Intro -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Introduction: The Secret Life of Recipes -- The public life of recipes -- Chapter 1: "First, Turn and Face the Stove.": The Recipe as an Instruction Guide -- Recipe, Casual Rigor -- Recipe Format -- Name -- Preliminaries: yield, prep time, headnote -- The headnote -- The recipe itself -- The Basic Recipe: Chicken Stock -- Variations: Matters of Taste and Therapeutics -- Mini cooking lessons: cooking skills and techniques -- The recipe wrap-up -- Illustrations -- What a Recipe Leaves Out: Discussions of Economy, Nutrition, Equipment and How to Use It -- Economy -- Nutrition -- Equipment and how to use it -- Recipes Live. The transmission of recipes from professional chefs to home kitchens -- Performances -- Behind the scenes -- Chapter 2: "You say tomato, I say tomahto.": The Recipe as Conversation -- Recipes Speak in Many Languages -- Cross-cultural food dialogue -- The Recipe Conversation: Different Stories, Different Tastes -- The individual voice -- The culinary character -- Nurturers and cheerleaders -- Collaborative conversation -- Stories -- Literary qualities, themes -- Reader collaboration -- No-Recipe Recipes -- Salads, especially Green -- Laborers' stories that recipes don't tell -- Simple crêpes stories -- Gabrielle Hamilton: casual cooking, communal eating -- Julia Child: a crêpe for all seasons -- Dorie Greenspan: a stroll through Paris -- Jacques Pepin: rhubarb in the garden, a cautionary tale -- Deb Perelman: a crepe party! -- Unseen participants in the recipe's creation -- Chapter 3: A Taste of Home: The Recipe for Comfort Cooking in Tough Times -- Recipes for survival and sustenance -- History -- Stability, sense of place -- Survival -- What is comfort food? -- Recipes for comfort food -- Mac & -- cheese, the elemental comfort food.

Variations on the basic recipe -- Improvisatory, no-recipe recipes for (almost) anything -- The Enduring Hug -- Chapter 4: Joys of Cooking-and Eating: The Great American Thanksgiving Celebration Recipe -- Celebrations and Food -- History and values -- The meal itself -- The social dynamics -- The classic Thanksgiving celebration looks like this -- Where and when -- Guests -- Host -- Menu -- Expectations -- Food fest -- Turkey -- Turkey deliberations -- How big? How to cook? -- Stuffing/Dressing -- Gravy -- Mashed (white) potatoes -- Sweet potatoes -- Green Bean Casserole -- Cranberry sauce -- Other sides -- Pie -- Thanksgiving sandwich -- What exactly are we celebrating? -- Chapter 5: "Please, sir, I want some more.": The Recipe as a Manifestation of Power, Politics, Poverty, and Punishment -- Hunger -- Food security -- Food insufficiency -- Feeding the poor -- The Food Itself -- International -- United States -- The Recipe: Porridge -- The world of porridge recipes -- Enhancements -- Oatmeal -- Congee -- Ugali -- Chapter 6: Play With Your Food, the Recipe as Jazz -- Why do we love chocolate? -- Chocolate at play in American culture -- Versatility -- Chocolate celebrations -- Holidays -- Other celebration days -- Playfulness -- Matters of Life and Death by Chocolate -- "Death by Chocolate" and other favorite games -- Actual death-and desperate life-by chocolate -- Life by chocolate diplomacy -- Cookbooks -- Cookbooks at work -- Cookbooks at play -- The language of chocolate -- Recipes at play -- Molten Chocolate Cake -- Overview -- Origin -- Status -- Ingredients -- Preparation -- Yield -- Lagniappe: The Best Blueberry Pie -- The Step-by-Step Recipe -- Acknowledgments -- Bibliography -- Index.