Always Home: A Daughter's Recipes & Stories (hardcover)

In 1992, Chez Panisse chef Alice Waters told the story of her daughter's life in the enchanting children's book Fanny at Chez Panisse. Now Fanny Singer tells her own story, intimately interwoven with that of her famous mother, in this captivating book.

Short, evocative chapters capture the relationship between the two women: affectionate, complex, forthright. And as Fanny tells her stories of growing into her own person, we see her understanding of her mother evolve, even as Alice is herself continuing to grow as a person. In settings as diverse as the kitchen in Waters' Berkeley home, a farm in Sonoma County, Domaine Tempier in Provence, a market in Oaxaca, and Cambridge in England, Singer paints deft portraits of her mother and herself, along with the host of other people integral to their lives together. Beautiful photographs throughout the book capture the two women in their recent lives.

Many chapters conclude with a relevant recipe, usually calling for the simplest, freshest ingredients, as one would expect in the Chez Panisse tradition. The food is not grand, but carries with it the promise of being very, very good: a garlicky noodle soup; grilled mussels, deconstructed Niçoise salad; sweet potatoes with lime and cilantro; fruit galette.

If you need a heartwarming and welcome distraction, Always Home will be there for you.

Hardcover. Black-and-white photographs throughout.