What I Read In April

I've been all about reading and getting a few knitting projects completed for birthday deadlines during April. Here's what got read:

Loved this book! It has AB's signature "quirkiness" (including the fact that ALL the photography was shot with a phone!) and a TON of recipes I will actually be cooking! (Bourbon Bread Pudding anyone? --Yes please!) It was a great way to celebrate seeing his stage show (where I purchased my signed copy!) and a fun, fun read!

I really liked this book as the whole concept of taking time to be mindful of ingredients and putting together lunch in your work environment appeals to me. Reading the intro was one "aha" moment after another as lightbulbs kept going on at great ideas and suggestions. The recipes are sorted into seasons (availability of produce) and broken down into classifications of diets ( ie. raw, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, and omnivore) with info suggesting adaptations for other dietary needs. In a word this book is amazing!

Being a regular meditator attempting to get more mindfulness into the moments of life that are NOT on the cushion, this book is a wonderful tome! I have done a little reading on mindful eating and movement, but "seeing" is SUCH an obvious moment of mindfulness that I was overlooking it (just like the morel mushrooms in the woods!) I found the exercise prompts helpful and can imagine getting something new from each exercise every time I use it. I love the photographs and the drawings/sketches. Paired with the quotes or each taken alone, there is much to ponder and explore! I will be recommending this to my friends!

This novel is a character driven mosaic of life in a community in the aftermath of the disappeearance (and presumed abducton/kidnapping) of 5 year old Daisy Gonzalez. Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character, building on the relationships (however tenuous) between them (neighbors, employers, former classmates, hairdresser/clients, church group members, etc.). As such, if you are expecting a straight narrative thread or linear unfoding of a "who dunnit," you will be disappointed. There are times you may wonder how what you're reading has anything to do with the story of the disappearance of Daisy. Forge ahead! You are being let in on the nitty gritty details of the lives of certain elements of Colliersville, Indiana.

For me, everything came together in the final chapter. I think this is because I have personal experience of visitations in avian form from recently departed love ones. Therefore, I LOVED the way Kennedy wrapped up the story!!

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC I received in exchange for this fair and honest review.

The Slanted Door: Modern Vietnamese Food

Being a lover and reader of cookbooks, I have many more tomes than can fit in my small kitchen cupboard. The solution, for me, has been to try out e-cookbooks! I recently picked up Phan's latest offering, The Slanted Door, when it was a part of the publisher's specially priced offering that passed through my email one day. If you love cookbooks and enjoy adventuresome eating/cooking, you will want to pick up a copy as well!

I love that The Slanted Door offers readers a bit of history of the restaurant after which the cookbook is named. As you read, you get a sense of San Francisco and the food scene therein. A travel guide within a cookbook is a "win win" to me! Phan also includes other stories and anecdotes about what it takes to run a food business, what the food he presents means to him, and glimpses into family life and history that connect readers and would-be at-home chefs to the dishes presented. This is what makes me devour a cookbook!

I like that dishes from all parts of the menu are included in the cookbook. If you are intimidated to try a full-blown entre (and you really shouldn't be with Phan's step-by-step instructions and careful coaching in each recipe), you can always start with an appetizer! Abundant explanations and gorgeous photographs accompany each recipe and provide encouragement. What a delight!

In this modern era with global connections, it's hard to imagine that anyone would find the ingredients in Phan's dishes to be too exotic. I live in the middle of America, in the "fly-over" zone where grocery stores have limited shelf space. However, I feel confident that I could procure most of the ingredients to make any dish in the book readily and locally.

Having this book on my e-reader is great because I can set it on the kitchen counter and follow along with the recipe as I cook, thus saving paper. (Do note it helps to increase the length of time before your screen times out before you start cooking if you don't want to have to swipe the screen with messy fingers!) While it will take a bit of getting used to (also, set it out of splatter range!), it makes me feel even more technologically savvy as well. I will certainly be indulging in more e-cookbooks in the future!

From the Publisher . . .

The long-awaited cookbook featuring 100 recipes from James Beard award-winning chef Charles Phan’s beloved San Francisco Vietnamese restaurant, The Slanted Door.

Award-winning chef and restaurateur Charles Phan opened The Slanted Door in San Francisco in 1995, inspired by the food of his native Vietnam. Since then, The Slanted Door has grown into a world-class dining destination, and its accessible, modern take on classic Vietnamese dishes is beloved by diners, chefs, and critics alike. The Slanted Door is a love letter to the restaurant, its people, and its food. Featuring stories in addition to its most iconic recipes, The Slanted Door both celebrates a culinary institution and allows home cooks to recreate its excellence.

About the Author . . .

Charles Phan is the award-winning Executive Chef and Owner of San Francisco's The Slanted Door and 6 other restaurants. He is considered to be the inventor of modern Vietnamese cuisine in the United States.

Born in Da Lat, Vietnam in 1962, Charles and his family - parents and five siblings - relocated to Guam just before the fall of Saigon. They spent two years on Guam before settling in San Francisco in 1977.

Always having had a passion for food, Charles opened his first restaurant, The Slanted Door, on Valencia Street in San Francisco's Mission District in 1995. It was an immediate popular and critical success. The restaurant played a significant role in the revitalization of this vibrant area.

In 2004, the nationally acclaimed, The Slanted Door, became one of the principal tenants of San Francisco's historic Ferry Building and was instrumental in developing this landmark into one of the country's premier food destinations.

That year, he also won the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef of California and in 2011 was inducted into the foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America.

Since then, Phan has opened six successful restaurants, all located in San Francisco, a city with a famously vibrant food scene. His enduring vision to showcase farm-fresh, locally sourced ingredients and prepare everything from scratch has kept The Slanted Door Group of restaurants on the forefront of San Francisco's dining scene.

Charles' first book, VIETNAMESE HOME COOKING, hopes to inspire readers to make interesting, fast, flavorful and healthy Vietnamese dishes in their home kitchens. The book won an IACP award in 2012.

His second cookbook, THE SLANTED DOOR, offers one hundred recipes of modern Vietnamese food, cocktail and dessert. The book comes at the right time to celebrate James Beard Award's Outstanding Restaurant in May 2014 and its 20th anniversary in November.

Nourishing Meals Delivers

This book is a godsend to folks who have dietary concerns which affect their health. Many people are looking for options which include dairy-free, gluten-free or soy-free dishes to provide optimal nutrition for their families.

This book is FULL of helpful tips, background information, and research. The best part is that it doesn't simply offer readers a small handful of recipes. We are talking about 484 pages filled with 365 easy-to-follow, delicious recipes you can start using on day one! And good news . . . you can find most of the ingredients at your local grocery store without having to find any specialty shops or mail-order sources. (Although on the off-chance you live on a secluded island accessible only by sea plane, online shopping sources are also included among the inclusive appendix at the back of the book.)

My thanks to Blogging For Books for the free copy I received in exchange for this honest review. From the Publisher . . .

It can be daunting to live a whole foods lifestyle in today’s busy world—even more so to prepare plant-rich, allergen-free meals that’ll get the whole family around the table. Popular blogger Ali Segersten and functional medicine expert Tom Malttere are a team devoted to teaching their children—and readers—the importance of living a whole foods lifestyle. Nourishing Meals makes it easy and fun with dishes that burst with flavor, such as their Cherry Pecan Salad, Butternut Squash and Pinto Bean Enchiladas, Chipotle-Lime Roasted Chicken, and Banana Coconut Cream Pie.

Every recipe in the book is free of the most common allergens: gluten, soy, eggs, and dairy, as well as refined sugar. And these dishes are designed to appeal to everyone, including vegan, vegetarian, seafood, and meat-eaters. In addition to wonderful food, Ali and Tom offer easy, doable steps to help you change your family’s health, tips for making the transition easier, and ways to get the kids excited about wholesome foods. They map out the best foods and recipes for every stage of having a family, from pre-conception and pregnancy through each year of a child’s life. And they explain in accessible terms what makes their recipes so effective for achieving optimal health. Originally self-published with an avid following, this edition will feature more than 30 new recipes, and many of the original recipes have been updated. This new edition will also include 100 beautiful all-new food photos featured in two inserts.

With an easy, tasty recipe for every day of the year, it’s never been simpler to adopt a healthy, whole foods lifestyle!

Cook Healthier Foods

I happen to be one of the millions of Americans who teeter on the verge of cholesterol numbers that concern my doctor. The American Heart Association's Healthy Fats, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook arrived just in time for my final round of "please let me try diet and exercise" rather than medication plea to my doctor.

