In the Small Kitchen - Cara Eisenpress & Phoebe Lapine

Summary: It's hard to forget your first apartment-its cramped closets, one too many roommates, and oh-so-tiny kitchen-or the first entry-level job, vibrant but hectic social life, and newfound independence that comes with it.  For Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine, that first small kitchen was a blessing in disguise, a haven from adulthood's worries and thrills.  In the Small Kitchen, inspired by their popular website Big Girls, Small Kitchen, is their debut cookbook, filled with more than 100 delicious recipes for cooking and entertaining within the constraints of a twenty-something life.  Whether you're packing Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches for a cubicle picnic, staying in with a cup of Workweek Tomato Soup and Cara's Cassic Gooey Grilled Cheese, whipping up Three Onion Dip and Pimm's Cup for a cocktail party, or making Shrimp Risotto with Sweet Peas and Leeks to impress a special dinner date, Cara and Phoebe will show you how to stretch your imagination and your pocketbook to get the most out of your small kitchen without sacrificing the flavor or fun of savoring a good meal.  In the Small Kitchen will get a new generation into the habit of cooking and make your kitchen a place everyone wants to be. (Summary from the book. Image from Amazon.com.)

My Review: This book was was so much more than just a collection of recipes. Every section and sub-section was accompanied by a personal anecdote from one of the authors, sharing their transitions from college student to "big girl." I felt like I was alternating between snooping in their diaries and peeking in their kitchen windows. As a nosy curious person, I ate it all up --  every childhood memory, awkward date, quiet morning, career change, and dinner party. I feel like I know these ladies, and if I ever found myself in New York, they'd happily pull up an extra chair and let me join them for dinner. Although my life is drastically different from theirs (me=married, full-time mom, can't always promise I'm wearing clean clothes), I felt a connection with them. Not just a food blogging connection, but a desire to create memories of life's many changes and draw closer to my friends and loved ones via food.

Ah, yes, the food. Cara and Pheobe's recipes are fresh, tasty, and relatively easy to prepare. The book is organized by occasion (cooking for one, picnicking, entertaining, dating, gift giving, etc.) and most (with the exception of the entertaining section) feed one to four people. These can easily be adapted to feed a family with children. We tried out the BBQ Lentils and the Butterscotch Pecan Cookies. Both were unique and fantastic recipes! I've got quite a list to work through from this fun little book, and I can't wait to try more.

My Rating: 5 stars.

Sum it up: Perfect for the quarter-life career person or a quarter-life stay-at-home mom who desires to vicariously experience a single, career-oriented, delicious life in the Big Apple.

If you'd like a chance at winning a free copy of this cookbook, visit the review post for In the Small Kitchen on Perry's Plate for details! (Jumping through hoops not required.)

A Cook's Tour : Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisine - Anthony Bourdain

Summary:  The only thing "gonzo gastronome" and internationally best-selling author Anthony Bourdain loves as much as cooking is traveling.  Inspired by the question, "What would be the perfect meal?", Tony sets out on a quest for his culinary holy grail, and in the process turns the notion of "perfection" inside out.  From California to Cambodia, A Cook's Tour chronicles the unpredictable adventures of America's boldest and bravest chef.  ( Summary from book - Image from www.bookcoverarchive.com )

My Review:  Anthony Bourdain is a famous chef and the best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential, a gritty and graphic behind-the-scenes look at restaurant kitchens. However, he wants more than just being in a kitchen and selling books. He wants to wander the world, getting into trouble, and eating amazing meals. So he speaks to his publisher. His hook?

“How about this?... I travel around the world, doing whatever I want. I stay in fine hotels and I stay in hovels. I eat scary, exotic, wonderful food, doing cool stuff like I’ve seen in movies, and looking for the perfect meal. How’s that sound?”

And his publisher bit. Now, in A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventure in Extreme Cuisine, Anthony takes readers (and a camera crew) along on his quest for adventure, trouble, and the perfect meal.

Okay, so until I read this book, I'd never actually heard of Anthony Bordain. I had to google him because I’m just not up on those kinds of things. Also, I don’t have cable. Mostly, I like to read about people who travel and eat.  You see, I am not an adventurous eater and I love books, like this one, that allow me to “sample” international cuisine and culture without the terrifying experience of actually having to sample it.  While I was a little disappointed to find out Anthony would be accompanied by a camera crew, it wasn’t hard to forgive him once he flat out admitted to selling out to the Food Network. I guess it’s hard to turn down an all expenses paid trip around the world.

Anthony's adventure started off a bit rocky; while he enjoyed the food, I think he was expecting bliss right away and was disappointed when he didn’t get much more than forced adventure. For a while he bounced in and out of the moment, alternating between loving (and hating) the experience, but eventually he found his groove. 

A Cook’s Tour provides plenty of opportunities to sample food and culture as Anthony eats his way around the world. Here’s a small sneak peek at some of his adventures: He helps slaughter a pig in Portugal, admires the elegant simplicity of Japanese cuisine (and eats one of the worst meals ever made), attends a vegan potluck in California (he hates vegans), kills fluffy bunnies in Scotland (vegans don’t like him much either), eats braised reindeer in Russia (and a little vodka), is force fed iguana in Mexico, eats the most impressive restaurant meal of his life in California, and falls in love with the food and people of Vietnam (but not their driving). Each chapter was a revelation of experience and I loved how he managed to weave food, culture, politics, and history into his narrative. Through it all, Anthony discovers that when looking for the perfect meal – one composed of “good food, good company, exotic ambiance, and an element of adventure,” – it’s all relative, and that “perfection” can be found in the most unexpected places.

While I really enjoyed reading about his adventure, Anthony is kind of a jerk. Well, to be perfectly honest, he’s a pompous, mean-tempered, arrogant, vulgar, foul-mouthed heathen and he’s proud of it. His less-than-polite personality is reflected in every facet of this book, especially when he rants about anti-smoking laws,  vegetarians, and a variety of other topics. A sensitive reader might do well to steer clear or opt for watching the video version on The Food Network (where I’m reasonably certain it will be edited for television). Overall, I enjoyed this book and, while I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone (e.g. my mother), I might recommend it to a few die-hard foodies who would appreciate the journey.

