5 comments about Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm.

1. I live somewhat north of the area Mr. Masumoto writes about - where the San Francisco Bay Area Suburbs collide with the San Joaquin Farmlands. The Peach and Cherry Orchards and the Sweet Corn, Tomatoes and Strawberries are currently holding their own - but like Mr. Masumoto's Peaches and Grapes, only tenuously, and with great courage. If you would like to understand not only how these people live, but who and why they are, you should read this book. It is both beautifully written and thought provoking.



2. I feel a connection with David Masumoto. Not that I've met him or anything - in fact, there's a good chance I never will (although I keep hoping that one summer day I can make it over to his farm to pick peaches). No, this feeling is based on an impression that we have both fought the same fight over different things, for the same reasons. It is also because he writes so poignantly about a landscape I grew up in. Mr. Masumoto is an organic farmer in the valley of California, and his story is becoming more and more familiar to me as I see this way of life disappearing across the country.
   
   A third generation Japanese American peach and grape farmer, David Masumoto inherited the family orchard from his father. He also had the heritage of his childhood memories of how that particular peach variety, Sun Crest, tasted and ran with juice unlike the pretty red baseballs that have passed for today's supermarket peach varieties. Mr. M wanted to show the world how delightful an old-fashioned peach could be.
   
   When he took over his father's farm, he resolved to not only continue growing his Sun Crests, but to do it organically. This would prove challenging in our day and age of cheap, quick fixes; moreover, it would test his strongly felt ideals. The land needed to heal and replenish itself after years of chemical fertilizers and toxic pest control methods. Masumoto had to take his example from research on other organic farming practices, planting wildflowers to encourage beneficial insect life and sowing "green manure" crops to act as natural mulch and compost. All this took time, patience, and faith that his hard work would eventually pay off.
   
   Epitaph for a Peach is rich in sensory descriptions, philosophy, and nostalgic flashbacks. It is a picture of the way a farmer's life is connected to the seasons, capricious weather patterns, and changing market conditions. Not incidentally, Masumoto also teaches about the obscure history of Japanese farmers in the Valley - something that even I, native to Fresno, had little idea of. Reading this book was a slow, thoughtful experience much in the same manner that one slows down to savor a rich fruit. Recommended to anybody interested in history, growing food, or the vanishing California landscape.
   -Andrea, aka Merribelle



3. Author David Masumoto has written an excellent vignette into the year in a life of a small-scale, family farmer. His passion for his life's work, his connection to the land, and his strong family values are so clearly evident in his writing. I think a lot of readers will be envious of the life he describes. I share many of his views on the value of small family farms and the need to focus on how food should taste. Masumoto's book will reonsate deeply with those of us who know what it means to be curious about how something grows, who look forward to the first ripe peach or melon of the year, who prefer to make things from scratch and sit down with all our kids at dinner.



4. Epitaph for a Peach chronicles a year on Mas Masumoto's farm in the great Central Valley of California. If you are not familar with his work, Mas is a third generation Japanese American (Sansei) farmer, a disappearing breed. If you were raised on a family farm, Mas nails the experience right on the head. His writing is accessible; doesn't require that you have a degree in Literature to understand. He weaves a tale that keeps one engaged.
   
   The book opens with a prologue written by Mas that was published in the Los Angeles Times. Mas laments having to bulldoze his Sun Crest peach orchard in order to plant a more "popular" and profitable variety. (The article was syndicated nationally - I don't know how I missed it.) This sets the stage for Mas' effort to find a market for his peaches as well as tell his story of life on the farm. Each season brings work and change. He disputes the notion that a farmer's life is unchanging. It is also filled with symbolism - egrets, owls, ghosts - and optimism. The end leaves you with an unanswered question - does the peach orchard survive beyond the year chronicled in the book?
   
   If you are a refugee from a family farm, have spent time on a family farm or want a vignette into the life of a Sansei farmer, I highly recommend Epitaph for a Peach.



5. This book doesn't quite live up to its promise. I found the concept of his quest to save his heirloom peaches inspiring, but the book lacks the focus and drama I expected. Instead it meanders through the agricultural seasons, without much explanation of, say, the marketing and distribution process, which is apparently the challenge with the kind of peaches he's growing. The book has a nice mood, but after a while I began to feel that he was saying the same things over and over again. I didn't finish the book, which is rare for me.

