2 comments about The Settlement Cook Book 1903.

1. I don't own this cookbook, though I do intend to own it. I just wanted to be the first person to write a review. Yeah, I have no life.



2. My husband has a copy of 1935 or 37 Settlement Cookbook, as he does like to cook somethings his mother cooked from this book. He is always looking in bookstores for these. When I discovered the 1903 edition, I ordered the paperback and hard cover of 1903. He is gifting these to his 2 sisters.
   They were both very nicely covered, the paperback looks old fashioned and I like it the best. The hard back is very nicely presented also. The recipes are simple and show us some of the things we have forgotten to try now. One thing my husband cooks well is Floating Island, YUM>
   Thank you for carrying these options on your internet.
   I will be looking for my Mother-in Laws cook book soon.
   Jane Osborne

5 comments about Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook.

1. As an American living in Flanders for many years I can vouch for the authenticity of the recipes and the quality of the results. There's a lot of good stuff in here, and it's well worth the purchase. I would only urge you not to read this book as a travel guide! The author must have been away from the country for quite a long time and her cultural information is pretty dated, or she is looking back with rose-colored glasses. For example, for all the romanticizing about Belgian home cooking I don't know anyone under retirement age who actually cooks much - the women are all working just like everywhere else in the world nowadays and most of this stuff gets bought in stores, not made at home. It's telling that she describes learning to cook at the shoulder of her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, but that she herself is a professional cook - about the only job where people have time to prepare time-consuming dishes anymore, including in Belgium.
   
   Also, much to my astonishment she describes Belgium's beautiful coastal villages - a month ago coastal development was voted by readers of 'De Morgen' newspaper as the worst blight of many blights on the Belgian landscape perpetrated by builders and a lack of city planning - a long wall of concrete apartment blocks overlooking the sea that is so ugly it has to be seen to be believed. The beaches are nice, but only with your back to the towns. Similarly she goes on about Belgians' love of vegetables...being from California I can only laugh at this one. Hardly anything interesting is grown in this climate - if you like green beans, cauliflower, endive and leeks you're in major luck, but once you've had them a million times you realize why people drink so much beer here - it puts you out of your misery.
   
   The reality of today's home cooking is that it's meat and potatoes, with some boiled winter vegetables. Belgian cooking has moved to traiteurs and restaurants, and with all those people working and not cooking, incomes have improved, and they eat out for both the classics and for upscale cuisine. Restaurants are amazing - the quality is incredible for the price. So this book may describe a bygone era, but still characterizes the culinary heritage very well. It's comfort food for all those dark, rainy days.



2. I purchased this book for a Belgian-themed party I was hosting, and was not disappointed. Although it was a bit sparse on quick, easy to put together party foods, it had enough recipes that I still had a tough time choosing which to make. Everything was delicious, and well-described in the book. My guests were impressed. Nothing I chose to make was any more difficult than Ms. Van Waerebeek led me to believe.
   My advice is to buy this book for adventurous, Belgian-themed dinners, or if you enjoy reading about a real person who had ethnic cooking techniques passed down through her family. It is just right its descriptions, the author gives great, brief backgrounds to help you decide if you're interested in making each recipe. It's clear she is very familiar with the cuisine.
   If you have an interest in this type of cooking, you can't go wrong with this book!



3. I am a Belgian living in the US and I bought this book in 1996. I vouched for it being authentic and still representative of how people cook today. Even busy families know that sitting together at the table at the end of the day is a great way to unwind and to strengthen the body and mind. They value the time to listen to each other while eating slowly (no tv or other distractions). My friends and family in Belgium may sometimes bring ready made food (excellent quality is available there) but all know how to cook, do it often, and enjoy the process as a way to relax and nurture the family.
   
   People can keep up because they know that every meal does not need to have many courses. For example, I went to a restaurant-brasserie recently in Brussels where one of the day's specials was a plate of asparagus: 6 big, flavorful white asparagus with a mousseline, chopped hardboiled eggs & parsley sauce, with bread and a glass of good wine it was a satisfying and delicious meal.
   
   So, some of the recipes in the book are for special occasions or for the weekend, the smaller dish can be used as weekday meals when time is scarce.
   
   I use this book often and all recipes work as described, are easy to follow, and include all the information that is needed for a successful outcome - unlike too many cookbooks with attractive pictures but missing information.
   
