Tag: recipes

Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Beginners

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Eden Nora. Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Beginners: a 21-Day Reset with Easy 5-iIngredient Recipes, 20 Minute Meals, Weekly Plans, and Grocery Lists to Soothe Inflammation, Restore Health and Boost Energy. KnowHowLeaf Publishing, 2025.

Reason read: this is a pick from the Early Review Program by LibraryThing.

There are three phases to the three week anti-inflammatory journey: calming the fire, heal the gut, and boost energy.
Things to know:

  • There are twenty-four pages of what I call revving the engine before you actually get to put the book in gear.
  • There are another forty-one pages of coasting before the reset plan is really explained.
  • The pages are padded with a great deal of repetition which I find to be typical in books that are shorter than two hundred and fifty pages. For example, kale is mentioned thirty-nine times: what belongs on your plate, what can go in a smoothie, menu swaps, fridge essentials, freezer essentials, what to prioritize, shopping list for week one, listed in the menus, shopping list for week two, hero food, week three shopping list, the recipes, and the shopping lists for all three weeks. A mention about the shopping list: there is no big list for all three weeks. If you wanted to get all of your shopping done for the entire program you are going to have to combine the week one, two and three lists.
  • You are encouraged to keep a diary while going through the process.
  • The e-book comes with free video bonuses which I did not bother with because, admittedly, I was confused by the promise of inspiration and monetization.

Book trivia: while the author thanks healthcare professionals and nutrition experts, it is hard to tell how much they were consulted during the writing of this book.

As an aside, I was not a fan of having to give my email address in order to download the book. Full confessional: I gave them a fake.

One last confessional – I am going to try this three-week diet to see if it makes a difference. Hopefully, I will remember to update this review with the results.
UPDATE: I have decided NOT to do this diet because even the shopping lists are too complicated. For starters, there are two versions of the week 1 shopping list (The shopping list on page 52 does not have the same ingredients as the one on page 167 and vice versa, for example). There are twenty differences between the two lists. Then I couldn’t find the recipe for the very first meal (Cinnamon Chia Pudding). There is a chia seed with coconut recipe and one for chia seeds with blueberries. Neither recipe calls for cinnamon as a main ingredient.

Auntie D’s Recipes

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Ackley-McPhail, Danielle. Auntie D’s Recipes. Paper Phoenix, 2024.

Reason read: an Early Review pick from LibraryThing.

First the facts: Auntie D’s Recipes contains 87 recipes in a 128 page book. There are photographs for nearly every recipe, taken by Danielle herself. The categories of recipes are organized into breakfasts, breads, dips, crockpot specific, side dishes, main dishes, appetizers, sauces, desserts, soups, cookies, and drinks. There are even a few “Uncle Mike” recipes. Unlike typical cookbooks with indices, you won’t be able to search by ingredients, which could be a little inconvenient. There was some attempt to organize the categories, though.
This is not meant to be your Joy of Cooking bible. The recipes are simplistic in terms of ingredients and could even be memorized once you got used to the unconventional measurements and vague instructions. I appreciated the extra information about materials needed but wished there was an explanation for some things like the use of an electric frying pan. Wouldn’t a stove-top frying pan with a tight lid work as well? If Ackley-McPhail really wanted to get fancy, she could have given directions for equipment like air fryers and rice cookers in addition to crockpots and electric frying pans.

Author fact: Ackley-McPhail and her husband, Mike, are science fiction buffs and are cat people.

Side note that I loved: Everyone needs a good cheerleader in their life and Ackley-McPhail found hers in a women named Ruth Freedman. Thank you, Danielle, for naming your hero. Not many people give credit to the people who are the inspiration behind the creation.
Another side note: the very first recipe is for blueberry lemon pancakes yet the blueberries and lemon zest are optional ingredients. Why not have a recipe for plain fluffy pancakes and include optional add-ins like blueberry and lemon or raspberry and almond or bacon and chocolate chip (my personal favorite combination)?

