5 comments about The Winemaker's Dance: Exploring Terroir in the Napa Valley (Director's Circle Book).

1. yes, this book can not tell you everything about the wine, but at least, this book does provide a basic knowledge of relationship between terroir and the character of wine. If readers who are really interested in wine and terroir, you might buy another book called" Terroir, The Role Geology, Climate, and Culture in the Making of French Wine." by James E. Wilson.



2. A thorough and valiant attempt at trying to define "terroir" in one of the world's great winegrape growing regions.
   
   I liked the book a lot more than I thought I would--it starts with the soils and geologic makeup, goes into climate, viticulture, and then tries to bundle it with how the grape growers and winemakers coax great fruit out of all of it.
   
   Fabulous maps and graphics. Worth the price for this alone.
   
   Terroir is a very difficult topic to get ones head around and I really appreciate the authors' work. A lot closer than you get from talking to grape growers and wine makers. (I have been an amateur winemaker for over 10 years, so I really appreciated the clarity of their approach.)



3. I came across this title on a search for D. Howell's work, and then found a cheap copy on eBay. I'm fortunate to live down the street from River Run Winery (check him out on the web)in the eastern Pajaro Valley, and have always wondered about the influence of San Benito County soils and geolgy where the RR winemaker gets his grapes. This Napa valley primer is an excellent intro on the topic and will get the 'geo-juices' flowing for research in my own backyard. See also SOILS FOR FINE WINES by White.
   The problem of ground water over-draft was skirted in this book. Any talk of sustainability in CA's wine country --as one finds in the final chapter of this title --will have to be honest about this issue, regardless of drip irrigation, or the perfect grape. I'd like these authors to cover what impacts on geohydrology the wine industry has had in the Napa valley in a revised edition. And perhaps the impact of global climate change on Napa's GW and its vineyards.



4. I have a farm near Napa county and was interested in assessing the suitablity of the farm for growing wine grapes. This book has a lot of
   interesting information in it. It is especially suitable for someone interested in agriculture who will be visiting Napa county - there are
   probably far more people in that category than there are people
   interested in growing wine grapes.
   
   For my purposes I would have liked to see a summary table or listing of wineries, wine price, type(s) of grapes grown, soil conditions, soil water retention, elevation, slope, sunlight orientation, and perhaps native vegetation on the soil. It was a bit hard to get this information since it was scattered throughout the book and there were usually just a few factors mentionned when specific wineries were discussed.



5. Anyone who enjoys wine and/or Napa Valley will enjoy this book. Great pictures, great explanations and great geology. They even let the winemakers pontificate abit. I really enjoyed it.

5 comments about Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google.

1. This is more than a cookbook. It's a different way of thinking about cooking and ingredients. Also, the photography is excellent. I'm sending copies to my kids. That's the best recommendation I can give it.



2. Charlie Ayers has done for food approach what Google did to the interwebs when Sergei and Larry decided to take information already out there and make it more user-friendly. Thus ends the parallels between this cookbook and Google which, through innovative thinking, gave a talented chef a venue to bring fresh, simple food to hungry people.
   
   This is a brilliant cookbook, but not necessarily for its recipes. What makes it remarkable is Charlie Ayers' holistic approach to dining:
   
   - Buy local when you can because it's the right thing to do (and this is coming from a Conservative with a capital C);
   
   - Eat well but mostly plants because it's good for your body (and, as someone continually struggling to lose weight that's a tip I'm taking to heart);
   
   - Make your own "fast food" by preparing in advance through "flavor cubes" and freezer storage and both your waistline and bottom line will thank you for it (and haven't we all been at the point where a run to McD's seems easier than making something that's actually good for us?); and
   
   - Indulge in the sensations of home-cooked food, from the fun of shopping and preparation to consumption (something which definitely appeals to the foodie in me).
   
   We need more chefs who think like this. Thank you, Charlie. This is truly a masterpiece!