   I have two friends over for lunch tomorrow and I am going to serve the waterzooi of scallops with garlic bread - quick and easy to prepare ahead of time, always delicious.



4. I use this cookbook lots. The recipes are not complicated and very easy to follow instructions. The dishes we've made so far are all great. My grandfather was Belgian so it inspired me to try the cooking, so glad I did!



5. I was happy to find a cookbook related to Belgium recipes. My husband is from Belgium and it has been fun to try the different recipes.

5 comments about Black Forest Cuisine.

1. I share a kind of kinship with celebrity chef Walter Staib, though I am no kitchen witch. Like most Americans of German descent, my knowledge of the German culinary arts is limited to sausages, sauerkraut, and, with a little luck, Black Forest Cake laced with cherry liqueur. In my family, Oktoberfest conjures up frothy mugs of home-brewed beer and baskets brimming with warm, yeasty pretzels.
   
   We don't know what we're missing, says Staib, author with Jennifer Lindner McGlinn of Black Forest Cuisine: The Classic Blending of European Flavors (Running Press, 2006) and chef-proprietor of Philadelphia's historic City Tavern restaurant. And though these dishes come from Munich, and not his beloved Black Forest, chef Staib makes sure the better-known Bavarian fare is served in elegant style. Among the many lunch and dinner offerings is fleischkäse, a pan-seared beef and pork terrine with sautéed onions and fried egg, served with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut; classic weiner schnitzel; and flavorful Hungarian goulash.
   
   But if you want to experience the real magic of the Black Forest cuisine, you will have to step inside the pages of chef Staib's lavishly illustrated cookbook. Forewords by Dr. Tim Ryan, president of the Culinary Institute of America, and Franz Mitterer, publisher and founder of Art Culinaire, lead like a trail of well-seasoned breadcrumbs to the introduction by chef Staib. It is here that you will learn that the third-generation restaurateur began peeling garlic in his aunt and uncle's gasthaus at the age of four, and that he could de-bone a leg of veal by the time he was 12. No wonder he was accepted into an apprenticeship program at the renowned Hotel Post in Nagold. He clearly knew an onion from a shallot.
   
   If the cuisine of the Black Forest is infused with flavors from France, Alsace-Lorraine, Hungary, Switzerland and even parts of Italy, it's because the region was at one time "one, big happy family," says Staib. Browse recipes like pork roast a la dijonaise or steak tartar and you'll feel like you're in a Parisian brasserie. The traditions and hospitality of the Black Forest, which evolved after Protestant Huguenots fled France in the 1600s, know no boundaries.
   
   Staib's passion for food, and for telling the stories that go with it, make his Black Forest cookbook all the more delicious. Readers will travel with the author from his mother's green garden and orchards to fabulous hotels around the world. They will learn about Spargelzeit, the annual spring asparagus festival, and how to make chicken-wrapped shrimp with creamy saffron-herb sauce.
   
   Ironically, it took a Nicaraguan to bring the worldly Walter Staib to the United States. That's where he met his wife, Gloria, who insisted on making Philadelphia their home. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia, is so glad they did, he named chef Walter Staib culinary ambassador for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, home of the German Society of Pennsylvania, the oldest German social organization in the nation.
   
   In April 2007, German President Horst Köhler came to Philadelphia to present chef Staib with the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, the highest tribute the Federal Republic can pay to individuals for service to the nation. "When I received the letter from the President announcing the award, I almost fell out of my tree," said Staib of the honor normally reserved for statesmen, scientists and Nobel Prize winners. "We had a big party to celebrate."
   
   The effervescent Walter Staib cooks up a storm wherever he goes. His hospitality consulting firm, Concepts by Staib, is responsible for developing 450 restaurants worldwide. When I interviewed him by phone, he had just returned to the City Tavern from the three-day grand opening of the Mediterranean Village At Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa in St. John's, Antigua.
   
   A few days later, he left for the International Food and Wine Festival in Epcot, preparing his favorite recipes and signing cookbooks at a luncheon reception for 10,000 people in Orlando, Fla.
   
   And where does the Governor's globe-trotting ambassador indulge his own culinary cravings when he returns to his adopted city of Philadelphia? "We have a dynamite Chinatown here," says Staib, "I love Asian food of all kinds. My idea of a relaxing meal is to get Chinese food and take it home."