The Fundamental Pizza Cookbook for Beginners

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Adventurer, Bram Cuisine. The Fundamental Pizza Cookbook for Beginners: Over 1,800 Dietary Recipe Combinations: Guide for Conventional and Woodfire Ovens: Step By Step Instructions – Dough to Tasty Sides, Pizza or Calzone. 2024.

Bram Cuisine Adventurer used ChatGPT to write The Fundamental Pizza Cookbook for Beginners: Over 1,800 Dietary Recipe Combinations: Guide for Conventional and Woodfire Ovens: Step By Step Instructions – Dough to Tasty Sides, Pizza or Calzone and it shows from the title to the conclusion. While there is some great information in The Fundamental Pizza Cookbook for Beginners, it is only 142 pages long and much of the space is taken up with huge font, illustrations, and redundancies. Here are some examples:

  • The header for each section is in a large font and repeated on every page. Same for the footer (page numbers).
  • The introduction reiterates the table of contents; hardly any new information there.
  • The list of tools could include the disposable tools to utilize space and cut down on the repetition of a separate list.
  • Most of the directions are listed twice (example: “Add feta: sprinkle with crumbled feta”).
  • Troubleshooting is listed twice (on pages 22 and 137) with more information being on page 137.
  • Nutrition information could have been listed at the end of each recipe in a smaller font. Easier to find for each dish and would take up less space.

If you take out the sides, calzones, and drinks there are even less pages dedicated to the art and creativity of pizza making. This could be a great book for beginnings, but there were too many missed opportunities. Noted is a lack of information that could have been helpful to novices (since the introduction ensures that even a novice can make a pizza by using this book):

  • There is no explanation of instant versus active yeast or even why that matters. Going a step further, it would have been helpful to explain what happens when yeast, warm water, and sugar are combined; and what to look for after ten minutes or so (foamy and bubbly). Knowing the signs of good yeast can save wasted time and ingredients later.
  • There are inconsistent translations. Quattro Formaggi is translated, but what about Capricciosa or Funghi?
  • What Adventurer does not tell you is that you cannot troubleshoot the dough problems with the dough you just made. For problems like dough not rising or being too tough, for example, for the next time make sure your yeast is fresh, your water is not too hot or cold, or that you knead the dough for too long.
  • This isn’t talked about at all, but using copper mats or grilling your pizza are also good cooking options.

Big Heart Little Stove

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French, Erin. Big Heart Little Stove: Bringing Home Meals and Moments From the Lost Kitchen. Celadon Press, 2024.

Reason read: the obsession continues! Actually, in all fairness I needed a book that fit into two genres for the Portland Public Reading Challenge and this fits the bill. Part memoir and all cookbook, I think it fits.

In a word, gorgeous. There is very little else I can say about Big Heart Little Stove without trying the recipes and telling you how they turn out. The food looks delicious. The memoir portion of the book, disguised as longer then usual introductions to each chapter and recipe, are heart-warming. The photography is stunning. My favorite is the one of French sitting with her mother at an outdoor table. French goes a step further and offers advice about setting the table, making the meal special, bringing nature to the plate… And then there is Maine. What is not to love about Big Heart Little Stove?
While the television show never focuses on the alcohol served with meals (except to say French’s mother is the ad hoc sommelier), it was interesting to see beer in some of the the photographs. The coolest shot was of the Maine Beer Company’s best seller, “Lunch”, which also happens to be a favorite of my husband’s.

Lost Kitchen

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French, Erin. Lost Kitchen: Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom, Maine. Clarkson Potter, 2017.

Reason read: because I was curious, plain and simple.

