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ENOLA PRUDHOMME'S LOW-FAT FAVORITES

Name: ENOLA PRUDHOMME'S LOW-FAT FAVORITES
Author: Enola Prudhomme
ISBN: 0-688-11894-1

by Enola Prudhomme ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 20, 1994

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Prudhomme (Enola Prudhomme's Low-Calorie Cajun Cooking, 1991) has flooded this volume with enough processed foods to turn the Louisiana bayou into a chemical bath. Au Gratin Potatoes contain canned chicken broth, onion soup mix, and ``reduced-fat American cheese product,'' and even the low calorie count (45 per serving) of the unappetizingly named Dump Cake cannot make this concoction of packaged cake mix, canned pie filling, and canned pineapple sound tempting. Prudhomme may lower fat content and calories by using reduced-calorie mayonnaise and sugar substitutes, but she obviously has not paid much attention to the FDA's new nutritional pyramid: These traditional meals relegate almost all vegetables to side-dish status. Concessions run along the lines of making beans with turkey bacon rather than the usual pork product. There are some decent flavoring ideas, but when they are not overwhelmed by altered ingredients, they are usually overcooked. A sweet and spicy glaze of sugar, chili pepper, and balsamic vinegar has a well- balanced kick, but it covers baby carrots boiled for 20 minutes and thus reduced to baby-food consistency. Likewise, a recipe for fresh tomato sauce calls for cooking four plum tomatoes over high heat for ten minutes, resulting in a charred, pulpy mass that barely covers one serving of pasta. Although they include calorie, fat, cholesterol, and sodium counts, recipes are not very clearly written. The piquant corn salsa is fine, but if a food processor is going to be dirtied purÇeing two tomatoes, wouldn't it make sense to clearly instruct cooks to chop the other ingredients in it first? It may be low-fat, but it ain't healthy.

Pub Date: Dec. 20, 1994

ISBN: 0-688-11894-1

Page Count: 268

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1994

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.