Sidenote: This book has some similarities to Eat My Globe, another book about a man who travels around the world eating all types of food. The difference between the two books is that Anthony was a professional chef in pursuit of the perfect meal, while Simon was more professional eater on a quest to eat the good, the bad, and the hideously disgusting (on purpose).

My Rating: 3.5 Stars (It might have been more if there had been less swearing and vulgarity)

For the sensitive reader: Um. Watch the show on The Food Network. I’m pretty sure it’s edited for television.

Sum it up: An enjoyable trip, full of great food, stories, and observations, but you have to wade through a quite a bit of muck.

The Roasted Vegetable - Andrea Chesman

This was originally intended to be a Natalie Perry guest review, but since we've decided to welcome her on full time I hope you'll enjoy her first official RFS review.  Welcome Natalie!  Check out her food blog at http://www.perrysplate.com/

Summary: Why roast vegetables? Because roasting concentrates vegetables’ natural sweetness, resulting in rich, caramelized flavors that render them -- and the variety of dishes you can prepare with them -- irresistible. In The Roasted Vegetable, Andrea Chesman shows how every vegetable imaginable can be oven-roasted to succulent perfection, and she offers a wide-ranging collection of 150 mouthwatering recipes to please even the fussiest eaters.

Contents:
Roasting Basics: Techniques and Equipment
Simply Vegetables: Side Dishes
Snacks, Starters, and Soups
Sumptuous Salads
Vegetable Feasts: Main Dishes
Sensational Sandwiches and Wraps
Pleasing Pasta
Tempting Tarts, Pastries, and Pizzas
Tasty Tofu and Tempeh
Great Grains, Nuts, and Seeds

(Summary and table of contents from the the book - Image from www.bookbyte.com)

My Review: My lukewarm feelings toward vegetables changed to a passionate love when I discovered roasting them. I checked this book out from the library and after several weeks of renewing it, I hoped the library would just give it to me when we moved out of state. No such luck. I ended up buying it soon after.

This book contains simple, straight-forward recipes with (mostly) common, easy-to-find ingredients. The recipes are also very adaptable to suit your family's tastes or to experiment with if you happen to be an adventurous cook. You can switch out vegetables for similar ones your family prefers, and although this is a vegetarian cookbook, you can naturally incorporate meat if you have insistent carnivores at the table. Like the summary mentioned, it’s a great way to introduce or re-introduce vegetables to picky eaters. We tried out the Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas, Black Beans and Rice with Fire-Roasted Vegetables, and Roasted Potato Salad with Parmesan Herb Dressing. (You’ll find moderately adapted versions of these on my recipe blog.) There are very few cookbooks where I'm anxious to try almost everything. This is definitely one of them, and is a perfect source for family-pleasing recipes.

Side Note: For those who insist on having photographs of every recipe in their cookbooks, you may be disappointed. Aside from the photo on the cover, there are no photos within the book, but only simple sketched illustrations of various vegetables. I'm also not into tofu or tempeh (another soy-based meat substitute), so I just skip over that chapter while I'm browsing. That being said, I still love it enough to give it five stars.

My Rating: 5 stars

Sum it up: After roasting vegetables, you'll never look at them the same way again.

For more books by Andrea Chesman, click here.

Back To Basics: Traditional Kitchen Wisdom - Readers Digest, edited by Andrea Chesman

Summary:  Live on less and still have plenty!  There's something to be said for simpler times, when our way of life seemed more wholesome...when our food was grown with fewer pesticides and growth hormones...when we tended kitchen gardens, kept a flock of chickens, and "put up" beans, pears, and pickles.  So it's easy to see why people across the nation are returning to their roots--and root cellars--and embracing a return to the basics.

With Traditional Kitchen Wisdom you, too, can enjoy the rewards of being more self-reliant by...

• Growing your own fruits and vegetables in a space as small as a windowsill
• Turning fresh fruit into jams and jellies
• Learning safe canning and freezing methods
• Drying foods and creating your own herbs and spices
• Making homemade wine, beer, and naturally flavored vodka
• Raising chickens and honeybees, making your own cheese, and more

Start your own family traditions with Traditional Kitchen Wisdom, and rediscover the pleasure of returning to a greener, healthier, and more self-sufficient lifestyle.   (Image from  http://images.bookcloseouts.com/ and summary from back of the book.)

My Review:  Honestly, I've never been much of a Suzy-Homemaker type.  My mother knew how to can, sew, garden, pickle, and everything in between.  I spent a little time learning the very basics of a couple of these skills--definitely not enough to talk about though.  In the past couple years I've gotten into gardening and consequently canning and maybe someday I'll get into sewing.  This book peaked my interest because it gives the basics on many kitchen tasks I've never fully explored...and allows me to refresh my skills without pestering my mother!

Reader friendly is the best way to describe the format.  It has an easy to follow table of contents, clear headings broken down into steps, has color illustrations depicting what it's describing, tables and charts when the information is best conveyed that way, equipment lists, and recipes.  I can't say I've tried everything in the book because I don't have all the right tools/equipment for each skill. But, I'm excited to try some though.

There's one section of the book that is obsolete for me, but may intrigue other readers: wine and beer brewing.  While I'm sure it's a great skill for some, I have no use for it.

The last section of the book shows ways to have a sustainable home.  I'm not sure I'll ever get to this point in my life, as raising chickens is not my ambition.  Still, I like having the information if I ever do need it.

For a novice like me, this book was informative and inspired me to want to try some of these food preserving techniques.  If you're a domestic diva knowing all the arts of the kitchen, this book is probably too simplistic.


Rating:  4.5 Stars

Sum it up: A book with basics of home preserving techniques for a beginner in the process.

Cooking with Food Storage Made Easy - Debbie G. Harman

Summary:  We have been counseled by prophets to keep a long-term supply of food on hand.  But once we have accumulated some food storage, what do we do with it?  Food storage is not just for emergencies; it's meant to help us sustain life today.

In this fun cookbook, Debbie Harman shows you how you can cook delicious meals and tasty treats your family will love with the food supplies that have too often been put away only for a rainy day.  You'll soon discover how to use storage items and other everyday ingredients to make tasty dishes a few times each week, which will keep your food storage in constant rotation--and save you money.  So, should disaster strike, you'll have plenty of usable food on hand--and you'll be an expert on knowing what to do with it.

