How to use this Page

 My daughter has been encouraging me to adopt a vegetarian diet. I do make an effort to eat meatless often, but a completely vegan or vegetarian diet takes a certain amount of commitment that I've never been willing to expend.  Recently, this same daughter (she is both environmentally conscious and persuasive) talked me into watching the documentary, Cowspiracy. (I challenge you to watch this and not be affected.)  In any case, The Forest Feast for Kids landed on my shelf in time to take advantage of my renewed interest in vegetarianism.  Good timing, Forest Feast!


The Forest Feast for Kids: Colorful Vegetarian Recipes That Are Simple to Make
By Erin Gleeson
Abrams, 2016

From the whimsically painted watercolor endpapers and chapter title pages to the lusciously photographed finished recipes, The Forest Feast for Kids is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.  These are recipes that are as beautiful to present as they are healthy to eat.

Contents in this generously sized book contain cookbook standards - table of contents, index, introduction, and pages of helpful hints and cooking techniques.  The chapters run the gamut of gastronomic needs: Snacks, Drinks, Salads, Meals, Sweets, and Parties.   Each chapter contains about six recipes, each one displayed on across two pages.  The left page has a painted recipe title, simple instructions in a large typewriter font,  handwritten notes offering serving hints, "cut into wedges and enjoy hot!" , and hand-drawn arrows pointing to the appropriate ingredient photo (not every child may recognize a cilantro leaf or bay leaf).  Photos are not insets or bordered, they are part of a lovely integrated palette of ingredients and text.  Beautiful photos of the finished dishes appear on the facing page.

Simplicity of ingredients (most recipes have only four) combined with attractive presentation make these recipes irresistible not only to young chefs, but also to harried caregivers who would love to put a healthy, attractive meal on the table, but have trouble finding the time.  I know that I'll be making Strawberry-Cucumber Ribbon Salad soon!

Enjoy!



I've never seen the adult version of the same book.  I'm willing to bet that it's equally wonderful!

Add a Comment

Eat Your U.S. History Homework. Ann McCallum. 2015. Charlesbridge. 48 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I love the premise behind Ann McCallum's Eat Your U.S. History Homework. I think it is a clever idea to write a cookbook with American History in mind.

The book only covers early American history. The first recipe--around the times of the Pilgrims settling America--is "Thanksgiving Succotash." The last recipe--around the time of the American Revolution--is for "Independence Ice Cream." There are six recipes in all.

The topics or subjects these recipes are supposed to supplement: Pilgrims at Plymoth, 1620; The Thirteen Original Colonies, 1607-1776; The French and Indian War, 1754-1763; Slaves and the Southern Planation, 1619-1863; The American Revolution, 1775-1783; The Declaration of Independence, 1776.

Some recipes you might recognize under another name. For example: "Revolutionary Honey-Jumble Cookies" and "Lost Bread" are snickerdoodles and french toast.

I like the focus on food. I like the historical tidbits. I like everything but the illustrations.
© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Add a Comment

Last month we had a Barnes and Noble gift card and a coupon. We placed an order and to get free shipping we had to check the box to have everything delivered at once. Bookman ordered a new Stephen King book, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. I ordered a new cookbook. Many of you probably already know I don’t cook, I can, but at my house the kitchen is Bookman’s domain. I, however, am the one who buys cookbooks. I love cookbooks. Twenty years ago when we went vegan it was nearly impossible to find a vegan cookbook. We had a book called Simply Vegan and one called Tofu Cookery. We still have them. Their pages are written on, smudged with sauces and chocolate, and dimpled from liquid spills. They were our life raft as we learned a new way to eat.

These days there are so many vegan cookbooks available I can’t keep track of them all anymore. Our own collection has grown quite large and there are probably enough meals that could be planned from all of them we could eat something new every day for a year without repeats. Nonetheless, I always get excited when I come across a new cookbook that is not quite like the ones we already own. This time I ordered Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen. I already know I will love it because I borrowed it from the library first and drooled all over the library copy.

But we have not gotten the cookbook yet because it turns out the King book was a preorder. When I discovered it, I figured we’d get our books in September sometime and my mouth watered and my stomach growled in anticipation of all the delicious meals I would get Bookman to cook for me. Autumn is an excellent time for a good curry in my opinion. Heck, any time of year is.

But here it is the end of September and the books have not shipped yet. I had just supposed it would be this month without knowing for sure and Bookman had no idea. So I started thinking, well, early October. Some little voice told me today to check the order to find out when exactly to expect it. Turns out, it won’t be here until early November! I’m going to be really hungry by then! And Bookman is going to have a lot of cooking to do to make it up to me for having to wait so long.