5 comments about The Artful Vegan: Fresh Flavors from the Millennium Restaurant.

1. Great inspiration in the recipes, but many of them have ingredients you'll have to work hard to find, or have more complicated processes involved (like smoking something) that simply make this book too difficult for the regular home cook. I got it as a gift and started looking through it excited to make some of the dishes, but then when I got to reading the ingredients in detail I started giving up and turning the next one. And then the next one, and the one after that. Halfway through I think I got maybe 2 or 3 things I'd be able to do without spending a fortune just to make one meal. We aren't in the restaurant business, the authors jobs should be to set up a recipe to be made at home. Even in the intro they say that they don't typically even write these things down, but just wing it through inspiration. From this it doesn't surprise me that some people say that some recipes just don't work.



2. This is the best vegetarian/vegan cookbook ever. I am a collector of cookbooks and it is always great to find one with new creative recipes and this one surpassed my expectations. I would not consider this book for beginner cooks the recipes are lengthy, not 30 minute meals. It also has in quite a few recipes hard to find or expensive ingredients. Although, if you are a creative cook or live near quality stores it shouldn't be too big of problem. When I bought this book, I bought another at the same time for my sister.



3. There are two chefs who taught me how to cook by virtue of publishing the books that I learned from. The first is Madhur Jaffrey (World of the East Vegetarian Cooking--an outstanding, comprehensive book of recipes, methods, ingredients and their substitutions for beginners with a knack for flavors and the will to give it a try). The next is Eric Tucker, Head Chef of Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco (best restaurant I've ever had the pleasure of dining in) and author of two Millennium books including The Artful Vegan.
   
   I have both of Eric Tucker's books (Artful, and The Millennium Cookbook), and I reference them both frequently, whether I want to put on a pull-out-all-the-stops fabulous dinner party or just want a little inspiration for interesting flavor combinations for tonight's dinner.
   
   
   Complicated? Doesn't have to be:
   
   First thing you'll want to know about these books is that other reviewers are right that these are not meant for whipping up quick meals at the end of a long day. That said, I have on countless occasions pulled out Eric's books for inspiration for a quick something-or-other to do with, say, butternut squash. Say I've baked a butternut squash ahead of time and have it sitting in the fridge waiting for me to do something with it at the end of one of these hard days. A quick flip to the index of Artful for "squash, butternut" sends me to pp. 130-131, where I see the interesting combination of garlic, lemons, tahini, onion, tomato, and mint (plus some other things that I don't feel like putting in). I decide to combine those ingreds with some nice wild mushrooms I have in the fridge, a little minced serrano chile, and a smidge of raw sugar melted and poured over the squash, and I come up with a darned yummy and easy meal.
   
   The thing to remember is that cookbooks are suggestions, nothing more. They are launching pads. With The Artful Vegan, what you've got is a series of very interesting flavor combinations that should make you feel like a kid in the world's biggest sandbox--play Play PLAY with the flavors, play with the textures, use the bits that sound good to you, combine them with other bits that pique your curiosity, and learn from it. Some of your "experiments" might well suck--that's OK. A bunch of them will be exquisite. Artful gives you a very comprehensive bunch of ideas that take you--well, it definitely took me--to places I would not have thought to go on my own. Now I do think it, and this is why I say Eric Tucker is one of the chefs who taught me to cook by writing this excellent book.
   
   
   Well, unless you want it to be complicated:
   
   Using the recipes not as suggestions but as verbatim instructions will also have you singing with glee. This is where you should set aside a day of preparation ahead of time and then another day to do the cooking and assembling and serving. Really--plan for a Sunday eve meal that you start on Saturday morning (preferably with a visit to the local farmers' market). This is why I (and other reviewers) say the recipes are time-consuming. But if you love the subtle arts of cookery and fancy yourself brave enough to try new techniques and flavor/texture combinations, you are going to love this book, and you are going to have more fun in the kitchen and be more impressed with what you can make than ever before.
   
