Friday, February 10, 2017

Book Review - But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria

Julia Reed is a hoot. Her book But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria is subtitled Adventures in Eating, Drinking, and Making Merry. She covers the gamut along with recipes and travel tales. And Reed’s indelible Mississippi Delta childhood provides a strong foundation for her sassy stories.  The title derives from a real life friend’s mother, and only serves to give a sampling of some culinary adventures. She will make you hunger for food from Madrid to Paris to Kabul (from back in the day as a reporter). Some of the highlights of the book come from her own Southern garden and its bounty.

Come along to some fabulous parties. From the back cover: Shindigs range from sultry summer suppers and raucous dinners at home to a Plymouth-like Thanksgiving feast, and an upscale St. Patrick’s Day celebration. This delightful collection of essays by Julia Reed, a master storyteller with an inimitable voice and a limitless capacity for fun, will show you how to entertain guests with style, have a good time yourself, and always have that perfect pitcher of sangria ready at a moment’s notice.


I loved this book and appreciated that it was given to me by a friend who was born in Mississippi and knew Julia Reed from school days. I can’t wait to get together with her and hear some more. Meanwhile, pour a tall glass of lemonade or sangria, plop yourself in a lounge chair, and prepare to laugh. But Mama Always Put Vodka in Her Sangria is lighthearted, witty, and sunshine on a cloudy day. This book made a flight of three hours zoom by in no time. Now that’s a fun read. 

12 comments:

  1. Sound like a great book, albiet the title being a little weird.

    Yvonne.

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    1. you have to say it in your head with a southern accent....then it all makes sense!

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  2. You know it is good when time flies on by

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  3. Sounds terrific! I'll go check it out on Amazon. Thanks for the heads up, because I don't (cough!) have any (cough!) books at all to read... (cough! cough!)

    Have a super weekend. Oh yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed your book, too. (I'm SURE you'd love MY cats... HA!)

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    1. You will like her humor. Glad you enjoy mine. And your cats would LOVE me!!

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  4. Sounds like a book you need to eat snacks with! I've never had sangria - must give it a try one day.

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    1. C'mon to TX and sit on our patio. We will pour sangria and have chips and salsa. Plus a summer swim. Peter needs a DFW tour!!

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  5. Oh, this sounds great! Thanks for the review. :)

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    1. It is a cheery book to brighten your winter days

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