Waiting so long for a book you ordered is it’s own special kind of torture, isn’t it?

Filed under: Cookbooks Tagged: curry, delicious food, I am so hungry right now, Stephen King, vegan

Add a Comment

Betty Crocker Kids Cook. 1999/2015 (spiral-bound) Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 160 pages. [Source: Review copy]

I enjoyed skimming through Betty Crocker Kids Cook. I don't "review" cook books often, but, I do enjoy looking at ones specifically designed to appeal to children and teens. This one is written with kids of all ages in mind. It features recipes that kids can cook on their own with just a little guidance, and some more difficult recipes that may take more cooperation with an adult.

The recipes fall into five categories: breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and desserts. The book includes simple instructions and guidelines for general cooking and baking. (The end papers illustrate the tools of the trade.) The "Just the Basics" section even includes the current nutritional guidelines, MyPlate.

The recipes themselves seem straightforward and reader-friendly. As an adult, I appreciate them listing the nutritional information for each recipe. (Serving size, number of calories, number of carbohydrates, amount of fat, amount of fiber, etc. It also includes the number of carbohydrate exchanges (choices) a serving is. Most of the recipes, though certainly not all, are carbohydrate heavy I noticed. Some recipes look delicious, very delicious, but are certainly not healthy enough to be eaten all that often, in my opinion.

The recipes that looked most appealing to me include:

• Super-Tasty Sweet Potato Bacon Biscuits (p. 23)
• Surprise! Confetti Pasta Salad (p. 60)
• Impossibly Easy Mini Chicken Pot Pies (p. 98)
• Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs and Spaghetti (p. 112)
• Bottom of the Cereal Box Cookies (p. 140)

Do you have a favorite cookbook for children or teens?

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Add a Comment

This has not been the bookish weekend I had hoped it would be. Well, there was some bookishness yesterday but it wasn’t the fun relaxing kind. I had to finish up reading a nonfiction book of comparative literature for a Library Journal review that is due by tomorrow. The book is called An Ecology of World Literature From Antiquity to the Present Day by Alexander Beecroft. It’s an interesting way to compare literatures but is entirely aimed at an academic audience so wasn’t exactly easy-going fun. Finishing it took far longer than I expected and left little time for more pleasurable reading. Then of course today I had to take the time to write the review. I only get 200 words, which is not so very easy to stick to when assessing an academic book. But I managed with about five words to spare. We’ll see what my editor thinks.

After yesterday was a wash on my own personal reading I thought I could indulge today but that didn’t happen either. The morning was given over to chores of various kinds and the afternoon got eaten up with switching to a new phone and mobile carrier. Bookman and I discovered recently that our mobile carrier was charging us for phone and unlimited texting as much as AT&T would charge us for iPhones with a small data plan. So we switched. I finally have a “smart” phone. Since I have an iPad and a Macbook they all sync up which is kind of convenient. Of course the switching has not gone as smoothly as it was supposed to. Getting our phone numbers switched over to the new phones from the old carrier is still a work in progress and we’ve been promised it will be completed within the hour. Fingers crossed. And of course I’ve had to transfer phone numbers from my old phone to the new and choose ringtones and set up my morning alarm clock and all the other stuff that an iPhone requires one to set up. But it will all be good, right? I won’t regret finally giving in and getting rid of my not-smart phone? That question mark tells you I am not entirely certain on the matter.

My ban on placing hold requests at the library is going pretty well. I have been really good at resisting, though it has not been without pangs from time to time. I did borrow a few cookbooks, however. Since these are not books one sits down to read for hours over the course of a few weeks, I decided it was allowed. They are all vegan cookbooks I have never heard of before. Of course I started with the dessert, Lickin’ the Beaters: low fat vegan desserts and Lickin’ the Beaters 2: vegan chocolate and candy. Recipes for chocolate donut holes and gingerbread chocolate cookies just seemed so much nicer to swoon over this weekend than recipes from North Africa and India. I’ll drool over those next weekend.

I’ve had so many book finishes lately I now find myself in the middle of a good many books and nowhere near the end of any of them. I am enjoying each one and don’t have that “I’m not getting anywhere” feeling I often get when I find myself in this kind of situation. The only thing this time around I’m having trouble with is coming up with post topics since I have nothing to review. I’ve managed so far but I don’t yet know what the week ahead holds. We’ll see. If posting is spotty you’ll know why!