I am so thrilled with this cookbook, I cannot tell you!

The subtitle, Delicious Recipes To Help Reduce Bad Fats and Lower Your Cholesterol is spot on. These are some delicious recipes! We had already lowered the amount of red meats in our diet a couple of years ago, so I was very happy to have new poultry and fish/seafood recipes to try. One key, it seems to me, that runs throughout the book is the addition of spices that you might not have used or considered before which take away any and all sense of "missing out" where the fat content has been reduced or eliminated. For example, the recipe for Crispy Oven-Fried Chicken adds a bit of ginger along with the paprika when seasoning your meat. (p. 144) This is brilliant and we both enjoyed this little addition immensely.

You are going to find recipes for any and all times of day, types of foods, and diets. Yes, there are vegetarian dishes included. There are also breads, breakfast, and desserts!

What I found myself turning to and really using were the Appendixes at the back of the book. These include helpful tips and strategies for healthy shopping, healthy cooking, healthy dining out, and the science behind all recommendations. There are even sections of risk factors for heart disease and warning signs of heart attacks and stroke. This could potentially be some life saving information!!

I have had the wonderful opportunity to review many cookbooks. I love cookbooks, cooking, and eating! Healthy Fats, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook will be my main go-to cookbook for the foreseeable future. (Even when using others, I will have it open to the tips on making other recipes healthier and more heart friendly!) Thank you to Blogging For Books for the review copy I received in exchange for this honest review. You have helped to change our lives for the better!

From the Publisher . . .

The classic cookbook for achieving heart health and wellbeing through a diet that is low in cholesterol and saturated fat--updated and revised with 200 recipes (including 50 new to this edition)

Lose the bad fats, but not the flavor.

Now in its fifth edition, American Heart Association Healthy Fats, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook provides the most up-to-date information on heart health and nutrition. Good-for-you food should also be satisfying, and the American Heart Association reveals how easy it is to replace the bad fats in your diet with healthier ones. This classic cookbook offers more than 200 tempting dishes, 50 of which are new, including:

· Fresh Basil and Kalamata Hummus · Triple-Pepper and White Bean Soup with Rotini · Taco Salad · Hearty Fish Chowder · Chicken Pot Pie with Mashed Potato Topping · Balsamic Braised Beef with Exotic Mushrooms · Grilled Pizza with Grilled Vegetables · Stovetop Scalloped Tomatoes · Puffed Pancake with Apple-Cranberry Sauce · Mango Brûlée with Pine Nuts


The perfect companion for today’s healthy cook, this indispensable collection of recipes proves you can eat deliciously and nutritiously.

About the Author . . .

The AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION is the nation’s premier authority on heart health. Its bestselling library of cookbooks and guides includes American Heart Association Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook, Fourth Edition; The New American Heart Association Cookbook, Seventh Edition; American Heart Association No-Fad Diet; American Heart Association Low-Salt Cookbook, Third Edition; American Heart Association Meals in Minutes Cookbook; American Heart Association Low-Calorie Cookbook; and American Heart Association Quick & Easy Cookbook.

The Longevity Kitchen

If you are interested in a healthy diet to help optimize your wellness and promote longevity, you are going to want to run out and pick up a copy of The Longevity Kitchen: Satisfying Big-Flavor Recipes Featuring the Top 16 Age-Busting Power Foods by Rebecca Katz.

The book features everything you would expect to find in a cookbook: delicious, well-written, and easy to follow recipes grouped in intuitive sections (“Life-Enhancing Soups and Broths,” “Vital Vegetables,” “Protein-Building Foods,” etc.), beautiful, full-page color photographs of scrumptious dishes, nutritional information for each recipe, notes and tips to help ensure your success, and an extensive resource directory to help those of us in less urban areas acquire some ingredients and supplies that may not be available in our area.

What is unique to Kates Longevity Kitchen is the first three chapters of the book. There Katz walks readers through a fascinating tour of the body’s various systems such as bones & muscles; the immune system; the gut, liver, and kidneys; the respiratory system; etc. She explains how each system is designed to work and the fuel needed to help it do so. In chapter two, Katz discusses how the foods we eat can play either a harmful or healing role in our bodies. She provides readers with an extensive list of nutritious, healing foods, detailing the benefits of each. I found this both fascinating and enlightening! Finally, Katz offers readers some words of wisdom in making the most of the book. I found her list of questions regarding discovering your culinary GPS thought-provoking and a bit unnerving in places which highlighted some of my poor habits!

The Longevity Kitchen will be making a permanent home on my counter as it becomes my go-to standard in cooking for my family in the days ahead. I’d like to thank Blogging For Books for the review copy I received in exchange for this review.

From the Publisher . . .

A collection of 125 delicious whole-foods recipes showcasing 16 antioxidant-rich power foods, developed by wellness authority Rebecca Katz to combat and prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, inflammation, arthritis, and other conditions that plague American adults, enabling readers to live longer, healthier lives.


In this collection of more than 100 recipes that combine smart nutrition and superb flavor, culinary nutrition pioneer Rebecca Katz highlights the top sixteen foods proven to fight the most common chronic conditions. Katz draws on the latest scientific research to explain how super foods such as asparagus, basil, coffee, dark chocolate, kale, olive oil, sweet potatoes, and wild salmon can build immunity, lower cholesterol, enhance memory, strengthen the heart, and reduce your chances of developing diabetes and other diseases.

This practical, flavor-packed guide presents the most effective—and delicious—ways to use food to improve the performance of every system in the body. Katz explains the health advantages of each main ingredient, and includes menu plans to address specific symptoms and detailed nutritional information for each recipe.

Easy-to-find ingredients are incorporated into a powerful arsenal of tantalizing recipes, including:
• Roasted Asparagus Salad with Arugula and Hazelnuts
• Costa Rican Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potato
• Black Cod with Miso-Ginger Glaze
• Herby Turkey Sliders
• Thyme Onion Muffins
• Yogurt Berry Brûlée with Almond Brittle

Based on the most up-to-date nutritional research, The Longevity Kitchen helps you feed your family well and live a long and vibrant life.

About the Author . . .

As the senior chef-in-residence and nutritional educator at one of the country’s leading cancer wellness centers, REBECCA KATZ, MS, is the culinary link bringing together physicians and patients with a common goal: eating well to maximize cancer treatments, minimize side effects, and improve outcomes. She is the founder of the Inner Cook, a Bay Area culinary practice that specializes in meeting the specific nutritional and appetite needs of cancer patients, and a senior chef at Commonweal Cancer Help Program in Marin County, California. Katz has been a guest chef and lecturer at top academic medical centers throughout the country, including the annual Food As Medicine conference.

Food52 Baking Is a Treat

I consider myself blessed to come from a long line of solid cooks who know their way around a kitchen. My mother was in her element baking dozens upon dozens of cookies and breads for Christmas. My grandmother kept a variety of freshly baked treats in her kitchen "just in case company stops by." Both would appreiate Food52's newest offering, Baking: 60 Sensational Treats You Can Pull Off In a Snap.

Personaly, I'm thrilled that the 60 treats includes some breakfast treats (I have a love affair with scones going) and some savory delights (pizza dough! Basil onion cornbread! Cheese crispettes!) for times you want a special something that's not sweet. The recipes are divided into seven sections: breakfast, cookies & bars, fruit desserts, custardy cakes & puddings, everyday cakes, special occasion cakes, and savory baked goods. The recipes themselves are clearly written with ingredients listed in a column on the left, an introduction to begin (which often includes serving suggestons, help with less familiar ingredients, and personal anecdotes from the contributor'a experience), and step by step instructions below. Any special technique instructions are also included at the end. (This is why it is always a good idea to read any recipe through to the end before beginning.) For example, p. 63 instructs readers "How to Cut in Butter."

The fact that each section is delineated by a full-spread color photo (try not to drool) and each recipe includes an equally scrumptious image (if only it were scratch & sniff!) had me me ogling the pages like teenaged boys who've gotten their hands on their first swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated. What really hooked me in and made me fall in love with this book were the slight twists on familiar treats that made me exclaim things like "of course!" and "genius!" aloud. The addition of cinnamon and yogurt in "Bestest Banana Bread" now seems like something I should have known before. The recipe for Spiced Parsnip Cake (parsnips replacing carrots) is pure genius. And although it sounds really odd, I'm willing to trust the authors that the addition of a can of tomato soup will enhance a spice cake with cream cheese frosting in ways that will leave your guests asking for more.

I'd like to thank Blogging For Books for the review copy I received free in exchange for this review. I am thrilled to add this to my cookbook collection and look forward to baking delicious treats from it for years to come!

