I have to thank Andrea for writing about Molly Wizenberg’s book, A Homemade Life.  She is the blog writer of Orangette – a food blog I wish I had found a long, long time ago. 

I just finished reading her book and there are so many parallels between her life and mine, it was as if I was reading the diary of a dear, close friend.  Both of our father’s died of cancer, and after reading about how her father “ate” Ensure, it drew me back to a moment in time. 

My dad was probably two months from death at this point.  He was in his recliner, as usual, and since I was the only one there, I had to “feed” him his drink through a tube in his stomach.  I used to joke with him that he was about to “eat” meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy, and looking back, I thought I was being funny, but I realize now it might have been a bit mean describing food to him that would never touch his lips again.  He always smiled though, so I have comfort in that!

And Molly also reminds me a lot of my daughter, who doesn’t like change all that much, although you would never know it by the amount of times a week she rearranges her room.  Hannah likes things in a particular order, I’ve not done her laundry since she was 9, and I haven’t packed her suitcase in probably 10 years.  She travels with my Mom quite a bit, and my Mom would always say “did you double check her suitcase to make sure she has everything?”  I would then tell her that Hannah had created her own checklist weeks in advance of any trip!  She usually packs my suitcase.

And Hannah is the first to shout “Mom, how many times do I have to tell you, the gravy boat does not belong on the drinking glass shelf??!!” and I’ll hear her move it to the “right spot.”

But the biggest similarity between Molly and Hannah is that Molly took the same lunch to school every single day for the first fourteen years of life.  Every single day!  When Hannah was in first grade and could take a lunch, I asked her “what kind of sandwich do you want?”  She replied: “Hard salami on white bread, no cheese or mustard.”  I love mustard and how I produced a child that doesn’t, I’ll never know!

Around 3rd or 4th grade, I arranged a trip to Whole Foods.  I decided, if she doesn’t try any other lunch meat, how would she know if liked anything other than hard salami!  First off, smoked turkey breast. “Um, this is really good!”  Aha, I was onto something!  Next up, honey ham.  “I like the sweetness of this!”  Hooray!  This went on for about five additional lunch meats, and when I asked her which ones she wanted, she said “I’ll have hard salami!”

But the biggest similarity is that we both met our respective husbands online.  Her husband Brandon was one of the first people to comment on her blog, and through emails, phone calls and cross-country visits (she in Seattle, he in New York) they are now married and about to open a restaurant together the middle of this month.

I still crack up when I read (yes, I kept our first email!) Tony’s first email to me:

I am a divorced father of a 10-year old son, and while I am Italian, I am proud to have two separate eye brows and no back hair!” 

So the giveaway is a copy of Molly’s Book:  A Homemde Life and a food scale!

Shelley recently got one, and I think its key to weight loss success and to keep your portion size in check.  Allison won last month (well, I did a 100,000 hit giveaway) and I decided this will probably be included in each months giveaway.

 

Here’s how you enter, you know the drill:

  • leave a comment answering this question – what is your favorite cookbook?
  • link back to this post on your blog for another drawing
  • add me to your blog roll (send me an email at bdl319@gmail.com to let me know!)  I am always seeking out new food blogs to read!

 

I’ll use ramdom integer to pick a winner at dinner on Wednesday, August 5th.  Good luck!