Along with hundreds of fast and delicious family-tested recipes, you'll find:

• What you need to store
• How to use dry foods to add nutrition to everyday dishes
• How to store meats, beans, vegetables, fruits, grains, water, and more
• How to sprout your own fresh greens
• How to put together 72-Hour Emergency Kits for you and your family

Let Cooking with Food Storage Made Easy be your guide for making your food storage a valuable asset your family will enjoy.  (Image from http://www.countryconsultant.com/ and summary from back of the book.)

My Review:  I have been looking for a cook book like this!  Food storage is something we do (something LDS people do anyway) and this book is aimed at that audience.  I try to store food, but I'm not at the point yet where I feel confident using it everyday.  I'd hate to waste what I have, but I also want to use some so that I can  begin rotating my supply.  I want to know what goes in my food, what ingredients make or break a recipe, and if, heaven forbid, a disaster does occur, that I can cook food my family will actually eat.  Part of what drew me to this book was that it gives recipes using dried products you don't normally buy from the grocery store.  This book had those recipes!  It has so much of what I've wanted in a basics cook book: how to make fruit leather, suggested amounts to store more than just the basics, planting and gardening tips, jerky, the list goes on.  While I realize this may not be a cook book for the everyday chef, it's perfect for my needs and for someone interested in cooking with food storage. 

My Rating: 5 Stars

Sum it up:  This cookbook has just about everything you'd want to know about to storing and preserving your own food.

Bittersweet : Lessons from My Mother's Kitchen - Matt McAllester

Summary:  A well-seasoned foreign correspondent who had traveled to many of the globe's most dangerous hot spots, from Beirut to Baghdad, Kabul to Kosovo, Matt McAllester had been exposed to terror and tragedy on an epic scale.  But nothing he saw in wartime prepared him for the onslaught of grief he felt when his mother, a mere shadow of the elegant, vibrant woman she had once been, finally died.

In the months that followed, he found himself poring over old family photos and letters, trying to reach out for her.  But as he looked anew at her long-cherished collection of cookbooks, he realized that the best way to bring her back was through the food she had once prepared for him -- form her spare ribs to her scones to the homemade strawberry ice cream that seemed in memory the very essence of happy times.

With a reporter's precision and a storyteller's grace, McAllester has written a moving tribute to his mother and a dazzling feast for the senses.  Complete with recipes that evoke the pleasures of the past and the hopes for the future, Bittersweet is a memoir that weaves an unforgettable tale of family, food, and love.  (Summary from book - Image from goodreads.com )

My Review: Matt McAllester is a battle-hardened war correspondent and a man desperately broken by loss. Bittersweet is his story, and that of his mother, a woman who spent the final years of her life as a suicidal alcoholic with manic depressive episodes that drove even her closest family away. At her passing, Matt is overwhelmed by a sense of inconsolable sorrow, made worse by his own inability to have children, and eventually finds a form of solace in the kitchen, creating the meals his family shared in happier times.

While this book’s title and culinary premise create an obvious draw for a foodie like me, this novel is more than simple food lit. As the author attempts to resurrect his mother, at least in spirit, he begins to cook some of her favorite recipes and to remember life before her illness. With each taste of long forgotten dishes, he dredges up memories of their shared past and struggles to reconcile the idyllic scenes of his childhood with the turbulence of his adolescence and adult life. This mixture of recollections and recipes forms a genuinely tender opus to his mother -- a catalog of her life, for better or worse -- and follows the author’s gradual transformation into a more relaxed, self-sufficient, and satisfied human being.

Bittersweet feels like an accurate portrayal of the difficulties and heartbreak that come from mental illness. The author does not condemn his mother for the conflict caused by her infirmity, but strives to convey the complexities of their relationship in a realistic but respectful manner by highlighting both positive and negative memories. The result is a (pardon me, but there is no better word for it) bittersweet story of a man who learns to love his mother again, regardless of her debilitating disease. I enjoyed this book about as much as you can enjoy a book about mental illness -- the recipe/food sections didn’t hurt -- and thought it strangely uplifting in spite of the subject matter.

My Rating: 4 Stars

For the sensitive reader: There is some discussion of sex and occasional swearing (including several curses of the F variety). Also, this book might be difficult to read for anyone struggling with fertility or miscarriage. The author and his wife repeatedly attempt to conceive with little success. I’m not sure whether their experience would be cathartic or painful for someone in a similar situation, so be forewarned!

Sum it up: McAllester’s story is a poignant and unaffected memorial to his mother – one of recognition, acceptance, understanding, and love.

_____________________________

Post edit: SPOILER: I just heard from Matt, via email, and he delighted me with the news that he and his wife had just adopted a little boy named Harry who will be turning one in February.  Best wishes to their little family from RFS!   I actually sighed with relief when I read the news.  Yay!!

Green for Life - Victoria Boutenko

Summary:  People everywhere know that they need to eat more fruits and vegetables, but rarely approach even the minimum FDA-recommended five servings.  An overlooked powerhouse of nutrition in this equation are greens, which contain a remarkable bounty of minerals and nutrients.  Green for Life includes information on the abundance of protein in greens, the benefits of fiber, the role of greens in homeostasis, the significance of stomach acid, how greens make the body more alkaline, the healing power of chlorophyll, and more.

Bestselling author and raw food expert Victoria Boutenko provides an easy solution for how to consume greens in sufficient quantities: the green smoothie.  This simple and delicious drink benefits everyone, regardless of lifestyle, diet, or environment.  Green smoothies eliminate toxins, correct nutritional deficiencies, and are delicious, too.  Green for Life includes the results of a pilot study that demonstrate the effectiveness of drinking just one quart of green smoothies a day without any other changes to dietary intake.  New green smoothies testimonials and additional recipes in this updated edition give readers even more confidence and inspiration to explore green smoothies for themselves.  (Summary from back of the book, book free for review, and image from publisher)

My Review:  This was more the book I thought I was getting when I opened Boutenko's book The Green Smoothie Revolution.  It offered more information, background, logistics, health information, facts, and even a short study with people trying out the smoothie lifestyle. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

I need to admit I was very leery of this whole green smoothie idea.  After reading The Green Smoothie Revolution, trying a few smoothies myself (I'm at 3 different smoothies now (6 different servings), and now reading this book I'm afraid I might be converted.  I noticed a difference in myself after only one day drinking the smoothies.  That shocked me.  I felt so betrayed by my own desires of wanting 'regular' food.  I felt more energized, didn't need as much sleep the night afterward, and could tell my digestion was better.  Ugh.  To be wrong is sometimes painful.  But I'm glad to be wrong.  I'm glad to know there's an easy way to add greens and fruits to my diet without much work or effort on my part.  I was also skeptical that the process of preparing the food for the blender would take too much time.  It didn't and again I had to swallow my pride and accept that this was easy enough for me to do.  I made one in the evening, drank half of it and saved the other half for breakfast.  I had no problems foregoing a typically heavy dinner and drinking the smoothie--and I was surprised yet again.  I had plenty of energy the next day and wasn't hungry until lunch.  I'm as surprised as you probably are reading this.  I think I'm going to have to incorporate this into my lifestyle.