From the Publisher . . .

A stunning collection of hassle-free recipes for baking cakes, cookies, tarts, puddings, muffins, bread, and more, from the editors behind the leading food website Food52.

Whether it’s the chocolate cake at every childhood birthday, blondies waiting for you after school, or hot dinner rolls smeared with butter at Thanksgiving dinner, homemade baked goods hold a place in many of our best memories. And that’s why baking shouldn’t be reserved for special occasions.

With this book, curated by the editors of Food52, you can have homemade treats far superior to the store-bought variety, even when it feels like you’re too busy to turn on the oven. From Brown Butter Cupcake Brownies to “Cuppa Cuppa Sticka” Peach and Blueberry Cobbler, these sixty reliable, easy-to-execute recipes won’t have you hunting down special equipment and hard-to-find ingredients or leave you with a kitchen covered in flour and a skink piled high with bowls. They’re not ordinary or ho-hum, either: ingredients you’ve baked with before (and some you haven’t – like black sesame, coconut oil, and lavender) come together to create new favorites like Baked Cardamom French Toast and Olive Oil and Sesame Crackers. Filled with generations’ worth of kitchen wisdom, beautiful photography, and tips you’ll return to, Baking is the new go-to collection for anyone who wants to whip up something sweet every day.

Two Titles For Your Consideration - Tacos & A Mystery!

BOOK ONE

I believe I have never eaten a "real" taco.

I'm not easily intimidated by cooking/food books, however, Alex Stupak's Tacos: Recipes and Provocations, left me quivering. Not only did I discern a visceral sense that I would never be able to measure up in the taco making realm while reading Stupak's book, I also sensed a longing for said "real" taco that may never be fulfilled. All in all, I felt a bit empty.

The book is lovely to look at and inspiring in its attempt to familiarize us gringos with the foods that are so much more familiar to those living closer to the southern border and beyond it in foreign lands. Although my part of the country has some immigrants from Mexico and points south of there, most people in my immediate area equate Mexican food, and tacos, with the national chains. For us tortillas come in "shelf stable" packages that last forever, and salsa comes in jars or packets.

Thus the overwhelm I felt when Stupak writes, "There is absolutely no substitute for a fresh, homemade tortilla, and suggesting any kind of store-bought alternative would keep me up at night. To fully use this book as it's intended, you have to reconcile to the idea of making your own." (p. 27) Despite my gut screaming, "Turn back! You're in too deep!", I forged ahead with the discussion of types of corn. (I live in Iowa. I am surrounded by fields of field corn. Every kid in Iowa gets a detailed education on the bamboo-related grass that is corn which is growing all around us. Still, onward I read.) Stupak presents an interesting and detailed account of the types of corn, the process needed to make field corn digestible, and the tools and machinery needed to make it happen. On page 33 you learn the truth: masa fine enough to make tortillas with cannot be made at home. He tried. Extensively. It did not work. (At least according to his standards--yours may vary.)

I was quite disappointed at this stage of the reading, because I realized I was never going to make a tortilla.

I'm glad I kept reading, however. I eyed all the recipes for the delicious varieties of tortillas Stupak offers with equal parts longing and jealousy. There is a wonderful section on the many different types of chilies available along with their various attributes (taste, heat, etc.). I found this very educational. I wanted to be able to taste the different proteins that Stupak offers readers. The wide variety of salsa types blew my mind: I had no idea there were so many options to choose from!

If you are a serious foodie or a very adventurous cook, you may want to get your hands on a copy of Stupak's Tacos. Perhaps you've never really spent much time considering the taco from the perspective of artful cuisine. This book affords you that opportunity. Thanks to Blogging For Books for the free copy I received in exchange for this review!

From the Publisher . . .

Superstar chef Alex Stupak’s love of real Mexican food changed his life; it caused him to quit the world of fine-dining pastry and open the smash-hit Empellón Taqueria in New York City. Now he’ll change the way you make–and think about–tacos forever.

TACOS is a deep dive into the art and craft of one of Mexico’s greatest culinary exports. We start by making fresh tortillas from corn and flour, and variations that look to innovative grains and flavor infusions. Next we master salsas, from simple chopped condiments to complex moles that simmer for hours and have flavor for days. Finally we explore fillings, both traditional and modern–from a pineapple-topped pork al pastor to pastrami with mustard seeds.

But TACOS is more than a collection of beautiful things to cook. Wrapped up within it is an argument: Through these recipes, essays, and sumptuous photographs by Evan Sung, the 3-Michelin-star veteran makes the case that Mexican food should be as esteemed as the highest French cooking.

About the Author . . .

(From his Facebook page): Alex Stupak is the chef and owner of Empellon Cocina and Empellon Taqueria in New York and is one of Food & WIne's Best New Chefs 2013.

His address on the Web is:
http://www.empellon.com/


BOOK TWO

I really enjoyed returning to a mystery and discovering a new author whose writing I found engaging.

Secret Sisters is written mainly from the viewpoint of the main female character, Madeline Chase, who is called back to the scene of her traumatic childhood incident that has changed the lives of several people. She arrives just in time to witness the death/murder of the man who has been the property's caretaker for the intervening 18 years. From there, I found it a compelling read with a variety of suspects, motives, and danger to keep me flipping pages as quickly as possible.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the book is the fact that there were several crimes that had to be sorted through. The 18-year old incident that involved Madeline and Daphne, revealed an older murder two states away and prompts a closer look at the current deaths for signs murder too. This makes the perpetrator unfold more dastardly deeds in an attempt to throw off suspicion.

The romance part of the mystery didn't bother me as I thought it potentially might. (I generally like to keep my genres separate.) It is integrated into the overall story in such a way that it unfolds naturally but does not detract from or overpower the mystery.

If you enjoy a good "who-dun-it" that keeps unfolding even when you think it has wrapped up, you need to give Krentz's Secret Sisters a read. (Be warned that it does involve a child abduction and near rape, if that is a trigger for you.) Thanks to the publisher for the Advance Reading Copy I received in exchange for this review!

About the Book . . .

No one does romantic suspense better than Jayne Ann Krentz. Now, the New York Times bestselling author of Trust No One and River Road delivers a novel that twists and turns into a read that will leave you breathless.

Madeline and Daphne were once as close as sisters—until a secret tore them apart. Now it might take them to their graves.

They knew his name, the man who tried to brutally attack twelve-year-old Madeline in her grandmother's hotel. They thought they knew his fate. He wouldn't be bothering them anymore...ever. Still their lives would never be the same.

Madeline has returned to Washington after her grandmother's mysterious death. And at the old, abandoned hotel—a place she never wanted to see again—a dying man’s last words convey a warning: the secrets she and Daphne believed buried forever have been discovered.

Now, after almost two decades, Madeline and Daphne will be reunited in friendship and in fear. Unable to trust the local police, Madeline summons Jack Rayner, the hotel chain’s new security expert. Despite the secrets and mysteries that surround him, Jack is the only one she trusts...and wants.

Jack is no good at relationships but he does possess a specific skill set that includes a profoundly intimate understanding of warped and dangerous minds. With the assistance of Jack's brother, Abe, a high-tech magician, the four of them will form an uneasy alliance against a killer who will stop at nothing to hide the truth....

About the Author . . .

The author of over 50 New York Times bestsellers, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ writes romantic-suspense in three different worlds: Contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick) and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 35 million copies of her books in print.

The New Sugar & Spice Is Nice!

As someone who is attempting to eat a healthier diet might, I always feel a bit guilty having dessert. But I love it so! You can imagine my delight in reading Seneviratne's introduction to her wonderful new cookbook, The New Sugar & Spice, and discovering the idea that less sugar + more spices = more flavorful, slightly healthier, and equally or more satisfying dessert experiences. Now here's an "all things in moderation" (the limited sugar) diet idea I can rally behind!

Seneviratne has family in Sri Lanka and spent time there visiting them during her childhood. I love the stories and anecdotes she includes in both the introduction to her book and before each recipe. This gave me the sense I was in the kitchen with a friend who was happily recounting the tales of how the recipe came to her. It also stirred my imagination and wanderlust as I pictured the lush gardens in which her grandparents and their siblings grew the very spices included in so many of the recipes.

The cookbook divides the recipes according to the spice (or spice family) used in the recipes. These are: Peppercorn & Chili; Cinnamon; Nutmeg; Cloves & Cardamom; Vanilla; Ginger; and Savory Herbs & Spices. Each chapter begins with a brief history and geography lesson recounting where the spices originated and grow and their importance in establishing world commerce via the spice trade routes. I found it a fascinating part of the book's charm.

