An Omnivore’s Memoir by Elsi Vassdal Ellis

Inside the oversized kitchen utensil drawer organizer, the reader enters the ordered world normally reserved for silverware but instead filled with artifacts revealing a selection of one omnivore’s life experiences expressed through sentimental and not so sentimental recollections of sixty-one years of eating. The reader may help set the table by putting on the apron, the homage to the generation that accepted (at least on the surface) the transformation of the wedding veil into an apron. You will also find a matching placemat. Coasters may be strategically placed to project tables while at the same time fill awkward silences with a eater-eating game. The various “menus” are not simply the revelations of memories of food and eating. They are about the connections made between food, settings (both geographic and at the table), and time. It is about enjoying a glass of cold root beer even though it is forever linked to the death of a teenage friend to leukemia. It is about being a first generation American, blending Norwegian traditions in the American scene with the addition of turkey to the table, my mother’s killer gravy and formative years with the Midwest “white.” It is about remembering my father each time I enjoy a fig or pomegranate or papaya. It is the darkness of a ten week NO diet for acute pancreatitis. It is about turning 21 in Paris with a group of strangers while being wined and dined with authentic French food.  It is about eating to live with a little living to eat. Bon appétit! This boxed collection includes: an apron, placemat and table tent; eight books, pamphlets and menus; 143 recipes on folded cards divided into courses; 28 "We All Must Eat Something" species coaster cards; and 28 "You Are What You Eat" coaster cards. Presented in an oversized kitchen utensil drawer organizer.