Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins: A Memoir with Recipes

by Ellen Sweets, Lou Dubose (Foreword by)

Overview

You probably knew Molly Ivins as an unabashed civil libertarian who used her rapier wit and good ole Texas horse sense to excoriate political figures she deemed unworthy of our trust and respect. But did you also know that Molly was one helluva cook? And we're not just talking chili and chicken-fried steak, either. Molly Ivins honed her culinary skills on visits to France—often returning with perfected techniques for saumon en papillote or delectable clafouti aux cerises. Friends who had the privilege of sharing Molly's table got not only a heaping helping of her insights into the political shenanigans of the day, but also a mouth-watering meal, prepared from scratch with the finest ingredients and assembled with the same meticulous attention to detail that Molly devoted to skewering a political recalcitrant.

In Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins, her longtime friend, fellow reporter, and frequent sous-chef Ellen Sweets takes us into the kitchen with Molly and introduces us to the private woman behind the public figure. She serves up her own and others' favorite stories about Ivins as she recalls the fabulous meals they shared, complete with recipes for thirty-five of Molly's signature dishes. These stories reveal a woman who was even more fascinating and complex than the "professional Texan" she enjoyed playing in public. Friends who ate with Molly knew a cultured woman who was a fluent French speaker, voracious reader, rugged outdoors aficionado, music lover, loyal and loving friend, and surrogate mom to many of her friends' children, as well as to her super-spoiled poodle. They also came to revere the courageous woman who refused to let cancer stop her from doing what she wanted, when she wanted. This is the Molly you'll be delighted to meet in Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292738744
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	02/24/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

A reporter whose beat has included everything from fires, fights, and homicides to features and food writing, Ellen Sweets began her career at her father's black weekly newspaper, the St. Louis American. She has reported for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dallas Morning News, Denver Post, Austin American-Statesman, Edible Austin, and Texas Co-Op Power. Her many honors include the James Beard Foundation Award for best food section.

Table of Contents

• Foreword by Lou Dubose
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Meeting Molly
• 2. Dining In, Dining Out
• 3. Who, Me? No Way!
• 4. Meeting Multiple Mollies
• 5. The Molly Too Few Knew
• 6. Are You Feeling Chili?
• 7. Julia Child Meets Chicken-fried Steak
• 8. Mise en Place
• 9. Food in the 'Hood
• 10. Vive la France!
• 11. Gumbo Daze
• 12. We Get By with a Little Help from Our Friends
• 13. Wine, Women, and Song
• 14. Steel Magnolias, Texas Style
• 15. Dinner—A Family Affair
• 16. Managing Molly
• 17. Everything Is Relative(s)
• 18. Westward Ho, Ho, Ho
• 19. Le Petit Dejeuner
• 20. Home Cookin'
• 21. Food Stamps and Fun on the Dole
• 22. Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler, Y'all
• 23. The Minnesota Dead Guy
• 24. You Gonna Eat That?
• 25. Thank God It's Friday
• 26. The Great Leonard Pitts-less Dinner
• 27. Plans? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Plans
• 28. . . . and a Partridge in a Bean Stew
• 29. Bienvenidos a Tejas, Comrades
• 30. Oeufs à la Neige
• 31. Table That Emotion
• 32. The Observer's Observant Observer
• 33. Salmon on the Fly
• 34. Burnt Offerings
• 35. Dinner and the Dancing Tampon
• 36. Biscuits, Anyone?
• 37. Without Hope, All Is Lost
• 38. Let's Diversify This Popsicle Stand
• 39. Talking Turkey
• 40. Bacon Has Calories?
• 41. Colorado Adopts Molly
• 42. The Last River Run
• 43. The Beginning of the End
• 44. Adieu and Adios
• Epilogue: Gentle Chicken Soup
• Index of Recipes
• General Index

Editorial Reviews

Sweets is an engaging writer, and the book bursts with personality and humor. . . . As a portrait of a friendship, Stirring It Up is a poignant work that travels beyond the public view of a writer’s life.

Columbia Journalism Review

A rendering of a deep and lasting friendship, painted with dozens of anecdotes about Sweets and Ivins and their rollicking adventures in cooking and eating, including dropping gumbo on the floor before later serving it to assembled guests.

Denver Post

A whiz with a whisk and French cuisine connoisseur, Ms. Ivins honed her skills as the consummate dinner-party host. Ms. Sweets’s anecdotes about the cast of characters who roundtabled Ms. Ivins’s home are as satisfying as the Texas pistol’s concoctions.

Wall Street Journal

Sweets is an engaging writer, and the book bursts with personality and humor. . . . As a portrait of a friendship, Stirring It Up is a poignant work that travels beyond the public view of a writer’s life.

Columbia Journalism Review

A whiz with a whisk and French cuisine connoisseur, Ms. Ivins honed her skills as the consummate dinner-party host. Ms. Sweets’s anecdotes about the cast of characters who roundtabled Ms. Ivins’s home are as satisfying as the Texas pistol’s concoctions.

Wall Street Journal

Knowing Miz Molly . . . in the kitchen, at the supermarket and grocery store, and around the dining room and restaurant table is a great way to reflect on who Molly Ivins was, how profoundly and amusingly she thought, and the enormous amount she had to contribute to our understanding of Texas and national politics.

Huffington Post