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''Laurel's Kitchen'' is a vegetarian cookbook by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Bronwen Godfrey that contributed to the rise of the vegetarian movement of the 1970s. It is also the name of Flinder's syndicated news column that she wrote for many years.


Background and influence

Carol Lee Flinders was a student of
Eknath Easwaran Eknath Easwaran (December 17, 1910 October 26, 1999) was an Indian-born spiritual teacher, author and translator and interpreter of Indian religious texts such as the ''Bhagavad Gita'' and the Upanishads. Easwaran was a professor of English li ...
, whose influence led to her interest in
vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
. She created the vegetarian cookbook ''Laurel's Kitchen'' (1976), with a few of his other students, Laurel Robertson and Bronwen Godfrey. ''Laurel's Kitchen'' had a strong impact on the natural foods movement within the
American counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
.''Megan J. Elias (2008)
Stir it up: home economics in American culture
'. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. . (NB: ''Laurel's Kitchen'' is discussed in pp. 152-160)
A second edition, ''The New Laurel's Kitchen'', was published in 1986. It had the same subtitle and the same first two authors, and Brian Ruppenthal was the new third author. The book has sold over a million copies. ''Laurel's Kitchen'' contained extensive nutritional information from a scientific point of view, and sold more than a million copies.Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, & Brian Ruppenthal (1986). ''The new Laurel's kitchen''. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press. . The 1986 edition is dedicated to "our teacher, Eknath Easwaran" (p. 13), and the back cover states "over a million copies sold" (see lin

. In an introduction to the 1986 edition, Carol Lee Flinders, Flinders wrote of "the collection of friends who helped produce ''Laurel's Kitchen'' ten years ago", that "we share a commitment to meditation" (p. 20).
Flinders also wrote a weekly
syndicated column A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...
called “Laurel’s Kitchen” for a number of years. In 1978, ''
Yoga Journal ''Yoga Journal'' is a website and digital journal, formerly a print magazine, on yoga as exercise founded in California in 1975 with the goal of combining the essence of traditional yoga with scientific understanding. It has produced live events ...
'' contained two reviews of ''Laurel's Kitchen'', by different authors. In 1994, the ''
Vegetarian Times ''Vegetarian Times'' is an American publication focused on food, culture, health and lifestyle for vegetarians, vegans, and all people interested in plant-based eating. ''Vegetarian Times'' promotes an eco-friendly lifestyle with recipes, and he ...
'', a leading magazine for vegetarians, surveyed the most admired cookbooks among a "panel of cookbook authors, food editors, and chefs." ''The New Laurel's Kitchen'' was the "clear winner" for "best cookbook for beginners" (p. 107).


Scholarship

A book by Megan Elias (2008), published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, devoted 9 pages to analyzing the book and its place in American culture, contending that "''Laurel's Kitchen'' was as much a lifestyle guide as it was a cookbook" (p. 153).''Megan J. Elias (2008)
Stir it up: home economics in American culture
'. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. . (NB: ''Laurel's Kitchen'' is discussed in pp. 152-160)
A scholarly review stated that Elias "gives the renowned countercultural cookbook ''Laurel’s Kitchen'' its proper due in American history.... she sees Laurel Robertson and her comrades Carol Flinders and Bronwyn Godfrey struggling, in an intelligent and heartfelt way, against the manipulations of the market, which devalued nutritious food, meaningful domestic labor, and communal connections" (p. 417). A scholarly book by Mary Drake McFeely (2001) also spent several pages discussing ''Laurel's Kitchen'', which it described as "the
Fannie Farmer Fannie Merritt Farmer (23 March 1857 – 16 January 1915) was an American culinary expert whose '' Boston Cooking-School Cook Book'' became a widely used culinary text. Education Fannie Farmer was born on 23 March 1857 in Boston, Massachusetts, ...
of vegetarian cooking" (p. 142).Mary Drake McFeely (2001)
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?: American Women and the Kitchen in the Twentieth Century
Amherst, MA:
University of Massachusetts Press The University of Massachusetts Press is a university press that is part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The press was founded in 1963, publishing scholarly books and non-fiction. The press imprint is overseen by an interdisciplinar ...
. (NB: ''Laurel's Kitchen'' is discussed in pp. 141-145)


Bibliography


Cookbooks

* Laurel Robertson, Carol Lee Flinders, and Bronwen Godfrey (1976). ''Laurel's Kitchen: a handbook for vegetarian cookery & nutrition''. Berkeley, CA: Nilgiri Press. * Laurel Robertson, Carol Lee Flinders, and Bronwen Godfrey (1978). ''Laurel's Kitchen: a handbook for vegetarian cookery & nutrition''. New York: Bantam Books. * Laurel Robertson, Carol Lee Flinders, and Bronwen Godfrey (1979). ''Laurel's Kitchen: a handbook for vegetarian cookery & nutrition''. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. * Laurel Robertson, Carol Lee Flinders, Bronwen Godfrey (1984). ''The Laurel's Kitchen bread book: a guide to whole-grain breadmaking''. Random House. * Laurel Robertson, Carol Lee Flinders, and Brian Ruppenthal (1986). ''The New Laurel's Kitchen: a handbook for vegetarian cookery & nutrition''. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press. * Laurel Robertson, Carol Lee Flinders, Brian Ruppenthal (1993, revised edition). ''Laurel's Kitchen recipes''. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press. * Laurel Robertson, Carol Lee Flinders, Brian Ruppenthal (1997). ''Laurel's Kitchen caring: recipes for everyday home caregiving''. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.


Laurel's Kitchen syndicated column

Flinders published the syndicated newspaper column based on her cookbook, ''Laurel's Kitchen'' for many years. In 1987 it appeared in 20 newspapers. The column was published in a number of newspapers including ''
The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...
'' (Spokane, WA),Carol Flinders (March 5, 1980).
"Notes from Laurel's Kitchen" (March 5, 1980)
''
The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...
'' (accessed 24 October 2012)
and ''
The Register-Guard ''The Register-Guard'' is a daily newspaper in the northwestern United States, published in Eugene, Oregon. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the ''Eugene Daily Guard'' and the ''Morning Register''. The paper serves the Eugene ...
'' (Eugene, OR).Carol Flinders (Sep. 30, 1980)
"Notes from Laurel's Kitchen" (Sep. 30, 1980)
''
The Register-Guard ''The Register-Guard'' is a daily newspaper in the northwestern United States, published in Eugene, Oregon. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the ''Eugene Daily Guard'' and the ''Morning Register''. The paper serves the Eugene ...
'' (accessed 24 October 2012)


See also

*
List of vegan and plant-based media This list contains media that discuss the intersection of veganism and/or a plant-based diet with nutrition, health, ethics, and environmentalism/climate change. Books Documentary films Misc Cooking shows *'' Pamela's Cooking with Lov ...


References


External links

Vegetarian cookbooks 1976 non-fiction books 1986 non-fiction books American cookbooks {{food-book-stub