   
   Ingredients and equipment:
   
   It also helps immensely to live in a great place like the San Francisco Bay Area where access to all things gastronomic are readily available. Between the wide variety of our farmers' markets, international groceries, organic health food stores, and the great outdoors, any outstanding ingredients list is pretty well covered in the Bay Area. If you live in an area where there's not as much selection, you'll need to be creative about substitution ingredients. Fortunately, Eric's books are good about telling you what other (perhaps less "exotic") ingredients would work well, what pieces you could leave out of the recipe and still have something stellar, and so forth.
   
   You don't need a lot of specialized kitchen equipment to make these recipes. One assumes a blender and/or food processor and a basic set of quality knives and cookware. But you don't need all those stupid tchotchkes that have one use only, are impossible to clean and care for, and cost you a month's salary. Exquisite cooking is not defined by the fussiness of one's gadgets. (In my experience, reliance on fussy gadgetry is inversely related to cooking skill).
   
   
   Oh, those gorgeous photos!:
   
   One last thing: not every recipe in this book has a photo of the finished dish, but many do. The photos are works of art in and of themselves--the book is a visual feast as well as a collection of ideas for your own gustatory feast. Plus, with instructions that can seem at first to be very complicated, it's helpful to look at the photo and say "Oh, that's what he means by that!"
   
