Eating with Peter: A Gastronomic Journey Book

Mainly a memoir, partly a cookbook, Eating with Peter: A Gastronomic Journey is the story of Susan and Peter Buckley’s life together, traveling the world, enjoying each other’s company, and savoring every meal they ate together. It’s a wonderful story, full of family, friends, exotic locations, and food—always food.

* Complimentary Book Received for Review.

When Susan met Peter Buckley in the 1960s, she was a young editor in New York City, and Peter was a successful writer, photographer, and world traveler. What started as a business relationship grew into a friendship, then bloomed into an adventure-filled marriage. In Eating with Peter, Susan takes us along on their amazing life journey, sharing their grand travels by telling stories of days both quiet and special, interesting people both common and famous, meals both simple and elaborate, and always Peter at the center.

Each chapter ends with recipes appropriate to the people, places, or events in that chapter. For example, the chapter entitled A Fine Riposo tells the story of a day spent traveling in the Italian countryside and their multi-course lunch at a small hotel where every delectable course was composed of mushrooms, since mushrooms were in season. Naturally, the recipes in this chapter are Divine Mushroom Soup (the Original), Divine Mushroom Soup (an Adapted Version), and Marinated Mushrooms. You get the idea.

The charming watercolor illustrations by Dana Catharine sprinkled throughout the book provide a lovely counterpoint to the text. Each chapter is headed by an image that hints at what’s to come in the following pages but sometimes you’ll turn a page and find a small picture, like a punctuation mark completing the story. The illustrations are sometimes whimsical, sometimes beautiful, and sometimes homey, and every one is perfect.

I really enjoyed reading Eating with Peter. Through Susan Buckley’s vivid descriptions, I felt I visited places I’ll never see—some I’ve never even heard of—and tasted foods I’ve never tried. She gave me a glimpse into an almost magical world of new places, new meals, and new experiences, and showed me that what matters most through it all is enjoying it with people you love and who love you. What a great read!

For those of you who are pressed for time but still looking to eat healthy, you may want to check out a Meal Prep Delivery service. This service will can be customized to your individualized needs. Fresh & healthy meals are delivered to your home at less than the cost of dining out.

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