In addition to cooking from them, I have read them in the bathtub. I have read them in the throes of depression and while recovering from migraines, just well enough to read but not well enough to do anything else. It is hard to encapsulate the wonders of these books. Colwin's style is pithy, not sparse or minimalist but warm, generous and unassuming. There are two essays devoted to gingerbread, my favorite dessert.
Every word is a charm.
When I read of her death in the pages of Gourmet several years ago, I felt I had lost a good friend. Fortunately, for those of us who remain, her books live on. I am over the moon about this book. Nigel Slater is the food correspondent at The Observer and the author of five other cookbooks. I can't say that I look forward to bad weather, but I can say that a cold, sleety night is made better by the prospect of coming home and opening this book.