My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life: A Cookbook / Reichl, Ruth

An Amazon Best Book of October 2015: When Gourmet magazine shut its doors in 2009, longtime editor in chief Ruth Reichl was as blindsided by the news as the rest of us. In times of upheaval and uncertainty we are reflexively drawn to what comforts us and for Reichl that means cooking. My Kitchen Year is four seasons of intimate anecdotes and recipes chronicling the first year of Reichl’s post-Gourmet life. It is a cookbook with diary-style entries reflecting on the day and what led to the next recipe. The photography, like the rest of the book, is beautifully produced and never fussy—the perfect pairing for dishes inspired by tears, laughter, love, and a need to feel grounded when life has gone careening off the rails. My Kitchen Year is astonishingly personal and Ruth Reichl’s willingness to share not only her cherished recipes but also her thoughts and feelings during a year of transition make My Kitchen Year a very special volume. -- Seira Wilson