3. Ayers make the reader to search outside the box on every day eating with proven dishes and direction. eat close to the source, organic if you can but most of all eat something different!Great colorful photos to show you what it should look like when you are done is very helpful and inpirational.



4. I bought this book for the wrong reason. I've had Charlie's catering. He came to Tattered Cover in Colorado for a reading, and well, I had to be there. Charlie and his sweetie Kimmie are awesome people I wanted to support.
   I never realized HOW good a cook (and at heart, I'd rather have a good cook than a bad chef) he was until we hired him for one New Year's shindig in Denver, but I remember the drool-worthy Google menu coming out on a listserv for Zero. As I was living on rice and ramen, I cursed him everyday.
   I assumed I'd have a cookbook that was pretty to look at but would not see much use.
   Wrong.
   This book is a keeper, aside from the above mentioned Red Page of Doom and the inability to get the shots in focus (and what is up with the parsnips page? Every time I flip past it I hear "One of these things is not like the others" in my head).
   Get this book for the granola recipe alone. The Google hot sauce is a bonus (and really is good with a peanut butter sandwich)and is easily made vegetarian (the original has fish sauce and Worcestershire sauce).
   Then make two dishes each week.
   Yes, the photography leaves a bit to be desired, although the journalistic shots capture Charlie's spirit well.
   I hope a redesign is in the stars for this one.
   Pick it up, pour a handcrafted beer or kombucha and enjoy reading through it a time or two before diving in as a cook.



5. Bought it. Using it. Love it. The pork chops with fig balsamic and blue cheese potatoes are beyond excellent.

5 comments about The Los Angeles Times California Cookbook (Plume).

1. I use the California Cookbook at least once a month, mostly for recipes that are a little too West Coast-centric for Joy and the other oldies, but too old-fashioned or boring for Epicurious. Browsing through this collection of 650+ recipes from the paper's archives, it doesn't take long to stumble across dishes from one-time celebrities -- Mahalia Jackson, Lawrence Welk, Polly Bergen -- and popular restaurants of yore. (Remember The Velvet Turtle? The Hungry Tiger?) Each recipe has a little piece of marginalia that introduces its source, adding a bit of backstory and flair



2. As a mother of four daughters, I would call this a legacy cookbook. My personal favorites are the Ribs Diablo (to die for...sweet and just a little spicy), banana bread recipe, Chicken Dijonnaise...I could go on and on.) I have found copies of this at Orange County swap meets occasionally, and have given them all away. If you have a chance to get a copy of this cookbook, snatch it up. Nothing I have tried in this cookbook has ever been a disappointment.



3. I bought this because I wore out my old copy that I was given when I worked selling the Times door to door in my teens. I was able to check it out at the library from time to time but then it disappeared. What a relief to find it on [...]. I couldn't wait to get to those favorite recipes again! Some of them were so great I had them memorized like the recipe for turkey that I've used every Thanksgiving for the last twenty years, gaining the reputation of having the juciest turkey anyone's ever tasted. I love that some of the recipes came from famous restaurants or even celebrities. My family can now enjoy their old favorites again that I stopped making when my original cookbook fell apart and was lost.



4. This cookbook has some really great recipes. My new daughter-in-law is from California, and I am making a big hit finding recipes she is used to that appeal to our whole family, as well.



5. I lived in So. Cal for 40 years and recently relocated to the East Coast. Some of those recipes are unique and people out here love em! The two that stick out to me are 4 minute brownie pie (so good) and the Chili recipe with no beans. I misplace my copy and just ordered a used one from Amazon for 2.89 plus 3.99 for shipping. It shoud be here in a week. What a way to start the new year!

3 comments about M. F. K. Fisher among the Pots and Pans: Celebrating Her Kitchens (California Studies in Food and Culture).

1. As a person who has spent half a lifetime reading anything and everything on or about MFK Fisher, I eagerly awaited the arrival of this book. Although I found it enjoyable,for the most part it was mostly a lot of information lifted from MFK's own writings about her kitchens, and the many places that she lived. The newer material was good, describing a bit more in depth what Mary Frances was going through during times of upheaval and illness, and there were some wonderful photos of the places that she had lived. The illustrations were lovely. All in all, it was a nice read- and makes one want to go to the bookshelf and pull down one of MFK's own, and read them again- they never go out of style!



