I am NOT having an affair with my postman. He loves to ring and run, never waiting to see if I’m home. When I find the package on the doorstep, there’s not even a telltale trail of exhaust from his vehicle on the street. I’m not sure if he’s afraid of me or is an extreme introvert. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Not when he leaves this on my doorstep!
My early Mother’s Day gift to myself, the last delivery in Tupelo Press’s subscription series, Cooking with the Muse, written and compiled by Myra Kornfeld (chef, author, educator) and Stephen Massimilla (poet, scholar, professor, painter).
This cookbook is crammed with delectable poems, essays, recipes, and food porn photos and illustrations. I can’t wait to get the pages dirty, because as we all know, like writing and sex, cooking is about the process as well as the destination.
The contents range from “A Brief History of the Poetry of Food” to a year’s worth of recipes, essays, and poetry organized by seasons. It is more than splendiferous, folks! It’s a food-prose-poem orgy! Get busy and buy this for yourself or someone you love.
You can buy it all by its lonesome, OR you can still subscribe to last year’s series and get the whole kit-n-kaboodle (a nod to my buddy, author Mike Allegra) along with a discount for the 2016 subscription series.
Although the graphic shown directly below reads “2016,” it’s really the 2015 series.
As you may (or may not) have noticed, last year’s subscription included Lawrence Raab’s “Mistaking Each Other for Ghosts,” a poetry title that was long-listed for the National Book Award. Tupelo Press rocks!
Here’s the series being offered for 2016:
So ya know what I’m going to do, right? I’m going to give myself a Mother’s Day gift for next year and order another subscription series.
And as long as the postman delivers, he can ring and run. It’s those beautiful Tupelo Press books that I’m pining for, not him.
Click on the link below. After all, it is
Jilanne Hoffmann 
I’m not much of a cook, but I’m an enthusiastic taster! Send your finished products to me for rating… this offer applies to all cooks out there. Desserts particularly welcome…
Especially ones containing chocolate, right?
You’re psychic!!
This looks wonderful. I have so many cookbooks, but I always tend to go back to the same ones. There are so many new things I could try!
And everything tastes better with a dash of poetry. 😀
By your description, I’m not sure if I should drool or blush!
Both! 😀
I knew you’d say that! 😀 😀
Thanks for telling me about Tupelo Press. I’m all for gifts to myself.
Tupelo Press makes beautiful books. And their taste in poetry is pretty spectacular. This book reminded me, obliquely, of a book I have still squirreled away in a moving box. It’s called “Aphrodite,” and was written by Isabel Allende. It combines descriptions of foods/recipes with memoir and folklore. I think she wrote it after the death of her daughter, Paula, as a way of connecting again with the world.
Make no mistake; your postman is sweet on you.
Perhaps if he left me some chocolate, I would be convinced. But he can’t compete with books.
That’s probably just as well; you need to stop leading that poor fellow on.
Looks great! PS the rosemary and chocolate sorbet I posted the recipe for a few weeks ago was brilliant and easy – except, as I always do I cut the amount of sugar drastically, memory tells me by about a quarter, but when I make it again, as a shall, – so quick, so excellent, I shall reduce the sugar even more. Unfortunately it would long have melted if attempted to put through the post…………
Thank you for tantalizing my tastebuds with “virtual sorbet!” But isn’t this what liquid nitrogen was invented for? Sending all things chocolate and frozen through the postal system?
Love that you give yourself Mother’s Day gifts! Sounds like a yummy one.
I just read a really awesome book “Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life” that I’m going to send to my mom and sis. I’m a cat mom, so I should really get myself something. 😉
I can’t leave it up to the boys. 😀 Yes! Give yourself a little kitty-mom present. Perhaps something purrfect that you can’t live without.
The postman rings? I always thought he always knocked twice! Poetry and food, I await my invitation with much anticipation as I am very good at the eating and always bring a book with me.
Ha! Perhaps you should come for our new monthly silent reading series, where you can read, eat, and drink—all for a good cause.
Sounds great, as long as I remember my book is not a plate and it doesn’t collect half the food!
Sounds like a wonderful read. Food and literature, the perfect mix. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I’m enjoying it immensely. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!
What a neat idea! I’m more of a baker than a cook, but I love looking at photos of all the dishes I could make. A splash of poetry and a day is well spent!
There are baked goods included in each season’s set of recipes. Cheddar and pepper corn muffins, sweet potato-apple bake, pumpkin pie soufflé, apple-pear-cranberry crumble, chocolate tart with salt and caramelized pecans, fudgy nibby brownies, chewy chocolate dark-side-of-the-moon crackle cookies….
From the poet’s note: Chocolate resembles the art of poetry. According to Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné (1626-1696), “It flatters you for a while, it warms you for an instant, then, all of a sudden, it kindles a mortal fever in you.”
😀
Oh I love the combo of food and poetry. What a fabulous way to celebrate both, especially in a world that often snuffs out any cooking/food passions because of fear of eating, chronic dieting and quick, grab and go meals. I firmly believe in the power of poetry to heal our eating disfunctional culture. I often have my coaching clients read and write it in their self discovery. Thanks for sharing this…going to have to get me a subscription!
Yes! I fully agree. Food is sensual, and when we eat, we should focus on eating to fully enjoy the experience, not do it when we are distracted by other things. If we fully enjoy, we fully experience. Our hunger is sated and we are far less likely to overindulge. Now, when it comes to poetry, we should do the same, but I’m not sure if it’s ever possible to overindulge. 😀 Thanks for stopping by!
What a lovely surprise and a welcome change from receiving bills through the mail! Thank you for sharing this delicious combination of recipes and poetry, essays and more! What more could anyone want to make cooking come alive?
I agree completely on both counts: No bills, and delicious foods mixed with literary offerings. Fabulous! Thanks for stopping by!
Happy (early) Mother’s day! 🙂 I think you picked out a great gift! 🙂
Thanks, Erik! I’m loving it!