Red Velvet Underground: A Rock Memoir, with Recipes

Was listening to the CD by her new band, Sunshine Boys - and. between books, decided to give this a read. Glad I did. OK, I am a bit fan of the Blake Babies, but also of Mysteries of Life, the Vulgar Boatmen (both those bands get barely a mention in the book), ex-boyfriend from HS and fellow band member John Strohm (and his too cool dad!), Julianne Hatfield, and The Lemonheads. And yes, have the Antenna albums as well.Although brought up there, and returned there later for the Mysteries and a later in life college degree, not much about Bloomington, IN.A little confusion at first if in the scene she is describing Jonah in his senior year in HS, or home from school after his first year at the U of IL - UC. But that clears up quickly.She did not have the usual life - HS, college, career. And that she and her husband, Jake Smith, were able to pull it together and go on to a career in academia says a lot about them. He is now a tenured prof at Northwestern (after having to spend 4 years at a minor university in England to get established - the only job open to him after his doctorate), and she is on the faculty as well. Still, she honestly talks about how they are about to take on additional debt for their son's college, yet they are still paying off their own - and she figures theirs alone may take them to age 70! She is also open about her "shortcomings" as a youth (alcohol poisoning, being barred from one of Boston's most important music venues).I will make some of the recipes, and reading this got me to stop off at Natural Grocers and pick up a few of the vegetarian ingredients she uses. Loved the chapter on her grandmother and biscuits. And glad that Henry also got some time, finally, about 2/3rds of the way through the book.Yeah, it is a book about her as "Rock Mom" and "Mom/Adult/Parent Mom". Oh, and my heart did hurt more than a bit for her, when she found that the cookbook for her favorite vegetarian restaurant, in Athens GA, had blurbs from Strohm and Hatfield, but she had not been asked!BTW, according to Wikipedia, her real last name is "Boner". Her brother, Zirque ("Thanks mom!") is a bassist, living in Sedona, AZ, and his last name is now "Bonner".A fun, easy read - I loved the parts about cooking with her son, financial/career matters, rock tours with some of my favorite musicians, and being a parent. I burned through it in 2 nights - and stayed up late the 2nd night to finish it (something I don't do as often as I used to!). With the recipes at the end of each chapter, which you can browse through, this was an enjoyable read, that went quickly. Looking forward to her next title (collection of the short stories she wrote?). In the meantime, go listen to some Blake Babies, Mysteries of Life, and Vulgar Boatmen.

Excellent memoir about a drummer in a rock band and her quest for healthy good eats.

This is a unique book which combines parenting with cooking and a rock memoir. Normally, the first two aspects would put me off, but I have an interest in Freda Love Smith because of her fiction and background as a drummer with Blake Babies and other bands. I intended to dip in from time to time but ended up quickly reading it from cover to cover (OK, I skipped a lot of the recipes, but does anybody properly read recipes before they decide to cook them?). It's a very engaging, beautifully written memoir that skilfully gives us Freda's life story and describes her eldest son's passage from home to university through the prism of the kitchen. Highly recommended. I'll be buying it as a Christmas present for the music junkie parents in my life.

I loved this book and want to share my experience with it. My book club selects what to read based on member "pitches" for book/party ideas - i.e., selecting food, music, and party themes that go with the book. Red Velvet Underground was our Mother's Day book club selection. We all brought dishes made using recipes from the book, played 90s indie rock and did our best to scrounge up something 90s-grungey to wear. The book inspired wonderful conversation about our moms, our kids, our food memories and our relationships. That is what the book is about. It describes a unique path and a rad girl, yes - a tale of unplanned opportunity and a decidedly cool road less traveled. But it is also about the simple things in life that we all love, about which we all have a story. Cooking, food, love, music, family, and heartwarming traditions old and new. I felt a particular connection to the book because I came of age in that same place and time, but others in our club from various backgrounds and eras were also touched and connected and loved talking about the simple things described in the book. The more senior members of the club were initially skeptics but ultimately fans.So, my recommendation - don't just READ the book. Read the book, try the recipes, and have a party. Use the party as a special opportunity to talk about the things you love in life with people you love and/or want to know better. Hug your neighbor. Talk about the 90s - they were fun.Or just read the book. And try the strawberry cream scone recipe - it is so simple and good!

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