A good cookbook to gather a hungry crowd and leave them happily satiated.
Caponigri shares her family’s tradition of Sunday dinners.
“Sunday was for gathering, preparing, cooking, eating, sharing, talking, laughing…a time to disconnect from the rest of the world and reconnect with family and friends,” writes the author. In that spirit, she organizes her debut cookbook into “52 Sunday dinner menus in the Italian tradition.” The thematic menus include: antipasto (usually a crostini to pass at the table), a primo (first course), a secondo (main course) served with a single contorno (side dish) and dessert. While some of the recipes are standard Italian fare (veal piccata, spinach lasagna, stuffed mushrooms), others are less common but intriguing (prosciutto soufflé, veal breast stuffed with raisins and pine nuts, hazelnut truffle pie). These are not last-minute items; Caponigri feels preparation should involve a noisy kitchen full of people. She also highlights recipes that are child-friendly to prepare and serve. Caponigri suggests five ways to incorporate Sunday dinners into your routine: Make them a priority, plan ahead, decide the menu and assign the chores together, keep the menu simple, let go and have fun. The book is flavored with Italian aphorisms, informative menu introductions and Caponigri’s family history. Guy Ambrosino provides the enticing photographs, with food styling by former Gourmet editor Kate Winslow.
A good cookbook to gather a hungry crowd and leave them happily satiated.Pub Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4027-8482-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Sterling Epicure
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
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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