Anita Rodriguez

A memoir sculpted around cooking, Rodriguez grew up in Taos, New Mexico as a coyota (mixed Spanish/Anglo descent), daughter of a druggist and a painter/cartoonist. Rodriguez became a famous enjarradora (the inspiration for Ruby Archuleta) and then my favorite painter. Rodriguez vividly paints her relatives and acquaintances both in the memoir and the dream that became the book cover. There's pain and love, and all are welcomed at the table. Coyota in the kitchen also features 44 recipes, mostly New Mexican, some Texan, some Mexican. My only my complaint was that the chapter "... or, Kalisa's Family-Style Restaurant" did not identify Kalisa as Kalisa Moore, the Queen of Cannery Row, and the Family-Style Restaurant as "La Ida Cafe."… (more)