   `````
   
   To sum up:
   
   1) The other reviewers are right that these recipes can be very time-consuming and complicated. Sometimes you want that--satisfies the inner chef-artiste in all of us;
   
   2) The recipes are easily adaptable to be a lot less time-consuming and complicated, and Eric Tucker provides a lot of guidance on how to adapt the recipes;
   
   3) You don't need to be an expert with a bunch of ridiculously complicated kitchen equipment to make the food in this book. You just need a bit of an experimental attitude, good solid basic kitchen equipment, and the willingness to have fun with new flavors, textures, ingredients, and ideas;
   
   4) This shouldn't, however, be your first cookbook. You will likely enjoy the book most if you already have some experience fiddling around in the kitchen and are familiar with the basic terminology ("blanching" almonds, for example. Not too complicated--and there's a Basics section, a Techniques section, and a Glossary section in the back to help you with this stuff);
   
   5) The Artful Vegan, along w/ Eric's earlier The Millennium Cookbook, took my cooking to a new level. It's doable, it's absolutely worth doing, and it's a heck of a lot of fun!
   
   ¡Buen provecho!



4. I purchased this book for my sister and she loves it so far. It's giving her more ideas of what she can make and it's been pretty easy to follow the recipes.



5. I purchased this book while in Culinary school to use for inspiration during our "spa cuisine" section. I still use it to this day, even though I am not a vegan. It has delicious recipes that are layered with flavor and texture experiences. I just love flipping through it for the photos as well. I LOVE this book. Anyone wishing to try a different style of eating or just eat meatless a few times a week would greatly benefit from this amazing book. Some of the dishes may be a bit complicated for a novice cook, but you can take several of the recipes and only prepare parts of them. The gnocci is AMAZING!

2 comments about Slow Food Nation's Come to the Table: The Slow Food Way of Living.

1. Slow Food Nation's "Come to the Table" is a pleasant little book. The chapters on the farmers are nice, but really just a brief summary of their lives. As a reader I would have appreciated a little more depth, but that may not have been the intent. What did come through on these glimpses of life was that these farms are not long-term sustainable without support from the public. Many of these farms depend on leased land which could easily disappear.
   
   The recipes are fairly basic. This is no great surprise as they are largely taken from the farmers, not professional food writers or chefs. I will likely try a couple.
   
   I suspect this book is most useful if you live in California where the farms are. For the rest of us, it should encourage us to seek out our local farming community where we can learn the history of our farmer in a short conversation and develop a relationship of mutual support.
   
   I cannot recommend this as a book. While the slow food movement is important, this book is a bit thin in more ways than one. This is one that you need to see a copy of before you decide to purchase.



2. I bought this book because our friends are one of the farms featured. I really liked the stories and the pictures. Great for California.

2 comments about Everything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks.

1. Bryant Simon, the author of "Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban America," has written another compelling book about a once beloved, now declining, American institution in "Everything But the Coffee: Learning About America from Starbucks." From its inception in the early 1970s to today, Simon traces the rise and fall of Starbucks, not only as a company and business venture, but also as a piece of Americana.
   
   Simon, a Professor of History at Temple University, defines what he calls "the Starbucks moment," where in a short period of time, Starbucks exploded and was literally everywhere. However, as he points out, as quickly as Starbucks arrived and became the talk of the business community and Wall Street, the company began to fade and lose its luster. He describes how Starbucks sought people of status and wealth to tout its name and logo and then how it used those high end customers to draw in the middle class. It was the middle class customers buying high priced coffees and lattes that allowed Starbucks its meteoric rise and swollen stock price.
   
   Starbucks, says Simon, convinced a whole group of people that they could abdicate their responsibilities for environmentalism, human rights, poor peasant farmers, and an array of other causes to a large corporation simply by paying more for its products. Yet despite the company's advertising - or is it propaganda? - Simon shows that very little of what Starbucks claims is reality. One example he sites is the environmental issue of recycling. Clearly, using ceramic cups that can be washed is more environmentally sound than using paper cups that go into a landfill. Simon opines that rather than providing reusable cups for its customers, Starbucks continues to use paper cups (the inside is coated with a polyethylene plastic) so that its logo can continue to be seen. After all, if a customer has a paper cup, he or she is more inclined to leave the coffee shop with cup in hand to become a walking advertisement. In an amusing story, he recalls going into a Starbucks and asking for a mug because he was going to drink his coffee on site. Bedlam ensued as the staff searched for a ceramic mug. Just as he was about to give up and settle for a paper cup, an employee shouted "I found it!" "It" was the only ceramic, or reusable, cup in the place.
   