There is a wonderful variety of desserts presented throughout The New Sugar & Spice, including breads and pastries; cookies and cakes; puddings and ice creams; and much more. I found some of Seneviratne's comments about the dishes endearing. She writes of the True Love Cake, "This cake doubles as aromatherapy" (p.66). Regarding the "Bombay Cream" (as opposed to Boston Cream) for her Cardamom Cream-Filled Sugar Doughnuts she says, "Cardamom mixed with cream is one of the loveliest things on the planet" (p. 130). (Having dipped my grandmother's Christmas bread (which features cardamom) in warm milk for a heavenly treat, I'd have to agree!)

The recipes in this book are arranged in a manner that makes it easy to assemble your ingredients and follow the detailed, step-by-step directions. I believe even those without much kitchen experience will find recipes with which they are sure to be successful. Many of the recipes are accompanied by full-page, gorgeous photography that makes you long for a fork and a nibble of the finished product. (S'more Pie, I'm looking at you!)

I'd like to thank Blogging For Books for the ARC I received in exchange for this review. I believe The New Sugar & Spice will be my go-to for desserts for years to come!

From the Publisher . . .

Raise your desserts to a whole new level of flavor with The New Sugar & Spice, a collection of more than eighty unique, unexpected, and uniformly delicious recipes for spice-centric sweets. Veteran baker Samantha Seneviratne’s recipes will open your eyes to a world of baking possibilities: Her spicy, pepper-flecked Chile-Chocolate Truffles prove that heat and sweet really do go hand-in-hand, and a fresh batch of aromatic, cinnamon-laced Maple Sticky Buns will have the whole family racing into the kitchen.

Discover new recipes from around the globe, such as Sri Lankan Love Cake or Swedish-inspired Saffron Currant Braid. Or, give your classic standbys a bold upgrade, such as making Raspberry Shortcakes with zingy Double Ginger Biscuits. Filled with fascinating histories, origin stories, and innovative uses for the world’s most enticing spices—including vanilla, cinnamon, peppercorns, and cardamom —The New Sugar & Spice guarantees that dessert will be the most talked-about part of your meal.

About the Author . . .

SAMANTHA SENEVIRATNE is New York-based food writer, recipe developer, and food stylist. She is a graduate of the International Culinary Center and has worked as a food editor in the kitchens of Good Housekeeping, Fine Cooking and Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. She blogs about dessert at Love, Cake (Lovecommacake.com.)

Healthier Eating Is Possible With Everyday Detox

"Dear Food,
It's not you. It's me.
I've just discovered I've had a dysfunctional relationship with you all my life."

So begins my imaginary letter to one of my life's great loves after reading Megan Gilmore's new book, Everyday Detox: 100 Recipes to Remove Toxins, Promote Gut Health, and Lose Weight Naturally.

I found the introduction and premise behind the book to be both fascinating and insightful. I had never considered that there might be a different experience other than feeling gassy & bloated after eating. Also, I have a very difficult time sticking to any plan that asks me to give up my nearly 50-year desire for something sweet. Gilmore states at the outset that her plan does NOT make you give up those sweet indulgences, nor the pasta or potatoes, nor any other food that you might enjoy. She simply asks that we begin to rethink the need to consume ALL the things we love at every meal. (What? I can still have some chocolate now and again? A muffin? Mac-n-cheese? That's HUGE!)

Gilmore suggests that so many of our digestive and weight issues stem from the fact that we are eating the wrong foods together. She presents some "new rules" for putting meals together which ultimately bring more good news: these meals are simplified, quick and easy, and made from better ingredients (which lend more nutrition, taste, and ultimately satisfaction to the experience). She suggests that we eat meals focused on one food type (think animal protein, nuts & seeds, starches, etc.) with a host of supporting "neutral" cast members (typically, non-starchy vegetables) on the side.

After laying out the method and philosophy, Gilmore then presents a host of recipes from smoothies to packable lunches, satisfying dinners and even sweet treats. She lists out how to stock your pantry and kitchen to make her plan a lifestyle and not a passing fad. She advises that even if you don't want to follow the well laid out plan for a full week of detoxing, taking her advice on what foods to avoid eating at the same time and eating more whole foods (versus processed foods), you are sure to feel better (no more bloat! less gas! higher energy!) and possibly lose some weight at the same time.

I for one am very stoked to dive in and put these ideas into practice. I would love to come away from the table feeling satisfied and full of energy rather than ready to curl up on the couch and nurse the pain under my ribcage. I can't wait to try some of these recipes. (The chia cereal/pudding is at the top of my list!) I'd like to thank Blogging For Books for the review copy I received in exchange for this review!

From the Publisher . . .

A healthy guide to detoxing naturally, all year round–no dieting, juice fasting, or calorie counting required–to lose weight, improve digestion, sleep better, and feel great, featuring 100 properly combined recipes for every meal of the day.

Most diets and cleanses have all-or-nothing rules that encourage unhealthy cycles of intense restriction followed by inevitable bingeing. In this healthy guide to detoxing naturally, nutritionist and blogger Megan Gilmore shares 100 delicious, properly combined recipes that will leave you feeling satisfied and well nourished while promoting weight loss and improving digestion and sleep.

Because the recipes were developed with digestion mechanics in mind, detoxers won’t feel bloated or uncomfortable after eating. And crowd-pleasing recipes for every meal of the day—such as Banana Coconut Muffins, Chocolate Chia Shake, Broccoli Cheese Soup, Mediterranean Chopped Salad, Skillet Fish Tacos, Cauliflower Flatbread Pizza, and Peppermint Fudge Bars—are packed with all-natural, whole-foods ingredients designed to stave off feelings of deprivation. With helpful information on how to stock your detox-friendly kitchen plus a handy food-combining cheat sheet that demystifies this cutting-edge health principle, Everyday Detox makes it easy to start eating this way today.

About the Author . . .

MEGAN GILMORE is the creator and recipe developer behind Detoxinista.com, a website that makes healthy living easier and more accessible. Though she wasn’t raised as a healthy eater, Megan credits her former junk food habits—and a penchant for baking—in helping her re-create healthy favorites using whole-foods ingredients, without sacrificing taste or texture. Megan is a certified nutritionist consultant and health coach, and her recipes have been featured in The Guardian as well as Shape and Clean Eating magazines. She lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and son.

Get Your Brew On

When learning something new, it only makes sense to learn from someone who's an expert. Having been there and done that in the realm of home brewing, Emma Christensen's new book, Brew Better Beer is the expert advise you need to walk you through getting started making your own beer. (Or, if you've made a few batches and aren't quite sure why it's not tasting how you'd like or imagined, the book will steer you in the right direction!)

Christensen does a super job at laying out the basics for everyone who has wanted to try making beer but found themselves overwhelmed in the beginning. I appreciate that she does a bit of hand-holding (and lets experienced brew masters know when to skip ahead unless they want to review the basics with us newbs). In addition to in-depth narrative, the book includes easy to read and follow charts on all the basics from equipment needed to the rich variety of ingredients needed. She even has a chart to help beginners figure out if they are more likely to enjoy and find success with brewing smaller 1-gallon batches or larger 5-gallon quantities. (I suspect I'm more your 1-gallon sized brewer as I'm the type who doesn't want to have to drink through a whole lot before I get to try something else.)

My eyes were certainly opened to the plethora of possibilities home brewers have when it comes to ingredients that will affect the beer you make. Varieties of hops, types of grains, different yeasts, even the mineral content of the water used will provide different flavors in the final product. Christensen takes each ingredient in hand, explains what its purpose in the brew is, and then lists the options available for each ingredient and what it will do to your beer. I was amazed and thankful for a concise "play-by-play" scorecard that will provide handy reference in the future.

With the opening elementary chapters behind, the rest of the book is divided up according to styles of beer to brew: Pale Ales, India Pale Ales (IPAs), Brown Ales, Porters & Stouts, British Ales, Belgian Ales, Scottish & Irish Red Ales, Wheat Beers, Rye Ales, Session Ales, Gluten-Free Beers, and Lagers. Interspersed between chapters are great tips and talks on things like "How To Pour and Taste Beer" and "Ten Small Habits That Will Make You a Better Brewer". (Especially helpful, the section labeled "Common Problems, Easy Solutions"!)

