The wedding present was this copy of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Mrs. King, who lived here in Walnut Creek was neighbors of Cunningham, so apparently she went around to Cunningham's house or something like that and asked her to sign it before she and her husband presented it to us. Cunningham recommended we try cooking the Thing Yellow Cornmeal Pancakes on page 548 and topping them Salsa Verde, which is a concoction of garlic, cilnatro, jalapeno pepper and tomatillos.
We never got around to making the pancakes, though I've used the cookbook plenty of times over the years. The page with Cunningham's signature has a few stains on it, and was stuck to another page. I forgot about the signature until today when I read in the newspaper that Cunningham, one of the leading forces in culinary culture over the past 40 years, had died Wednesday morning at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. She was 90.
Cunningham's goal with the Fannie Farmer Cookbook and her culinary classes was to demystify cooking, according to the SF Chronicle. Her story should also be an inspiration to any of us who wonder if it is ever possible to reinvent one's life. She didn't enter professional cooking until she was 50. Before that she had been a housewife, cooking meals in her Walnut Creek ranch house. She was also a recovering alcoholic and agoraphobic.
She championed home cooking long before Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart, became a mentor to many of the nation's food giants, published seven more books and hosted a TV show on the Food Network. One of her "discoveries," Alice Waters, told the Chronicle: "Marion never thought cooking was a lofty activity. She was plainspoken and warm and that unpretentiousness shone through in her approach to food."
This weekend's project: Make cornmeal pancakes with salsa verde.
2 comments:
How cool you have a signed Fannie Farmer. Try the pumpkin bread recipe. It's the only way my son will eat pumpkin. He loves it.
I had a duh moment the other day when I read that she had died, and that was that she lived here in our town! My husband actually met her when he worked for Williams Sonoma. I don't have her book, but I think I need to get it now. That is so great that you have a signed copy. The only one I have is from Alice Waters when I met her.
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