It all started with Finding Freedom, Erin French’s memoir about overcoming hardships to return to Maine and create one of the most sought after dining experiences in the world. It is truly a rags-to riches, triumph-over-tragedy, feel-good story. Finding Freedom led to me to television series, The Lost Kitchen and that in turn brought me to French’s cookbooks. Lost Kitchen (the cookbook) is gorgeous with just the right amount of memoir and menus. Photographs and recipes crowd nearly every single page. There is a bit of her biography in the beginning, but she glosses over the messy stuff in order to get to the endearing parts of her story: local girl comes home and makes her hometown a dining destination and here, she has shared some of her recipes with you.
Confessional: I am not interested in quail eggs, razor clams, or chicken livers. I can’t eat shrimp or grapefruit, either. What I did salivate over was anything rhubarb, fiddlehead, or parsnip. I was super excited to see the spicy tomato/tomatillo soup she made on one episode of The Lost Kitchen. She serves it as a summer soup, but I’m thinking it could even be a warm soup served with garlic croutons…

Roma

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Croce, Julia Della. Roma: Authentic Recipes from In and Around the Eternal City. Chronicle Books, 2004.

Reason read: Having just come back from Rome, a coworker gave this to me as a gift.

There is more to Roma than delicious recipes and luxurious photographs. Inside the pages of this cookbook you will find the history of some of Rome’s most traditional ingredients like polenta, olives, and artichokes. You will read about what Caesar liked to serve his guests (moray eels) and learn that Anzio was the birth place of Caligula and Nero. Croce also includes a section on where to eat and sleep in and around the ancient city. Because she includes addresses, phone numbers, and days of operations, it is strongly advised to doublecheck this information as Roma was published nearly twenty years ago. Some places may have not survived Rome’s devastating battle with Covid in 2020. There is a section of mail order resources, complete with address, phone number, fax, website and a brief description. Again, I would check for accuracy.
One of my favorite sections of Roma is the information on festivals. The ancient city celebrates everything from polenta, artichokes, flower artwork, fish, pork, lentils, bread salad, olive oil, and of course, grapes.
Croce ends Roma with information about cooking schools, wine courses and Italy tours, starting with her own Italian cooking school, La Vera Cucina and ending with “To Italy with Julia”, a culinary and cultural tour of Italy.
As an aside, I liked the phrase “an aggressive use of pepper” but it had me wondering exactly how much constituted “aggressive” in Croce’s eyes.

Book trivia: The gorgeous photographs within Roma were shot by Paolo Destefanis.

Author fact: I only have this one cookbook by Julia Croce. Probably because I am not a huge fan of Italian cuisine. I am a huge fan of Chronicle Books, though. I have several cookbooks from them.

As an aside, while I was in Rome for ten days I had the privilege of staying with a Roman family in the Laurentino district. On New Year’s Eve, my host cooked an elaborate ten course meal that included pasta, fish, salad, and bread. The last dish (served at 1:30am) was a lentil-sausage stew. The sausage rounds symbolized coins of wealth in the coming year. It was really delicious.

Vegan Snack Cookbook

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Riley, Jordan. The Vegan Snack Cookbook.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing, I sometimes review books. This time, it is an e-cookbook.

A few disclaimers first. I am not a vegan. From time to time I chose a vegetarian meal, but that is far as it goes. I am not pinching my pennies or concerned with the cost of food. That is not to say I am wealthy. I am just not always looking for the most economically recipe. Since Riley mentions writing this book for those audiences (vegan and frugal), I am reviewing this book from a completely different perspective. I want my food to taste good. Period. While the internet is crawling with free recipes I was curious about what The Vegan Snack Cookbook could do for me. Let’s start with the beginning. The cover is delicious. Pun totally intended.
Confessional. Here are my headscratchers: recipes are snacks intended for four people. That surprised me until Riley acknowledged that makes this cookbook different from most snack-based cookbooks. The term “kid safe” also took me by surprise until I realized she meant no knives or fire. Can you tell I don’t have children? I think Riley could have done away with the history of veganism. Chances are, if someone is interested in a vegan snack cookbook, they already know what it means to be vegan. That is something that should come as an insert with the mailing and not take away from the length of the actual cookbook. The Vegan Snack Cookbook is short enough as it is. Same with the repetitiveness of the promises of what The Snack Cookbook will deliver. Riley literally says the same thing twice within a few pages. One last criticism – troubleshooting. How do I know what the original recipe tastes like to determine that my version does or doesn’t come close? I appreciate the pictures so I can make visual comparisons, but the success of the snack is not determined by how it looks on a plate. As I said in the very beginning, I want my food to taste good.
I did appreciate the section on leftovers. I am constantly trying to figure out what to do with them. I also thought the list of vegan essentials was critical. Having said all that, the recipes (finally) start on page 40. After perusing all the recipes I think they all sound wonderful, but I wished they were grouped a little differently. for example, why not put al the nut snacks together? The veggies snacks and dips in one chapter would be nice. Same with beverages.
The total headscratcher was the section on cooking and mental health with references. Why not lead with that information and make the cookbook even more unique?