Each chapter on a style of beer includes several tried and true recipes for brewers. What I love is that each recipe offers readers several beers that are already out there on the shelves to try which are similar in nature to the one in the recipe. Don't know if you're up for a whole batch of "Bitter Brit English-Style Pale Ale"? Well, run out and grab Whale's Tale Pale Ale by Cisco Brewers, Inc. or Schlafly Pale Ale from The Saint Louis Brewery to find out!

Each recipe also includes "Brew Notes" to help ensure optimal success with your batch of brew and "Make It Yours" ideas on ways to switch up the ingredients to tweak your flavor results in a way that might be more to your own liking.

If you've ever thought of making your own home brew, Brew Better Beer is the book you will want to get! Thanks to Blogging For Books for the review copy I received in exchange for this review.

From the Publisher . . .

In this colorful homebrewing guide, The Kitchn’s Emma Christensen gives you the keys to the brewery. Start out by mastering the basic styles, like A Very Good IPA and A Very Good Porter, then move on to inspired variations such as Centennial Dry-Hopped Double IPA, Campari IPA, and Smokey Chipotle Porter to discover which flavors, infusions, hops, and yeasts work best with each ale and lager. Want to brew a signature beer with your own personal stamp? Go wild with the “Make It Yours” suggestions and try tossing anything from cherries to chai spices into your brew.

This handy manual also dives deep into the mechanics of brewing all-extract, partial-extract, and all-grain brews, and includes a big, beautiful photographic guide to brewing beer so you can see exactly how each step is done. You can brew small 1-gallon batches, perfect for apartment brewers and low-risk experimentation, or brew 5 gallons and have enough to share with all your friends. You’ll also be introduced to up-and-coming beer trends like rye malts, barrel-aging at home, sour beers, gluten-free beers, and Old World beer styles.

Filled with inspiring recipes like Riding Lawn Mower Pale Ale, Maple Cider Dubbel, Finnish Juniper Rye Sahti Ale, Figgy Pudding British Barleywine, and Farmers’ Market Gruit, Christensen’s accessible approach will have you brewing better beer in no time.

About the Author . . .

EMMA CHRISTENSEN is the recipe editor for the popular homecooking website The Kitchn (www.TheKitchn.com), and a graduate of the Cambridge School for Culinary Arts in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A former beer reviewer for the Columbus Dispatch, she is a dedicated home-brewer always eager for the chance to nerd out about fermentation. Emma lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

To learn more, visit www.emmaelizabethchristensen.blogspot.com.

Genius Recipes

Have you ever wished that you could have professional chefs right beside you in the kitchen, giving you their secret tips to ensure the dish you're working on turns out better than ever? Now you can!

Food52's Genius Recipes serves up 100 recipes from top chefs with genius tips, easy to follow directions, and extra help in note form--all designed to ensure your success in the kitchen. Along the way, you are sure to discover and adopt some new techniques which will change the way you cook other dishes too!

What's a great way to add creaminess to soups, purees and sauces without using cream or butter? Look to the Genius Tip on page 194 which is included with Julia Child's Gratin of Zucchini, Rice, & Onions with Cheese for the surprising answer.

Want a great way to simultaneously prepare both a first course and a vegetable course that everyone will be talking about for days to come? Don't miss the Genius Tip that goes with Alon Shaya's Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Whipped Goat Cheese on page 174.

The book is beautifully put together with introductory explanations, clear layouts, and gorgeous, full-paged photographs guaranteed to make your mouth water. Sections include: Breakfast, Snacks & Drinks, Soups & Salads, Meaty Mains, Meatless Mains, Vegetables, and Desserts. If you can't find at least a dozen recipes to try from this generous offering, I'll be surprised! (Did I mention that some of the recipes include secondary recipes that ride alongside? Cheater Soft Served Ice Cream anyone?)

I am thankful to the folks at Blogging For Books for the free copy I received in exchange for this review. I will be putting this one to good use for many years to come!

From the Publisher . . .

There are good recipes and there are great ones—and then, there are genius recipes.

Genius recipes surprise us and make us rethink the way we cook. They might involve an unexpectedly simple technique, debunk a kitchen myth, or apply a familiar ingredient in a new way. They’re handed down by luminaries of the food world and become their legacies. And, once we’ve folded them into our repertoires, they make us feel pretty genius too. In this collection are 100 of the smartest and most remarkable ones.

There isn’t yet a single cookbook where you can find Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter, Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread, and Nigella Lawson’s Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake—plus dozens more of the most talked about, just-crazy-enough-to-work recipes of our time. Until now.

These are what Food52 Executive Editor Kristen Miglore calls genius recipes. Passed down from the cookbook authors, chefs, and bloggers who made them legendary, these foolproof recipes rethink cooking tropes, solve problems, get us talking, and make cooking more fun. Every week, Kristen features one such recipe and explains just what’s so brilliant about it in the James Beard Award-nominated Genius Recipes column on Food52. Here, in this book, she compiles 100 of the most essential ones—nearly half of which have never been featured in the column—with tips, riffs, mini-recipes, and stunning photographs from James Ransom, to create a cooking canon that will stand the test of time.

Once you try Michael Ruhlman’s fried chicken or Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s hummus, you’ll never want to go back to other versions. But there’s also a surprising ginger juice you didn’t realize you were missing and will want to put on everything—and a way to cook white chocolate that (finally) exposes its hidden glory. Some of these recipes you’ll follow to a T, but others will be jumping-off points for you to experiment with and make your own. Either way, with Kristen at the helm, revealing and explaining the genius of each recipe, Genius Recipes is destined to become every home cook’s go-to resource for smart, memorable cooking—because no one cook could have taught us so much.

About the Author . . .

Kristen Miglore is a food writer who blogs at Food52.

This Book Will Stir You

I can only imagine that Jessica Fechtor's journey through the trauma of a broken aneurysm and surgeries on her brain was a long and arduous road to follow. Yet her memoir about the event that re-shaped her entire life, Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home, is a story of courage, resilience, and grace.

As I read about this young woman's experience with a brain bleed, brain surgery to correct the aneurysm, and subsequent issues (some of which lead to yet more brain surgery!), I was amazed and uplifted by the fact that she was able rise above what so many of us might imagine for ourselves if we were in a similar situation. She did not get bitter. She did not assume the role of victim. She never saw herself as handicapped or limited. (Yes, she acknowledged her physical limits post-op and during her recovery, knowing it would take time to rebuild her stamina. This is a normal, healthy part of getting your life back.)

During the long hospitalization and rehab process and the equally long recovery process at home, Fechtor was surrounded by people who loved her and cheered her on. She found her way back to them, and to living her life to its fullest once more, through the foods she was able to enjoy, to create, and ultimately share with them and all of us fortunate enough to read her book.

Some may find it odd that a memoir about a life-changing trauma would center on and include so much talk of food and recipes. I find it most a propos! Because I was bed-ridden with pneumonia on my 18th birthday, my mother nursed me back to health by driving across town (in horrible wintry weather!) to get matzo ball soup from the only restaurant in town that made it. To this day I crave that soup whenever I get a winter cold or flu. Food has that kind of power in our lives!

I hope you will run out and get a copy of this amazing woman's story! I found it so encouraging and uplifting. Also, there are some great recipes included! My daughter and I can't wait to try her buttermilk biscuits and the cherry clafoutis! There are some serious comfort foods included. (Though I confess to a few fits of jealousy as I read about the seriously scrumptious toast in her near-by cafe and the ability to buy Copper River salmon in Seattle. I've had it twice. BEST. SALMON. EVER.) You will not be disappointed in this most stirring memoir!

My thanks to the publishers for the copy of Stir which I received in exchange for this review.

From the Publisher . . .

An exquisite memoir about how food connects us to ourselves, our lives, and each other.

At 28, Jessica Fechtor was happily immersed in graduate school and her young marriage, and thinking about starting a family. Then one day, she went for a run and an aneurysm burst in her brain. She nearly died. She lost her sense of smell, the sight in her left eye, and was forced to the sidelines of the life she loved.

Jessica’s journey to recovery began in the kitchen as soon as she was able to stand at the stovetop and stir. There, she drew strength from the restorative power of cooking and baking. Written with intelligence, humor, and warmth, Stir is a heartfelt examination of what it means to nourish and be nourished.

Woven throughout the narrative are 27 recipes for dishes that comfort and delight. For readers of M.F.K.Fisher, Molly Wizenberg, and Tamar Adler, as well as Oliver Sacks, Jill Bolte Taylor, and Susannah Cahalan, Stir is sure to inspire, and send you straight to the kitchen.

About the Author . . .

