Home in the World’s Kitchens, knocks one out of the ballpark. Not since Jessica B. Harris’ s My Soul Looks Back has a book captured me so completely, cover-to-cover. I read it in a day. In this high-caliber travelogue of tastes, flavors, … More Stoves & Suitcases, a Review by Leo Racicot

“Stoves & Suitcases” Best in the World winner in Food Writing: Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2022

June 5, 2021

In November 2021, I learned that Stoves & Suitcases won Best in the USA for Food Writing for 2022, given by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, under the auspices of Edouard Cointreau, a member of the Cointreau family of French liqueur producers. Scroll to page 32 of this .pdf to see the other winners in … More “Stoves & Suitcases” Best in the World winner in Food Writing: Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2022