   In other chapters, Simon talks about Starbucks role as a "Third Place," which is a term used to describe somewhere outside the home or workplace where people meet. Starbucks' ventures into music and books and its impact on globalization and fair-trade coffee are some other topics covered.
   
   As the author states in the Afterword, "Everything but the Coffee" was not intended to be a hatchet job on Starbucks. "I defended Starbucks against what I saw then...as knee-jerk attacks against bigness...." However, after getting into his research, "...I stopped seeing the company as an engine of community. Instead, I saw it as a mythmaker offering only an illusion of belonging...." What the reader will find is a well-written, well-researched work that will be an eye opening experience for those who have loved or hated Starbucks. Eric Schlosser's "Fast food Nation" opened the first decade of the 21st Century with an expose of McDonalds and the fast food industry. Bryant Simon ends the decade with a dissection of Starbucks and the abdication of consumer responsibility.



2. "Everything but the Coffee" is on the ROROTOKO list of cutting-edge intellectual nonfiction. Professor Simon's book interview ran here as the cover feature on January 18, 2010.

5 comments about General Viticulture.

1. I have no regrets buying General Viticulture. It is, after all, a standard reference. But in many ways it is now a lttle outdated and modern experience and advice is lacking. It should therefore be considered a important part, but only a part, of the basic library of anyone doing or contemplating viticulture.

   The academic style of writing does not lend itself to the "do-it-yourself" approach. The section on laying out a vineyard, for example, is more academic than practical, at least in my opinion. A more modern book would, of course, have better photographs and graphics, and this is what I miss most.




2. My copy arrived with the text bound upside-down in relation to the cover. However, this is by far the best study on viticulture around. Dated but still the best.



3. This is the standard textbook for viticulture in the country and was outdated when I took the class in 1987. Unfortunately Mr. Winkler and other were in their eighties and nineties at that time so the chances of an updated edition were none (Mr. Winkler died before I graduated in 1992.) Yet, even now, I still refer to it for grafting, training and pest and diseases. Hey, just because it's old doesn't mean it's dated. There are some things in grape growing that never change.



4. The blurb for this textbook on viticulture touted that it was now updated and revised. The original was from 1962 and the 'new' revision is from 1974. This book is also limited in scope to growing grapes in California, focuses on large scale industrial growers, and is illustrated by black and white photos. Having griped about all this, the book is still nevertheless useful in terms of its detailed explanation of grape stock, stages of growth, pruning, trellis types, diseases, soil, irrigation, and fertilizing. It would be a terrific if the University of California press came out with a truly 'new' revision that recognized the changes to viticulture in the United States over the last THIRTY years. Even a non-professional who drinks much wine knows that the wine industry has grown beyond the borders of California and that it has been moving toward sustainability and organic farming of which there is barely a sentence in this book.



5. This came in good condition. This is a good resource starting with the history of viticulture in the United States and California specifically and moving through step by step practical information through the entire viticulture process.

5 comments about The Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do to Replace Them (California Studies in Food and Culture).

1. This book provides an excellent historical perspective on the discovery of and current understanding of Omega-3 and -6 Fatty Acids. I think it is extremely valuable for anyone interested in why diseases of the heart and diabetes are so rampant today.
   
   Unfortunately, it could have done better at helping us understand "what we can do to replace them". The American public needs better resources on how to make changes rather than understanding so much of the "why" behind them.
   
   Definitely worth the read, unless you seeking avenues for changing your diet to improve your intake of Omega-3's.



2. This book doesn't talk down to the reader on a subject that is quite complex, yet makes it understandable to someone with only high school chemistry -- and that many decades ago! It is also a topic of great importance.



3. Excellent book. I found that had to brush up on my chemistry and biology
   to get full benefit of the book.
   
   Ron



4. I enjoyed reading this book after hearing Susan Alport on public radio talking about the subject recently. She makes the case that as our diets have changed to eliminate Omega 3 fatty acids, we are becoming less healthy. I rated this book a four because it is written more as an academic rather than popular book and may lose some readers in the details of the science involved. If you want an easy persuasive read, this isn't it. Be prepared to follow the trail of decisions made by agribusiness and the struggle of scientists to get their ideas accepted. Still, I think it's information we all need to know.



5. This book puts forth some truly intriguing ideas that almost make too much sense. This is the first explanation of our nutritional state and how we got here that actually rings true. I would have found it easier to follow some of the technical aspects if the author had just used abbreviations for the chemical names, my only grievance. However, the concepts are so interesting and worthwhile that I didn't mind reading some parts twice to make sure I really understood it. I am on my second read and still very much enjoying the book. I will use what I learned for the rest of my life, I am quite sure. There is a very good reason the cover shows eggs. They're actually good for you, no cholesterol problem, if you buy the right ones. I also like the part about the weed that is just about the most nutritious plant known to man and is as healthy to eat as salmon, and I just found it growing alongside an old building in town last night. It's literally everywhere, grows in poor soil, and is completely edible and nutritious! Lots of little surprises like that. I really enjoyed this book.

