Tiny Isle au Haut—winter population 60—off the coast of Maine makes a big splash when a stellar mother-daughter cooking duo team up to bring readers blue-ribbon formulas for great summer eating.
Taking full advantage of the unique bounty provided by the rugged island and surrounding ocean, the Greenlaws’ latest cookbook (Recipes from a Very Small Island, 2005) bursts with irresistible recipes for hearty and sophisticated starters, sides, salads and desserts for family feasts, as well as social get-togethers like clambakes, dinner parties, picnics and sunset cruises. Maine blueberries and fresh seafood righteously steal the spotlight; the authors transform the bounty of backyard berry patches into Chilled Berry Soup, Blackened Swordfish with Blueberry Chutney and Cinnamon Blueberry Ice Cream, and offer fresh takes on the daily catch with spectacular recipes for Barbecued Maine Lobster, Red Crab Cakes and Beer-Steamed Clams. The Greenlaws lavish credit on the island’s many recipe contributors, and their engaging headnotes and concise directions will guide the inexperienced cook through whipping up a Mile High Strawberry Pie in the wink of an eye. Detailed and insightful essays on island rituals during the short summer season captures the sheer exuberance of the annual Fourth of July parade and the gastronomic thrill of firing up the onboard gas grill as guests arrive at the dock, laden with chilled salads and party fixings. There is also a hilarious retelling of the island’s first pig roast that rings with authenticity and never once resorts to faux folksy humor. Gorgeous photographs of the island and ocean panoramas bring to life this isolate place and its people. Haute cuisine from Isle au Haut.
Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-670-02285-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Viking Studio
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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