I had forgotten how much I love reading food memoirs! Thank you, book club. 
 This was my first exposure to Ruth Reichl, and she seems very down-to-earth. I found all of her stories to be funny, humble, and thoughtful. It always makes me a little sad when I hear about someone who can't get along with her own mother, but it's pretty hard to blame Ruth for that, in this case. 
 I liked this book so much that I immediately went to the library and picked up the follow-up, Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table. It's funny--I always say that I dislike cooking shows because you don't get to taste or even smell the food, and yet I love reading about food. Maybe it's because my palette will never be as good as a real food writer's, so I get to live vicariously through them this way. Whatever the reason, I'm glad that there are people out there who are able to put the experience of creating and eating good food into words.