JESSICA FECHTOR writes the popular food blog, Sweet Amandine. She is a PhD candidate in Jewish Literature at Harvard University, where she has received numerous awards for her research and teaching. She lives with her husband and daughters in San Francisco, and doesn’t believe in secret recipes.

Dinner's On, Hipsters!

"This is a cookbook by Chris Taylor, a musician, and Ithai Schori, a photographer. They are also cooks. One trained at home, the other trained in restaurants. They believe that great food is just what happens when you do simple things well. They believe that great meals are as much about the people you cook for and with as they are about the food. They believe that cooking can be a lazy, beautiful thing, and they want to show you why."

This gem of a description for Twenty Dinners is tucked away neatly inside the back cover of this beautifully printed and bound book from Clarkson Potter Publishers.

The book is a collection of dinner party menus this dynamic cooking duo has put together. It's arranged according to seasons of the year, which is brilliant because it allows you to make the most of what's in season at the local farmers market, produce stall and market. I loved this aspect of the book because I am learning to eat more local foods which definitely change according to the time of year.

Don't let the description of "dinner party menus" fool you. This isn't fussy food that will take three days to prepare in order to serve a crowd. The book and the recipes have a very intimate feel designed to get everyone involved in the kitchen/cooking space together. Throughout the book there are suggestions for getting even the most inept-feeling friends involved in the fun of truly sharing a meal. (Surely your friend with two left thumbs can at least open a bottle a wine and pour, no?)

Speaking of wine, I also really loved the fact that each of the dinners includes suggestions for wine and/or cocktails that will pair well with the food. There are even brief sections on wine, cocktails, and making coffee included which most other cookbooks I've read skip right over. You will love it! (I myself will be googling where to get a Chemex!)

Schori and Taylor suggest up front that your kitchen and your taste buds are different from their own. "We want you to tear this book apart--write in the margins, cross things out, change this around. ...it's cool to tailor a dish or menu to your taste." They'd like this book to be an inspiration, not a slave-master. So feel free to take inspiration and follow your own instincts!

Young, fresh, and vibrant are the words that jump out at me in the end to describe Twenty Dinners. It's hip. Period. I am thrilled to add this cookbook to my collection and I urge you to run out and get a copy pronto!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

From the Publisher . . .

A photographer (who happens to be an ex-restaurant cook) and an indie rock star (who happens to be an avid home cook) show you how to slow down your life by cooking beautiful, straightforward, but sophisticated, food for–and with–friends.

When he’s on tour with his band, Grizzly Bear, what Chris Taylor misses most about home is the kitchen and the company. With his friend Ithai Schori, he cooks dinner parties for four to forty, using skills Chris learned from his mom and Ithai picked up working at high-end restaurants. Their food is full of smart techniques that make everything taste just a little better than you thought possible–like toasting nuts in browned butter or charring apples for a complex applesauce–but their style is laid-back and unhurried. This is about cooking not just for, but with, your friends, and so the authors enlisted their favorite pastry chef, mixologist, sommelier, and baristas to write detailed material on wine, desserts, stocking a home bar, mixing drinks, and buying and brewing fantastic coffee. Through more than 100 seasonally arranged recipes and gorgeous, evocative photographs of their gatherings you fall into their world, where you and your friends have all day to put food on the table, and where there’s always time for another cocktail in a mason jar before dinner.

Seven Spoons Stirs Up Tastebuds!

Seven Spoons: My Favorite Recipes for Any and Every Day by Tara O'Brady is a beautiful book filled with sumptuous photography and mouthwatering, taste bud tantalizing recipes!

O'Brady is a blogger, thus her cookbook is very well written. In the introductory section, "How to use this book," she writes, "I wrote this book as my side of the conversation I imagine we'd have while cooking. It includes the chatty tidbits that are cookery's gossip, whether that is the backstory to a dish or why certain biscuits crumble and others flake." To that end, she does not disappoint! Each recipe has an introduction and many have side notes that fill in even more of the dish's story which allow readers to understand the thinking that went into the dish being prepared. What a gift!

The book contains the growing standard of an introductory list of items required in a well-stocked pantry followed by seven chapters which include: Breads & Breakfasts; Lunches; Soups, Starters & Snacks; Suppers; Vegetables & Sides; Sweets, Treats & Sips; and Staples. I found recipes in each section which I am anxious to try and with over 100 recipes included, I am sure you will too!

A word of caution, however. Although O'Brady says these are favorite recipes for "any and every" day, many of the dishes have instructions taking more than one page and include multiple components. If you are looking for a book filled with recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less following a busy day at work, I suspect you may be frustrated. (The very first recipe in the book is for sandwich bread, which is not something that I would have time to ever make on a work day, no matter how much better it is than bakery bread. On a weekend, yes--sign me up!)

That being said, the first recipe I will be trying is O'Brady's hummus recipe. I always enjoy a new way to freshen up this staple of my snack world! You will find some quick supper recipes (burgers that eat like steak for instance) for those days when you need to get dinner on the table quickly. Even the seemingly more complex recipes could be made ahead on more leisurely days and then you'll have them ready for a quick "grab and go" lunch or a quick re-heat dinner.

I highly recommend Tara O'Brady's Seven Spoons cookbook. The photography is beautiful, the writing excellent, the layout very user friendly.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

From the Publishers . . .

The much-anticipated debut from the author behind the popular food blog Seven Spoons, featuring distinctive, crowd-pleasing recipes; engaging, writerly essays; and the same stunning photography that has earned her website a devoted following.

Tara O’Brady was one of the earliest food bloggers to enter the scene, and now, nearly ten years after she first started Seven Spoons, she has become one of the most highly regarded and unique voices in the culinary arena. In her debut cookbook, Seven Spoons, O’Brady shares stories and recipes from her Canadian home–fresh, ingredient-driven food that is easy to make yet refined. Recipes like Roasted Carrots with Dukkah and Harissa Mayonnaise, Braised Beef Short Ribs with Gremolata, and Plum Macaroon Cake are wholesome, hearty, and showcase the myriad culinary influences at work in O’Brady’s kitchen. Her evocative writing and gorgeously simple, elegant photography has earned her accolades from Saveur magazine, the Daily Mail, and more. Impeccable food photography and a lavish package round out this beautiful, personal collection.

About the Author . . .

TARA O’BRADY started Seven Spoons to chronicle her culinary life at home in Southern Ontario where she lives with her husband and two sons. She has a regular column in UPPERCASE magazine and appears periodically in the wildly popular quarterly Kinfolk. She has written for or worked with The Globe and Mail, BonAppetit.com, Saveur.com, PBS.com, Parenting.com, StyleAtHome.com, Design*Sponge, Oprah.com, and more.

Got a Bowl? Grab a Spoon!

Sara Forte's second cookbook, Bowl and Spoon, is a visual feast chocked full of sumptuous bowls of vibrant fare tempting even the pickiest eaters to try a taste.

Forte is a blogger (her husband Hugh is a photographer who enjoys his wife's cooking and capturing said food for the beautiful illustrations in Bowl and Spoon) to whom I was introduced to via this book. She fully admits she is simply a home cook with an interest in good food that is simple and nutritious. She has no culinary school training. And I find that truly inspiring! I figure if Sara has no special, "insider" foodie knowledge and can put together such comforting and wholesome dishes which are loved by her family and friends, then--by golly--so can I!

Another reason I love this book is because the impetus behind Forte's cooking style is a "farm to table" mentality. She uses what is available at the time from her own garden, the local farmer's market, or the local produce section. I am trying to do this more and more in my own cooking as well. Forte's Bowl and Spoon does it in a helpful way, allowing for regional differences and growing seasons. She offers up options, basically saying this is what's available where she lives--you might try this or that if it's what you've got where you live! I love it when a recipe's author is willing to allow (or even encourages!) the user/cook to stray from the recipe and make it their own.

The book is divided into different "bowls" . . . breakfast bowls, small/side bowls, big bowls (main dishes), and dessert bowls. Don't let the title fool you: this is not a book about soup or other "traditional" bowl foods. Forte's recipes will surprise and delight you in the way she combines grains, lean protein, veggies and sauces. And who doesn't love being able to serve the whole meal in one vessel? There is something very comforting about eating something from a bowl!

If you are a person who needs to have definitive nutritional information for the food you make, make note that Bowl and Spoon doesn't include such info with the recipes. Each recipe does have a brief introduction and is easy to follow. Most are accompanied by large, rich photographs of the finished dishes. I love the photos, the layout of the book, and the typeset. Bowl and Spoon has the look and feel of a coffee table book, but take it to the kitchen as I do believe you will want to try the recipes within!