The only aspect I felt the book was lacking is more information on how to make soil healthy.  Boutenko talks about the importance of healthy soil to produce nutrient-rich greens.  While I agree, I need some help in that area as I like growing my own produce and I'm sure other readers do too.  I need to know what to add to my soil to make sure it is healthy and what I can do to plant my greens for the best possible yield.  That is my only gripe about this book.  Everything else is so helpful and informative.

I'm converted.

Rating:  4.5 Stars--for information purposes.

Sum it up:  A more thorough look at how the green smoothie can benefit your life.

Green Smoothie Revolution - Victoria Boutenko

Summary:  Raw food pioneer Victoria Boutenko takes the chore out of eating your greens with this simple and powerful solution to the ongoing struggle for proper nutrition.

Thanks to consuming processed and fast foods, being overworked, and feeling stressed while eating on the fly, few of us in the modern rat race eat anywhere near a balanced diet.  Even if we are not obviously sick, we may suffer from lack of focus, insomnia, sluggishness, or any host of symptoms caused by nutritional deficiency.  Green Smoothie Revolution takes aim at this silent epidemic by restoring balance to out-of-whack diets.

Boutenko's answer is the mouth-watering and nutrition-packed green smoothie.  Requiring little prep time, the green smoothie is the easy way to introduce long-neglected fruits, vegetables, and greens back into our diet.  Featuring 200 recipes, Green Smoothie Revolution offers simplicity, enough variety to keep taste buds happy, and raw food ingredients that give us the nutrition our bodies crave and need.   (Summary from inside book cover.  Image from  http://blogs.kcls.org/librarytalk/.  Book given free for review.)

My Review:  I kept hearing about a smoothie revolution and wanted to know more about it.  I think I got more than I bargained for when I picked up this book.  I'd never made a successful smoothie--meaning one I'd want to drink and one I felt tasted good.  After reading this book I'm thinking that taste isn't always the point.  Over time, according to the book, your taste buds acclimatize to the new flavors.  While I'd like to pretend this would be the case for me, I'm not sure it will.  I'm afraid I'd need to throw in some sugar to make some of these smoothies palatable.  That's not to say you will though.  This is more a reflection of me (and all my picky-ness) than about this book.

Rather interesting, but very random assertion of the book:  green smoothies are good for pets as well.  I'm not a pet-person, so I wouldn't know if this is surprising or not.  Still, it's interesting to be making smoothies for your cat or dog.

I did try four of the recipes.  The first one was off the Smoothies for Kids menu.  I know: I wimped out.  Still, I wanted to give it a try and not disgust myself from trying any others.  My smoothie consisted of one pear, two bananas, three large sticks of celery, two cups of strawberries, and a cup of water.  It was...ok.  It wasn't green in color, so it wasn't hard to drink.  The flavor is what, at times, was difficult.  That, and the frothy foam on top.  I could taste the celery.  While I like celery, I prefer my strawberry banana smoothies to be only those flavors.  I think next time I'm going to make the smoothie the same but instead of blending the celery, I'm going to eat the three sticks while I drink my fruit smoothie.

The second smoothie I tried was a smoothie for beginners.  I decided to modify it a bit because my pear wasn't quite ripe.  I put in this smoothie one cup of blueberries, one cup of strawberries, two bananas, a handful of ice cubes, a cup of spinach, and (this is where I improvised) a single serving Tillamook Vanilla Bean yogurt.  This smoothie was fantastic!  I had no problems drinking the entire thing and it wasn't hardly frothy.  I could do this kind of smoothie again and again.

My third smoothie included two cups strawberries, one banana, one cup blueberries, one pear, water, and two cups spinach. This one was great.  I think I actually prefer it without the yogurt.  It was too thick with the yogurt, whereas this one was much more palatable.  I think I could keep up this smoothie regimen if I continue with fruit as the base. 

The fourth smoothie contained one pear, one banana, 2 cups of strawberries, and 2 cups of kale.   Bad idea with that much kale.  It has a very bitter taste.  I should have worked my way up to that much kale.  It was SUPER bitter and very hard to swallow.  I was very tempted to put some sugar in it to make it palatable.  I'm still working on finishing up the last of that batch.  Perfecting the green smoothie for a picky eater might be a long process for me!

I do want to keep trying to incorporate more greens, becoming more adventurous in my ingredients, making this a more regular part of my diet.  I can't say I'm going to go hard core and I don't think I'll ever try a super green smoothie or green pudding (that just sounds so gross to me), but I do want to try and eat more fruits and greens.  This might actually work.

Rating: 3.5 stars--I'm not sure how realistic this would be for everyone.  It asks for a lot of change.

Sum it up:  A earthy, health enthusiast, informational collection of eating your veggies, greens, and fruits through smoothies.

Cooking from the Garden: Best Recipes from Kitchen Gardener - Ruth Lively

Summary: Rising food prices, the slow food movement, and the green movement have revived interest in finding delicious food close to home. The backyard vegetable garden is making a comeback even in urban areas. Why grow grass (that you have to mow) when you can pick the best tasting tomatoes right outside your door? Taunton's Kitchen Gardener magazine was ahead of its time in trying to raise the bar on food prepared with home-grown food.

The recipes collected here are innovative and tasty, and most are relatively simple to prepare. Not only do they help home gardeners find ways to make use of abundance, they show how to do it with style and expertise. The recipes apply equally to good seasonal buys in the supermarket or farmer's market as to produce from a home garden.
Summary from book, cover photo from Taunton Store, Digital Galley received free for review

My Review: I received a free digital galley of Cooking from the Garden last month for review and it couldn't have come at a better time. As my own garden began to ripen I was anxious for new ideas to put my produce abundance to use. This cookbook did not fail, with everything from sauces to appetizers, main dishes to desserts and even a section on canning. Soon I had depleted my own harvest and headed to farmer's market in search of additional cheap produce.

