Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table

Reichl’s mother made constant demands on her time and got upset whenever Reichl traveled. Miriam was emotionally manipulative and domineering, and Reichl began to feel smothered. When Reichl began having panic attacks, Doug decided that they should move to Berkeley, California, to get far away from Miriam. When they arrived in Berkeley, Reichl felt free and at peace.

At first, they camped in the yard of a friend, Nick, who hosted a steady stream of partying young people who traveled from one coast to the other regularly. After a while, Reichl, Doug, Nick, and Nick’s partner, Martha, all decided to buy a house together. They embellished the details of their work and finances in order to get approved to buy a large home on Channing Way in Berkeley.

The group grew their own food, and Reichl and Martha cooked everything from scratch. A popular book called Diet for a Small Planet (1971) convinced them all to become vegetarians, and Reichl and Martha began to craft new, meatless recipes. One of these, for “Con Queso Rice,” is included in this chapter. More and more people started spending time at the house, and Reichl and Martha had to figure out how to stretch their food to feed everyone.