Laurel's Kitchen

''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, whose influence led to her interest in vegetarianism. 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.''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 called “Laurel’s Kitchen” for a number of years.

In 1978, ''Yoga Journal'' contained two reviews of ''Laurel's Kitchen'', by different authors. In 1994, the ''Vegetarian Times'', 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 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. (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'' (Spokane, WA),Carol Flinders (March 5, 1980).
"Notes from Laurel's Kitchen" (March 5, 1980)
''The Spokesman-Review'' (accessed 24 October 2012) and ''The Register-Guard'' (Eugene, OR).Carol Flinders (Sep. 30, 1980)
"Notes from Laurel's Kitchen" (Sep. 30, 1980)
''The Register-Guard'' (accessed 24 October 2012)

See also

*List of vegan and plant-based media

References

External links

Vegetarian cookbooks
1976 non-fiction books
1986 non-fiction books
American cookbooks

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