1.
Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious.
Ruth Reichl
2.
A thousand years ago the Chinese had an entirely codified kitchen while the French were still gnawing on bones. Chopsticks have been around since the fourth century B.C. Forks didn't show up in England until 1611, and even then they weren't meant for eating but just to hold the meat still while you hacked at it with your knife.
Ruth Reichl
3.
Plain fresh bread, its crust shatteringly crisp. Sweet cold butter. There is magic in the way they come together in your mouth to make a single perfect bite.
Ruth Reichl
4.
One of the secrets to staying young is to always do things you don't know how to do, to keep learning.
Ruth Reichl
5.
...it was so rich and exotic I was seduced into taking one bite and then another as I tried to chase the flavors back to their source.
Ruth Reichl
6.
Anyone who thinks they're too grown up or too sophisticated to eat caramel corn, is not invited to my house for dinner
Ruth Reichl
7.
...in the end you are the only one who can make yourself happy. More important, ...it is never too late to find out how to do it.
Ruth Reichl
8.
She was a great cook, but she cooked more for herself than for other people, not because she was hungry but because she was comforted by the rituals of the kitchen.
Ruth Reichl
9.
It is not 'only' food, I said heatedly. There's meaning hidden underneath each dish.
Ruth Reichl
10.
The strands of spaghetti were vital, almost alive in my mouth, and the olive oil was singing with flavor. It was hard to imagine that four simple ingredients [olive oil, pasta, garlic and cheese] could marry so perfectly.
Ruth Reichl
11.
The single most useful ingredient on the planet. In a pinch you can scramble them and call it dinner. But it only takes five eggs, a little milk and a handful of cheese to make a fat, sassy cheese soufflé.
Ruth Reichl
12.
Life is so endlessly delicious
Ruth Reichl
13.
I had done this. I had pulled my life apart. I would never, ever be safe again.
Ruth Reichl
14.
Growing up, I was utterly oblivious to the fact that Mom was teaching me all that. But I was instantly aware of her final lesson, which was hidden in her notes and leters. As I read them I began to understand that in the end you are the only one who can make yourself happy. More important, Mom showed me that it is never too late to find out how to do it.
Ruth Reichl
15.
I felt that I was really living in the moment. I did not know where my life was going, but right now the future did not trouble me.
Ruth Reichl
16.
When a person has lived generously and fought fiercely, she deserves more than sadness at the end.
Ruth Reichl
17.
When people flatter you constantly it is very tempting to think you deserve it.
Ruth Reichl