2. This is a fascinating cookbook. Chef Walter Staib grew up in Germany, learned his cooking techniques there, and then became the honcho at Philadelphia's City Tavern (where you can eat recipes or drink beer crafted by Thomas Jefferson and George Washington!). As Staib notes (Page 15): "In 1994, when I took over the historic City Tavern in Philadelphia, I discovered that life in eighteenth-century America paralleled traditional Black Forest culture in more ways than I could have imagined." And (same page), "When I was growing up in the Black Forest, we were, in many ways, still practicing the traditional cookery our ancestors transplanted to America two hundred years earlier."
   
   So, an interesting backdrop to this work (and I have just ordered Chef Staib's cookbook on City Tavern, which I am looking forward to a great deal, given my enjoyment of the cuisine there!).
   
   But the bottom line, as always, is the recipes themselves. And these seem pretty straightforward and doable for those of us who enjoy trying out new dishes but are not gourmet chefs.
   
   Examples: Chicken noodle soup (pages 114-115). Boy, does this make things simple! Butter, onions, celery, carrots, chicken stock, thyme, chicken (already cooked), egg noodles, pepper, and parsley. The instructions are to the point. I aim to make this for my family in the near future.
   
   I have found some nice recipes for potato-leek soup in other cookbooks. This volume has a nice recipe for that tasty dish, too.
   
   Salad? The recipe for creamy cucumber salad gets my juices going: cucumber, salt (which I normally do not use, given how much salt we end up consuming each day), sour cream, red onion, cider vinegar, paprika, chili powder (yes!), pepper, and chives (for garnish). Seems easy to make and looks delicious. Another dish that I want to try out!
   
   And then some main dishes, such as poached salmon with tomatoes & dill cream sauce, pork medallions with lager & chanterelles, beef stroganov (with a very simple recipe for one of my favorite dishes), beef burgundy (one of my specialties for dinner parties, with a few wrinkles that I don't normally use). As a side dish? Riesling sauerkraut. Sounds yummy from the recipe.
   
   Anyhow, if interested in German cuisine, this looks like a winner.



3. It is one of the best cookbooks that I have used in a long time. I had just returned to my home in France from the Black Forest in September and couldn't find a single book on the "cuisine" of the Black Forest region in France. It was an excellent experience and the food was incredible and in a normal restaurant better than French. The average French cooking is going downhill, you have to really search for a good restaurant. This book is simple and uses ingredients that are mostly on hand. I have used the book almost everyday since I received it. And the photos are appetizing...the dishes come out looking the same.



4. Having never made spaetzle, Black Forest CuisineI tried a recipe from this book. It obviously called for far too much water in proportion to the amount of flour. Dropping the batter into the boiling water caused it to disintegrate into mush. I ended up adding 3/4 cup additional flour to get a consistency that held together in the boiling water. Didn't anyone proof-read this book?



5. I just moved from Germany to the US and truly miss the food. I found this book at my public library and HAD to have it immediately....very good recipies and great descriptions/directions on how to prepare the food. I actually bought two books and gave one as a gift. Love it and recommend it highly!

5 comments about Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks.

1. If there was one book to get on the subject of medieval cooking, it would be this one. It's a selection of recipes from western Europe in the late Middle Ages, mostly French and English (there is a lot of Middle English in this book, and for the most part it's not that hard to read, though much of it is not in the somewhat familiar Chaucer dialect), with a smattering of Italian and even Middle Eastern. For each dish, the original recipe (translated into modern English if not already in middle English) is given along with commentary and a modernized recipe. The authors helpfully point out such things as transcription errors (i.e. a recipe for Sauce Cameline that lacks the critical ingredient of cinnamon) as well as providing an extensive bibliography showing the original sources of each recipe in the book.
   
   It seems that this book is quite popular among Ren Faire and SCA geeks, so if you want some good medieval recipes to start you off, this is the one to buy. It's got a few weaknesses -- despite an extensive bibliography, there is a lack of deep historical background in the book, and there is a heavy emphasis on British recipes that might strike one as a bit odd. It's not the be-all, end-all of medieval cookbooks, but overall, it's a good start, and more than sufficient if you just have to whip up something for the Ren Faire next weekend.



2. Pleyn Delit is the first mediæval cookbook I bought, and it's an excellent one. All recipes are presented in two versions: the exact original (in Middle English, vulgar Latin, Old French or whatever) and a modern redaction. Having the original there enables one to do one's own redaction if the modern one is unsatisfactory, or if one suspects it makes some unwarranted assumptions.
   
