Home Cookin with Daves Mom

The recipes here, clearly presented (and some photographed) as the real thing for down-home Midwest cooking, are, in my opinion, not the most valuable feature of this book. After all, literally many hundreds of other cookbooks are available. This cookbook reminds me of Lance Armstrong's book, It's Not About the Bike. In other words, Dave's mom's book is, in my opinion, not mainly about the recipes. Instead, its primary value is that it opens a wonderful window on a charmingly (almost angelically) gracious woman, her children and husband, her beautifully wholesome, decent values, and the Indiana town in which David Letterman was fortunate to have been raised. Some of the photos could almost be Norman Rockwell paintings -- innocent, smiling faces, a delightful come-on-in kitchen with family photos on the refrigerator door. In short, Dave's mom, Dorothy, shows us how we might wish every kid could grow up, and (sort of, if you leave out some sugar and white flour here and there) how every kid should be able to eat in a near-ideal world. Photos of five-year-old Dave and his older sister, photos of Dave's mother as a beautiful child and radiant young mom, photos of Dave playing baseball in grade school -- these along with his mom's innocent and wholesome comments, are alone worth the price of the book. I loved this book partly because my wife and I spent a few years in Dave's part of the US, and partly because my Utah-farm mom and Oklahoma-farm dad raised me and my sister in a similar modest house with similar home cookin' made from similar recipes. This book will have you wanting to make Dave's mom's meatloaf and cherry pie, so you and your family can dig into it while nostalgically placing yourselves in the clean-cut, simpler times in the small-town America we are in danger of permanently losing.

What makes this cookbook so nice is that David Letterman's mother is a real down to earth person. Her recipes and those she collected for the book are simple. Dorothy is a cutie and adds little anecdotes and stories from her own childhood as well as when David was growing up. It's homespun fun and a joy to read!

I got this book for the "Letterman Factor," but was pleasantly surprised with the content. I love her chatty descriptions and background of each dish - including the skepticism about some of the dishes submitted by the "Late Night" staff. I feel the grandmotherly advice coming through in each recipe. I wish my Grandmother had put some of her favorites down in a cookbook! I can't wait to try them all!

It's simply fun, interesting and filled with recipes collected over a lifetime by a woman who loves to cook good thngs for her family. I haven't tried everything, but my husband begs for th "French Lemon Bars." They are to die for. The pie crust is fabulous even if a little hard to work with. Baby food mufins are yummy fresh out of the oven. The Hot Chicken Salad is fabulous and the Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles is a little work to make, but the results are worth it. Tomato Celery Soup is good, but 1/2 t pepper is plenty enough. Didn't like the stuffing or the Spinach Casserole. Worth the price for the Lemon Bars alone.

"Home Cookin' with Dave's Mom" does more than just give the reader a wonderful assortment of American-style recipes.....it allows us to get a glimpse into the growing up years of one of the funniest and innovative broadcasters in television history. Between the list of ingrediants for "Awesome Orange Chocolate Muffins" and the mouth-watering picture of homemade strawberry pie, you will find pictures of Dave and his sisters as they grew up in Indiana. Sprinkled in with these rare pictures are Dorothy's own memories of watching her children and her grandchildren grow.This book is well-worth the money for any Letterman fan, or any fan of Americana. Well done!