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THE FARM MARKET COOKBOOK

Name: THE FARM MARKET COOKBOOK
Author: Judith Olney
ISBN: 0-385-41096-4

by Judith Olney ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 31, 1991

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Not, as the title might suggest, a collection of vegetable recipes, this goes well beyond vegetables and, in fact, well beyond recipes. Downright Aquarian about the ``revolutionary changes'' and ``better and healthier world'' she expects to arise from the recent revival of farmers' markets, Olney celebrates the local markets she has visited across the country and the folks she has met there peddling their fish, fowl, goat cheese, home-baked sweets, and, yes, produce. And so we meet a state-of-the-art astro-organic garlic farmer holding forth at Oakland's annual height-of-summer tasting; a teen-ager at Bateau Landing, in Virginia, who turned down the homecoming prom that cut into market time (``After my grandmother's passing I want to carry on the tradition''); a butcher at Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market (``When you buy a leg of lamb, buy the left one. They scratch with their right and that makes it tougher meat''); and a market detective on pickpocket patrol at N.Y.C.'s Union Square Greenmarket. The recipes, reflecting the variety of products, are heavy on sweet baked goods and include some local items such as wild rice and sugar cane. They can be as down-homey as watermelon pickles but tend to the novel or upscale touch (rhubarb in rose), or, as Olney says of one, the ``witty'' creation.

Pub Date: May 31, 1991

ISBN: 0-385-41096-4

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1991

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.