Hidden Kitchens: Stories, Recipes, and More from Npr's the Kitchen Sisters

Recipes pepper Hidden Kitchens: Stories, Recipes, and More from NPR's The Kitchen Sisters, but Hidden Kitchens is more than just the chronicle of the beloved National Public Radio Morning Edition series. As part of the Hidden Kitchen project, two women called The Kitchen Sisters put forth an NPR hotline and asked listeners, "What food traditions are disappearing from your life? Who glues your community together through food? What should be captured and documented before it disappears or changes beyond recognition?" The response came like an avalanche. Hundreds of humorous, profound, wistful, and heart-rending true stories were submitted; the best of them are presented in Hidden Kitchens, along with recipes, color photographs, and illustrations. From food in the galleys of Great Lakes ships to a secret civil rights kitchen in Montgomery, Alabama, the stories Hidden Kitchens all have in common the zest to create great food, and through taste, help human beings connect with one another. Highly recommended.

The book arrived fast and in excellent condition, but many of the recipes weren't that interesting, better to check out Clementine Paddleford's classic book How America Eats !

This is definitely a cookbook worth owning. And great for gift giving. Janet Sue Terry author of "A Rich, Deliciously Satisfying, Collection of Breakfast Recipes".

Someone has said that a kitchen is the heart of a home - it's certainly the heart of this delightful audio book splendidly read by Academy Award winning actress Frances McDormand. Few who saw "Fargo" will forget her command of the screen; few who listen to "Hidden Kitchens" will not be enchanted by her command of the stories, whether they're funny, moving or absurd. Renowned chef Alice Waters contributes a special commentary in which she notes: "The curious and wonderful thing about the stories in this book is how much they resemble good things to eat. They can be surprising and they can be reassuringly familiar and they can be comforting and they can be outrageous." How true! The audio is taken in part from NPR's Hidden Kitchen Hotline, which hundreds of listeners have called with a plethora of messages regarding recipes, kitchen happenings, and cooking successes and failures. There is also a good deal of new material which Nelson and Silva have gathered from a variety of sources. Listeners will be amazed to hear of the doings in a San Francisco cab yard, or by the lakes of Minnesota, or in a NASCAR kitchen paralleling a race track. And, there's more. "Hidden Kitchens" is pure delight. - Gail Cooke

Because you're going to want to take off immediately for a trip that will cram in as many Hidden Kitchens as possible. A fantastic idea, thoughtfully and intelligently written. I loved it!