Bold Vegetarian

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Kirchner, Bharti. The Bold Vegetarian: 150 Inspired International Recipes. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995.

A cookbook chock full of information beyond ho hum vegetarian recipes. Eggplant is listed in the index but you won’t find a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan. Special recognition must be made to the word “international” in the subtitle because The Bold Vegetarian takes you on a culinary adventure around the world. Oh, the places you will go! In no particular order:

  • China
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • India (this is a given because Kirchner is a renowned author of Indian cookbooks).
  • Korea
  • France
  • Japan
  • Caribbean
  • Africa
  • Thailand
  • Greece
  • Middle East
  • Germany
  • Mexico
  • United States, and because food is subject to the literal and cultural melting pot,
  • International (in other words, who knows where it originated!)

In addition to great recipes that sound different and exciting, Kirchner adds serving suggestions to create entire menus. She offers variations to make a dish vegan instead of vegetarian. She includes anecdotes, illustrations, and trivia to spice up the pages (pun intended). There are even a few notes for the Grow It At Home gardener. All recipes are simple to follow. Cooking directions are aided by a glossary of terms (just in case someone doesn’t know how to blanch, grill or simmer) and a “pantry” list although the term pantry is misleading because I would never consider storing ghee or feta in a traditional pantry. To say these are ingredients to have on hand would be a better way to phrase it. One other small detractor – no nutritional information. In this health-aware age knowing what you eat is all the rage, especially when it comes to foreign foods made from scratch.

Meals I am most looking forward to making:

  • Curry Gyozas (p 38),
  • Chipotle Chickpeas (p 150),
  • Plum Kuchen (p 254)

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter called “Fiction for Foodies” (p 88). Even though this is a straight up cookbook Pearl mentioned it because the author, Bharti Kirchner, also wrote a fiction called Pastries: a Novel of Desserts and Discoveries (to be read later).

Invitation to Indian Cooking

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Jaffrey, Madhur. An Invitation to Indian Cooking. New Jersey: Ecco Press, 1999.

I have to start off by saying I love Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbooks. I own several and all of them are well-organized and beautifully illustrated (or have gorgeous photographs).

An Invitation to Indian Cooking might have been a more accurate title had it included the subtitle Getting to Know Indian Cuisines and Ingredients because Jaffrey not only invites you into the world of Indian cuisine she also includes history lessons and ingredient explanations in addition to recipes. While her tone is conversational I found it to be a little didactic at times. Her claims that Americans, on the whole, don’t know what well-prepared rice tastes like is one such example. Another drawback to An Invitation to Indian Cooking is its out-of-date information. Basmati rice, Jaffrey recommends, is readily available at specialty stores. That may have been true in 1973 when her first cookbook was published, but I expected the reprint to have some updated information. I also find it hard to believe that out of 50 states only 12 have stores that carry authentic Indian ingredients.
But, having said all that, I love the recipes Jaffrey includes in her first cookbook. I like her attention to detail and her comparisons between American and Indian products. For example, Jaffrey points out that American chicken is more tender than chicken purchased in India, therefore traditional Indian cooking techniques would not work well on an American-raised bird.

“The chicken available in American markets is so tender that it begins to fall apart well before it can go through the several stages required in most Indian recipes” (p 86).