On a side note, all those seeds I ordered last weekend got delivered on Friday. I didn’t even open the packages because well, snow-covered garden. It would just be too depressing to have to look at those colorful seed packets.

Enough pointless rambling for one day. Our phone numbers still haven’t transferred, there’s another what the heck is the problem phone call to be made.

Filed under: Books, Cookbooks, Personal

Add a Comment

Do you - or someone you know - love cookbooks?  Check out today's Shelf Awareness for Readers.  Oh my! YUM!


Seriously!  Everyone who is anyone in the cooking world - well, a lot of them anyway - has a new book coming out.  Even Portlandia (see above)!

Even if cookbooks leave you lukewarm, check out Shelf Awareness for Readers for the most current book releases.

Add a Comment

Use the promo code “cookthebooks” and get FREE postage. Offer ends 27th October Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty changed the way people cook and eat. Its focus on vegetable dishes, with the emphasis on flavour, original spicing and freshness of ingredients, caused a revolution not just in this country, but the world […]

Add a Comment

What have you been reading? I’ve always got several books going at once, and let’s be honest, they don’t stay on the nightstand, so every night I’m frantically looking for the three I want at the moment.

First up, we have The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall. I haven’t gotten very far yet, but so far, it’s very funny, and I’m impressed by the intricate world Udall has created and all the many characters and their complexity.

Next, Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. I can’t remember if this was a random book I picked out or if it was recommended by a friend, but it’s a goodie I turn to again and again. It has some excellent writing exercises, which I need, because lately I’m feeling a bit depleted creatively.

On to Budget Bytes by Beth Moncel, which you may remember me mentioning before. It’s a good, solid, weeknight cookbook with lots of fresh ideas. Simple but never boring. Currently loving the chipotle black beans, which are quick enough to make myself for lunch. The author also has an excellent blog.

Next: Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? which I borrowed from my friend Susan.

This may be my favorite book of the year. By Roz Chast, of New Yorker cartoon fame, it’s the story of the slow descent of her elderly parents. It’s told in handwritten journal-like entries plus cartoons, drawings, and photographs. The story is laugh-out-loud hysterical (yes, I know, sounds strange, but it works) but also sad, poignant, and above all, deeply human. It makes me want to write a cartoon journal book. Think I may have to read it again.

Under that, The How Can It Be Gluten-Free Cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen. I’m just getting into this book, but I really like the way it’s set up and the extensive research that goes into each recipe. The folks behind it test everything to death and make sure it works.

It includes a DIY gluten-free flour mix (my other go-to GF cookbook does this as well). The hubs made me a gorgeous and delicious apple pie using said flour mix and cookbook. See?

Next: Unconventional and Unexpected: American Quilts Below the Radar 1950-2000 by Roderick Kiracofe

This book kept popping up on quilting and crafting blogs, and I just had to have it (thanks, mom and dad!). It is so completely gorgeous I can’t even tell you. The collection features my favorite kinds of quilts—-improvised, imperfect, and made with the materials at hand.

And finally, we have Williams-Sonoma’s Cooking Together. Sometimes kids’ cookbooks seem to be more about making cute things out of candy and junk food than about real food. This one has a really nice range of recipes and lovely photographs to help kids envision what they might like to cook. My kids like to sit and plan—-but, confession, we haven’t actually made anything out of the book yet. I’m expecting good things, though, because our other Williams-Sonoma books are solid.

Btw, for kids interested in cooking, Chop Chop is another excellent resource for kid-friendly yet healthy, not-intimidating recipes.

Also, just finished Gone,Girl——totally worth a read if you haven’t yet. Can’t waaaaait to see the movie!

Add a Comment

Do you like to drink while you are reading? BookGirl.TV host Tessa Smith-McGovern has authored a cookbook to help you figure out which drinks to pair with which authors.

Cocktails for Book Lovers, out this month from Sourcebooks, includes 50 recipes for cocktails inspired by different authors. Check it out:

From Jane Austen’s little-known fondness for wine to Hemingway’s beloved mojitos, literature and libations go hand in hand. Cocktails for Book Lovers blends these in a delectable book that will delight both readers and cocktail enthusiasts alike. This irresistible collection features 50 original and classic cocktail recipes based on works of famous authors and popular drinks of their eras, including Orange Champagne Punch, Salted Caramel and Bourbon Milkshakes, and even Zombie Cola.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Add a Comment

Winter is almost upon us, and as the days grow darker and the nights become cooler, my mind turns to comfort food from my slow cooker.  Anyone with me? It’s time to pull out your slow cooker from the back of the cupboard, box or garage and begin to look forward to some delicious meals.  Slow cookers are a fabulous time-saving appliance, and there’s nothing better than coming home from a busy day out to a delicious concoction cooking away on your bench top.

