No comments about Aunt Hildur's Excellent Norwegian Recipes.

No comments about The Sauna Cookbook: Food for Body and Soul.

3 comments about All Along the Rhine: Recipes, Wine and Lore from Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Holland.

1. All Along the Rhine presents recipes, wines and lore from Germany, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Holland, blending authentic Rhine recipes with cultural and political history and insights. No color photos, but the easy dishes don't need them and All Along the Rhine is as strong in its cultural information as in its culinary history of the entire region.



2. I loved the premise of this book: food and "ambiance" from the countries and locations along the Rhine, a river that stretches through several countries. But it doesn't deliver.

   The recipes are simple... a little *too* simple. When I was in the mood to make, say, a German saurbraten, I compared Nelson's recipe to several others. Her recipe wasn't bad, but it was wholly unremarkable. Every time I started to cook from this book, I ended up choosing a recipe from another cookbook.

   Nor does the "travel" information provide any insights. It's as if she scribbled a few notes from a guidebook, rather than give the reader a view into another place, another life.

   On the other hand, this book is suitable for people who are curious about European cooking but somewhat intimidated by "authentic" recipes. I ended up giving away the book to friends who are interested in German cooking, but not very adventurous.




3. I loved the premise of this book: food and "ambiance" from the countries and locations along the Rhine, a river that stretches through several countries. But it doesn't deliver.

   The recipes are simple... a little *too* simple. When I was in the mood to make, say, a German saurbraten, I compared Nelson's recipe to several others. Her recipe wasn't bad, but it was wholly unremarkable. Every time I started to cook from this book, I ended up choosing a recipe from another cookbook.

   Nor does the "travel" information provide any insights. It's as if she scribbled a few notes from a guidebook, rather than give the reader a view into another place, another life.

   On the other hand, this book is suitable for people who are curious about European cooking but somewhat intimidated by "authentic" recipes. I ended up giving away the book to friends who are interested in German cooking, but not very adventurous.

3 comments about Notably Norwegian: Recipes, Festivals and Folk Arts.

1. More than 90 Norwegian recipes, some more than 100 years old, are in this book. The recipes came to America from grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and others. All the recipes are authentic!

   The 88-page book features 24 pages of color photography by Joan Liffring-Zug depicting folk arts, events and foods centering primarily on Vesterheim, the Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa.

   Contributions of recipes come from all over the United States.

   The book is dedicated "to all those who have helped to develop Vesterheim into one of the finest ethnic museums in America, where the descendants of Norwegian immigrants...can find the preservation on their heritage."

   The author traces her husband's family for thirteen generations. His ancestors came from the island of Byroe, near Fister, Norway. Liffring-Zug tells of her Norwegian roots and of a grandfather who settled near Decorah, Iowa, and a great-uncle who died in the Civil War.

   The cover photograph pictures Marilyn Skaugstad in her Norwegian grandmother's costume. Marilyn writes in the book: "Who would have thought as I sat with my elbows propped on grandma Olson's big kitchen table, watching her bake, that 40 years later I would be recalling her Norwegian heritage....With flour and dough frying, she told me about her summers as a little girl spent high in the mountains above the Sorfjorden Fjord making flatbread on an old wood-fired cookstove in a little cabin where she tended the sheep for her family. With her `letter' in hand, she came to America in the early 1900s and worked for a family in Wisconsin. Eventually she married my grandfather, Ole J. Olson, whose family also came from Norway. They farmed a beautiful big farm in Humboldt County, Iowa.

   Stories of families are covered in the book along with their recipe contributions.




2. Not only does this little book have the wonderful traditional recipes of Norway and Norwegian Americans, it has a lot of terrific, older photos of Norwegian artifacts. For those who are researching Norwegian roots, this one is a gem.



3. Not only does this little book have the wonderful traditional recipes of Norway and Norwegian Americans, it has a lot of terrific, older photos of Norwegian artifacts. For those who are researching Norwegian roots, this one is a gem.

5 comments about The Best of Finnish Cooking.

1. Pity there's no pictures, but the food is filling and tasty. I expect almost all sales will be to Americans of Finnish and part Finnish descent, like my wife, but I'm not and I can tell the rest of you - Finnish food is good! And these recipes make it easy to cook.



2. Hi Taimi! It's been 40 Years, since we arrived from Our Homeland "Finland" to this land of Opportunities. I never knew you could Cook. Congratulations to Your Book. (Old Room-Mate Jane) If you get this, E-Mail me: jtymon@4link.net



3. Hi Taimi! It's been 40 Years, since we arrived from Our Homeland "Finland" to this land of Opportunities. I never knew you could Cook. Congratulations to Your Book. (Old Room-Mate Jane) If you get this, E-Mail me: jtymon@4link.net



4. "New" E-Mail:jtymon@hotmail.com Love to hear from you.Your Book is Great! Jane T.



