by Marion O. Celenza ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 2009
Recipes that will give cooks many solid and simple options for creating family-dining traditions.
Spiced with memories of an Italian-American childhood in Brooklyn, this cookbook serves up a generous number of tried-and-true recipes for the family table.
The third cookbook from Celenza (Lunch is in the Bag, 2008, etc.), this culinary trove details more than 500 favorite recipes from the author, her friends and family. Divided into seasonal sections, which are supplemented by an extensive segments on pasta-centered meals and a final chapter devoted to sauces and dressings, the recipes are arranged mostly as complete menus. Typically, each of these includes a salad, an entrée and a dessert–and frequently a soup or vegetable. The emphasis is on Italian-American classics like fettuccine Alfredo, baked eggplant Parmagiano, and potato gnocchi, but there are nods to the melting pot with dishes like egg foo young, pastitsio, German potato salad, Irish soda bread and even an elaborate Thanksgiving feast with only a few nontraditional touches, like Italian sausage in the stuffing. The portions are invariably generous, but the author acknowledges contemporary concerns about health by including low-salt and low-fat alternative ingredients. The recipes shouldn’t exceed the capabilities of even casual cooks, as Celenza’s directions are clear and helpful without being overwhelming. She’s also specific, if forgiving, on measurements. If the author errs, it’s in being too explicit. Fresh strawberries, for example, don’t require a recipe, though the author’s desire to recreate the banquets of yesteryear may explain the impulse. Interspersed among the recipes are anecdotes and photos from Celenza’s past, snippets of culinary history and reflections on how food warms, sustains and nurtures us, physically, emotionally and spiritually. She evokes a sense not merely of the dishes but of the time, place and camaraderie that Celenza associates with them, giving a warm, human context to these family feasts. While this book has a homegrown scrapbook-like quality, its appeal is likely to extend well beyond even Celenza’s large extended family.
Recipes that will give cooks many solid and simple options for creating family-dining traditions.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-9791-9532-7
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
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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