Fun to read, inspiring manualfesto for the localvore inside us all
926379
Slow food, fast read.  What a completely delightful book.  Lisa Jervis takes the best of what's out there (by Michael Pollan and others) and digests it for us, so we can follow in her localvore footsteps... or not. As Jervis reminds us, she's not a guru.  But she is a wise and supportive friend who might be just a step or two ahead of us on the journey.  If you are interested in eating and cooking more sustainably, if you are wondering what all the fuss is about, or if you are already a vegan or vegetarian, you will find lots of support, inspiration and easy, affordable tips and recipes in Cook Food.  And you will have fun along the way.
1407426
A perfect mixture of practical know-how and inspirational whimsy. It's chock full of accessible tidbits of information I can use in my garden. I plan on buddy-ing up my tomatoes next to my asparagus this year--they like each other, and I didn't even know it! This little green book awakens your tastebuds and gives you the courage to create your own patch of vegetable heaven in your backyard. Or in a community garden. Or on your porch, terrace, balcony, patio, or even a south-facing windowsill!
2043620
Fun reading and getting the recipes - already tried several.  Love the fact that he gives you subs and tips about what to have handy in the pantry!
393440
This book is a pleasure from beginning to end. As longtime ornamental gardener who only this year tried veggie gardening I wish I had bought it in the early spring instead of late summer! But it has lots of useful information which I will put to good use in future years.

The recipes that I have so far tried have been SO good that it inspired me to purchase his "Minimax" cookbook (which sounds as if it might be an appliance owner's manual but never fear, it is not, LOL) which I received today and plan to try out over the next few weeks.

I especially recommend the Cauliflower with Faux Cheese sauce. It will "convert" even the most stubborn cauliflower-hater (or cheese-sauce-hater for that matter!). That recipe alone is worth the price of the book IMHO.
2101812
This was an amazing read.  I am now passing it around at work.  It was witty and fun.  It was also quite thought provoking about what I eat and WHEN I eat it. There were "do-able" recipes and great menu ideas. This book is motivating me to put in a better garden,"put up" my harvest and eat healthier products all while be kinder to the earth and my community. I can see how this book could "snowball" into changing the world.
2239615
I have read lots of food related books and seen most if not all food related documentaries. Regular NPR listener to you bet your garden, chefs table, salt blog ... And so forth.

I was learning new things from the introduction of this book to tiny print notes at the end.

It is instructional and easy to read at the same time.

I really enjoy any passage in any book, make believe or true, when the writer is in love with what they are eating. That usually comes in the form of a character who has been denied food, and starved, describes an appreciation for flavor, texture, aroma and temperature. Barber has learned, and wants to teach us, how to have that appreciation even if we have never suffered the deprivation.
424212
diverse and fun to read, beautiful illustrations and great food from this part of the world, enjoy
4509407
This book was such a delight to read.  It makes a perfect Christmas gift for a young family just starting out or an older more experienced garden.

The author has such a way with words that he makes you actually wish you were a pioneer or at least that you had three acres of sunny land to plant your graden.  Even if you do not consider yourself a serious gardener, there are so many tips that are handy to know.

Like I discovered that winter squashes last through the winter if stored correctly (hence the name).  So now I have a bunch of butternut squash in my storage room (I didn't grow it, but I did buy it from a local U-Pick farm).  I am quite intrigued with the notion of pioneer yeast--and that it is easier for digestion.

I love growing lettuces and spinach in my little garden box, but I have always been disappointed with the short season.  Warnock's book teaches you how to extend the season to get lettuce and spinach all year long.  He also is very specific on the varieties of plants that work best during the winter season. I'm excited to try it!

There is a certain nostalgic quality to the book--he has excerpts of letters and memoirs from his great-grandmother.  It makes you long for a time where you used to just go out to your yard,and it could meet all of your needs.
1199780
Wonderfully enjoyable. . . .  A foreword by Heston Blumenthal puts this edition in context: "[Escoffier] said he wanted the book to be 'a useful tool rather than just a recipe book,' and that's exactly what it is." Another nice grace note--a very brief biography of Escoffier on pages xx-xxii by his grandson Pierre P. Escoffier.

