Now in her 80s, writer Angelou, a food lover who has struggled with weight and health concerns, learned the value of portion control. In this cookbook, she recommends eating great food (no calorie counting) in small portions all day long. Her recipes come from childhood and from her travels and include reworked concoctions influenced and inspired by other cookbooks she loves. Angelou breaks the rules of what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with recipes for meals to eat any time of the day. The emphasis is on food so flavorful that whenever it is eaten, it is savored and so satisfying that small portions are enough. Among the recipes for creamy pork hash, chicken tetrazzini, Swedish hash, and oxtail stew are recollections from her life and commentary on acquired tastes and eating beyond physical fullness. In addition to the meat dishes are sections for vegetarians and recipes for soups and desserts. Gorgeous illustrations and extended commentary add to the appeal of this book. --Vanessa Bush
Review_Praise for Maya Angelou’s Hallelujah! The Welcome Table_
“A tour-de-force collaboration of two of Angelou’s major passions—writing and cooking . . . She also shares the poignant, pithy and sometimes hilarious memories that accompany each dish.”
—Ebony
“Poet and literary legend Maya Angelou is as mighty with her spoon and spatula as she is with her world-renowned pen.”
_—Chicago Sun-Times
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“Serious comfort food . . . The poet’s life [is] laid out like a colorful banquet. . . . Meals serve as metaphors for life experience.”
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“The life of the poet-autobiographer . . . comes even more alive through plumes of aromas, a palette of flavors and a recipe box of memories.”
_—Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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“Each recipe is thoughtfully conceived and made even more enticing by the personal history attached to it. . . . The result is as divine as the woman herself, full of flavor, passion and hard work.”
—Oakland Tribune
“[Readers] will find not only a wealth of dishes . . . but a close-up, personal glimpse of a compelling writer and her family.”
—New York Daily News
“Written in the exuberant tone of an impromptu dinner gathering.”
_—Newsweek
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