If you are ambitious enough to make several Indian recipes at the same time Jaffrey includes a series of different menus to try.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust  in the chapter called, “India: a Reader’s Itinerary” (p 125).

Too Good to Keep

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I don’t care what anyone says. Summer officially started this weekend. To hell with the calendar. I’m ignoring the meteorologists, too. Summer wasn’t summer until the sun came out for more than an hour. For the first time in weeks I was able to weed the garden and the walk without dodging raindrops. I finally took up those giant prehistoric looks growths growing along side the driveway. I tackled the ground cover problem, too. Redistributing the gravel that has slid down the hill. This is Hilltop, after all. I moved rocks until my sun-bared arms ached. It felt good. I got in the pool for the second time this season and actually took a few strokes for the first time. Maybe I’ll learn to swim for real. It felt amazing. We got more of the back of the house painted. The gutter guys came. Progress is progressing.
Inspired by the weather I decided on a grill dinner. Pork marinated in lime, garlic, cilantro, and cumin. But, that wasn’t the best part of the mean meal. The salsa/salad was. Try this for yourself – play with the ingredients and measurements:

  • chickpeas
  • black beans
  • grape tomatoes
  • grilled corn
  • red onion
  • avocado
  • jalapeno
  • cilantro
  • cumin
  • chili powder
  • red pepper flakes
  • olive oil
  • champagne vinegar
  • sea salt
  • tri-colored fresh cracked pepper

Throw everything into a big bowl and let marinate for a few hours. Any ingredient can be left out or substituted for something else. Think about it – red beans instead of black, how about rice? Vidalia instead of red onion, scotch bonnet instead of jalapeno, red wine vinegar instead of champagne…these switches aren’t a stretch, but the options are limitless. Then, to really blow your mind, there is texture. Mince everything small and you have a blended salsa, puree it and you have a killer sauce for grilled chicken. Leave it super chunky and sprinkle it with tortilla chips and you have a great side salad. Add lettuce and grilled beef (sliced paper thin) and there’s a whole meal. I love meals like this.

This weekend felt like a holiday. We worked around the house and enjoyed the sun. Grilled on the deck and savored sweet cherries for dessert. Danced around the living room to Coldplay drums. Later, from our living room window we paused a movie to take in the second fireworks display of the holiday. Bedtime brought a book to bed with me. But, before long my eyes grew too heavy. Sleep came easy. A perfect ending to a perfect day to good to keep.

The African Cookbook

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African CookbookSandler, Bea. The African Cookbook: Menus and Recipes From Eleven African Countries and the Island of Zanzibar. New York: Citadel Press Book, 1993.

This is a gorgeous cookbook. Not just for the recipes and menus, but also for the art. The illustrations by Diane and Leo Dillon are amazing. My personal favorite introduces the recipes of Tanzania (p. 57).
In the first half of the cookbook the recipes cover all the regions of African cooking. In addition each chapter has a section on the culture of the region, how meals are served (traditionally) and how you, the American cook, can pull off your own Tanzanian, South African or Liberian meal. The second half of the cookbook covers additional recipes. Chapters are gouped by product – fish, poultry, beef, starch, etc.
Something else I find interesting is the nontraditional layout of each recipe. You won’t find a list of ingredients and then preparation instructions. Instead, each ingredient is presented as needed in the preparation instructions. Something I am never good at is reading through the entire recipe before starting and with The African Cookbook that step would be imperative.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter “Africa: A Reader’s Itinerary” (p4).

Is There a Nutmeg in the House?