Now, if you’re anything like me you’ll have your tried and true favourites (lamb shanks, beef hot pot) but I’ve pulled together a collection of Australian books for you to spice up your repertoire.  The best thing about this collection is that each of these books have been selected from the Boomerang Books list of Australia’s Top 1000 Bestselling Books, which means you can enjoy an additional 20% off the RRP.

First, I bring you the 250 Must-Have Slow Cooker Recipes (pictured left), which contains recipes for time-strapped cooks and busy households, including breakfasts and desserts.  Recipes include cooking with meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, pulses, rice or pasta to create soul-warming dishes.  Yum!

If 250 recipes isn’t enough, try the The 1000 Recipe Collection – Slow Cooking, which has (as the title suggests) an astonishing 1000 recipes to choose from.  Getting hungry?

The Complete Slow Cooker By Sally Wise is a combination of two of her previous slow cooker books and is appropriately jam packed full of great recipes.  If you’re looking for ideas for delicious and nutritious meals from an experienced cook, you can’t go past The Complete Slow Cooker by Sally Wise.  According to the publisher, Sally Wise is the: “best known, best loved and the biggest selling author of books on slow cooking,” so you really can’t go wrong with this one.

Finally, a collection of Australian cook books wouldn’t be complete without including an Australian Women’s Weekly edition, and so I give you Cook it Slow by Australian Women’s Weekly.  Cook it Slow contains almost 500 pages of recipes and also includes other methods of cooking slow including oven and stove top recipes; making this book perfect for those without a slow cooker at home.

Let me know if you’re a slow cooker devotee, and if you have a favourite recipe you’d like to share with us.

If you’re still hungry for more, check out Slow Cooking By Hinkler Books.

Add a Comment

Who doesn’t love free treats?

Famed pastry chef Dominique Ansel is celebrating his forthcoming book, Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes, by giving away free cronuts and cookie shots in New York City. Simon & Schuster has scheduled an official release date for the book on October 28, 2014.

According to Time Out New York, the giveaways will end at 5:30 p.m. today. Ansel has been revealing the locations of these giveaways via instagram and Twitter. So far, he and his team has been sighted at Washington Square Park, Union Square, Chinatown, and the Flatiron district.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Add a Comment

ABC delicious. magazine has been a part of my life since it first came out in 2001.  It seemed to herald a new era in Australian food publications with it’s fresh photography and modern, exciting, but accessible recipes that didn’t require a trip to the gourmet store for every dish.  Each new month I was thrilled to find at least several dishes that I couldn’t wait to make and many of my back issues are still littered with bookmarks for dishes that I particularly enjoyed or never quite got around to before the next issue was released.

Highly esteemed home economist, food writer and chef, Valli Little, has been there every step of the way too.  English-born Valli came to Australia on a working holiday after studying at London’s Le Cordon Bleu and, like many English roses before her, fell in love with the sun, the lifestyle and a bloke. Her experiences as a food consultant, banqueting manager, gourmet store owner and private chef for the great and glorious back in England give her an enviable depth and breadth of insight into all aspects of food – as her name on the covers of all seven of ABC delicious. magazine bestselling cookbooks will attest.

“Home Cooking” is the most recent of these and continues the tradition of fresh, flavoursome, but not too fiddly recipes for the home cook.  In this edition, Valli gives us a hint of what goes on in her own kitchen as she shares her favourite recipes to cook at home along with her tips to turn a family classic into a cover-worthy meal without too much fuss.  Usefully, the content is divided into seasons as well as the different courses within each season and each recipe is as reliable, approachable and achievable as we’ve come to expect from this passionate and much-loved adoptee.   The book contains everything from tropical treats with a twist like the Coconut & Mango Tarts with Chilli Syrup,  to inspired, but simple tweaks like the Wasabi Pancakes with Smoked Trout or the velvety and indulgent Honey Pots de Creme – and, of  course, each dish is accompanied by lavish, full-colour photgraphy.

When casting my (often vacant) mind around for an acceptable dessert to serve to a visiting friend who is renowned for her stunning, sweet cookery  I recalled earmarking something in “Home Cooking” for a special occasion.  I don’t suppose you’ll be at all surprised to know that it was a Chocolate Cheesecake with Cocoa Nib Cream.  This seriously indulgent treat is an excellent example of the recipes offered in the book -  dependable, simple, but a bit special, too.  It really ticked all the boxes for everyone and was so simple to make – another winner in a long line of them for Valli Little and ABC delicious. magazine.