While Escoffier may have said that this is not a recipe book, the recipes are delightfully straightforward. I have made Cerise jubilee any number of times. His description of how to make this is one of the shortest and most direct. That impressed me!

To the extent that it is relevant, the chapters are organized by various obvious categories: sauces, garnishes, soups, hors-d'oeuvre, eggs, fish, butchers' meat, poultry, game, composite entrees, roasts, vegetables, sweets and desserts, ices, sandwiches, and fruits, jams, and drinks. Covering the waterfront, in short.

Each section, of course, features many recipes. But the short introductory comments are also worthy of note. Here, Escoffier provides general statements about how to approach matters. Sauces? He speaks of basic preparations, such as stocks, glazes, mirepoix, and so on. Back to basics. Then, some general principles on preparing sauces. In short, one gains his perspective on sauces before actually exploring individual recipes.

All in all, a most enjoyable volume for an amateur cook like me.
100681
Every once in awhile a book drops into your lap (even a blind nut catches a few squirrels!!) and you wonder why it's not better known. Well...I'm here to tell you about Blithe Tomato...An Insider's Wry Look at Farmer'sMarket Society.

We had DeborahMadison & PatrickMcFarlin over for dinner a week ago. Deborah has written a number of very/very good cookbooks, mostly vegetarian, many of which are my favorites (must admit...never could bring myself to love her tofu book!!), and was founding chef of Greens and CafeEscalera. Patrick is an artist of some repute, done some drawings of NapaVlly winemakers, done a few wine labels (Two-Tone Farm is one), and also drives a cab as a GraphisDesigner at LosAlamosNationalLaboratory. I'd vaguely recalled that her brother had written a book, couldn't remember the name, but asked her to bring a copy for my perusual. She brought a jointly autographed gift copy.

So Deborah has done the foreward and Patrick the pen&ink drawings for the book, with her brother Mike writing it. Mike lives in Winters, Calif, not far from Davis (Deborah's home town). He's a farmer, mostly flowers, some vegetables, and sells at many of the local Farmer'sMarkets, a movement Deborah has been an ardent supporter of across this GreatNation. The book is a whole series of short viginettes, of people mostly, of Mike's farm life.

So's...I started reading it a few nights ago, preparing to read a book that was rather earnest and pontifical on the artisinal farmer movement.

Boy...was I ever wrong. It's one of the funniest things I've come across since my 7'th viewing of BlazingSaddles. It leaves me in stitches every essay in it I read. Last night's one on gophers really cracked me up. Yet....it still has a lot of wisdom and philosophy packed within the pages. Gets in a few very/very clever digs at RonaldReagan, JimmyCarter, and BillClinton. I can hardly wait to resume reading it again tonight.

Anyway...BlitheTomato...not to be missed....I think most of us winos/foodies will find it a hoot.

TomHill
4387198
I first heard about Barbara Kingsolver's (author of&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Poisonwood-Bible-A-Novel-Perennial-Classics/dp/0060786507/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (Perennial Classics)</a>) Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life on NPR, where it had been selected as a summer must-read. As someone who shops organic at local farmer markets, this book struck a chord with me on many levels and reinforced why I chose a vegetarian lifestyle. Although I'm not currently in a position to have my own garden, I support local organic Texas produce as much as possible and strive to eat in season. I've been vegetarian for years, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was like sitting down for a chat with a good friend over a cup of tea.

Due to modern "convenience", many of us have forgotten what real produce tastes like. Americans are notorious for not eating our vegetables (unless you count French fries and ketchup). We expect to be able to find any fruit or vegetable at any time of the year in our local grocery stores, but how many of us calculate the cost in carbon credits, pesticides, loss of habitat and deforestation that comes with it? It is such a simple gesture to buy locally from a farmers market or organic grocery store, and you're not just benefiting yourself, but helping to support the gargantuan efforts of small organic farms in your community.