I received my copy of Bowl and Spoon from bloggingforbooks.com in exchange for this review.

From the Publisher . . .

In this follow-up to her successful first book, The Sprouted Kitchen, blogger and author Sara Forte turns her attention to bowl food, which combines vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins in one vessel to make a simple, complete, and nutritious meal.

The bowl is a perfect vessel in which to create simple, delicious, and healthy meals. When gathered together in a single dish, lean proteins, greens, vegetables, and whole grains nestle against each other in a unique marriage of flavor and texture. This is how Sara Forte, beloved food blogger and author of the James Beard Award–nominated book The Sprouted Kitchen, cooks every day—creating sumptuous recipes colorful enough to serve guests, simple enough to eat with a spoon while sitting on the couch, and in amounts plentiful enough to have easy leftovers for lunch the next day. In this visually stunning collection that reflects a new and healthier approach to quick and easy cooking, Sara offers delicious, produce-forward recipes for every meal, such as Golden Quinoa and Butternut Breakfast Bowl; Spring Noodles with Artichokes, Pecorino, and Charred Lemons; Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce; and Cocoa Nib Pavlovas with Mixed Berries.

Feed Your Brain!

Unless we have obvious dietary-related health concerns (i.e. diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure), we may not stop to consider that what goes into our mouths affects ALL the systems in our body, including our brains. That’s why I was excited to have the opportunity to review Rebecca Katz and Mat Edelson’s collaborative effort, The Healthy Mind Cookbook: Big Flavor Recipes to Enhance Brain Function, Mood, Memory, and Mental Clarity.

The book includes an introduction, three chapters on the science behind the project and the ingredients’ connection to brain function/health followed by seven chapters devoted to recipes in categories from soup to desserts. In the opening chapter, Katz and Edelson write, “Food and mood, food and memory, food and learning–all are being investigated, and there’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that what we eat either primarily affects our brain or has secondary effects (for example, whatever you eat that’s heart healthy also may lower the risk of stroke, which is definitely a brain condition.)”

Chapter two begins, “The culinary pharmacy, open 24/7, is the place where you can dive in headfirst to the latest science behind nearly every ingredient in the book. The information here has been drawn from hundreds of peer-reviewed studies conducted with humans, animals, and in the lab, looking at the connections between foods and the brain.” I loved this chapter because the authors list out each of the healthful ingredients used in the cookbook along with the way that ingredient affects the brain. I had no idea that even herbs and spices would impact mood and functioning of your brain!

The recipe chapters are divided as follows: soups; vegetables; meat and seafood; anytime foods; dollops; tonics and elixirs; and sweet bites. Accompanying each chapter’s introduction, and scattered throughout the pages just like a well-seasoned dish, are beautifully photographed foods and dishes. The recipes themselves are well laid out. Although I have many years of kitchen experience under my belt (and I watch a lot of food-related programming), I believe that even a novice could follow these recipes for a successful outcome in their own kitchen. While the recipes contain the usual list of ingredients, preparation steps and detailed per serving nutritional information, the addition which I really appreciated is the storage tip at the end of many of the recipes. (I have, on occasion tossed left-overs because I was unsure if they would store or reheat well. No more waste with these recipes!)

I’ve only had the cookbook for a few days, but I can tell you that the Toasty Spiced Pumpkin Seeds and the Coconut Curry Cashews have already been a hit at my house. Both are quick and easy and make healthy snacks which are easy to bag up into serving sized snack bags for taking to work (or school). My daughter and I have a date to make the Meyer Lemon and Caper Hummus in the week ahead. I am finding it difficult to draw up my shopping list because so many of the recipes are calling out to be made!

Even if improving your health or the health of your family is not your top priority, or you are already doing a bang-up job of cooking healthy foods, you will want to get a copy of The Healthy Mind Cookbook. This book promises to be my first go-to cookbook when preparing meals for my family!

Thank you to bloggingforbooks.org for providing me with the review copy in exchange for this review.

From the Publisher . . .

A collection of more than 120 recipes formulated to optimize brain health, boost memory, improve mood, sharpen the central nervous system, and more.

Feed your mind.

Depression, ADHD, memory loss, agitation: These may seem like inevitable byproducts of modern lives spent multitasking, not getting enough sleep, and operating on digital overload. But while much of the brain’s work still remains a mystery, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that the food you eat directly affects how well your brain functions. Brain health also plays a significant role in staving off diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

In The Healthy Mind Cookbook, Rebecca Katz has harnessed the latest research on the brain to identify the foods that can improve the brain’s ability to control cognition, emotion, and physical function—all of which dictate memory and mood. She then translates the very best of brain science into the kitchen, using delicious nutrient-dense foods as a tool for promoting a healthy mind from childhood through the golden years.

With a culinary pharmacy listing the benefits of key ingredients, complete nutritional details for each dish, and flavor-packed recipes for every meal of the day, including Avocado and Citrus Salad, Sweet Potato Hash, Turkish Lamb Sliders, and Chocolate Cherry Walnut Truffles, The Healthy Mind Cookbook will help lift the fog of everyday life so you can reach your full physical and mental potential.

About the Author . . .

As the senior chef-in-residence and nutritional educator at one of the country's leading cancer wellness centers, REBECCA KATZ, MS, is the culinary link bringing together physicians and patients with a common goal: eating well to maximize cancer treatments, minimize side effects, and improve outcomes. She is the founder of the Inner Cook, a Bay Area culinary practice that specializes in meeting the specific nutritional and appetite needs of cancer patients, and a senior chef at Commonweal Cancer Help Program in Marin County, California. Katz has been a guest chef and lecturer at top academic medical centers throughout the country, including the annual Food As Medicine conference.

Savoring Soul Food Love

Embracing their cultural heritage, both the good and the bad, Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams share the stories of the women who shaped their family's past and their hope to build a healthier future upon that foundation in their book Soul Food Love. It's a compelling story which leads to even greater appreciation for the recipes included in the text.

I come from a long line of Upper Midwestern women who's family heritage includes a solid girth and hearty work ethic--farm wives, blue-collar workers, and homemakers who needed to find a way to stretch the family food budget to feed many mouths. That meant lots of potatoes, pasta and bread. (My grandmother's favorite family gathering meal was chicken and noodles served over mashed potatoes with a side of homemade dinner rolls and jelly. There may or may not have been peas or beans on the side. Meals always concluded with your choice of pie or cake.) This model for eating has left us in the "stocky" category and candidates for stroke and heart disease.

I loved that Soul Food Love includes so many wonderful recipes for getting vegetables on to the table! I find great inspiration in Williams' story of eating the same vegetable (sweet potato) different ways simply depending on the herbs or spices used. Brilliant! You will also find that many of the traditionally fried foods have been redone to include baking and roasting. Even the desserts center on getting fruits to the table and eliminating (or at least significantly cutting) amounts of processed sugar.

The fact that their family could go from large hams to a side of salmon for family celebrations gives me hope that it is possible to change my own food future and steer my family's health in a new direction.

If you grew up with soul food, or have enjoyed the wonderful Southern food traditions in your travels, you will find the requisite flavors present in Soul Food Love. There are recipes for greens, sweet potato pie, peanut chicken stew, shrimp salad and a host of other favorites, although the recipes have been updated and made more healthful.

The book also includes many dishes which were new to me, but contain exciting, mouth-water flavor profiles: carrot ginger soup, broccoli with peanuts and raisins, sweet potato skewers, warm onion and rosemary salad, and "new school" fruit salad which incorporates watermelon, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and feta cheese. Are you salivating yet?

There are many recipes in this book which I will be trying out on my family. I would add that Williams makes no bones over the fact that these dishes can be made quickly and simply with ingredients available at Walmart -- no high-end, specialty shops required. What's not to love about that? Don't forget--these recipes are healthier alternatives to her family's past repertoire of recipes. I love that! While I am enjoying eating my way through this new tradition thanks to Randall and Williams, I will be thinking of ways to remake my own family's recipes.

I'd like to thank Blogging For Books for the review copy of Soul Food Love.

From the Publisher . . .

A mother-daughter duo reclaims and redefines soul food by mining the traditions of four generations of black women and creating 80 healthy recipes to help everyone live longer and stronger.