5. I have tried for years to duplicate my Finnish grandmother's cooking. Asking for her recipes is hopeless...in her mind she just throws things in a pan and they come out that tasty. (She is constantly telling me it is not worth my time because her only secret is that Finnish cows, chickens, and fish are much happier and treated nicer than American animals, and therefore taste better.) This book is the first (and only, so far) Finnish recipe book I've found that carries many of our family's traditional recipes. It is easy to follow and I have had success with every recipe I have tried.

1 comments about Norwegian Touches: History, Recipes, Folk Arts Notably Norwegian.

1. This was a great book with a lot of history and recipe information. My sisters and I loved getting to know our Norwegian roots.

1 comments about Best of Scandinavian Cooking: Danish, Norwegian and Swedish.

1. This book was more of a travel guide through scandinavia than a cookbook and that was a bit of a disappointment for me.

1 comments about Danish Cookbooks: Domesticity and National Identity, 1616-1901 (New Directions in Scandinavian Studies).

1. Food history has a unique set of documents - cookbooks and recipes - but no canon or methodology by which they can be interpreted. A number of recent books, however, have attempted to redress this deficit. Danish Cookbooks is an account of the emergence of a Danish national cuisine. Gold does not think Danish national cuisine somehow bubbled up from the people, but rather it was imposed by nationalist elites of the early 19th century, the same class as issued the first dictionaries and began to identify national themes of folklore. The key chapter here is a brilliant account of how potatoes - a new world crop--came to become the lynchpin of a Danish national cuisine and enshrined national identity. In her analysis of cookbooks, Gold detects a shift, documented by other food historians too, in the mid-19th century from descriptive recipes aimed at chefs of the aristocracy to prescriptive reifies aimed at women. Prescriptive cookbooks, both standardized recipes and made it possible for anyone to cook. recipes document the literacy of ordinary women. Then as urban women learned to cook from books, technological innovations increased their capacity to cook at home. The enclosed stove of the late 19th--century, for example. made it possible both to bake at home and to increase the scope of roasting. This book is innovative and enjoyable, which addresses food history at its sources.
   
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1 comments about Favorite Swedish Recipes (Dover Cookbook Series).

1. I like this little book and hope to make some great dishes for my family.

5 comments about The Swedish Table.

1. An amazing buy, simple easy to use recipies! i never realized how much I would love swedish cooking. I have been using it for almost every meal!



2. Author/cook Helene Henderson is an Afro-American, Swedish-born chef raised in Sweden, where she learned to cook: her childhood memories spice The Swedish Table, an inviting and unusual blend of dishes which blend traditional Swedish flavors with modern updates. Discussions of Swedish traditions and celebrations and many color photos spice a fine set of dishes, from a Lox and Cream Cheese Quiche to an unusual Juniper/Lavender Marinated Leg of Lamb. Where the usual Swedish cookbook emphases fish main dishes, The Swedish Table ably demonstrates the diversity of Swedish dishes available to cooks.



3. The Swedish Table demonstrates that not only are the French good cooks, but so are the Swedes!
   
   Helene Henderson was born and raised in Sweden. She learned cooking from her grandmother and worked in the family business. She owns a catering business in Los Angeles where she is known for utilizing organic food. She lives there with her husband and three children.
   
   This book has some lovely color photos. Henderson takes us on a journey with each recipe and makes me feel her enthusiasm and love of her heritage. Her recipes are easy-to-read and being she has been living in the United States, she understands what we don't know of her culture and does an excellent job at explaining the food and culture. Her recipes are so well written that this book is perfect for the novice or for the person curious of Swedich cuisine.
   
   The chapters included in this book are: Hot and Chilled Soups; Potatoes; Meat, Game and Chicken; Fish and Shellfish; Vegetables and Salads; Sandwiches; Eggs, Waffles and Pancakes; Desserts, Pastries and Bread; Beverages; and Wild Berry Preserves.
   
   Some wonderful recipes you will find in this book are: Gravlax and Nasturtium Sandwiches with Mustard-Dill sauce, Lentil Soup with Roasted Garlic and Baby New Potatoes, Roasted Baby Beet Salad, Sweet Rolls with Almond Paste.
   
   I would have never thought that I would be a fan of Swedish food, but now I am. This book has inspired me to research more about the country and desires to visit the country.



4. I got this book from the library, and I'm going to have to buy my own copy. My children love the Swedish Pancakes (and I love how easy they are), and my husband and I enjoyed the Lime Marinated Chicken Sandwiches. The Yellow Split Pea soup was fabulous (adding a few chopped tomatoes on top was interesting and yummy). I highly recommend this book; the explanatory notes taught me a lot about Sweden.



5. I like books like this one - with memories, family stories and home recipes. The sweet rolls I baked were perfect. I miss pictures - there are only a few. The book is worth to buy because it presents regional Swedish kitchen which is not very popular. We think about French or Italian kitchen, but the Swedish may be good as well and not boring. Healthy, light and colourfull.