Cuttyhunk: Life on the Rock
Island living takes a certain sort of person, and acclaimed poet Margo Solod quickly discovers, much to her skeptical surprise, that she is exactly that sort. No matter how many winters she would spend on Cuttyhunk she'd never be considered an islander, but during the years she spent running The Allen House restaurant with her sister Nina, Margo becomes as close as anyone not born on the island could. Life on the Rock is essentially a love story, the kind that, like the best love, comes complete with recipes. The kind of love story that encompasses a barefoot Jackie Kennedy; Gertrude, a bloody 378-lb swordfish kept on ice in a bathtub; Jesse-the-dog and Tom-the-cat-not-to-be-trifled-with; and any number of ways to cook a lobster. Electricity, she writes, is a "constant variable", but, for the reader of this memoir, entertainment is a constant. --Carolyn OgburnMargo Solod's Cuttyhunk Life on the Rock contains a suite of galvanizing stories from her 15 years as staffer, innkeeper and cook of the Allen House, Cuttyhunk's finest (and only) inn. The book includes how-tos on painting, remodeling, building, staffing, running an ever-expanding kitchen and, tucked in among the narratives, ambrosial recipes for Allen House specialties like blueberry cobbler and clams casino, French silk pie and swordfish sauce and the spectacular Chocolate Bittersweet Bourbon Cake. --Wendy Taylor CarlisleVivid, colorful, and touching, Solod gives us hilarious insight on the enormous challenges of running a restaurant and inn on an isolated and very special island called Cuttyhunk. Plus recipes!! Well worth the reading and cooking time. --Jan ScalisiMargo Solod's Cuttyhunk Life on the Rock contains a suite of galvanizing stories from her 15 years as staffer, innkeeper and cook of the Allen House, Cuttyhunk's finest (and only) inn. The book includes how-tos on painting, remodeling, building, staffing, running an ever-expanding kitchen and, tucked in among the narratives, ambrosial recipes for Allen House specialties like blueberry cobbler and clams casino, French silk pie and swordfish sauce and the spectacular Chocolate Bittersweet Bourbon Cake. --Wendy Taylor CarlisleVivid, colorful, and touching, Solod gives us hilarious insight on the enormous challenges of running a restaurant and inn on an isolated and very special island called Cuttyhunk. Plus recipes!! Well worth the reading and cooking time. --Jan Scalisi