In May 2012, bestselling author Alice Randall penned an op-ed in the New York Times titled “Black Women and Fat,” chronicling her quest to be “the last fat black woman” in her family. She turned to her daughter, Caroline Randall Williams, for help. Together they overhauled the way they cook and eat, translating recipes and traditions handed down by generations of black women into easy, affordable, and healthful—yet still indulgent—dishes, such as Peanut Chicken Stew, Red Bean and Brown Rice Creole Salad, Fiery Green Beans, and Sinless Sweet Potato Pie. Soul Food Love relates the authors’ fascinating family history (which mirrors that of much of black America in the twentieth century), explores the often fraught relationship African-American women have had with food, and forges a powerful new way forward that honors their cultural and culinary heritage. This is what the strong black kitchen looks like in the twenty-first century.

About the Author . . .

Alice Randall is the author of The Wind Done Gone, Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, Rebel Yell, and Ada's Rules. Born in Detroit she grew up in Washington, D.C.. As a Harvard undergraduate majoring in English she studied with Julia Child as well as Harry Levin, Alan Heimert, and Nathan Huggins. After graduation Randall headed south to Music City where she founded Midsummer Music with the idea she would create a new way to fund novel writing and a community of powerful storytellers. On her way to The Wind Done Gone she became the first black woman in history to write a number one country song; wrote a video of the year; worked on multiple Johnny Cash videos and wrote and produced the pilot for a primetime drama about ex-wives of country stars that aired on CBS. She has written with or published some of the greatest songwriters of the era including Steve Earle, Matraca Berg, Bobby Braddock, and Mark Sanders. Four novels later, the award winning songwriter with over twenty recorded songs to her credit and frequent contributor to Elle magazine, is Writer-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University. She teaches courses on Country Lyric in American Culture, Creative Writing, and Soul Food as text and in text. Randall lives near the University with her husband, a ninth generation Nashvillian who practices green law. Her daughter graduated from Harvard and is now teaching and writing in the Mississippi Delta. After twenty-four years hard at it Randall has come to the conclusion motherhood is the most creative calling of all and health disparity is the dominant civil rights issue of the first quarter of the 21st century.

Caroline Randall Williams--the third-generation poet and author (her great-grandfather is Arna Bontemps, and her mother is The Wind Done Gone author Alice Randall)--is following in her family’s footsteps with her writings (including kids’ book The Diary of B.B. Bright, Possible Princess) that promote African-American culture. Caroline, who is currently pursuing her MFA at the University of Mississippi, published Soul Food Love, a cookbook and African-American culinary anthology co-written with her mother. The book redefines traditional soul food cooking with a healthful spin.

The Paleo Chef

I am a newbie when it comes to the Paleo eating movement. I have picked up enough hearsay to believe that it is all about eating as our prehistoric ancestors would have eaten in the days when life was centered on the survival of hunting and gathering. I knew that the eating part of the Paleo lifestyle centered on meats and vegetables while grains and dairy were off the table. And that most recipes I had seen that touted themselves as Paleo also decried processed ingredients (including sugar). With a family member who suffers from an auto-immune disorder of the digestive tract, I was quite thrilled to have the chance to get my hands on a cookbook dedicated to the Paleo diet as it offers a note of promise for improved health/symptom management. (My thanks to Blogging for Books for the review copy!)

The great thing about Chef Pete Evans' new cookbook, The Paleo Chef is that it is beautifully photographed, well laid out, and an easy read.

The chapters are laid out in an intuitive order, beginning with breakfast and working your way through side dishes/vegetables, various types of meats (a chapter for each), and rounding out the offerings with dessert and drinks. There is also a very helpful index of "Basics" at the back of the book that offers followers recipes for the essential ingredients (stocks, how to activate nuts, etc.) that are integral to so many of the recipes throughout the book. As a beginner, I was very thankful to see this!

I also appreciated Evans' introduction on the ideology behind the Paleo diet. While I understand that not everyone who picks up a copy of the book will be as new to the movement as I am, and that space is limited in a cookbook for details on the science and philosophy of a particular diet, I was hungry for this type of information and found The Paleo Chef left me wanting a bit more. I was disappointed that Evans did not annotate any of his introductory remarks, nor did he offer other resources for readers to turn to should they want to learn more.

When all is said and done, I will be trying several of the recipes Evans offers readers in The Paleo Chef. I am very interested to discover if making the changes to diet proposed by the Paleo movement can improve the health of my family. I am also interested to find out if this diet is truly workable in the part of the country where I live, given the resources available. Time will tell.

If you have been curious to explore the Paleo diet and try some recipes, I would encourage you to get a copy of Pete Evans' book. If you are just uncovering the Paleo option and in need of more of the science behind the diet, you will want to find some extra resources to supplement what Evans offers in The Paleo Chef.

From the Publisher . . .

Acclaimed international chef and television personality Pete Evans takes a whole new approach to making gluten-free, grain-free, and dairy-free, completely Paleo recipes that are worthy of a restaurant but effortless to prepare.

More and more people are discovering the health benefits of the Paleo lifestyle by cutting out processed, sugary foods and instead eating quality proteins and fats, fresh vegetables and fruits, and nuts and seeds. However, following this way of eating doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor or spending a long time in the kitchen. In The Paleo Chef, Evans provides more than 100 recipes for gorgeous food that is satisfying, distinctive, and good for you, including Kale Hummus, Vietnamese Chicken Wings, and Key Lime Tart.

Each and every one of Evans’s innovative recipes pops with flavor and is brought to life with stunning, full-color photography. Living—and eating—the Paleo lifestyle has never been so effortless and so delicious.

Sunday Suppers Worth Lingering Over

They say we eat with our eyes first. It's certainly true of Karen Mordechai's tome which serves up readers a sumptuous feast for the soul!

Mordechai writes in her introduction, "Sunday Suppers is a communal cooking center and food website based out of Brooklyn, New York, whose premise is to bring together food, gatherings, and community. Through inspiration and instruction, Sunday Suppers allows people to gather and cook in their homes, and experience the world's oldest act of community: sharing a meal." This was the impetus for my excitement at receiving my review copy of Sunday Suppers. Fewer and fewer people remember the days of weekly meals shared with family or friends or entertaining dinner parties with colleagues. (In my childhood my parents frequently hosted or attended card parties with neighbors or friends which always began with delicious pot-luck meals which I recall with great fondness. I have heard people bring to mind stories of Sunday dinners at grandma's house with extended family with the same sort of nostalgic happiness.)

As the introduction states, the goal of Sunday Suppers is to "remove much of the fuss and formality of 'entertaining'. The table is set in a modest manner, and the food is honest and straightforward." I found this to be the bulk of the appeal of the photographs, recipes and table presentation suggestions. When I cook for others, especially people I am "entertaining," there are a few simple things at which I aim: tasty, nourishing food which is easy to prepare and the ability to spend time enjoying the people with whom I have gathered. Mordechai's recipe format ensures that even those with little to no experience at putting together dishes and meals for others will succeed. Ingredients are listed in the left-hand column. Step by step preparation instructions are presented in the right-hand column. Extraneous tips on unusual ingredients or techniques follow at the bottom in easy-to-spot print.

I loved that the gatherings and dishes are presented according to times in the day. Several options for breakfasts, lunches (including a birthday gathering and a camping excursion!), and evening meals provide the organization of the cookbook. This strikes me as very user-friendly and intuitive!

Accompanying each gathering (meal) and the individual dishes are some of the most beautiful food and scenic photography I have witnessed in a cookbook. They elevate Mordechai's writing more to the level of a coffee-table book. (Certainly a recipe book I would be worried about splattering up on my kitchen counter during a tragic accident with the hand-held mixer!) It is bound in a linen feel cover and uses luxurious quality paper stock on which to present Mordechai's fabulous recipes, photographs, tips, and suggestions.

Thanks to Mordechai's encouragement that anyone can make delicious food and share it with others, I will be trying many of the recipes from this book! I am thankful to Blogging For Books for providing me with the complimentary copy for this review.

From The Publisher . . .

Rediscover the art of cooking and eating communally with a beautiful, simple collection of meals for friends and family.

With her dinner series Sunday Suppers, Karen Mordechai celebrates the magic of gathering, bringing together friends and strangers to connect over the acts of cooking and sharing meals. For those who yearn to connect around the table, Karen’s simple, seasonally driven recipes, evocative photography, and understated styling form a road map to creating community in their own kitchens and in offbeat locations. This collection of gatherings will inspire a sense of adventure and community for both the novice and experienced cook alike.

About The Author . . .

KAREN MORDECHAI, a photographer and stylist, is the founder of Sunday Suppers, a Brooklyn-based food community and blog that has won many accolades, including a 2013 Food and Wine Digital Award, top food blog by Saveur, and #6 in Babble.com’s Top 50 Design Blogs. Karen’s work is regularly featured in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Remodelista, New York magazine, and more. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, New York.