Synopses & Reviews
Julia Reed is an indefatigable practitioner of the art of eating, drinking, and making merry. In her new book, she takes us around the world southern style. From the quenelle of La Cote Basque, New York City's legendary bastion of haute cuisine to the salt-crusted steaks of Madrid's Alkalde, Julia's taste was ingrained early on at her mother's southern table. She can tell you which Spanish Pimenton is the best just as she knows why you should never get rid of those earrings your aunt left you in her will. Reed writes about the bounty of a Southern garden and the burden of your mother filling the back seat of your car with corn and commanding you to haul it away. Over a glass or two, she talks about the best gin and tells the story of how her father drove around the Mississippi Delta armed with a thermos full of Gin Rickeys and how said thermos of libation eased his way when trying to sell grain bins to farmers in 98 degree weather. She gives her mother's recipe for spinach and artichoke casserole, topped with Ritz crackers, and remembers how her mother served it to diplomats and family members alike. Particularly, she remembers preparing a big Spanish meal one evening when as she began to make the sangria, a childhood friend asked where the vodka was. When Reed replied that there was no vodka in sangria, her friend said "But, Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria!" and another great collection of essays by Julia Reed was born.
Review
Praise for Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties:
"Reed is another Southern writer with a fine hand for storytelling and cooking. Though you'll want to cook from her book, first you'll want to take it to the porch hammock to read. Each tasty tale—from her collard green chronicle to her Frozen Assets anecdote on ice cream—will whet your appetite for more." —The Post and Courier (SC)
“[A] charming collection. Reed's wit and her eye for the telling historical detail shine through.” —The Times Picayune
"No matter what your tastes, Ham Biscuits has something to tempt your taste buds."
—The Clarion Ledger
Review
“If this doesn't make you hungry, and thirsty, call the doctor, you are sick.”- Roy Blount Jr.
“Julia Reed is on the loose again, this time discoursing as savvily and fearlessly and hilariously as always on the unquestionable superiority of Southern cookery, the social status of the gin martini, Spanish paprika, and a few dozen other matters of some urgency. With each collection of essays, ‘Miss Julia just gets better and better, a voice that never loses its originality, freshness, and supreme wit.”—James Villas, author of Pig: King of the Southern Table, and Crazy for Casseroles
Synopsis
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 Floridas Gulf Coast. Along the way, Reed discovers the perfect Pimms 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. Guests 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. Patricks 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 moments notice.
Synopsis
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 Floridas Gulf Coast. Along the way, Reed discovers the perfect Pimms 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. Guests 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. Patricks 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 moments notice.
About the Author
JULIA REED is a contributing editor at Garden & Gun, where she writes the magazine's “The High & the Low” column. She is the author of Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties, Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena, and The House on First Street, My New Orleans Story. Reed lives in New Orleans.