5 comments about Washington Wines and Wineries: The Essential Guide.

1. This is a great, unconventionally written wine book. Paul Gregutt covers Washington state by talking about the history, the top vineyards, the varietals, and the top wineries. He gives ratings to wineries instead of specific wines. Sometimes it feels like his praise is too strong because he does not specify which wines are good values versus just plain good wines. But overall this is a great reference guide. If you are looking for a buying guide, stick to Robert Parker; if you want to learn about wines in Washington, this is where to start.



2. If I could sit down with Paul in a tasting group I am assured that I would be utterly amazed by the amount of information he has tapped into that makes him so vital to the Washington wine industry. As a writer, investigator, connoisseur, & diplomat of all that is worthwhile in the Washington Wine realm. Rest assured you will have the upper hand on a vast extension of information from the distant past to our now proportionately thriving world of grapes in the Scabland's to the valleys in the Yakima, Columbia, & Walla Walla wine regions. Enjoy, MD



3. This is a must have book for those that enjoy Washington wines and want to make informed choices. I learned more about the best Washington vineyards, wine makers and wineries in two evenings reading this book than I have the past several years going to wine tastings! I highly recommend this book!



4. Paul Gregutt has written about wines in Washington for over 20 years. He covers just about everything you would want to know about wines and wineries in Washington.
   
   His first chapter is a brief (13 pages) history of the wine industry in Washington. He then discusses Washington's eight AVA's (American Viticultural Areas) in considerable detail (21 pages with 6 color maps). This is followed by a comprehensive discussion of the 15 white wine grapes and the 20 red wine grapes found in Washington - and includes which wineries he thinks do the best with each grape (31 pages). He discusses the best ten vineyards (as opposed to wineries) in the state (28 pages).
   
   This is followed by an extensive discussion of 120 different wineries, broken down into four categories: 1. The best (14 wineries in 32 pages), 2. Specialists - 30 wineries which are particularly focused on one or two wines, where they are particularly reliable (40 pages), 3. The third group mentioned is 30 wineries which show potential for excellence in one or more wines and have released at least five vintages (27 pages), 4. The fourth group (46 wineries) is similar to the third, but have released fewer than five vintages(30 pages). These discussions include a short history of the winery, the owners, wine-makers, and other important people. It discusses their philosophy and goals, their principle wines, experiments, and side lines, their production, their plans, and their contributions to the wine industry.
   
   The only drawback to this book is the "new age" tasting notes, which ascribe very improbable flavors to the wines tasted. (e.g., "[The Walla Walla bottling of Seven Hills Syrah] sports an invigorating, lifted nose that combines lemon and lime and orange peel with raspberry syrup and mocha. A rare Walla Walla Valley-grown tempranillo is dark and gamy and exotic; a beguiling blend of roasted meats, vanilla, licorice, clove and black cherry." or "[Long Shadows] Pedestal...Lovely notes of bacon and smoked meats permeate the thick, juicy fruit,") Friends, if you get a syrah which tastes like lemon, lime, orange peel and raspberry syrup, you might want to make sure you didn't get the Sangria by mistake. If you get a wine that tastes like bacon or other smoked meats, I would strongly recommend that you send it back.



5. Washington's wine industry competes with California's Napa Valley in much the same way that Microsoft and the companies that it spawned compete with California's Silicon Valley. Paul Greggut writes a very informative book describing the state's wines and wineries. This could have been a five star, but the book is in textbook form. Since more then likely, it is being read by a casual wine sipper, it could have been written in a more entertaining form. Maybe Greggut could have done a little more to engage the reader and show the fun of visiting wineries across the state.

5 comments about The Science of Wine: From Vine to Glass.

1. This is a decent overview of the science of making wine. It is occassionally a bit dense (lots of buzzwords), and the author avoids taking positions on anything remotely controversial (biodynamics, UC Davis' impact on winemakine, etc). But it does contain information you are unlikely to find elsewhere.