   It's a great start for someone interested in historical cuisine.



3. Pleyn Delit is not only for food scholars and historical interpreters and hobbiests, it is for the laymen of the kitchen. There are recipes in this book that would please the modern palette. Mounchelet is a wonderful stew that normally calls for veal, however I use a regular beef and everyone I serve it to loves it. I leave out the egg thickener and the vinegar.
   
   It is an easy introduction and recommended for anyone who wishes to try something different.
   
   Try ravioli in a chicken stock.
   
   Food for the soul and the mind.



4. 
   I love this book!!! The recipes seem simple but look DELICIOUS, many of them have a little bit of their history written beforehand, the original recipe text is there for you to look at, and many of the ingredients are modernly considered some of the healthiest! Lots of the recipes call for vegetables like fennel, leeks, and turnips - I like seeing recipes for not-often used (but readily available) ingredients! There are also recipes using rice, millet, different vinegars, etc. The general theme has a slight French feeling (the Norman influence on Medieval England I'm sure). This would be great for someone who's looking for uncomplicated and interesting recipes with healthy ingredients.



5. I found the old english recipes charming, especially the 2 written as poems, but as a working cookbook many of the recipies were similar and there were not many I would want to try. Perhaps someone with tastes running to meat entrees would find this more useful as a cookbook.

5 comments about Ukrainian Recipes.

1. I think it is a great book to learn to cook from and a good guide for people who just started to cook or the people who are originally from Ukraine and want to keep on cooking!



2. NEW in the series of Stocking Stuffer cookbooks, in the popular recipe-card file size Stocking Stuffer format, this book represents Ukrainian cooking as one of the best homestyle cuisines of the world - basic, fresh, wholesome and nutritious, yet still possessing a taste as rich as the black soil itself.

   Ukrainian food is not often found in restaurants, for it is a style of cooking best meant for families, for homecomings, and for holidays. The majority of recipes in this book come from Ukrainian-American homes, where Joanne Asala, who collected the recipes, shared the food and native traditions.

   One-hundred-sixty pages include recipes for daily fare and festive celebrations. Notes and menus for traditional observances of Christmas, Easter, and the wedding feast are included with the recipes. Among these are Flummery, Kutia, one of the most sacred of ritual dishes; Easter Bread, Paska, and Honey Nut Cake for weddings.

   On the cover is a photo of a candelabra representing the trident, a traditional symbol of Ukraine. Examples of the exquisite, symbolic folk art, especially egg design, krashanky, are found throughout the book with reference to the significance of the various designs.

   Excellent for personal collections, as well as a thoughtful gift and memento.




3. I love the spiral binding. It makes this perfect for actually cooking & reading the recipe. The small size is fun too. It's a good basic Ukrainian cookbook. Of course, not all the recipes I remember are in here, but there's a pretty good mix of recipes.



4. I'm always on the hunt for authentic cookbooks and the spiral ethnic cookbooks from Penfield Press of Iowa City, IA are the best buy around.
   
   It's true that big things come in small packages. These books are packed with tons of history and, best of all, delicious recipes that are easy to prepare, don't take too much time to cook, and won't have you searching everywhere and spending a fortune for the ingredients. The history sprinkled throughout the book gave a good background to the food being prepared and enriched the cooking experience for me.
   
   The first things I made from this book were two drinks: Cherry Vodka and Medivka (Honey Liqueur). Although I don't drink, I had a sip of each and boy were they good. (Although the cherry vodka has to ferment for 2 weeks, the wait is definitely worth it). I also made the Turkey Breast with Cherry Sauce and my mouth watered during the entire meal.
   
   I've bought and made dishes from the Dutch, Danish, and Irish cookbooks of the same series and the final product will turn out an authentic ethnic dish without the gourmet prices for the book or the ingredients.
   
   Highly recommended.



5. Not what you'd consider a typical cookbook, Ukrainian Recipes is a cookery/collection of Ukrainian recipes on red spiral-bound index cards--the front and back cards are laminated. On the cover, the color red is picked up as a border around the title, Ukrainian Recipes, which appears to the right of a photo of a candelabrum from Ukraine. The bottom of the border displays a red Ukrainian embroidery design. The back cover, also laminated, also picks up the color red. This time, the same border as on the front is shown with three red Ukrainian pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs). To the right, outside the border, again in red, is shown the coat of arms of Ukraine, the tryzub (trident); there's an explanation of the tryzub on page 81 of the booklet (Desserts section). The Ukrainian tryzub is "a gold trident on an azure background." For a detailed history and explanation of the tryzub, visit the Encyclopedia of Ukraine.
   
