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THE JOY OF REAL FOOD

Name: THE JOY OF REAL FOOD
Author: Rowena Jayne
ISBN: 978-1452598819

REAL FOOD YOGI

by Rowena Jayne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 2015

An often engaging book that offers original ways to bring variety to daily meal preparation—even for readers who aren’t...

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This brightly illustrated, eclectic compilation of vegan recipes urges readers to find joy by changing unhealthful culinary habits.

Jayne’s debut reflects her wide exposure to international food methods and philosophies as well as the mental and physical benefits of yoga and meditation. The Australian author has traveled the globe, including during stints on cruise ships as a performing artist. Now she’s a naturopath, an advocate for Ayurvedic medicine, a yoga instructor, and an avid blogger. Here, she’s assembled a helpful introduction to the raw-food world. Without being doctrinaire, she urges her readers to craft personal diets based on food that’s “closest to its pure form, without adulteration,” in order to “work with, not against, the body’s natural intelligence.” This belief inspires her vegan recipe collection, which gives an effective overview of raw-food possibilities. Although some ingredients may not be easy to find in neighborhood groceries, many of them, including fresh coconuts, kelp noodles, lemongrass stalks, and hemp nuts, can be ordered online. She offers instructions for creating nut milks, butters, yogurt, and sauerkrauts, as well as recipes for smoothies, soups, salads, snacks, and main dishes that play on old favorites such as nachos (using creamed corn chips) and ravioli (made from thinly sliced beets mixed with red-pepper pesto). The dessert section is the most thrilling of all, as it makes indulging in sweets both healthy and guilt-free. It combines ingredients such as apples, nuts, coconut sugar, figs, and cacao powder to create delicious, nutritional treats, including fudge, chocolate baklava, custards, doughnuts, and a “5 Minute Chocolate Brownie” (a tempting nuts, raisins, and cacao powder combo). Newbies may want to start in this section. However, other aspects of the book may deter some readers, including its lack of a comprehensive index; light-colored, hard-to-read text; the repetition of the cutesy term “joyful preparation”; and its dependence on dehydrators and very strong blenders.

An often engaging book that offers original ways to bring variety to daily meal preparation—even for readers who aren’t ready to commit to a raw-food, vegan lifestyle.

Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2015

ISBN: 978-1452598819

Page Count: 366

Publisher: BalboaPress

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2015

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.