2. If you are interested in why wine tastes, well, like wine. Or, if you are interested in what it is in certain wines that make them more appealing. Of, if you are interested in ANYTHING beyond knowing certain wine names, this book is a must buy! Author Goode not only makes some seriously scientific information understandable to non-scientific people (like me), but also enhances the appreciation for wine itself. After reading this book, I found myself really appreciating all of the work which results in wine I enjoy - and wines I think longingly about, during winter nights, or while being stuck in traffic during rush hour. Wine is a subject which contains within it a lot of passion. This book demonstrates the background and foundation for much of how we humans have guided nature in such a passionate way as to allow wine to be formed in such a way that it is "good" and pleasing to our pallet. And, I have used this book also as a resource manual while making my own wine for the previous couple of years; it explains what properties will be imparted to wine by various types of oak, and how cultured yeast strains can be more predictable than native yeasts. I find myself constantly reviewing sections of this book and think anyone interested in the subject will benefit from its reading.



3. This author probably knows here stuff. That being said, this book is dry dry dry. Make's a Chianti taste like sweet cool-aid. I picked up this book and started at the beginning. A few chapters in, had to lay it down as it was not helpful and I didn't feel like I was learning. And I'm pretty decent with science type stuff (how's that for smart sounding). I feel that she tries to explain technical points with a lot of fluff. It reminded me of an article I might write in college. I find the book wasn't good for reference because of that, too much fluff to get to the facts. For home brewers looking to learn, I would look elsewhere. For professionals, this probably isn't technical enough.
   
   Positives of this book as it has a really interesting cover and lots of other good reviews on here that got me to buy it.



4. This is agood book. It has 2 ways of being read. 1- Quick overview if you are not that interested in that particular chapter 2- then of course if you like the content of that chapter you can read it much more in depth.
   
   Keeps it simple, yet good content and an easy quick read.



5. This appears to be a nice book, but it is ruined by problems in the printing process. Every picture or illustration is DARK BLUE.. making illustrations unreadable and the pictures unpleasant. I sent back one copy already to have amazon replace it with another copy of the book identically flawed. The publisher needs to recall all misprinted stock and reprint.

5 comments about The Cheese Board: Collective Works: Bread, Pastry, Cheese, Pizza.

1. While I was lucky enough to live in Berkeley, the Cheeseboard was a legend in every sense of the word. The Cheeseboard is THE place by which I judge all other breads and baked goods. I made the scones and they were declared "f@%*ing amazing" by people who normally eschew "dry, brittle" scones. Next, I made my own sourdough starter and it's awesome. Afraid I'd screw it up, I emailed the coop to see if I could buy some of the Cheeseboard starter the next time I was in town. Their reply: "We offer starter as a neighbor would offer a cup of sugar." This is more than a business, it's a community project. These people are Berkeley at it's best. I never made it back to the Bay Area, but I did start my own as per their directions and it's really, really, really good. This book is awesome and everything I've made (scones, sourdough, focaccia) has exceeded expectations. It's well-written and contains excellent instructions for fool-proof bread. The only time my bread failed is when I struck out on my own. I make the City Bread on weekends and enjoy a slice every morning with some butter and jam. It is moist and lasts about 5 days without losing too much texture. The older it gets, the longer I toast it. I actually get cranky when I miss out on it. My thanks to Cheeseboard for writing this great book for those of us who are no longer able to walk to the "Gourmet Ghetto" but keep a place for it in our hearts.. and stomachs!



2. I love this book, and not just because I am from Berkeley and recognise well the institution that the Cheeseboard has come to represent. I currently live in Thailand and found this book in a shop here. I was so excited because it reminds me of Berkeley. However, what for me is really great is that the recipes in this book are so flexible that you can substitute whatever you can't get (don't have, etc., for me in Thailand it's usually 'can't get') and you still get very tasty bread. The Corn Oat Molasses bread has become my favourite, but I have now made all of the breads, most of the muffins, some of the scones (Oat Scones, yum), and two of the sourdough breads + baguettes (although I cheated and went to Cheeseboard when I was in Berkeley recently and asked for some sourdough starter for them because it's very hard to make that in this climate).
   
   In sum, a great book for those who know Berkeley, and a fantastic book for the creative baker who wants to make gourmet breads and pizzas but also likes to experiment a bit!



3. Do you want to make perfect sourdough boules, the kind you can usually only get at an artisan bakery? Bread that's crusty on the inside, springy and soft on the inside, with a complex and yet subtle flavor?
   
   Well, then you'll need to make your bread with a starter. Which can be complicated, or easy. This book makes it pretty easy, and the results are very, very good. At the same time I made the starter from this book, I followed a different starter recipe from another book. And the Cheese Board starter worked better from the start. It amazes me that you can leaven bread with a solution made initially with just water and flour, but this book makes it easy. It then gives you many easy bread recipes to turn your smelly starter into simply amazing bread. I was shocked when I tore into the first loaf--best bread I'd ever made, hands down.
   
   Furthermore, this book has the best pizza crust recipe we've ever used, made with commercial yeast, so it's quick and easy. The granola recipe is fab, the pizza recipes are great, etc, etc. My husband got me this book as a gift and I wasn't sure I'd really use it. And it's become one of my most beloved and crucial kitchen tomes!
   