Many of main dishes weren't to the taste of my children, (it's difficult to convince them to eat risotto with leeks and peas or cornbread sandwiches with goat cheese and roasted tomatoes). The side dishes, however, were spot on. These easy recipes will leave you looking like a pro regardless of your cooking level. I adored the simple canning recipes that will allow us to enjoy our reaping throughout the year. I also liked the idea of the seasonal menus, though I am rarely ambitious enough to serve more than one course. The tips dispersed throughout on everything from drying herbs to preserving lemons were helpful as well.

My Rating: 4 Stars

To Sum it up: A good resource full of new ideas for seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Perfect One-Dish Dinners - Pam Anderson

Summary: In Perfect One-Dish Dinners, the New York Times best-selling author Pam Anderson shares her secret for having people over without breaking stride: Make just one dish. Instead of a parade of offerings, she focuses attention on a single main course—a rustic tart, paella, grilled platter, or homey stew. Perfect One-Dish Dinners showcases about forty such meals, perfect for every season and occasion, all designed to wow guests, calm the cook, and relieve the dishwasher at the end of the night. (Summary from publisher - Image from amazon.com - Digital copy of book, loaned for review)

My Review: Whether you are a cooking connoisseur or just a talentless hack like me, you’ll find a lot to love about Perfect One-Dish Dinners.

I don’t know about you, but in our house Mommy is the line cook and Daddy is the chef. It’s not that I don’t know my way around a kitchen. I measure. I pour. I stir. But, try as I might, I cannot get all the different dishes to finish at the same time; I usually end up with a piping hot entrée, lukewarm bread, and stone cold soup. I am the Goldilocks of the culinary world and it’s giving me fits.

Perfect One-Dish Dinners feels like it was written with my needs in mind. It claims to have the ability to “wow the family and guests, calm the cook, and at the end of the night, impress the dishwasher”. Sold. Where do I pay?

I have been slicing and dicing my way through this cookbook so fast, you’d think it is a bestselling novel. Despite the fact that some of the meals titles look intimidating, closer examination reveals a cookbook that is gloriously simple with inspiring photos, helpful directions, and easy to follow recipes using readily available ingredients. Each entrée recipe comes with appetizer, salad, and dessert recipes that complement the meal, just in case you are trying to be fancy or feeding a crowd. The author also provides instant alternatives, quick substitutions, and make ahead ideas for meals if you are running short on time or ingredients.

Not only were these meals healthy and gorgeous, they were huge hits with my family, which means I don’t have to listen to a rousing chorus of “I don’t like this!” while I pick at a mediocre meal. Among many others, I have made the Carnita Style Beef with Roasted Peppers and Onions (my family devoured it), Spicy Chicken Enchiladas Verde with Sour Cream and Cilantro (my personal favorite), the Tandoori Platter (a delicious dish with just the right amount of heat), and the Salsa Verde Chicken with Herbed Cornmeal Dumplings (impressively beautiful and tasty, to boot). My husband actually asked me to leave the latter on the table so that he could eat another helping after he got back from a meeting. What few dishes I had were licked clean and the leftovers weren’t left over for long. I was stunned. Is this what Paula Deen feels like? A girl could get used to this.

Sidenote: My only complaint was that there were a few lamb dishes. For me, even one is too many. I don't like lamb. Baby sheep are too cute to eat. Period.

My Rating: 5 Stars.

Sum it up: Simple, delicious recipes and inspirational photos --a must for a reluctant, less-than-skilled cook like me.

The Book of Unholy Mischief - Elle Newmark

Summary: In a world of violence and intrigue, who guards the truth?

It is 1498, the dawn of the Renaissance, and Venice teems with rumors of an ancient book that holds the secret to unimaginable power. It is an alchemist's dream, with recipes for gold, immortality, and undying love. Everyone, rich and poor alike, speculates about the long-buried secrets scrawled in its pages and where it could possibly be hidden within the labyrinthine city. But while those who seek the book will stop at nothing to get it, those who know will die to protect it.

As a storm of intrigue and desire circles the republic that grew from the sea, Luciano, a penniless orphan with a quick wit and an even faster hand, is plucked up by an illustrious chef and hired, for reasons he cannot yet begin to understand, as an apprentice in the palace kitchen. There, in the lavish home of the most powerful man in Venice, he is initiated into the chef's rich and aromatic world, with all its seductive ingredients and secrets.

Luciano's loyalty to his street friends and the passion he holds for a convent girl named Francesca remain, but it is not long before he too, is caught up in the madness. After he witnesses a shocking murder in the Palace dining room, he realizes that nothing is as it seems and that no one, not even those he's come to rely on most, can be trusted. Armed with a precocious mind and an insatiable curiosity, Luciano embarks on a perilous journey to uncover the truth. What he discovers will swing open the shutters of his mind, inflame his deepest desires, and leave an indelible mark on his soul. (Summary from book - Image from Abebooks.com)

My Review: Initially I was offered this book for review, but due to some unforeseen and lamentable circumstances, the book was never sent out. Now, some review copies I can take or leave, but not this one. No, this one I wanted. For a while I waited to see if it would eventually be sent out and tried not to harass the publisher too much, but when I saw a copy just sitting on the shelf at a local library I snapped it up like Ghirardelli left laying around.

The story follows Luciano, a street urchin adopted as an apprentice by the doge’s head chef. While performing menial labor and hoping for promotion, Luciano witnesses some strange activity that leads to an exciting mystery. Throughout this book, Luciano is manipulated by various characters and plagued with mistrust. I was a little irritated when his loyalties changed with nearly every chapter but, irritation aside, I feel his fickleness was in character for someone who spent a majority of his young life on the streets. Chef Ferrero was the picture of kindness and honor, yet it was his tendency to spout heretical theory and his passion for cooking (and interfering) that made him one of my favorite characters.

Even though I reveled in the culinary bits, was pleased by the characters that Newmark created, and really enjoyed reading this book, when I closed it I wasn't satisfied –mostly, but not completely. I wanted a little more mystery and a little more revelation – conflicting desires, to be sure. Some parts of this book (especially in regards to who had the book) were completely obvious, and other parts (like what the book held and how it was coded) were never fully explained at all.