2. Joan Reardon's M. F. K. Fisher Among the Pots and Pans is a brief biography of America's greatest food writer. Reardon wrote a longer bio in 2004; here, she's decided to keep her touch light by documenting the different kitchens rented, remodeled or simply passed through by Fisher in her progress through three marriages, the birth of daughters legitimate and illegitimate, and the writing of many, many books and articles.
   
   Most of Fisher's kitchens consisted of little more than a hot plate and a pantry. Fisher insisted on eating and cooking in the same space, and her best meals were apparently also her simplest. Her 1942 book How to Cook a Wolf, written during the first years of World War II, addressed "the preparation of food in times of scarcity and bomb shelters."
   
   Watercolors by Avram Dumitrescu recreate the kitchens. Designer Sandy Drooker has given the book a small footprint suitable for your airplane carry-on. A suite of updated recipes divide each chapter, providing some hands-on sustenance for Fisher fans. I read the book in an evening (as if it were "a cheese souffle and a light salad"), but is well worth holding onto for its compelling portrait of "a writing cook and a cooking writer," "bold at the desk as well as at the stove."
   
   [....]



3. A friend in the culinary field lent me this book and it is charming! I knew a little about Fisher -- primarily thro' books about Julia Child -- and don't have any of her cookbooks. But I had read two of her novels: NOT NOW BUT NOW and THE BOSS DOG, both which I thoroughly enjoyed. AMONG THE POTS AND PANS told me so much more about this very interesting, ahead-of-her-time woman, and it shares a few recipes, too. Very well written and beautifully illustrated. And yes, I've already ordered one of her cookbooks. Enjoy!

3 comments about California Wine Country: The Most Beautiful Wineries, Vineyards, and Destinations.

1. California Wine Country is a most impressive guide.

   In 1973, I worked in the wine industry and was given the assignment to visit every winery in California of any size. Since then, I haven't been able to duplicate the feat as the number of new and interesting wineries has expanded rapidly.

   This book focuses on the highest quality winemakers in the Golden State, and gives you both an advance view and a sense of what's there before you visit. With this guide, you will vastly increase your enjoyment of touring wineries and vineyards by being able to pick from among the most interesting sites for you.

   The photography represents a lot of visits to each area. I doubt if you could capture all of these views, variations in lighting and seasons in less than three years of visits. Even areas I know well I saw differently.

   The book places about equal attention to the images of vineyards and the exteriors of wineries, many of which are magnificent structures to behold.

   Mr. Leffingwell is not as talented a writer as he is a photographer. But his prose is more than adequate to extend your knowledge of the industry as he explains about the history of each region and winery. For detailed information on wine making, I suggest you supplement this book with other resources. There is a limited discussion of the process except as applied to super premium reds and whites. There is no mention of how sparkling wines are made.

   The historical information is a little over focused on religion, Prohibition, the Depression and marketing.

   I was pleased to see the extensive discussions of the microclimates in each area. Very nice!

   I was disappointed not to find a better description of the wine qualities at each vineyard. Again, I suggest you supplement this book for that with one of the better wine guides.

   I hope that Mr. Leffingwell will update this book quite frequently.

   As a final test of how good this book is, my wife and I visited several of these areas last year around when the book was published. We used another guide, and had a wonderful time. However, if we had had this guide, I think we would have had a much better time . . . because we appear to have missed half of what we would have wanted to see.

   A final word of caution: Contact the wineries directly to verify times for tours and tastings. The information here was different from what we discovered on site in July 2002 in a few cases.

   Before you leave this wonderful volume, I suggest you consider where else a preview of what you are going to see adds a great deal to your enjoyment. What about a complimentary appetizer from the chef to whet your palate for what is to come?




