Hallelujah! The Welcome Table

A Lifetime of Memories with Recipes

By: Maya Angelou

Narrated by: Maya Angelou

Throughout Maya Angelou’s life, from her childhood in Stamps, Arkansas, to her world travels as a bestselling writer, good food has played a central role. Preparing and enjoying homemade meals provides a sense of purpose and calm, accomplishment and connection. Now in Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, Angelou shares memories pithy and poignant—and the recipes that helped to make them both indelible and irreplaceable.

Angelou tells us about the time she was expelled from school for being afraid to speak—and her mother baked a delicious maple cake to brighten her spirits. She gives us her recipe for short ribs along with a story about a job she had as a cook at a Creole restaurant (never mind that she didn’t know how to cook and had no idea what Creole food might entail). There was the time in London when she attended a wretched dinner party full of wretched people; but all wasn’t lost—she did experience her initial taste of a savory onion tart. She recounts her very first night in her new home in Sonoma, California, when she invited M. F. K. Fisher over for cassoulet, and the evening Deca Mitford roasted a chicken when she was beyond tipsy—and created Chicken Drunkard Style. And then there was the hearty brunch Angelou made for a homesick Southerner, a meal that earned her both a job offer and a prophetic compliment: “If you can write half as good as you can cook, you are going to be famous.”

Maya Angelou is renowned in her wide and generous circle of friends as a marvelous chef. Her kitchen is a social center. From fried meat pies, chicken livers, and beef Wellington to caramel cake, bread pudding, and chocolate éclairs, the one hundred-plus recipes included here are all tried and true, and come from Angelou’s heart and her home. Hallelujah! The Welcome Table is a stunning collaboration between the two things Angelou loves best: writing and cooking.©2004 Maya Angelou; (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"With the same sweet, strong voice she uses in her award-winning poetry and best-selling books, Maya Angelou now turns to a favorite and long enduring passion--food...In HALLELUJAH! she kneads together wonderfully re-created recollections from throughout her life with the foods that made them memorable. We taste the crackling cornbread warm from her grandmother's oven, feel her pride as she roasts a turkey and makes cornbread stuffing for a group of scholars in an Italian villa and laugh when she recounts a tale of pot roast and Brillo pads." -Chicago Daily Herald

This book will make you smile.

And make you hungry lol. Mother Maya never disappoints. This is a must read or listen. can't beat hearing it in her words.

excellent

I am a fan is Maya Angelou and this book did not disappoint. Excellent Book

Laughter that tastes so good!

I absolutely loved this book. With each dish you felt you were there, the characters took such life, felt so familiar, like home! Important lesson where learned. Many times a familiar "uhum", an agreement with what was heard. A whole array of emotions tickled my being! Some stories got me laughing in stitches! It was a pleasant gift to hear this audiobook!

A Delicious Favorite

Maya's writing has always satisfied my soul in more ways than I can express, and this delicious dish of food and stories wins again with me. Enjoy the offerings.

I love listening to her!

This is a warm, wonderful collection of short stores from Maya Angelou's life. It's like listening to my grandparents' old stories. I love it! And the recipes sound delicious!
The audio book description says: "the 100-plus recipes included here are all tried and true, and come from Angelou's heart and her home... PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio."
My PDF only had 5 recipes in it. Were there supposed to be more? I wish I had them all!