Secrets of the Red Lantern: Stories and Vietnamese Recipes from the Heart
by Pauline Nguyen has been named Best Asian Cookbook of 2008 by epicurious.com:
BEST ASIAN
Secrets of the Red Lantern
by Pauline Nguyen (Andrews McMeel Publishing)
Recipe to try: Salt and Pepper Tofu
Whether you want amazingly accessible Vietnamese recipes or just a good, honest family story with food, this Sydney restaurateur delivers. Her family memoir is a great tale of what immigrants both give up and gain in choosing (or not) to pack up and try another country, and if it's not always pretty, it is inspiring, especially with both vintage photos and pictures of the contemporary food Nguyen creates. The book is so beautiful you can almost taste the braised duck with ginger and scallions or the banana fritters.
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/cookbooks/bestof2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Secrets of the Red Lantern Named Best Asian Cookbook of 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Knives Cooks Love Reviewed by Library Journal
Knives Cooks Love: Selection. Care. Techniques. Recipes. by Sur La Table with Sarah Jay is reviewed in the 11/15/08 edition of Library Journal:
Most home cooks tend to be protective of their knives and often claim to be highly knowledgeable of the knife world. This book from Sur La Table and food writer Jay is slightly obsessive; it goes into shocking detail about each type of knife from the few countries that produce the best of the best. There is the obligatory section, "A Blade for Every Purpose," that describes each type of knife and its possible uses, which is the best part of the book. Another helpful portion addresses how to buy a knife, which has comprehensive explanations on such weighty points as blade anatomy and blade material. The lay reader will like the simple sections on how to chop, peel, and dice a variety of foods. The recipes that are included are basic for the most part and slightly uninspiring (e.g., mango-cucumber salsa). Recommended for academic libraries with a large collection of culinary arts materials.—Claire A. Schaper, Morgantown, WV
Knives Cooks Love: Selection. Care. Techniques. Recipes. Reviewed by the Tampa Tribune
Knives Cooks Love Review
As Emeril Lagasse writes in the book's foreword, knives are the most highly valued cooking tool in a chef's possession, and yet they are often the least discussed in the kitchen. This book, produced by Sur La Table, pulls the cloak back on that tool to provide a wonderfully coherent, easy-to-follow guide to selecting knives, maintaining them and, as you might guess, using them properly. Even better, they pair those instructions along with recipes that you can make immediately after learning each new cut, chop or slice.
Knives Cooks Love: Selection. Care. Techniques. Recipes. focuses on this most versatile tool in the kitchen and provides tantalizing recipes allowing you to practice and perfect techniques. Consider this Knives 101—lessons on everything you need to know to make your experiences behind the blade more straightforward, efficient, and enjoyable.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Secrets of the Red Lantern Chosen One of The Best Cookbooks of 2008
Secrets of the Red Lantern by Pauline Nguyen has been chosen by NPR food writer Susie Chang as one of the Best Cookbooks of 2008.
An interview with Susie about her selections is tentatively scheduled for Weekend Edition the weekend of November 22, with two recipes and images from the book planned for npr.org.
• Secrets of the Red Lantern will also be on the year’s top cookbook lists of the Chicago Tribune and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Overflowing with sumptuous but simply prepared dishes that have been passed down through generations of the Nguyen family, Secrets of the Red Lantern is part Vietnamese cookbook and part family memoir.
More than 275 traditional Vietnamese recipes are presented alongside a visual narrative of food and family photographs that follows the family's escape from war-torn Vietnam to the successful founding of the Red Lantern restaurant.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Mass Historia Reviewed by Monsters & Critics
Even better, on June 24, 1997 the U.S. Air Force released their final report on the Roswell incident, a 231-page tome that would prove to be light reading for those who can polish off 251 pages of a Dune novel while awaiting a Star Trek rerun. Or how about the November 15, 1887 entry highlighting the birth of Georgia O’Keeffe with the notation, “After being born, the baby looks up at where she came from, and gets her first-and last-idea for a painting.” Chock full of fun “facts”, sidebars and irreverently captioned pictures, this is not history as we learned it in school, thank goodness! Regan’s view of history is smart, pointed, frequently not PC but always entertaining. Think History Channel crossed with equal portions South Park and Robot Chicken and you get the general idea.
