An Embarrassment of Riches

What We're Reading Now

Jane is reading The Food of a Younger Land, edited by Mark Kurlansky. Kurlansky picks up the baton of the dropped WPA project "America Eats", pulling together the submissions of recipes, anecdotes and photos from all across America in the 30s to early 40s. It's an amazing eye-opener of how quickly things have changed in our world!

Jane coordinates classes and training for staff and patrons.

Plumbing the Depths of a Good Story - by Ruth Sometimes once is not enough for me - seeing the movie Amadeus over and over again, eating corn on the cob four days in a row when it's in season, visiting Britain multiple times, walking along Nye Beach, and hiking in the Columbia Gorge.  For some authors, writing a story just once is not enough.  In recent years, a number of books for teens and kids have come out that are based on books written for adults.  This week I read a fantastic book for older kids and teens called Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson which is based on his Edgar Award winning book Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. Swanson first describes the days leading up to the assassination, the prior plot to kidnap Lincoln, and the final plan to kill three of the most important political players of the day:  President Abraham Lincoln, Vice-President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward.  He then takes the reader through the assassination and assassination attempts, the various get-aways, the eventual discovery of the culprits and their fates.  He gives just the right amount of detail about the major figures in the story, keeps the action moving, and provides well-placed illustrations including photos of the people involved, newspaper clippings and a map detailing the route of the assassins. 194 pages was probably enough for me, but if you want the full scoop, you can read all 448 pages of Manhunt.

Several other non-fiction adult books and their younger companions to check out are:
Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex and Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex
Mark Kurlansky's Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World and The Cod's Tale
Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal and Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food

A Gift that Can't be Beat? Home Cooking! - by Laural It’s that time again - holidays are fast approaching and I am looking for things to make for gifts.  I found a great book in the library collection called Food for Friends: Homemade Gifts for Every Season by Sally Pasley Vargus.  There’s a wide variety of recipes offered in this lovely Ten Speed Press book. The recipes cover many savory and sweet edibles: from breakfast items like Five-Grain Pancake and Waffle Mix, Chai, and Mexican Hot Chocolate.  Preserved fruits, vinegars, and salsas are also covered. Of course there are cake and cookie recipes available in an abundance.  But I zeroed in on the interesting and wide selection of liqueurs one can make for gifts: Raspberry Framboise, Sweet Blackberry Wine and Strawberry Cordial are some of the beverages I hope to make during the summer months. I might attempt a batch of Orange Ratafia.  If you don’t like coriander you might not like Orange Ratafia because there is at least of a cup of coriander seeds in this recipe.  Luckily, everyone in my household loves coriander.
I will admit I don’t like cookbooks without photographs unless it is the Joy of Cooking. This book didn’t disappoint! Almost every page has an inspiring full color photograph illustrating the presentation of the gifts or the preparation of the recipes.
For more books like this in the library catalog, see this list. Have fun cooking!

Come Eat, Y’all! - by Tama

Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen

Until recently, what I didn't know about gumbo was pretty much everything. I'd happily eat it if someone else made it, but I'm rarely that lucky. I had no clue about the religious fervor some people feel when it comes to okra in or okra out. And what the heck is filé? Dang, I didn't even know the Hank Williams song.

Now Roahen has pulled me into her world of the amazing food of New Orleans--is it street food? It can be, but is not always. She's made me want to visit every gumbo shack she mentions. And I want a Sno-Bliz from Hansen's if it's hot out--but can I stand the summer steambath that is New Orelans? Doubtful. I want Sazerac in my drink. What is Sazerac? I barely know, I barely care, but I want it. I want to eat boiled crawfish. I want red gravy. I want oysters during the high season. And I want to eat in a culinary speakeasy.

There are heartbreaking stories of businesses wiped out with Katrina, some resurrected afterward, but some lost forever, along with their owners.

This is on my "Best of 2008" list. In fact, I might need to buy it, and I hardly ever do that, being as I work for the library and all.

General Tso to Go - By Ruth

  When I was in high school, my mother and I used to go to The Chinese Kitchen on the odd Friday or Saturday evening.  I'd order spicy Mongolian Beef and she'd order a number of blander items such as Sweet and Sour Pork with its neon orange sauce and chow mein.  It was a tasty and inexpensive weekend treat, and we often headed there when I came home on weekends in college. Post-college, I was introduced to the mysteries of Dim Sum by a Chinese-Swedish boyfriend and finally learned how to use chopsticks! 

In the intervening years, I've become more fond of Thai and Vietnamese, and eschewed the seemingly less healthful and tasty Chinese  fare, but occasionally I get a hankering for Sesame Beef, General Tso's Chicken, or Egg Foo Yong.  I never thought much about the authenticity or origins of these menu items until I picked up Jennifer 8. Lee's entertaining and engrossing book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food.  Chop suey, I already had questions about, but imagine my shock when I learned that the crispy sweet tang of General Tso's chicken really belonged to another general!  And fortune cookies might possibly have come from Japan!  Really? 

Lee began her quest for the origins of America's favorite "Chinese" dishes when she heard the story of the multiple Powerball winners who had all chosen the same number because of a series of digits in a fortune cookie.  From there, she went on a multi-state, multi-national quest to find out what about Chinese-American food is truly Chinese, and why Americans have developed such an abiding taste for the cuisine.  Along the way, she uncovers fascinating factoids such as there are more Chinese restaurants than McDonalds in the US (in my neighborhood, it's 2-1 in favor of Chinese) and delves deeply into questions such as what is the connection between the Jewish and Chinese communities and what was the kosher duck scandal in the 1980s really about?  If you're not craving Pot Stickers and Broccoli Beef by the end of the book, I'll be surprised!

Baking a Cake? Do you know why....? - by Helen When baking a cake, do you know why room temperature ingredients are essential? The science is that "adding cold ingredients will cause the batter to "seize," or shrink and deflate, which will compromise the cake's texture, making it dense instead of light."

    This is just one of the many explanations in The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. She is famous for using locally grown, seasonal vegetables at her Chez Panisse restaurant. This latest book is filled with her ideas about using the freshest ingredients, cooking simply and making the meal one of delightful togetherness. (And, she recommends tasting as you cook. What's not to like?)
    Nearly every chapter explains something about why we do this or that in the kitchen. Do you know any other books that explain the science of cooking or baking?