2. This book is obviously intended to be purchased for its beautiful pictures, and does a great job at covering all wine regions in California - not just Sonoma or Napa, but Mendocino and Lake Country down through San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.
   
   If you are looking for a book with some great photos of wineries and vineyards across California, then I can heartily recommend the book. However, some of the text leaves much to be desired, with some obvious omissions and flatly incorrect information. Some examples:
   
   On grape varieties: Petite Sirah is identified as being the same as Syrah and Shiraz (it isn't). Pinot Gris and Gewurtztraminer are not mentioned at all, but I would consider them more important than Sylvaner in California white grapes.
   
   On locations: Livermore Valley is "to the west in Alameda County", which must surprise people living in the eastern half of the county. Woodside Vineyards in Woodside and Thomas Fogerty Winery in Portola Valley are listed as being in Santa Clara Country (they are in San Mateo County). Morgan Hill and Gilroy are identified as being in Santa Cruz County (they are in Santa Clara County), and there are others too.
   
   The choices of wine labels are odd too. In a list of wine labels for a particular geographic area, often the wines come from someplace else. In the Mendocino County section, a wine made from Lodi (in the Central Valley) is listed. The San Francisco Bay section shows labels from three Monterey wines.
   
   Despite these faults, the book is definitely interesting - containing many nice photographs, and reasonble listings of wineries with contact information in all parts of California, even fairly obscure ones missed in many books, such as the wineries in Santa Clara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Nevada, and Calaveras counties.



3. I bought this book for my mother for Christmas. She wanted a picture book about the wine country in CA so she could paint some of the scenes. She had just visited my sister in S.F. and loved every minute of her visit. She LOVES this book. It contains beautiful photographs of Northern California and she looks forward to painting many pictures.

1 comments about Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America, Revised Edition (California Studies in Food and Culture).

1. I had to read this for my class, but it is a very interesting. If you are into the history of the American diet I would highly recommend this book.

4 comments about The Food Lover's Companion to the Napa Valley: Where to Eat, Cook, and Shop in the Wine Country Plus 50 Irresistible Recipes.

1. This is a must have for anyone visiting or living in the Napa Valley. Well organized and cleverly composed. I found it most useful for locating the rare-to-find places and foods that make the Napa Valley so unique. It makes a great gift for all the food lovers in your life.



2. As a regular visitor to the Napa Valley for the past 10 years, it's easy to think that one has 'seen it all.'
   
   This book really reminded me what a special place the Napa Valley is, and how much there is to discover. Visitors and locals alike will find something new and interesting that they simply must try.
   
   Take this book with you to the Valley, or read it before you go and find your new 'must try' discovery.



3. This book covers all the areas I was interested in learning about before our trip to Napa Valley. The reviews seem unbiased and thoughtful. We had visited Napa 18 years ago and while we already had a few ideas, reservations, etc., this guide gave us even more places to consider. I've "earmarked" so many pages and even took this guide with us. It also includes maps, addresses and phone numbers and/or websites. Some good recipes are in the back. A good companion guide.



4. Have been to Napa many times - but was unaware of the many gems this book uncovers - an incredible and fun resource for the food and wine lover! I will be seeking out these finds in the future! Highly recommended.

3 comments about The New California Cook: Casually Elegant Recipes with Exhilarating Flavor.

1. I checked this out at the library and then liked it so much, I had to buy it. The recipes that allow you to do much of the prep ahead are fabulous. I found the time estimatess to be fairly accurate and that user error was the problem when they weren't. ;-)



2. I was originally convinced to buy this cookbook because of the promise of the wonton butternut squash ravioli recipe (p. 126) and it did not disappoint. She pairs the ravioli with a spinach basil pesto, which was unusual and interesting as a flavor combination. The pesto was good, but I now use it with other things and top the ravioli with sage and brown butter instead.
   
