A few culinary reading suggestions:

Eating together : recipes & recollections / by Lillian Hellman and Peter S. Feibleman

Commentary on and recipes for food from all over Europe and the States, with particular focus on New Orleans. Tells how to make the perfect soft-boiled egg and articulates the difference between Cajun and Creole cuisines. Snarky Lillian Hellman and her writer pal collaborated on this.

Tender at the bone : growing up at the table and Comfort me with apples : more adventures at the table, both by Ruth Reichel. Have just begun the first of these, and it reads like a novel. Very nice.