No comments about Classic Recipes from Scotland.

No comments about Diccionario culinario mexicano bilingue Espanol-Ingles/ Mexican Culinary Dictionary Bilingual Spanish-English: Ingredients, utensilios, tecnicas, bebidas ... techniques, typical dishes and drinks.

3 comments about Anguished English: An Anthology of Accidental Assaults upon Our Language.

1. "The World According to Student Bloopers," a section of Lederer's book, has been widely pirated on the Internet and is thus familiar to many, even though they may not know its original source. There's a reason why this text has echoed around the world: One cannot read it without laughing. Other sections of the book, all of which deal with the many misuses, distortions and double-entendres encountered in everyday English usage, aren't quite so laugh-packed, but are still well worth the trip.



2. This is one of the funniest books! Make sure you're sitting down, or better yet, lying down whe you read this book. You would also be well-advised to take this book in small doses, if you don't want to die laughing.... :-) Grammar has never been so funny. Then again, I'm not sure if I ought to laugh or cry at how the English language is murdered :-) The drawings in the book are also hilarious.
   This book is a most enjoyable way to learn about how not to make mistakes in your writing. It has lots of great lines you can pull out to amuse people with, ( eg. Headline - Milk Drinkers Are Turning to Powder). It would also be great reading during the summer, in preparation for English classes. Absolutely loved it. I also hightly recommend his other books.



3. This is one of the funniest books I have EVER read. I can't read it public as I inevitably end up laughing very loudly. Definately worth getting.

No comments about Gusto: Essential Writings in Nineteenth-Century Gastronomy.

No comments about The Magic Cooking Pot Activity Book (Oxford University Press Classic Tales, Level Beginner 1).

No comments about Taste of Scotland: The essence of Scottish cooking, with 40 classic recipes shown in 150 evocative photographs.

2 comments about Drinking with Dickens.

1. Written by the great-grandson of Charles Dickens, Drinking with Dickens is of interest mainly to devotees of the novelist. Liberally called a 'sketch' by the author, it is loosely constructed and the organization haphazard. That said, the writing is lively and it's fun to join Cedric on his drinking adventures.
   
   The best feature of this book is the recipes. All drinks mentioned in the novels are incuded. Other recipes come directly from Georgina Hogarth, Charles Dickens's sister-in-law who managed Gads Hill (his last residence). An index allows the reader to quickly find the recipes, as they are scattered throughout the text.
   
   Features numerous drinking-related illustrations and quotes from the novels. Other contents include: backgrounds to drinks and their social significance in Victorian England, a ranking of Dickens's drinking characters, and the sale list of the Gads Hill wine cellar.



2. I bought this because I enjoy making and tasting cocktails and interesting drinks. We are having a lot of fun with this book although our knowledge of Dickens is a bit sketchy - we've only read a few of the more famous Dicken's books as requirements in middle school years and years ago. If you are a real Dickens fan I would say this book is a "must have."

   This is a short collection of recipes (~110 pages including around 69 recipes) that give an unusual window into the world of Dickensian England, along with a chatty text in a friendly victorian style and great period illustrations. The contents of Dicken's personal wine cellar is given along with the recipes, the recipes are clearly written and fairly easy to follow, information is given on making adjustments from older stronger spirits and older measurements to the modern equivalents. Some of the recipes are quite good - like the Dog's Nose [ hot stout, gin, brown sugar & nutmeg], and some require weeks of aging ("Bishop" and "Milk Punch"), some have to be burned - its quite different from your typical cocktail book. I can't tell you yet how they taste, but its been fun to spend rainy days in the kitchen 'concocting'.

   My only criticism of this book is that it is quite short.

2 comments about Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.

1. One of the best cookbooks of the time period. I use this cookbook to recreate 18th century receipts (recipes) for a living history museum. This book is not only informitive on 18th century cooking in general, many of the recipes can be cooked today. Try an onion pie and with the left over pie crust make kickshaws, a type of cookie with jam. This book will become your primary source for 18th century cooking and with its glossary it is better than many other editions.



