We’re having mashed potatoes!

Some books that will make you hungry.

Art by DALL-E 3 and me!

I am very pressed for time because I have friends coming over to eat cake! That is the best possible reason to keep this brief. Well, that and respecting your time, which I should probably do more often.

Also if you have any way to get your hands on a ChatGPT Plus account, please do so. DALL-E 3, as you can see from my/its handiwork above. That took one try. One!

I’m taking next week off for Thanksgiving, and speaking of which—I’m very grateful for your support, really! I’m always shocked at how many people open and read this email every week. That means a lot. I hope that means I’m doing something right! If not, get lost! (Just kidding, email me and tell me what to do better!)

Do you have friends who like to read? Forward this email to them or share on your socials by hitting the button below!

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🎂 Home Cooking

Laurie Colwin, 1988

This is the second thing that my former boss Susan recommended that I have turned around and recommended here. Maybe she should be the Susan you listen to. Susan, do you want to take over next time I’m on vacation? Think about it. 

Laurie Colwin was a food writer who died too young, and this slim book is a collection of essays that is spare, warm, funny, and charming. Also, it will make you want to live in a tiny New York apartment in the 80s. You’ll have two friends over who will be fine with sitting on your bed and eating the scrambled eggs you made on a hot plate. They’ll eat those eggs, and they’ll like those eggs. And she will give you the recipe for making those eggs with love.

It doesn’t all take place in that apartment, but the idea is, she finds simple joy in feeding people and herself in various settings in the 1970s and 1980s. If this were written today, it would have been over-written. There is something about it. This year, I am finally making the black cake recipe. I am very excited.

Recommended for: Those who like to cook and who like very good, clean, well-edited writing. Nora Ephron fans. Joan Didion fans. But, like, simpler and more cheerful. And about accessible, not annoying food.

Want to see what books I’ve recommended in the past? Guess what—I’ve created a handy spreadsheet with all sorts of helpful info to help you choose your next read, and if you’re an EELS subscriber, I’ll give you access to it. It’s free, it’s easy, maybe it’ll help!

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🥗 Heartburn

Nora Ephron, 1983

Oh, hey, speaking of Nora, you should read Heartburn, which is a delightfully bitter novel about a woman who lives in DC and realizes her politico husband is having an affair. She writes cookbooks and is pregnant. She could almost be Laurie Colwin, honestly, if inside Laurie Colwin’s head was a bitter instead of warm person. I wonder if they knew each other. 

The vibe is funny, acerbic, and involves recipes spoken in an “OK, here is how you make this thing, listen up” way. I probably won’t ever make them, but I enjoyed hearing them spoken about. It made me want to eat some forkfuls of whatever crisp salad she was angrily throwing together for whatever friend was coming over without being asked.

Recommended for: Those who have known the vinegary wine of being betrayed by someone you didn’t even really like all that much to begin with.

Recommended format: Audiobook! It’s read by Meryl Streep, have you heard of her? She is only the world’s finest living actress, and when she reads an audiobook you better believe it is worth seeking out.

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🥖 Sourdough

Robin Sloan, 2017

While I think technically the above two books are Greater Books™, this one 100% made me hungrier. In fact, I had to consume vast quantities of spicy soups and make many loaves of bread as well as experiment with sourdough starters before my hunger was satiated. I was like some creature in a movie.

Robin Sloan loves to write books that combine a cool sort of mystical fantasy thing with tech, and I love to read them. The tech aspect loses me slightly but the rest of it is so cute and fun that I forgive that part. Why not create your own genre, you know? The idea with this one is that a Big Tech employee is overpaid but overworked, and develops an addiction to the bread and spicy soup of one particular takeout place. She’s determined to get to the bottom of their sourdough starter, which seems to sing as it grows. Then, she decides, like so many tech bros before her, why not see if the operation could scale? 

It’s cautionary tale about tech bros and sourdough. Can they just calm down, you know?

Recommended for: Those who like even just a little bit of techy stuff and have the budget to nurture an addiction to very good bread and very good soup.

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And now, a bonus recommendation

Thanksgiving is around the corner, but even if you don’t live in the US, you may want some baking book recommendations. And I, a storied baker with possibly too many opinions on the matter, am here to give you four of my fave baking cookbooks for those who are just getting started, or even if you’re already there and want a boost. 

• The Perfect Pie (I will not make pies with anybody but America’s Test Kitchen. Please see also the other ones in this series)

• Bread Illustrated (Excellent for getting started with bread, or becoming advanced with bread—I trust America’s Test Kitchen with anything baking related)

• Alternative Baker (Happens to be gluten free, uses different flours, which I find more interesting and flavorful) 

• Snacking Cakes (Yossy Arefi’s simple, versatile book about simple, versatile cakes—everyone should have this in their home, no special equipment required) (big thanks to Katherine Bell for bringing this into my life, the friends that are about to come over are about to thank you, too)

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That was the twenty-ninth EELS! I would be just so grateful if you’d share widely with your networks! As always, send any and all questions, feedback, and shouted book recommendations by hitting reply. 

📚 Susan