My Rating: 4 Stars, but just barely. For the sensitive reader: The story has one or two briefly crude moments and arrives at some fairly heretical conclusions that might offend the kind of person who was offended by Da Vinci Code (sorry I can’t be more specific). It didn't bother me.

Sum it up: A promising novel that almost lived up to my expectations.

Food Rules : An Eater's Manual - Michael Pollan

Summary: Eating doesn't have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings a welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food. Written with the clarity, concision and wit that has become bestselling author Michael Pollan's trademark, this indispensable handbook lays out a straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely, one per page, accompanied by a concise explanation. It's an easy-to-use guide that draws from a variety of traditions, suggesting how different cultures through the ages have arrived at the same enduring wisdom about food. Whether at the supermarket or an all-you-can-eat buffet, this is the perfect guide for anyone who ever wondered, "What should I eat?" (Image from Amazon.com - Sumary from book)

My Review: It wasn't that long ago that we reviewed another of Michael Pollan's books, In Defense of Food -- a highly informative, if somewhat dry, expose on food industry deception and a motivational appeal to eat real food. We gave it an average rating of 4.25 stars and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in how to better their diet without falling victim to fads and false health claims.

For the busy reader, this book is that book in pretty much every way - but shorter. It's only about 140 pages and can be read in less than an hour. Hallelujah! Pollan gives a "rule" on each page followed by a short explanatory paragraph. Some of these rules are common-sense (yet essential) guidelines about not eating anything that can be delivered through the window of your car, while most require a little more effort and commitment to implement, like avoiding foods that make health claims or treating meat as a flavoring instead of a main dish.

I enjoyed reading Food Rules more than In Defense of Food, if for no other reason that I got the overall gist of the book (with all the tips, tricks, and soundbites) in a much shorter time span than it took me to read the expanded version. Ultimately, Food Rules most useful attribute was that it allows me to easily, but quietly, recite these food rules while walking down the grocery aisle (or, ideally, it's periphery). Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself....eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself...eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself...

My rating: 4 Stars

Sum it up: A condensed version of In Defense of Food. If you've been meaning to read it, read this instead.

Eat My Globe : One Year to Go Everywhere and Eat Everything - Simon Majumdar

Summary: When Simon Majumdar hit forty, he realized there had to be more to life than his stable but uninspiring desk job. As he wondered how to escape his career, he rediscovered a list of goals he had scrawled out years before, the last of which said: Go everywhere, eat everything. With that, he had found his mission--a yearlong search for the delicious, and curious, and the curiously delicious, which he names Eat My Globe and memorably chronicles in these pages.

In Majumdar's world, food is everything. Like every member of his family, he has a savant's memory for meals, with instant recall of dishes eaten decades before. Simon's unstoppable wit and passion for all things edible (especially those things that once had eyes, and a face, and a mom and pop) makes this an armchair traveler's and foodie's delight--Majumdar does all the heavy lifting, eats the heavy foods (and suffers the weighty consequences), so you don't have to. He jets to thirty countries in just over twelve months, diving mouth-first into local cuisines and cultures...

The meat of the story...is the friends that Simon makes as he eats. They are as passionate about food as he is and are eager to welcome him into their homes and tables, share their choicest meals, and reveal their local secrets. (Summary from book jacket - Image from eatmyglobe.blogspot.com )

My review: At 40 years old, Simon Majumdar was faced with a lack luster job and, to his abject horror, a declining ability to move urinal cakes. Can you say “impending mid-life crisis”? Eat My Globe is the expression of one man’s desire to eat truly amazing food as it was meant to be prepared -- pad thai in Thailand, Texan barbecue, Japanese sushi, Argentine steaks, and countless other less-famous-but-local fare from around the world.

Eat My Globe was an impressive combination of my three favorite things to do - read, eat, and travel. The first two I do well enough on my own, but for the last few weeks I have opted to travel vicariously along with Simon as he flew, walked, and ate his way around the globe. Flat out obsessed with all things culinary, Simon enjoys the pleasures of a well-prepared meal and thinks nothing of licking his fingers or, indeed, his entire plate in the middle of a crowded restaurant. I couldn’t help but love Simon for his tactless and unapologetic way of expressing his opinions to anyone within earshot. His self-deprecating sense of humor and clever phrasing provided not only an entertaining read, but also a fascinating account of the meals he ate in gluttonous hobbit-style.

I was both horrified and delighted by the food that Simon willingly consumed. It would have been much easier for him to say he was going to eat only the world’s best food, but instead he chose to eat everything, devouring lamb’s head, tripe, and tongue dumplings with relish. While our taste in food might not always align (I will always prefer pizza to veal brains for the simple reason that I will never ever try veal brains), I can’t help but admire his spirit and sheer nerve.

If I could describe books as well as Simon describes food, then I would be a world-class reviewer and a kazillionaire. His imagery had me chuckling, salivating, or near retching on practically every page. I almost hurled reading about his encounters with stir fried rat, rotten shark meat, and cod sperm sushi and actually hurt myself laughing at his account of the discovery of a breaded, deep fried banana. Seriously, I think I pulled a muscle.

While Eat My Globe, doesn’t really have a deep plot or existential message to share, I adored my time with it. The chapters aren’t very long (though there are many), which makes it conveniently easy to put the book down, fix something to tasty to eat, and then come back to it without feeling disconnected from the story. I’m not entirely certain that Simon learned a great deal from his journey across the globe, however, what I experienced was an often humorous, occasionally gross, but mostly delicious account of his exotic tastes and travels.

My Rating: 4.5 Stars. For the sensitive reader, there are occasional moments of crassness and profanity. Also, if you have a problem with gluttony this book probably is not your bag.

Sum it up: A sarcastic, savory travelogue that leaves you hungry for more…and willing to eat almost anything. Sure to be a hit with the food lit crowd.

In Defense of Food : An Eater's Manifesto - Michael Pollan

Summary: Food. There's plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it? Because most of what we're consuming today is not food, and how we're consuming it--in the car, in front of the TV, and increasingly alone--is not really eating. Instead of food, we're consuming "edible foodlike substances"--no longer the products of nature but of food science. Many of them come packaged with health claims that should be our first clue they are anything but healthy. In the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by confusion. The result is what Michael Pollan calls the American paradox: The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become.