A wickedly rich chocolate cheesecake that is bound to impress anyone who is lucky to get some. Don’t forget the cocoa nibs – they give an added dimension with their crunch.

Chocolate Cheesecake with Cocoa Nib Cream

2 x 150 gm pkts Oreo biscuits (or similar)
125 gm unsalted butter, melted then cooled
250 gm cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups (500 gm) mascarpone
1/3 cup (75 gm) caster sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup (50 gm) cocoa
100 gm dark chocolate, melted then cooled
1 Tbs chocolate liqueur (optional)
1 cup (120 gm) cocoa nibs, plus extra to serve
300 ml thickened cream, lightly whipped

Grease and line 24cm springform cake pan.
Whizz biscuits in processor to fine crumbs. Add butter, pulse to combine, then press into the base of the cake pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 170C.
Wipe out processor (no need to wash). Place cream cheese, mascarpone and caster sugar in machine, whizz to combine. Add eggs, combine, then add cocoa, chocolate and liqueur. Process until smooth. Add half the cocoa nibs, pulse to combine, then spread filling over chilled biscuit base.
Bake 45-50 minutes until cake is firm to the touch, but slightly wobbly. Turn off oven and cool cheesecake in oven with door ajar. Chill for 2-3 hours or overnight before serving.
Fold remaining cocoa nibs into whipped cream. Pile on top of cheesecake and serve sprinkled with extra nibs.

Add a Comment

<!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 0 1 783 4469 Overlook Press 37 10 5242 14.0 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

Display Comments Add a Comment

A to Z Challenge Day 10: J .  5 Stars Kids can follow along with Jackson and Julie as they prepare holiday-themed tasty treats for their friends and family, such as Snowflake Snickerdoodles, Mother’s Day Muffins, and Back-to-School Banana Splits.  Jackson and Julie also include helpful tips on kitchen etiquette and safety.  Nothing brings a [...]

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

This weekend was one of my favorite annual Park Slope traditions: the Park Slope Methodist book sale!  Every year, this neighborhood church collects thousands of book donations (and CDs, and records) of every kind, and the BK literati flock to pick up hardcovers and paperbacks for just a dollar or two.

This year, I tried to exercise some restraint – after all, I’ve got books spilling out of the shelves in my room as it is!  But I did manage to pick up a few art and home-related titles (I was in a non-fiction mood), that are really fun!

My favorite book of the day is A Book Of Garden Flowers by Margaret McKenny and Edith F. Johnston (Macmillan, 1940). Margaret McKenny turns out to be a renowned Washington State naturalist, and I later found some of her enthusiastic letters about mushroom hunting. But the piece de resistance is Edith Johnston’s GORGEOUS lithographs of flowers! Each one is more beautiful than the next (so much so that I almost scanned the whole book!). Take a look . . .

Truly lovely, no?

I also picked up a couple of cookbooks that I’m really digging:

The Pleasures of Slow Food by Corby Kummer (Chronicle Books, 2002). – This glamorous coffee-table volume takes a warm glimpse into the “slow food” movement – where hand-crafted cooking methods enjoyed among company take the place of modern American fast-food cu

Display Comments Add a Comment

Chronicle Books sent me a copy of their book, Cake Simple, by Christie Matheson.  This is a great cookbook!  It is full of recipes for bundt-style cakes - and I do mean FULL of recipes!  It is broken up into Bundt Classics, Bundt Decadence, Bundt Cakes for Food Snobs, and Mini Bundts.  I never claimed to be an excellent cook but I do enjoy baking - here are the ones I want to try first:
Brown Sugar
Vanilla Bean
Salted Caramel
Nutella
Donating this one to the library but I sure will be checking it out once or twice to try some of these!!
*I was sent a copy of this book for review purposes.

Add a Comment

How do you read a cookbook?

About a month ago, I posed that question to The Muffin readers in part one of The Joy of Cooking. I talked about reading it like a book, immersing myself in the narrative, mulling over the ingredients, and savoring each photograph. It's a non-fiction feast that tells a story. The recipes are a bonus.

I also shared that I seldom use a cookbook when I'm in the kitchen. Instead, I rely on instinct and creativity. I just know what works. It's a trait I inherited from my mother and grandmother.

But it hasn't always been that way. Take a look at my culinary reading skills through the years.

View Next 1 Posts