   Folk art and egg designs throughout the booklet were provided by Luba Perchyshyn of the Ukrainian Gift Shop, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota. Luba Perchyshyn is very well known and much respected in the Ukrainian community. For decades, I've immensely enjoyed her demonstrations of the art of writing Ukrainian pysanky (Easter eggs) on a Prolog VHS by recipient of numerous international film prizes, Ukrainian-American filmmaker Slavko Nowytski. If it can be found, I truly recommend this VHS, which has three segments: Pysanka, the legend of the Ukrainian Pysanka--the Easter egg and the technique of making it (Luba Perchyshyn, demonstrator); Sheep in Wood--the making of a woodcut by a master--Jacques Hnizdovsky; and, Immortal Image--the Lost-Wax Process of sculpture by Leo Mol. The VHS is by Prolog Video, 744 Broad St., Suite 1115, Newark, NJ 07102-3892, 1-800-458-0288. This 47-minute video is truly priceless and belongs in each library.
   
   Special thanks are given to the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago, to the Ukrainian National Women's Alliance, and to the Embassy of Ukraine, Washington, D.C. Roman Huminiak of New York helped with the menus and is also acknowledged. Editor Joanne Asala is the author and editor of over twenty books of folk tales and traditional customs; she resides in Chicago, not far from Chicago's Ukrainian Village. To see some photos of Ukrainian Village, please visit my review of Ukrainians in America by Dr. Myron Kuropas (0822519550); I've posted 156 photos, many of which include Ukrainian Village life. Joanne Asala does a fine job editing Ukrainian Recipes.
   
   The small size of this booklet comes in handy--whether to keep in a purse or car (to reference for future fare), or whether to stand on a counter (to use while preparing the myriad gastronomic creations). The Contents has fourteen entries: Introduction, Beverages, Breads, The Bread Basket of Europe, Soups, Salads, Fruits and Vegetables, Meats, Desserts, An Easter Sunday Celebration, Hard-cooked Eggs and Krashanky Eggs, A Traditional Christmas Eve Feast, Christmas in Ukraine, and, The Wedding Supper.
   
   The Introduction informs that since religious restrictions once enforced strict dietary restrictions (only meat and dairy products were eaten during certain times of the year), Ukrainian cooking retains the prevalence of vegetable dishes, which are fresh, wholesome, nutritious, and basic. Not often found in restaurants, Ukrainian food is "a style of cooking best meant for families, for homecomings, and for holidays." Most of the recipes in this booklet are ones which Editor Joanne Asala was served in Ukrainian-American homes, "where pride in native tradition is still strong."
   
   Most sections illustrate different Ukrainian pysanky (Easter eggs) and provides an apropos Ukrainian proverb. The illustrations of the pysanky in the booklet are carefully reproduced designs, which pysanka artist Luba Perchyshyn provides--they appear on original pysanky which grace Easter baskets and china cabinets worldwide.
   
   The Beverages section has a number of easily-prepared adult beverages--various alcohols are utilized: vodka, rum, whiskey, wine, and lemon liqueur. Many recipes are found under the Breads section--after all, Ukraine was once called the Breadbasket of Europe. Ukraine has one of the world's most fertile soils (called chornozem), and even ancient tokens of hospitality were bread (khlib) and salt (sil). Recipes appear on both sides of the cards, and often include bits of interesting information and illustrations.
   
   The Soups section shows a Ukrainian proverb, "borscht is the center of all things." Although a recipe for borscht isn't under this category, a fine illustration of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Chicago does appear on the flip side of the tomato soup recipe. One caption needs correction, however, it's on page 60--the illustration is of Saints Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, but the caption reads The Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, Chicago, IL.
   