But if real food--the sort of food our great grandmothers would recognize as food--stands in need of a defense, from whom does it need defending? From the food industry on one side and nutritional science on the other. Both stand to gain much from widespread confusion about what to eat, a question that for most of the human history people have been able to answer without expert help. Yet the professionalization of eating has failed to make Americans healthier. Thirty years of official nutritional advice has only made us sicker and fatter while ruining countless numbers of meals.

By urging us once again to eat food, he challenges the prevailing nutrient-by-nutrient approach--what he calls nutritionism--and proposes an alternative way of eating that is informed by the traditions and ecology of real, well-grown, and unprocessed food. Our personal health, he argues, cannot be divorced form the health of the food chains of which we are part.

In Defense of Food shows us how, despite the daunting dietary landscape Americans confront in the modern supermarket, we can escape the Western diet and, by doing so, most of the chronic diseases that diet causes. We can relearn which foods are healthy, develop simple ways to moderate our appetites, and return eating to it's proper context--out of the car and back to the table. Michael Pollan's bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating. (Summary from book - Image from amazon.com)
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Mindy's Review: "In Defense of Food" is a highly informative, controversial novel that strives to dispel myths and eliminate much of the nutritional disinformation that has been created by the food and food science industry, while urging us to make healthier real-food choices. It is pretty much exactly what the above summary claims, and so I won't bother awkwardly reiterating what is so eloquently stated there (go on, read it, I'll wait).

Michael Pollan's advice to us? Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Sounds simple right? Yes and no.

Pollan's arguments in defense of natural whole foods, comprising nearly two-thirds of the book, are logically sound, well-supported, and utterly shocking. However, his solutions might be a disappointment to those looking for an easy fix to health woes. Not all of his advice is financially or geographically feasible. When possible, he advises buying organically from a farmer's market or CSA (aka weekly veggie deliveries) and making sure that all meat consumed is 100% grass fed. This advice is smart and wonderful--if you can afford it, but much of America doesn't know their way around a kitchen, let alone an extremely expensive rutabaga. Pollan's solutions require commitment, effort, and in some cases, money--they are not for the faint of heart or thin of wallet.

Despite a few harder to implement steps, In Defense of Food is peppered with common-sense ideas for squeezing more nutrients into our food supply and our bodies. Pollan does specify important ingredients to avoid (like trans fats and high fructose corn syrup) and offers sound-bite grocery shopping advice like "Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food," "Shop the outer limits of the grocery store," "Don't eat anything that is incapable of rotting" (yes TWINKIES, he means YOU), and much more. He also lists changes we can make in how we eat--like actually cooking our own food (gasp), planting a garden, eating home-cooked family meals, and only eating at a table.

On the whole, I found his book to be a thorough, fascinating expose of the political meddling and financial motivations of the food industry, it's sketchy marketing ploys and rampant nutritionism, and an eye-opening look at how the Western diet is slowly killing us. So, you might not be able to successfully follow all of Pollan's advice -- I don't expect that many people can. Change as much as you can and I expect you'll be monumentally healthier for it.

Her rating: 4 Stars (would be higher if it wasn't so dry)

Sum it up: Some amazingly sound food for thought.
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Heather’s Review: Michael Pollan knows how to make a point and defend it well. In this book he has shown that we, as Americans, are currently consuming more calories than ever before, yet getting less nutrition. It is because of these deficiencies in vitamins and minerals that we have so many health problems. This book is full of intriguing studies that support these statements and others like them.

My husband is a dietitian, as well as a type 1 diabetic. We carefully monitor what we eat. Yet this book has left me feeling mocked by food marketers and the FDA. I have always avoided hydrogenated oils and corn syrup in the grocery store. We have also stuck to a fairly low fat, high fiber diet. What I have failed to really stop and think about is how food functions as a whole and not as a “sum of its nutritional parts,” as Pollan puts it. We need the fat in milk and cheese to absorb those fat-soluble vitamins. Adding grains back into refined flour does not make the food function as naturally whole grain food functions. These are just a couple of the valuable insights that came from reading this book.

The one topic that this book fails to address in relation to food is Western laziness. I’m not speaking for only physical laziness here, though there is little doubt that our nation’s lack of exercise and demand for quick, low-mess meals contributes greatly to various health problems. I’m also speaking about our intellectual apathy. As a nation we are quick to trust in the newest study without questioning methods and controls. Many of us choose to let the media do our thinking, allowing food marketers to easily trick us. It makes me ponder what our nation’s prognosis would be if the time and money recently devoted to reforming healthcare went instead towards prevention with a focus on nutrition.

I found this book to be incredibly thought provoking. It is full of food marketing schemes and food regulations that you will be astonished to know even exist. I’m thrilled that this was a book club pick as there is so much I’m longing to discuss with others. I’m buying a copy. Everyone I know must read this!

My Rating: 4.5 Stars, HIGHLY recommend but I can’t say that I adored this book and it did get wordy and slightly redundant in spots.

Sum it up: Your health and the health of your family rely upon on the food you eat. Read this book and you will never buy Pop-Tarts again.
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Average Rating: 4.25 Stars
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La Cucina : A Novel of Rapture - Lily Prior

Summary: Simmering in the heat of a Sicilian kitchen, a saucy tale of sex, recipes, and murder.

Since childhood, Rosa Fiore - daughter of a sultry Sicilian matriarch and her hapless husband - found solace in her family’s kitchen. La Cucina - the heart of the family’s lush estate - was a place where generations of Fiore women prepared sumptuous feasts, and where the drama of extended family life was played out around the age-old table. When Rosa was a teenager, her own cooking became the stuff of legend in the small community that took pride in the bounty of its landscape and the eccentricity of its inhabitants. Rosa’s infatuation with culinary arts could only rival her passion for a young man, Bartollomeo, who, unfortunately, belonged to another. After their love affair ends in tragedy, Rosa retreats first into her kitchen, and then into solitude, as a librarian in Palermo. There she stays for decades, growing corpulent on her succulent dishes, resigned to a loveless life.

