At Home on the Range

"When first published in 1947, "At Home on the Range," by Margaret Yardley Potter, must have seemed a shockingly non-girly truth-talking cookbook and life guide. Read today--as introduced in a McSweeney's edition by Potter's great-granddaughter, Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert--it is both artifact and artfully useful. Choice bit: Potter who died in 1955 at age 62, liked to invite guests not for dinner but rather for breakfast--'en neglige.' We're not surprised that Gilbert, who celebrates her 'Gima' throughout, comes from such feisty stock."--Sara Nelson, "Oprah Magazine" "This book is a beautiful time capsule that looks back to the roots of American gastronomy, when the values of gardening and fresh ingredients were the primary inspiration. Margaret Yardley Potter's warm, witty stories and recipes show us that our great-grandmothers instinctually understood that food is central to a life well-lived."--Alice Waters "Author Elizabeth Gilbert ("A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage") does a wonderful service by bringing back the opinionated, modern-for-its-time cookbook of her eccentric great-grandmother "Gima" Yardley Potter, first published in 1947... Chapters are devoted lovingly to what foods best to bring hospitalized friends, mastering cocktails, and organizing emergency meals and effortless entertaining. In her bright, determined tone ("Is your cigarette finished? Let's go"), Yardley Potter assures us a generation before Julia Child that we can tackle bouillabaisse, preserves, bread, and grandmother's sacred sponge cake."--"Publisher's Weekly" "This is a cookbook for modern times and modern cooks, full of sassy jokes and smartly written recipes."--"Bon Appetit" "Delightfully humorous and remarkably insightful."--"LA Times" "A precious find."--"Boston Globe" "'At Home on the Range' is, in fact, a cookbook. But it is so much, much more than a cookbook. It is a memoir of one woman's life, her