   Under the Meats section, the last recipe is for Chicken Kiev. The flip side of the card states: "How the city of Kiev lent its name to this classic dish is unclear, especially since it is not typical of Ukrainian cuisine." Wikipedia elaborates: "This famous method of preparing chicken is probably not of Ukrainian origin as the name Kiev, the national capital, would imply. The Russian food historian William Pokhlebkin claimed that Chicken Kiev was invented in the Moscow Merchants' Club in the early 20th century and was renamed Chicken Kiev (kotleta po-kievski) in one of the Soviet restaurants in later years." A note of clarification: Kiev is the Russian spelling and pronunciation; the Ukrainian spelling and pronunciation is Kyiv, and Ukraine's capital city should be correctly referred to as Kyiv.
   
   In the Desserts section, one exotic dish is rose pudding--for it's made of wild roses (they're the most flavorful and aromatic, we're told); other edible flowers may also be used (violets or hawthorns).
   
   An Easter (Velykden--in Ukrainian, Easter is called Velykden [The Great Day]) Menu features ten recipes, and includes a write-up on "the perfect hard-cooked eggs and krashanky eggs." Included, too, are instructions for dyeing Easter eggs. The Christmas Eve (Sviata Vecheria [Holy Supper]) Menu features twelve recipes (representing the twelve apostles). It's in this section that you'll find the recipe for borscht--it's from Tetiana Levkovych of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Roman's Rose Preserves recipe follows (Roman Huminiak of New York also helped with the menus throughout Ukrainian Recipes).
   
   At the end of the recipe booklet, you'll find North American sites to visit (Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Chicago). Although there's no recipe for the wedding bread, there are illustrations of how to shape doves, which are applied to the top of the wedding bread (korovai). A chart of some traditional Ukrainian egg designs, and a chart of ten ways to divide an egg conclude this fun recipe booklet.
   
   Clearly written, easy to follow, on its own stand (when you flip some of the cards over), ingredients are usually easily available and common household items--all of these make this a must-have recipe booklet--for it'll quench many a thirst, satisfy many a sweet tooth, and appease many an appetite. Definitely five stars plus!
   
   Addendum: Readers, you're invited to visit each of my reviews--most of them have photos that I took in Ukraine (over 600)--you'll learn lots about Ukraine and Ukrainians. The image gallery shows smaller photos, which are out of sequence. The preferable way is to see each review through my profile page since photos that are germane to that particular book/VHS/DVD are posted there with notes and are in sequential order.
   
   To visit my reviews: click on my pseudonym, Mandrivnyk, to get to my profile page; click on the tab called review; scroll to the bottom of the section, and click on see all reviews; click on each title, and on the left-hand side, click on see all images. The thumbnail images at the top of the page show whether photos have notes; roll your mouse over the image to find notes posted.
   
   Also, you're invited to visit my Listmania lists, which have materials sorted by subject matter.

5 comments about Paris Boulangerie-Patisserie: Recipes from Thirteen Outstanding French Bakeries.

1. Do all recipes in this book work? Yes and No. I bought this book 8 years ago, every since then I tried each of the recipes to the dot. Few worked, most didn't come out close like in the pictures. The pictures are certainly pretty. BUT, the contact info regarding the locations of the pattiseries are very helpful. I didn't waste any seconds trying all the boulangeries/pattisseries while I was in Paris. And some newcomers are popping up near the address mentioned in the book. So if you fail make breads or pastries from this book, use this book as one of your 'travel guide' books when you go to France.



2. Beautiful book, enticing photos and the recipes, when they work, are excellent. This is not a book for beginning bakers, though. It requires some experience with home baking and patience because some of the quantities given are not exact and need a bit of adjusting and the essembly procedures need improvisation as well. Because many of the recipes are so involved, it takes some dexterity to reach the desired look and taste of the pastries. But when it works it is superb. I enjoyed the challenges, but buyers should beware.



3. This might be an okay cookbook but the font is so hard to read that I don't find it worth the time when there are other cookbooks out there that are not hard to read. I hope this printer of this book reads this.



4. 
   This is one my favorite books and even though I've been reading it for over 10 years ,I still go back to it and read it like it was just published.
   It 's like every time you read it you discover new things in it !
   
   a real jewel .



5. I bought this book in Paris before heading home on my last trip to France. I was spending change in the airport before heading home. I sat down on the plane with the book with no expectations of anything grand. I was engrossed for the first two hours of the trip home! The stories and content are really quite good. When I got home, I began to make the recipes. I didn't expect much at first, assuming that they would be too advanced because while I am certainly no novice, neither am I a French pastry chef! Wow! The recipes worked wonderfully and looked just as fabulous from my oven as the pictures. I love to be in Paris, but being in my kitchen creating these wonderful things is the next best thing. And for all of those who think these recipes are impossible, I've got two little ones helping who are under the age of four so it CAN be done!

