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THE ART OF THE COOKIE

Name: THE ART OF THE COOKIE
Author: Jann Johnson
ISBN: 0-8118-0437-2

OVER 75 IRRESISTIBLE RECIPES

by Jann Johnson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 31, 1994

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This generic cookbook alters old favorites slightly and then tries to pass them off as newfangled. Chocolate chip cookies that use chunks of chocolate rather than pre-formed chips are hardly revolutionary, but that's the sort of substitution that preens as innovation here. Even the fancier options, like brownies gilded with edible gold leaf, have been trendy for some time now. In recipe headers Johnson (Sweet Dreams of Gingerbread, not reviewed) sounds like a culinary hayseed, announcing earnestly that ``hazelnuts...are popular in European baked goods and are becoming more popular here.'' More problematic are the frequent lapses in logic, e.g., a 12-inch log of marbled icebox cookie dough cut into 1/4-inch slices naturally yields four dozen cookies, not three dozen. While all results tasted fine (although cooking times are on the long side so that if cookies aren't watched carefully, they'll burn), none resembled Holly Stewart's brightly busy photographs. It was impossible to shape the runny almond-and-raisin-studded batter that resulted from the biscottini recipe into a log, as instructed, or into anything other than a giant glob. They were tasty spice cookies, but they lacked the hard texture of true biscotti. Crisp, flourless hazelnut snaps were heavenly, but they welded themselves to the aluminum foil on which they were baked and needed to be chipped off in pieces. Too little art, too little science.

Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1994

ISBN: 0-8118-0437-2

Page Count: 120

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 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.