Foxfire #2

Foxfire 2 (Hardcover) by Eliot Wigginton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really interesting. I like that they included diagrams and measurements when they were available. I also liked the mix of instructive or just interesting oral history (like the part about midwives and the part about ghosts & ghost stories) and how-to. I am going to copy parts of the section on edible spring plants & how to prepare them. There's a lot of them that I've known you could eat for a really long time, but didn't know how to prepare other than to eat a few leaves (or seeds or whatever) raw. Also the recipe for violet jelly. Interesting. :)

Recommended for hipster urban farmers, homesteaders, and other people who just want to read (but not "do") the olde days.

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The Pot and How to Use It

The Pot and How to Use It: The Mystery and Romance of the Rice Cooker by Roger Ebert

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Before going any further, I will admit that there weren't as many recipes as I'd have liked. I know some of that is due to differences between rice cookers' timing mechanisms and other related issues. Still. Essentially, it lets you know that you can use a rice cooker to make a variety of dishes (with rice! ... or noodles, or oatmeal, etc...) as one pot meals without using a stove. A lot of these, though, you can use a slow cooker for or cook on the stove in one pot. It is a nice tool for summer time cooking, though, when you wouldn't want to turn on the oven or stand over a simmering pot on the stove.

All that being said, I give it 3 stars because Ebert and the blog comments he's included are so entertaining. A great culinary quick-read. Recommended for people with rice cookers! :D



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Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Having read through the forward and some of the pre-recipe chapters, I've determined that I like the writing style. Having made a couple of the recipes (a sauce good on fish & eggs and a steak recipe w/sauce), I've determined that this is a cookbook I must own. I will cook fish more often just because that recipe was so good (& simple too). I doubt greatly that I'll cook every recipe a la Julie & Julia, but it is so well put together and so clear that it is really a book that belongs on the shelf of everyone who cooks at home. It pushes you out of your culinary ruts with a nudge and gives a range of possibilities for cooking the same dish over and over, but with variations so it's different every time you bring it to the table. And though some of the dishes take some time, those that I tried did not & dinner was finished within 30 minutes with the addition of a simple green salad or some "steam in bag" veggies that balanced out the fish (or steak) with the richer sauce very nicely.

I think it'd take a very long time to fully appreciate this book, so I'm hoping to receive it for Mother's Day or my birthday this year, but will keep the copy I borrowed from the library until I can't renew it anymore!

A must-own for everyone who cooks at home and those who don't, but love food. If I could give a book 6 stars out of 5, I'd do it.

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It Ain't All About the Cookin'

This book gives readers the inside story about Paula Deen's life before she became a Food Network celebrity. It recounts her struggles with single parenthood and agoraphobia. I really enjoyed "getting to know" Paula since she goes out of her way to make her television viewers feel as though they'd be welcome in her home. Definitely recommended for Paula's fans and for people interested in reading a memoir of a person overcoming the odds to live the American dream.

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously

I selected this book for my library's January book club selection (yes, you can see what a slow-poke I am about my postings if you hadn't already noticed!). Being in my early 30's, I can sympathize with Julie's housekeeping (even though my own apartment has never been quite as bad as hers), her relationship with her husband, and friends. I also am able to sympathize with her desire for "something else" - a challenge, something new, something to blast one out of his/her rut.... something.

I found the book engaging, candid, and at points, laugh-out-loud funny. If you're easily offended by the f-word, you might want to select a different book. While it's not on every page, it's sprinkled throughout the text with some regularity.

Highly recommended for most adults - especially those searching for a way out of their own rut. Perhaps the answers are simpler than we think.