Organic chef Watson extols the virtues of living healthfully by combining natural ingredients and thrifty meal planning.
“Eating green doesn’t have to mean eating up all your money,” writes the author. Watson and husband Bruce (both “flexitarians” who eat meat socially) took part in a fascinating experiment during which spending $1 per meal for an entire summer forced them to radically rework weekly menus, intricately budget food purchases and cook from scratch. The first half of the book shares the fruits of that trial period: a “scrimp or splurge” chart listing money-saving alternatives for common kitchen staples, indispensable tips on shopping smarter (watch for sales to get national brands at store-brand prices, scan the Hispanic aisle for equivalents), and the benefits of fresh-freezing, farmers’ markets buying in bulk and composting. Some suggestions are a stretch, like using food scales and buying smaller plates to reduce overeating. Watson’s 7-day, 20-minute cooking plans fall right in step with her smart planning, cooking and shopping strategies. The author organizes menus organized by season: Southern Summer Pesto on high-protein pasta and green beans with Blueberry Pie yields to Harvest Lasagna and Baked Pears with Cinnamon Yogurt Sauce in autumn. The second half of the book, which is disappointingly devoid of photographs, features breakfast offerings like low-salt Better Blueberry Pancakes, Magic Quiche with Asparagus and homemade “Whisk” breads and tortillas. Dinner recipes are curiously sparse, but those seeking a more healthful approach to cooking will appreciate Watson’s family, community and planet-friendly organic lifestyle. A unique addition to the genre, this sustainable take on everyday meal planning is both practical and contemporary.
Pub Date: May 31, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7382-1468-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
A history, published in Britain shortly after the author wrote it in 1937, of the few months surrounding the Barcelona Telephone Exchange riots and what the writer determines as the Communist betrayal of all of Spain's anti-fascist forces. The crux of Orwell's writing is to show the ridiculous misrepresentations of the actual happenings in Barcelona and on the front and their meaning for the rest of Spain. The Communists were joined with the Government. Another anti-fascist faction was the P.O.U.M. or anarchist militia. They were closely allied with socialist worker movements, ready to build up a workers' revolution. In the beginning when issues were but hazily defined, Orwell joined the P.O.U.M. and fought with them- at the front. The Communists, considering anarchist-socialist revolutionary policies as presumptive, sought successfully to purge the P.O.U.M. and rendered them through messy journalism, coercive police methods, withdrawal of arms, false reports- as Trotskyists, pro-Franco, anything but the potent patriotic force they were. Thus republican Spain lost a power that could have helped beat Franco. Orwell's report is as exciting as it is meditative. With his quiet exactitude the midnight skirmishes, the political issues, and the utter futility of war come clearly into focus. Perhaps not a book to create sensation in a day when much of what happened at Barcelona has been realized, but one enlightening in terms of showing the war way toward mutual understanding and fair play.
Pub Date: May 15, 1952
ISBN: 1849025975
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Harcourt, Brace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1952
With this detailed, versatile cookbook, readers can finally make Momofuku Milk Bar’s inventive, decadent desserts at home, or see what they’ve been missing.
In this successor to the Momofuku cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar’s pastry chef hands over the keys to the restaurant group’s snack-food–based treats, which have had people lining up outside the door of the Manhattan bakery since it opened. The James Beard Award–nominated Tosi spares no detail, providing origin stories for her popular cookies, pies and ice-cream flavors. The recipes are meticulously outlined, with added tips on how to experiment with their format. After “understanding how we laid out this cookbook…you will be one of us,” writes the author. Still, it’s a bit more sophisticated than the typical Betty Crocker fare. In addition to a healthy stock of pretzels, cornflakes and, of course, milk powder, some recipes require readers to have feuilletine and citric acid handy, to perfect the art of quenelling. Acolytes should invest in a scale, thanks to Tosi’s preference of grams (“freedom measurements,” as the friendlier cups and spoons are called, are provided, but heavily frowned upon)—though it’s hard to be too pretentious when one of your main ingredients is Fruity Pebbles. A refreshing, youthful cookbook that will have readers happily indulging in a rising pastry-chef star’s widely appealing treats.
Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-307-72049-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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