Cather's Kitchens - by Roger Welsch & Linda K Welsch (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Roger and Linda Welsch matched references from Willa Cather's writing with recipes they collected from Cather family recipe files, from other period cookbooks, and from old-time ethnic cooks still living in the Bohemian tradition. Cather's Kitchens comes as close as possible to the precise recipes Cather had in mind and memory as she wrote. Roger L. Welsch is a television personality and is the author of nearly thirty books, including It's Not the End of the Earth, but You Can See It from Here and Touching the Fire: Buffalo Dancers, the Sky Bundle, and Other Tales, both available in Bison Books editions. Linda K. Welsch is an acclaimed Nebraska artist. Susan J. Rosowski (1942-2004) is the author of Birthing a Nation: Gender, Creativity, and the West in American Literature (Nebraska 1999).

Review Quotes

"Age has not diminished the quality and distinctiveness of the original undertaking--a truly circumspective view of cultural history, cookery, kitchen custom, and writing at whose center rests the notable Plains fiction of Willa Cather.. Among other touches of ingenuity, the slim volume draws out Cather's writing in relationship to the cookbooks present in her own kitchens, the close observation of food and its social meanings conveyed in her writings, and the Welsches' careful culinary measure of how times have or have not changed on the Plains."--"Western Folklore"

"As a cookbook, Cather's Kitchens is unexpectedly delightful. As a commentary on Cather's work, the Welsches could not have selected a more appropriate subject, as domestic art for Cather was art of the highest order."--Great Plains Quarterly.

"Food was not only an important motif in Cather's fiction, it was important in her life as well. . . . [Cather's Kitchens] is redolent of Antonia's kolaches, of doughnuts and hickory nut cake, mile-high lemon pie, dark brown breads, roasting meats and homemade wine."--Associated Press.

"If you are curious about what Cather's characters ate out on the plains you can find it here, and the adventurous reader can even replicate a recipe or two out of this intriguing book."--"New Mexico Magazine"

"In this delightfully unusual book, the authors pinpoint where and how Cather used food preparation and eating to convey the texture of life on the Great Plains. . . . A treat for literature lovers-and for cooks."--Booklist.

About the Author

Roger L. Welsch is a television personality and is the author of nearly thirty books, including It's Not the End of the Earth, but You Can See It from Here and Touching the Fire: Buffalo Dancers, the Sky Bundle, and Other Tales, both available in Bison Books editions. Linda K. Welsch is an acclaimed Nebraska artist. Susan J. Rosowski (1942-2004) is the author of Birthing a Nation: Gender, Creativity, and the West in American Literature (Nebraska 1999).