A cookbook offers a cornucopia of organic farming information, stories, recipes, tips, and culinary methods.
Seattle-based book editor and designer Lipe (Tastes From Valley to Bluff, 2008) always considered herself “a far more dedicated eater than a cook of any merit.” But this revised and expanded version of her debut cookbook virtually doubles the amount of food items profiled and delivers more than 300 recipes organized around the four seasons and tailored to please an assortment of palates. She notes that part of the purpose of the work is to present “more than a passing glimpse into what it actually takes to get food from seed to plate” through community-supported agriculture initiatives, a model whereby consumers buy local seasonal items directly from farmers, typically through a subscription. These CSA farms, Lipe writes, supply much more than just food for the communities they serve; they inspire educational, outreach, employment, and fellowship opportunities as well. Fronting each season in the volume is a beautifully written featurette detailing the history, function, and the resourceful, dynamic people of a farm selected by the author for its sustainability and success in the organic arena. Sprinkled throughout are many gray sidebars dispensing practical particulars on topics like nutrition, food politics, organic farming rituals, gardening (for example, “The Journey of an Asparagus Stalk” by Sarah Stone), and many more. Each is written by experienced cultivators who are eager to steer consumers toward achieving the best outcomes when visiting farms for organic produce. Lipe is also well aware that CSAs are not ideal arrangements for everyone and is happy to extoll their usefulness within communities and how they operate. One sidebar weighs the pros and cons of CSAs, particularly when factoring in the issues of cost, availability, and, perhaps most importantly, what percentage of produce obtained through the food subscription will become stale and discarded before it can be enjoyed. Other useful tidbits include how to cool the burn of peppers, how to safely employ organic pesticides in one’s own garden, how to reduce food waste, and the wonder and increasing popularity of “agrihoods.” Black-and-white photographs and illustrations from various sources; intriguing recipes; and graphics enhance this comprehensive volume and provide easily accessible dinner menus for both classic Americana dishes and those with a more international flair. In addition, the cookbook presents complementary side dishes featuring an endless variety and combination of herbs, spices, and preparatory options. Unusual ingredients like edible flowers (77 varieties) dazzle as much as the sweet recipes for Real Basil Cheesecake, gluten- and dairy-free Dark Chocolate Avocado Cookies, and Cantaloupe Pie. Alongside these delights are more common items like artichokes, mushroom varieties, strawberries, and kale. Lipe has crafted an essential resource for anyone concerned with the origins of their food and how sustainable the items are. Readers simply eager to test fresh cooking techniques, new ideas, and unique ingredients and learn captivating pieces of agricultural trivia should treasure this inspiring guide as well.
An impeccably produced gastronomic feast for the senses and a pleasure to read.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9905011-0-7
Page Count: 712
Publisher: Twisted Carrot Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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Noted jazz and pop record producer Thiele offers a chatty autobiography. Aided by record-business colleague Golden, Thiele traces his career from his start as a ``pubescent, novice jazz record producer'' in the 1940s through the '50s, when he headed Coral, Dot, and Roulette Records, and the '60s, when he worked for ABC and ran the famous Impulse! jazz label. At Coral, Thiele championed the work of ``hillbilly'' singer Buddy Holly, although the only sessions he produced with Holly were marred by saccharine strings. The producer specialized in more mainstream popsters like the irrepressibly perky Teresa Brewer (who later became his fourth wife) and the bubble-machine muzak-meister Lawrence Welk. At Dot, Thiele was instrumental in recording Jack Kerouac's famous beat- generation ramblings to jazz accompaniment (recordings that Dot's president found ``pornographic''), while also overseeing a steady stream of pop hits. He then moved to the Mafia-controlled Roulette label, where he observed the ``silk-suited, pinky-ringed'' entourage who frequented the label's offices. Incredibly, however, Thiele remembers the famously hard-nosed Morris Levy, who ran the label and was eventually convicted of extortion, as ``one of the kindest, most warm-hearted, and classiest music men I have ever known.'' At ABC/Impulse!, Thiele oversaw the classic recordings of John Coltrane, although he is the first to admit that Coltrane essentially produced his own sessions. Like many producers of the day, Thiele participated in the ownership of publishing rights to some of the songs he recorded; he makes no apology for this practice, which he calls ``entirely appropriate and without any ethical conflicts.'' A pleasant, if not exactly riveting, memoir that will be of most interest to those with a thirst for cocktail-hour stories of the record biz. (25 halftones, not seen)
Pub Date: May 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-19-508629-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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