5 comments about The Art of Handmade Bread: Contemporary European Recipes for the Home Baker.

1. Interesting and unusual recipes. But the prescribed techniques just don't work for me. When I revert to using the formulas with my standard baking methods, I usually get good to outstanding results.
   
   If the methods work for you, hurrah! If not, you still get some unusual recipes to try.



2. This is actually Dan Lepard's English book, "The Handmade Loaf" converted to American measures. I own over 20 bread books and Lepard's intermittent minimal kneading method beats all other methods, hands down, for delicious, country style artisanal breads and sourdough starters.



3. It's a nice book for beginners who start to bake with sourdough. The recipes are rather clear, many of them are time consuming. I have started to bake bread four years ago and I liked this book very much. If you start to bake bread only with yeast it's better to buy Peter Reinhart's books. This book needs a little bit knowledge about baking and patience. Some recipes had been published with mistakes and Lepard clear them on his website.
   If you are serious home baker you may need something more advanced like books by Jeffrey Hamelman or Andrew Whitley.



4. I have been baking on and off for twenty years. This book has inspired me in a way that no other has. If you want a book that doesn't call for more than basic ingredients and your own two hands and your are interested in natural leavens, this is it. It took a few attempts to get a really good result with the basic white leaven loaf (I am baking at higher altitude), but the effort is worth it. Even on my first try I had rave reviews for the flavor of my first under-volume loaf. One of the most amazing things about this baker/author is his very informative website, where he and other great bakers respond to questions about the recipes in this book and other publications.



5. Baking your own bread from scratch, when guided by the excellent recipes and instructions in this book, is a very fun and tasty experience. There is something in here for everyone; the scientist in me loved growing my own leaven, and the food lover has enjoyed the final product of those recipes I've tried so far. What makes this book even better is the context given to the breads, with explanations of local customs and origins. For anyone who has ever wanted to try their hand at bread baking, this book is a great way to get your hands covered in flour.

5 comments about Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery.

1. So far I have made pancakes and gingerbread cookies using the book's recipes and had success with both. Very easy to follow instructions. The book also has a nice layout with beautiful photographs which are, to me, almost as important as the recipes.



2. I have been casually baking for some time and this book looked like it had some good recipes in it. However, I haven't gotten a chance to make anything yet. I usually end up making things from recipe books that don't seem as intimidating. There are some really tasty looking items in here, I hope this doesn't end up just being a coffee table read.



3. If I were in Paris now, you could find me having lunch at Rose Bakery, 46 rue des Martyrs.
   
   It's my favorite restaurant in Paris --- and I've never been there.
   
   But I have Rose Carrarini's book, and it conveys so much of the spirit of her establishment that I know I'd love to be at Rose Bakery --- not just for her food, but for the ambiance, the people who work there, the regular customers and, above all, the idea that drives it.
   
   Home cooking.
   
   An unreal idea, huh? But there it is. "My intention was always to dissolve the distinction between home and restaurant cooking," Rose says. And so she works from a Bible with just three commandments: "simple" and "natural" and "homemade."
   
   The restaurant --- a one-time storage room for fruit carts --- is just as elemental. Concrete-and-metal tables on a bare concrete floor. White walls. No display window. Open kitchen. Staff in white aprons. And a single splash of color: a large abstract painting on a back wall.
   
   Rose's Bakery is also a shop. The packaging is plain. There's not even a web site.
   
   And yet, I'm told, this total anomaly --- an English bakery in the capital of France --- is beloved by foodies and cool kids alike. "Le meilleur brunch de France," says Le Figaro.
   
   What makes it great?
   
   Rose tells a story that says a lot. It's about a meal she had at the Hyakumizon restaurant in Tokyo. She was served a dish of carrots. "No sauce," she recalls. "No garnish...The taste was intense and exquisite, and was mostly of the carrot itself. Possibly blanched, cooked, cooked again in a dashi and flashed under a grill, this was one of the most humble yet delicious dishes we have ever had the privilege of tasting. Whatever the technique the chef had used, I was convinced that you don't need any fuss or flourish, as it's the flavour of the dish that counts."
   