2. This book is a must-have for collectors of antiquarian cookbooks, even if it is a facsimile of a posthumous edition published in America. Makes me wish I had the appropriate kitchen.

   To appreciate what Hannah Glasse's work did for cooking, it's necessary to understand what place it had in the market of the 18th century -- it was the book for English-speaking cooks, even in Revolutionary times as popular in the Colonies as it was back home in England. It's a bit more in scope than a typical modern cookbook as well, including things like beer/wine/mead recipes and preserves that are usually in separate books today, and even an occasional home remedy. The recipes cover much classic British Isles cooking, including Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding, meat pies, Scotch Broth, and a good number of seafood recipes.

   The recipes in question probably don't lend themselves much to modern kitchens, unless you've got a fireplace with pothooks and a beehive oven in the chimney. But it's still enough to make you imagine, and to realize that while the techniques have changed, food hasn't changed much in two hundred years and change. The recipes are done in a conversational style that seems strange in a cookbook but should feel familiar to anyone who's learned a recipe at someone's elbow. Don't expect precise measurements everywhere either; you're expected to be able to figure such things out on your own. (One bit of advice: unlike modern recipes, where you can pick out the ingredients and work as you read, it behooves the reader to study the recipe before hand and take notes if necessary.)

   As I said, it's a facsimile of a later edition from 1804 or so, and includes updates that aren't distinguished from Glasse's original text (thus my one-star deduction, which is a highly subjective decision). That said, it's likely a faithful rendition of how early America ate, and an invaluable reference to anyone who wishes to learn how it was done back in the day.

No comments about Concordance of English Recipes: Thirteenth Through Fifteenth Centuries (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies).

5 comments about Toast.

1. Toast tells the story of Nigel Slater, one meal or snack at a time. Instead of chapters, he divides his book into sections where he tells a story surrounding food. He remembers his grandmother by her lemon drops that she kept in a tin. Slater tells of growing up with a mother who could not cook very well. Above all, she allowed him to help around the kitchen. The last memories he has of his mother are about the pies they baked together. Then many stories follow, detailing his father's cooking, until he hires a helper. Nigel Slater learns a lot about cooking from the woman who eventually became his stepmother. Many stories are told while he learns to cook in classes and the jobs he eventually receives. Many sections are just about the different candies, some he loves and some he despises.
   
   Toast is a book full of innocence. Nigel Slater grew up losing his mother and living alone with his father. He eventually gets a stepmother, but he still manages to keep that innocence. Readers will see Nigel's world through his eyes, mostly about food and sweets. They will watch him grow up and experience the world through his taste buds. Readers will hang on to Slater's every word as I did.



2. Who would have thought that anyone would have the audacity to base an entire book on being a bit hungry and wanting some toast! It's preposterous! However, it was strangely riveting. Especially the part where he was deciding whether to have marmite or jam. Two thumbs up.



3. The audio version of this book is so entertaining as to merit a repeat listen. Nigel Slater's narration of his childhood and adolescent memories relating to his most favorite (and detestable) foods, brought floods of recollection of my own peculiar eating habits as a child.
   
   Slater's narration is so enjoyable, I found myself wishing this book were twice as long; an audio performance worth listening to over and over again.
   
   If you liked Ruth Reichl's "Tender at the Bone", you will enjoy "Toast".



4. This book was an impulse purchase, so I didn't know what to expect. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is reflective, sweet, and even absolutely hilarious at times. Even when the author writes about sad subjects, humor comes through. I thought that being a reader from the U.S. added more pleasure to the reading, as there were new and interesting (for me, at least) British food references that I enjoyed reading about.



5. A truly fascinating look into Nigels childhood life. You cannot put it down. Written in his usual 'snippet' style, which just makes it even easier to read. We now all know what shaped his foodie tendencies, and his eccentricities. Reccommend to all.