Reader TTS

If you’ve seen the Alton Brown-created Food Network series _Good Eats_, or Brown, 62, hosting _Iron Chef America_ or _Cutthroat Kitchen_, among other shows through the years, you know he’s a

bit on the quirky side. The fast-talking food-world star is known for his humorous food-science experiments, and as a witty, lively commentator who relishes the creative process of cooking

even more than eating (“the joy is simply in the doing of it,” he likes to say).   Now Brown’s sharing some of his life stories in an entertaining new book,_ Food for Thought: Essays and

Ruminations_ (Feb. 4), with tales from his childhood, which was divided between California and Georgia, where his family has deep roots. Then he’ll head off on his fourth and, he says, last

big variety-show-style tour, "The Last Bite." An exhausting endeavor, he admits, with stops planned in at least 60 cities over the next four months.   The celeb chef recently

talked to us from his home north of Atlanta, which he shares with his restaurant-designer wife Elizabeth Ingram, about his unique career and first memoir, what retirement might look like and

more. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO RELEASE A BOOK THAT FOCUSES ON YOURSELF MORE THAN FOOD? It scares the crap out of me. I spent years writing scripts and nine books, but never a book that

necessitated the baring of private parts. So it’s frightening. I’m a critic first, so I’ve already gone through and redlined the book and written a negative review.    OK, I HAVE TO ASK

ABOUT ONE THING YOU WROTE: DID YOU ACTUALLY EAT DOG FOOD AS A KID, OR WERE YOU JOKING? Oh, no, there are no jokes there. Gaines-burgers dog food was a favorite of mine, and I have such fond

memories that even now, talking to you about it, my mouth’s watering a little bit. I had a very, very odd culinary childhood. I would taste almost anything, and came to really appreciate

very unusual things, at least for a kid.   YOU’VE BEEN NICE ENOUGH TO LET US SHARE YOUR BISCUIT RECIPE, AND THE DESCRIPTION FROM YOUR BOOK OF YOUR GRANDMOTHER MA MAE’S BISCUIT-MAKING IN HER

GEORGIA KITCHEN. WAS SHE A PARTICULARLY GOOD COOK? You know, people didn’t think about that. They would say, “Well, I’m just an old country cook.” And they meant it. Cooking was just a thing

you had to do. So I’m not going to say that if she were alive today, we’d be begging her for recipes and whatnot, but there was something very genuine in her cooking, and I very much liked

to be in the kitchen with her. She was a practical joker, and we would get into mischief, setting up elaborate pranks on people. So I remember mostly her laugh, and I remember this kind of

sly, almost wicked sense of humor that she had.