Del Conte (The Italian Pantry, 1990), an Italian now living in London, bases this season-by-season dinner-party-menu cookbook on the principle that ``the most important thing when giving a dinner party is a well-balanced menu.'' Arranged Italian-style in separate courses, her meals contain some odd-sounding dishes—a green salad dressed in sour cream; a spinach torta made with orange juice and cookie crumbs and a pairing of three pounds of asparagus with eight fried eggs (for four people), both of which are presented as vegetarian main dishes—and some oddly repetitive offerings: an outdoor summer lunch that has three different kinds of cold frittata as a main course; a main course at a Bolognese feast for 30 consisting of four different pasta dishes; and—a meal that Del Conte says she often serves—an elaborate fish lasagna containing five kinds of seafood and two rich sauces, with another lasagna layered with tomato-meat sauce. Other dishes on the author's menus range from a first course of thinly sliced raw bresaola (cured and air-dried beef) and many of home-made tagliatelle to main courses of venison stew, bollito misto (mixed boiled meats and vegetables, here with three sauces), and a real drop-dead spectacle, her interpretation of the pie from The Leopard. Desserts are relatively simple, though not predictable. Authentic, no doubt—though hardly what most Italians eat a casa—and it's guaranteed not to duplicate your guests' last dinner out.
Pub Date: Sept. 9, 1992
ISBN: 0-06-016524-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1992
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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