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David, Elizabeth. Is There a Nutmeg in the House; Essays on Practical Cooking with More Than 150 Recipes. New York: Viking, 2001.Nutmeg

Elizabeth David writes with humor. She also writes about cooking. My kind of book. Sorta. In the rules of the Book Lust Challenge, I said that I wouldn’t read cookbooks from start to finish. I would read the intros and “skip” the recipes. I didn’t want to try every recipe; didn’t want to be David’s version of a Julia Child fanatic. Here’s the issue I have with Nutmeg. Essays run seamlessly into recipes and commentaries. I end up reading about how to make mayonnaise (my archenemy) step by step.
Nevertheless, I have learned interesting things such as:
          *the potato is an aphrodisiac, capable of advancing a man’s “withered state” (p. 73). I kid you not.
          *Nutmeg is underrated and people should carry graters with them to utilize this spice more often (p. 93). 
          *David hates garlic presses as much as I do (p.51). 
Probably one of the best things I’ve learned from reading David’s Nutmeg isn’t really a lesson. It’s more of an affirmation – to “not to despair over rice” (p.139). While I don’t despair over any kind of rice per se thanks to Alton Brown and a whole episode dedicated to the grain, David’s words ring true with me on a deeper level, “Every amateur cook, however gifted and diligent, has some weak spot, some gap in her knowledge or experience which to anyone critical of her own achievements can be annoying and humiliating.” This statement even knocks the great ones down a notch. Ever seen Bobby lose a throw down? You get what I’m talking about.

BookLust Twist: Nancy Pearl adds this to her “Food for Thought” chapter in Book Lust (p.91) and goes on to say, “…Elizabeth David not only shares her love of food and cooking  but writes so evocatively that you can smell and taste the ingredients and dishes as she describes them.”

Breads

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Clayton, Bernard. Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads.New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987.

I wish I baked more. When I was a teenager my mother taught me how to make a white bread with a cup of mashed potatoes that was amazing. It was the most perfect carb I could create. Grilled cheese sandwiches were heaven with this bread. I always pictured my adult wholesome self, kneading and sifting on a Sunday morning, flour dust rising in clouds around me. I don’t know what happened to that “from scratch girl” but, Clayton’s book makes me want to jump in the car, rush to the baking aisle and buy dry yeast. In bulk. This 748 mammoth of a cookbook is cover to cover baking knowledge. There are no glossy photos to fill space. Even the illustrations are small and unobtrusive. It’s all about the bread. And Bread there is. From rye bread to crackers and everything in between. My favorite chapters were, “baking for dogs” (p 715), “little breads” (p 517), and “vegetable breads” (p 409). But, I can’t forget my other favorites like potato, croissant and cheese. Of course Clayton goes over equipment, technique, ingredients, and what went wrong should something go wrong, but he also includes storing, freezing, and there’s even a chapter on homemade ovens.

I would even go so far as to say this book demonstrates culture. In addition to all the different recipes Clayton gives a little history on the more unique ones, “…In Portugal, the bread is served warm or cold with a famous dish of peas and eggs, and a potato- sausage soup” (p 183). Now I want to go out and find that recipe for the soup!

BookLust Twist: One of the reasons why I love reading Book Lust and More Book Lust is quotes like this, “For me the best part of baking bread is theupper-arm exercise involved with kneading, and the times that you can curl up on the couch with a good book while the dough is rising.” Pearl goes on to say, “I’ve used Bernard Clayton’s bread books since the first one was published in 1973, and have never found a bad recipe” (More Book Lust p72).

Africa News Cookbook

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Africa News Service, Inc. The African News Cookbook: African Cooking for Western Kitchens. New York: Penguin, 1986.African cookbook

Another BookLust pick. There is something magical about this book. Maybe it’s from the introduction, “Cooking by the book is not the African way” (p.xiii). It’s romantic to learn the ingredients, forget the recipe and go with the heart; that’s what this book seems to be telling me.
On a serious side it’s crammed with interesting facts usually not associated with a cookbook. For starters there is a list of African nations and their capitals. Because this cookbook focuses on a geographical location there are maps. Because it focuses on a culture there are stories about African Women and food, and even how to eat with joy.
Probably my favorite aspect of this cookbook is the recognition of the origin of each recipe. From Malawi comes Masamba; from Algeria comes Dess b’l-besla. I think of Aubrey from Malawi who would write letters on onion paper and dream of traveling to Algeria.

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust under the category of, “Africa: A Reader’s Itinerary” (p.2)