Barbara and her family (husband Steven and daughters Camille and Lily) move from Tucson to rural Virginia, where their odyssey of producing all of their food begins. The family makes a vow not to buy any out-of-season, conventional produce at the grocery store. Adios, South American bananas. Farewell, raisins. The Kingsolvers will be responsible stewards of the earth, growing most of their food needs in their garden. This includes not only in-season vegetables, herbs, and fruits, but also eggs and poultry.  The few things that they are unable to produce (organic grain, fair trade coffee, olive oil, spices), they attempt to buy organically, as close to home as possible. Barbara flips lustfully through seed catalogs the way some treat Victoria Secret; she makes notes on alluring new seeds and exotic varieties of produce to try (Australian blue pumpkins and ratlike French fingerling potatoes among them).

She encourages her two daughters to take part in the cooking and storing of mountains of tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs in order to store them for the long winter. Everyone pitches in at dinnertime and during holiday menus. Barbara's youngest daughter Lily becomes an entrepreneur saving up for a horse. Her product: organic eggs. She chooses various varieties of chickens to produce a rainbow of eggshell colors, as well as chickens that lay in cold weather. Her cartons of eggs go for $2.50. Barbara's husband is the bread baker, responsible for daily creations that incorporate various flours and healthful additions such as flaxseed. Family mealtime, that great vanished American ritual, has found a new home in the Kingsolvers.

Along the way, Barbara divulges fascinating insider's tips on turkey sex life, dispatching poultry from barnyard to table, locking cars to avoid unwanted zucchini deposits from neighbors, and rediscovers the spiritual joy of working the land and living off of her labors.

The book also includes numerous excellent recipes for in-season produce and impressive lists of resources, references, and organizations for further research.

My only hope is that millions of Americans read this and discover the urgency of preserving our vanishing heirloom vegetables, fruits, and livestock, and the desperate need to economically support local organic farmers.
4120996
The recipes are great and easy to follow! I love the straightforward vernacular, it's awesomely fun to read! 5 stars!
304010
I'm not ready to become a farmer, but I did buy some acres and move to the country.  Lowell Christensen shares the troubles, wisdom, and humor of farming with us city folk who haven't figured out that a fence won't keep a bull away from the cows.  He covers every part of farming from animals to driving on country roads to shoveling manure.  The prose are light and humorous.  There are a thousand ways to make mistakes on a farm, and at least half of them are humorously detailed in this short book.  His recipe for home made soap produces eight pounds of soap, 18 doughnuts, and 3oz of pork skins.  If you raise chickens there are thoughtful questions such as, "How many baskets should you put your eggs in?"

I'm not going to raise goats or cows, and I would need more detailed information than this general beginning book if I wanted to.  But it's a fun and humorous little book on farming.  It is also full of inside information from a man who grew up on a family farm.  Its fun to read even if you aren't ever going to live on a farm.
3023411
I have always enjoyed Kingsolver's nature-conscious literature, and this book has satisfied me greatly, again. It is a mouthwatering praise of the goodness of foods locally and seasonally grown, and at the same time, a well documented expression of the irrationality of our industrial, fuel-thirsty food system.
Experience the joys of friendly meals, delicious recipes and the love of gardening.
3959664
This book is a celebration of the range of fresh food available at different times of the year. The introduction gives an overview of food, farming, and well being and explains why sustainable farming and food production are vital steps in ensuring we eat healthy, delicious food.

I has always enjoyed the farming lifestyle with my family and have reaped the benefits of an annual summer and winter garden. This beautifully illustrated guide features easy-to-prepare, enticing meals. The Broccoli, Chile and Garlic Crostini looks good and I think I'll try the Barbecued Beef Skewers with Butternut Panzanella! I'm looking forward to trying more healthier, tastier recipes from this author.
4475199
I've considered growing ginger before but had only read snippets here and there about how to ensure a harvest in a temperate climate. Tate's book fills the gap with a hands-on, step-by-step guide for ensuring the DIY project is a success. She also includes recipes for turning that homegrown ginger into drinks, dishes, and medicinals, ensuring your adventure goes all the way from ground to plate. Simple, delicious, and fun --- what's not to like?
4135699
I found this woman at my local farmer's market and bought her book. I'm so glad I did! The pies are especially delicious and her list of seasonal entrees taps into foods that are in season as well as forgotten little treats. Written well! Her blog is also informative on permaculture and food.