   I love baking, but some books make it MUCH too complicated (I'm looking at you, Breads from the La Brea Bakery). This book, while not simplistic, is easy enough to follow and the recipes are obviously very well tested. Go forth and bake delicious things!



4. I am a huge fan of the Cheeseboard Collective in Berkeley and their amazing baked goods a pizzas. I got this book for Christmas and was anticipating making my first baked good from the book, hoping against hope that it might resemble the "real thing". All I can say after trying two different recipes is: This is perhaps the best baking book I have every used!
   
   First of all the narrative and informational sections are both very helpful and interesting. They really help you to understand the connection between the collective and their baked goods and cheeses. Clearly these folks have thought long and hard about what they are dong. I would also say that the book is surprisingly well written and NOT hippy-dippy.
   
   On to the recipes. The narrative of the books explains how they carefully took their recipes from their industrial kitchen and reformulated them to work in home kitchens. All I can say is that they succeeded with flying colors. I have tried two recipes so far: the cheese rolls (my all time favorite baked good at the Collective) and the oatmeal scones. By carefully following the directions I ended up with cheese rolls that were amazing good reproductions of the originals. This is all the more amazing when you consider that they have special industrial oven with misters and I just used a very normal home oven. Having working in a commercial kitchen I can tell you that getting this recipe to work in a home kitchen must have taken extreme time and patience by the authors. (I will say that if you haven't ever baked sourdough bread, you may not want to jump directly to baking the cheese rolls). The oatmeal scones, although easier to make that the cheese rolls, were no less amazing and came out perfectly.
   
   The short story: If you want to bake amazing breads and baked breakfast goodies, buy this book.



5. I got this for my wife to remember our grad school days in Berkeley and it does not disappoint. When you taste the breads and other recipes in this book you'll start thinking of opening your own bakery--they're amazing! Next best thing to sitting in the median of Shattuck and eating your lunch!

2 comments about Outstanding in the Field: A Farm to Table Cookbook.

1. Many years ago, I ran across an amazing artist who does fantastic land pieces. I loved everything about his work... the scope, the method, the impermanence.
   
   What I didn't know at the time, but have since learned, is that Jim is also a chef. He was the chef at Gabriella Café (Santa Cruz) who instituted Farmer Dinners. He would invite local farmers, foragers, and artisanal producers in and create special dinners from their products. The producers would dine along with the paying guests, thus allowing each end of the chain - the farm and the table - to interact with the other, the net result being that the diners gained a greater appreciation of where food comes from, and the producers had a new understanding and involvement with how their food is used creatively to nourish and nurture the final consumer.
   
   What a great concept!
   
   But, as Jim says, "It dawned on me that while Farmer Dinners were good, Farm Dinners would be better." And so began, in 1999, what has turned into a passionate undertaking: the roving Farm Dinners put on by Jim's organization, "Outstanding in the Field."
   
   This book is a series of snapshots of that journey, told through beautiful photographs and delicious-sounding recipes created for those dinners, with a nice mix of story told in Jim's engaging conversational style.
   
   Each recipe includes a small prefacing note, sometimes about a particular dinner where it was made, and sometimes just about the recipe itself. Just glancing through it last night, I have already found several things I can't wait to try, and specifically purchased ingredients for them at this morning's Farmers' Market.
   
   A true celebration of the idea of local and seasonal, the mostly-simple recipes range from Wilted Dandelion Salad with Pancetta and Poached Egg to Smoky Sturgeon and Potato Ravioli, from Blueberry Granita to Pickled Wild Mushrooms, from Caramelized Carrot Salad to Upside Down Fresh Fig Cake.
   
   Jim gives substitutions when it won't change the spirit of the dish, because not everything is available everywhere. However, sometimes he doesn't, because as he states, "The salad of Santa Rosa Plums, Red Cabbage, Purslane, and Sunflower Petals, for example, really cannot be made with anything besides purslane and sunflower petals, so it is definitely a height-of-summer dish."
   
   Sprinkled throughout the book are several one and two page spreads about a particular producer, or dinner, or larger topic such as "CSAs" or "Wineries Across America." Jim manages to be both interesting and informative without much preachiness creeping in. And that is indeed rare among those dedicated to the local food movement!
   
   Highly recommended.



2. How many more cookbooks does one need? Just one more--this one.
   
   Many of us became familiar with Jim through the program "Sunday Morning" or the food channel. Yet, there is a precious few of us have had the opportunity to experience Jim's passion for food and sustainable farms. Recently, I had the opportunity to experience an "Outstanding in the Field" dinner.
   
   Jim didn't prepare this particular dinner, yet, he was responsible for the sight, set-up, and involving the farmers, cheese makers, fishermen that created a dinner that was beyond approach. Jim knows good food and his cookbook is truly a delight for the senses.
   Kathy Condon, Executive Coach, Speaker and Author of the book "It Doesn't Hurt to Ask: It is all about communication."