   I have also made the spiced pumpkin hazelnut bread and love it. I didn't think I needed another pumpkin bread recipe, but this has proven me wrong. The recipe made two loaves with only 1/4 c. butter (less than half of what most similar recipes call for), golden raisins, hazelnuts (or almonds), and a hint of orange juice and zest. The result is brighter and fruitier than traditional, autumnal pumpkin bread and is perfect for a crisp, sunny day in early spring when there is still a can of pumpkin in the pantry and the oranges are in season.
   
   In proper California fashion, recipes tend to utilize a lot of produce with Mediterranean influences. I am planning to try the mango and macadamia nut brown butter tart, grilled chicken nicoise, grilled pizza with leeks, mozzarella, tomatoes, and pancetta, and the homemade chicken and apple sausage (made with a food processor).
   
   It's a fun cookbook in that even when I don't think I'm going to try a recipe, I find I'm usually still interested in reading about it. I am unlikely to make a pear, pistachio, and chicken liver mousse, for example, but what an interesting set of ideas.
   
   If the book had pictures, I'd probably give it another star. As it is though it's a well-formatted, useful, inspiring cookbook with a lot of really interesting recipes that use realistic ingredients in unexpected ways. Even when a recipe looks like it might be a bit pedantic, there's a twist--walnut cake with roasted blueberry compote, for example (roasted blueberries??)
   
   If you like this kind of food, this is a fun, realistic cookbook to invest in--but there aren't any pictures so you'll have to use your imagination.



3. This is my 4th Diane Rossen Worthington cookbook. Ms. Worthington never disappoints. She always offers good suggestions on preparation, making ahead of time, and notes on the bottom of the recipes.
   
   My first book by Ms. Worthington was "The Taste of Summer".
   
   I don't try every recipe, because I enjoy reading about the recipes as much as I like to cook! I really like the wine suggestions with most of the recipes in "The New California Cook"

No comments about Spectacular Wineries of Sonoma County: A Captivating Tour of Established, Estate and Boutique Wineries (Spectacular Wineries series).

5 comments about The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds, and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot.

1. This book is great! Mr.Brantley is passionate about flavorful fruits, and makes you feel the same way. He created a story that is insightful and vivid. Reading this book during Pluot season is all the more fulfilling (I tried to eat one each time I did some reading). I cannot wait until next summer when I can again taste some pluots, and I will for a second time read this book. I have since purchased 5 pluot trees. My family tree will forever include these wonderful stone fruits as part of our harvest.



2. This is a book about love, eating, exploring, plants, farming, California, friends, life, knowing, not-knowing, business, family and of course, the part-plum/part-apricot fruit known at the pluot. I absolutely adored this book. My only complaint is that there wasn't more of it.



3. THE PERFECT FRUIT: GOOD BREEDING, BAD SEEDS, AND THE HUNT FOR THE ELUSIVE PLUOT offers the fine story of a fruit breeder who developed the Pluot fruit - and examines those who have pursued exotic flavors and fruits around the world. Any library strong in culinary history and culture will find this a fascinating survey of tastes, horticultural experiments, and more in an outstanding guide for any interested in the origins of fruit development.



4. This book is great! I work in the California peach, plum and nectarine industry and we are continually battling consumer misconceptions about agriculture and farming in the San Joaquin Valley. Everyones afraid of the big bad "Agribusiness" because city dwellers started writing about agriculture (That makes sense right?) and have spread messages that just are not correct. It was great to see that Chip came out to the orchards and did his homework. He discovered that, while there are corporate interests in other areas of agriculture the California stone fruit industry is largely made up of small family growers. Just as the book came out we were working on filming some of the same growers that were featured in the book like Rod Milton and the Kingsburg Jackson family for the growers YouTube page [...] The information in the book was spot on and entertaining!



5. The Perfect Fruit is perfect. From the beginning when the author bites into his first Pluot, to the end when you are wondering about Stone Fruit. Previously, I wasn't familiar with the term, but halfway through the book I was wondering how they are grown, distributed, bred... After reading the book, I am amazed at how Mr. Brantley, armed with only type on crisp dry pages, could make me not only run to my produce section but also want to visit the California Valleys in search of the Perfect Fruit.