   She learned that lesson well. Rose Bakery now produces 90 per cent of the food and products it sells. And the proprietors are sticklers for freshness --- today's leftovers will never be tomorrow's special. As her husband and partner, Jean-Charles, explains, "At nine-thirty we start cooking until midday, when we open. We don't have any storage fridges, so everything has to be eaten that day. We normally sell everything, which often means that we sell out by 2.30."
   
   This oversized hard cover cookbook is equally fresh. There are full-page photographs of the bakery's butchers and apple suppliers and even a regular customer, who looks to be one very happy nine-year-old schoolgirl. To flip through the book is, I suspect, very much like a visit to the Bakery.
   
   The recipes? Traditional. And that's the point. Rose is big on breakfast --- "my favorite meal" --- so she starts with recipes for fruit salad, rhubarb and orange, scones, muesli and pancakes (classic or with ricotta). Lunch starts with soup (green bean and almond, spiced chickpea and lemon, celeriac and porcini), moves through salads and tarts and risotto, and closes with just a few animal-based entrees, like braised lamb shanks with cumin, eggplant and chickpeas. And then it's on to cakes and pastries, the stuff of afternoon tea.
   
   There's nothing here that's esoteric. The hardest part of duplicating these recipes is in the shopping --- finding organic produce that can stand up to simple preparation.



4. My husband brought this book home a couple of months ago. He founded via Laura Zarubin (I'm almost always hungry)'s website. I've made several of the recipes and have been more than happy with their simplicity in preparation and final taste. I especially like that she provides different hot and cold salads using hearty grains such as quinoa.
   The photos provide a lovely look at the bakery and its life.



5. I'm excited to try the fun recipes in this book. All the tart recipes though are for an 11" tart pan, which I didn't realize and so bought a 9". So I haven't been able to try any tarts yet.
   
   We did make a pizza which was really good, and the recipes for tea look amazing.

4 comments about A Little Irish Cookbook (Little Books).

1. I LOVE this book! I refer to it several times each year. Great simple recipes plus the traditional St. Patty's Day meal of Corned Beef, etc. Includes personal memories of the author about when dishes were served as well as any regional variations.



2. I recently picked up this book at an Irish import shop to add to my collection of Celtic cookbooks. The compact format makes it easy to use, and the recipes are delicious. If you are looking for just a few recipes to use on St. Patrick's Day, and don't want a large format book, than this is the one for you. Clear directions and simple ingredients make it a winner. (Other Irish cookbooks I recommend for those willing to spend a little more money are The Irish Heritage Cookbook, Classic Irish Recipes, and Celtic Folklore Cooking -- which provides some ancient history behind the recipes.) Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!!!!



3. This little treasure is a classic in Ireland and America. Good, classic and basic recipes for the Irish at Heart. Never a disappointment for self or as a gift for others.



4. We decieded to do ethnic dishes for Thanksgiving,mine was Irish. I Googled and couldn't find anything, went to Amazon and found this cookbook. The recipes are easy to understand and you can find most items at the grocery store. I made Dublin Coddle and it was a hit.
   This little cookbook is a must have.

5 comments about Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood.

1. As both an amateur home cook and a devotee of sustainable seafood, I think this is the best sustainable seafood cookbook on the market. The recipes are simple and healthy, and the factual information is well-balanced. I highly recommend this cookbook!



2. This is an absolutely essential cookbook for your kitchen if you are a serious cook. The recipes are beautifully presented, and are not difficult to prepare. They don't require a lot of hard to find ingredients. You know you are eating wonderful food, as it was meant to be prepared. Taste the fish. Can't recommend it more highly.



3. This is a beautiful book, full of great information about different types of fish, fishing practices, and how to buy fresh seafood. I was surprised to find, however, that it only includes 1-3 recipes for each type of fish. There is a chapter on each fish/seafood, with detailed information about it, and then a recipe or two. I thought it was mainly a cookbook, i.e. lots of recipes, but there are probably about 100 recipes total in the book, and since I won't eat or cannot access all types of seafood, my choices are pretty limited.



4. Would love to have seen more photos. Pleasant to read and to be used as a resource.



5. Hated fish as a kid, but love it as an elderly guy.
   I was fortunate to have an opportunity to fish commercially for salmon before the decline of the fishery. I steadily developed a great appreciation for seafood and the industry. I have not met the author, but I have heard about the good things he has done to support the fisheries.
   I have his book, "Fish Forever" and have used this quide to prepare a variety of seafoods. It is a favorite reference.