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COOKING WITH A LAUGH & A MARTINI

Name: COOKING WITH A LAUGH & A MARTINI
Author: L.R. Lawnicki
ISBN: 978-1-4392-1766-5

by L.R. Lawnicki ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 7, 2009

Despite some flawed instructions, these avuncular stories of home cooking will please

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This collection of recipes from the upper Midwest serves equal portions of comfort food and humor.

Down-to-earth foodies rejoice. This book of no-frills recipes encourages readers â€œto have fun with foods we all have heard of and can readily procure.” Lawnicki’s love of cooking and eating permeates the conversational text and mixes measurements with anecdotes–the section on breakfast features only a recipe for apple pancakes and a note recommending another breakfast the author once shared with his young daughters: chocolate layer cake and milk. These personal asides add a delightful touch to the sturdy recipe selection focused on entrees and cookouts. Dishes like beef burgundy and round steak with onions and bread bring coziness to Wisconsin winters. He also presents summer cookout favorites like Italian sausage with peppers and Cornish game hens. The recipe selection ranges from appetizers to dessert, though the bulk the book focuses on meat-based entrees and grilling recipes. Family favorites include rumaki, chicken cacciatore, beef stroganoff, seven-layer salad and glazed carrots, and the author gives tips on hamburgers, shish kabob and steak side dishes. However, several omissions spell confusion for the cook. Recipes lack a specified number of servings; canned ingredients are not identified by ounce size; a note states that when butter is called for, it really means margarine; in some cases, an ingredient mentioned in the directions is not listed in the ingredient list; and one dessert recipe calls for â€œDairy Rich,” assuming the reader will recognize this regional brand. Nevertheless, this Wisconsin gourmet charms with advice like, â€œI find a martini makes the entire process even more enjoyable. By the time dinner is served, I am in a completely different and better state of mind.” Stories of a smoked-turkey deck fire, a lady friend who used a hacksaw to trim lamb shanks and the apple pie guaranteed to bring popularity at the hunting camp will satisfy.

Despite some flawed instructions, these avuncular stories of home cooking will please

Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4392-1766-5

Page Count: -

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

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.