Then, one day, she meets the mysterious chef, known only as I’Inglese, whose research on the heritage of Sicilian cuisine leads him into Rosa’s library and her heart. They share one sublime summer of discovery, during which l’Inglese awakens the power of Rosa’s sexuality, and together they reach new heights of culinary passion. When l’Inglese suddenly vanishes, Rosa returns home to the farm to grieve for her second lost love. In the comfort of familiar surroundings, amongst her growing family, she discovers the truth about her loved ones and finds her life transformed once more by the magic of her beloved Cucina. (Summary from cover and lilyprior.com - Image from harpercollins.com)

My review: La Cucina had so much potential. It could have been truly delicious, and to be honest, at moments it really was fantastic. On the back of the book, La Cucina is described as “a saucy tale of sex, recipes, and murder”. Great, no problem. I was willing to risk a blush or two, since it was compared to one of my favorite books, “Like Water for Chocolate,” which has a few slightly steamy moments itself.

La Cucina does have a similar feel to Like Water for Chocolate but, unfortunately, with a lot less kitchen content and a lot more sexual content. What began as a sensual exploration of Sicilian cuisine and familial relationships took a decidedly sexual turn fairly early on—so much so that it became far less about the joys of cooking and more about the main character, Rosa, getting her groove on. A. Lot.

That having been said, the kitchen-centric portions were delectable, sensuous, and redolent with the flavors, scents, and descriptions of Sicilian cooking. I wanted to cook elaborate banquets and eat constantly while reading this book. Not good (or good, depending on your POV). What I expected from this book--and didn't get--was RECIPES. Didn’t it say there would be recipes (see above)?! Yup, sure did. Prior’s “recipes”, though artfully described, were so vague in measurements and instruction as to be wisps of recipes to a girl like me. Alas, I was forced to abandon my hopes for culinary plagiarism.

Despite my disappointment with the mature storyline and lack of recipes, I will concede that La Cucina was well-written. It evoked a mystical, folkloric feeling that caught me within the first few pages and continued throughout the book. The last 40 pages of this book were my favorite part, in terms of the story line. I liked how the author tied everything up while still leaving room for emotion.

In case I haven't been clear, whether you like this book or not will be almost ENTIRELY dependent on how sensitive you are to sex in literature.

My rating: 3 Stars. I would have much preferred a PG-13 version of this book—rather than the rated R one.

Sum it up: One time read-at-your-own-risk food lit.

Julie & Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen - Julie Powell

Summary: How one girl risked her marriage, her job, and her sanity to master the art of living.

On a visit to her childhood home in Texas, Julie Powell pulls her mother's battered copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking off the bookshelf. And the book calls out to her. Pushing thirty, living in a run-down apartment in Queens, and working at a dead-end secretarial job, Julie Powell is stuck. Is she in danger of becoming just another version of the house-wife-in-a-rut? Her only hope lies in a dramatic self-rescue mission. And so she invents a deranged assignment: in the space of one year, she will cook every recipe in the Julia Child classic, all 524 of them. No skips, no substitutions. She will track down every obscure ingredient, learn every arcane cooking technique, and cook her way through sixty pounds of butter. And if it doesn't help her make sense of her life, at least she'll eat really, really well. How hard could it be?
But as Julie moves from the smooth sailing of Potage Parmentier into the culinary backwaters of aspics and calves' brains, she realizes there's more to Mastering the Art of French Cooking than meets the eye. For every triumphant Bifteck Saute au Beurre there is a disastrously soupy Creme Brulee. For every heavenly meal, an obscenity-laced nervous breakdown lurks on the horizon. But with Julia's stern warble steady in her ear, Julie carries on. She battles sauces that separate and she haunts the city's butchers, buying kidneys and sweetbreads. Her husband endures the crying jags and midnight dinners. Together they discover how to mold the perfect orange Bavarian cream, the trick to extracting marrow from bone, and the illicit thrills of eating liver. With fierceness, irreverence, and unbreakable resolve, Julie Powell learns Julia Child's most important lesson: the art of living with gusto.

My review: I’ve been wanting to read this book for a while, especially once I saw the preview for the movie that is releasing soon. I expected to read a humorous, chaotic story about learning to find oneself while cooking some hard-to-pronounce French cuisine. I was also thoroughly looking forward to all the food descriptions and various kitchen catastrophes that would undoubtedly ensue—so I waited my turn in the local library reserve line and then got started.

It didn’t take very long before my excitement for this culinary adventure dimmed, flickered, and then went out all together. Usually I can slide right by the odd profanity now and then (desensitized heathen that I am), but this book was so obscenity–laden, that it was hard not to just stop in the middle of the page and stare at the words. Seriously, you’re going to say that word HOW many times in a sentence!?!? Really? If this were a movie script, it would have exceeded the Rating Commissions standards for a PG-13 rating by page 8 (I’m not exaggerating).

Julie Powell, as written, is rarely likeable. While some reviews out in cyber-la-la-land have called her refreshing and honest, I found her style of writing to be hardly more than crude and insensitive. Among other things, Julie mocks the events of 9/11, encourages her friend to sleep with married men, swears unapologetically, and frequently engages in the kind of conversation more likely to take place in a men’s locker room than on the pages of a book about cooking. While others might find this entertaining, I found it distracted so thoroughly from the heart of the story (the Julie/Julia connection and the cooking) that I couldn’t get into the book.

Even the Julia moments, a hope that I was sincerely clinging to by the time they arrived, are few and far between—more afterthoughts or transitions than a cohesive part of the book.

Despite my high hopes for Julie & Julia, I quit reading at page 143 (lest you think I am basing this review on pages 1-7) and felt that I had given this book enough of my time. Ultimately, the author’s excessive profanity and vulgarity made it completely impossible to fully appreciate the parts of the book that were worth appreciating. If material like that doesn’t bother you, then you might like this book a whole lot more than I did. If you manage to make it through the whole thing, please let me know. We’d love to have your review.

I still have high hopes for the movie and I’m sure that I will like it much more than the book.

POST-EDIT: I finally saw the movie and it is INFINITELY better than the book. It is exactly what I hoped the book would be.

SIDE NOTE: If you just had your hopes dashed into a million little pieces by this review, I strongly recommend The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister. It is everything a good food lit book should be and it’s DELICIOUS without being crude and offensive.

My rating: 2 Stars and only because I'm being kind and assuming that other people might not find this a complete waste of time.

To sum it up: A disappointing and offensive book --not at all the humorous, emotional journey I expected.