Book Review: Mass Historia
Fiction Book Reviews
Emmy award winning comedy writer Chris Regan has turned his considerable talents to past events and come out with a winner in this uproarious look at 365 days in history. Embellishing facts with liberal doses of light humor, history has never been more entertaining as demonstrated by the January 4 entry celebrating Utah’s statehood that explains how Utah became the forty-fifth state which coincidentally, was the average number of wives enjoyed by most Utah men at the time. Then learn about the army suppression of an uprising of a hoard of Donnie Osmond groupies and the five top Mormon fun facts.
Bee & Me Debuts
Bee & Me debuted at #15 in the Children’s Illustrated Category of the Independent Bookstores Bestseller list for November 6-13, 2008.
The listing is based on reporting from many
hundreds of independent bookstores across the United States.
Bee & Me (Accord Publishing, LLC, $16.99) is the fantastic new storybook that everyone is buzZz-ing about! From author Elle J. McGuinness and illustrator Heather Brown, Bee & Me is an entrancing book that features vibrant full color illustrations introduced by the innovative technique of Ani-motion, created by Accord designers Jeff Cole and Katarina Ford. Bee & Me is the first book to feature Ani-motion applied in full color, providing the visually arresting Ani-motion panels in almost every spread to enhance the action and immediacy of the story.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Author Jeremy Greenberg on MyFox Kansas City
Relative Discomfort: The Family Survival Guide author Jeremy Greenberg appeared on MyFox Kansas City.
See the interview here: MyFoxKC.com
Everybody has one, or more. That relative who drives you up the wall. And it's hard to get through the holidays without seeing them. Author, Jeremy Greenburg explains relative discomfort in his family survival guide. He'll be at Barnes and Noble on the Country Club Plaza Friday, Nov. 7 at 5:30 p.m. for a book signing. Visit his website at jeremygreenberg.com.
Relative Discomfort is a sidesplitting, guffaw-inducing guide to living through and laughing at all of our family encounters. You know that knot you get in your stomach when you're about to come face-to-face with your Uncle Drunk and Aunt Enabler, or the brother-in-law who always wants to show you his gun collection? This book unties that knot.
Dilbert 2.0 Featured #8 in Amazon’s Top 100 Books for 2008
Dilbert 2.0 is featured as #8 in Amazon’s Top 100 books for 2008 in the Comics and Graphic Novels Category:
http://www.amazon.com
With more than 2,000 cartoons (including some never-before published creations), extensive remarks by Adams, and a DVD that will include all Dilbert cartoons from 1989 through April 2008 and a link which enables readers to download future Dilbert cartoons, Dilbert 2.0 is the ultimate must-have collection for the millions of Dilbert fans. And, as we head into the second decade of the 21st century, all indications suggest that Adams will have ample fodder for future decades of Dilbert — the proliferation of workday ridiculousness is one thing that does not promise to downsize anytime in the foreseeable future.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Bee & Me Reviewed on Through The Looking Glass Children’s Book Review
Elle J. McGuinness
Illustrated by Heather Brown
Novelty Board Book
Ages 3 to 5
Accord Publishing, 2008, 0-7407-7734-3
One day a bee is out collecting nectar when a dog chases her into a house. The little boy in the house is frightened of the bee and prepares to run away from her. Then he hears the bee talking to him. The little insect explains that she needs to get back to work for there is much to do and she asks the little boy to help her. The little boy learns that bees are “good for much more/Than just honey.” They pollinate trees and flowers, and without the hard labors of bees the world would be a very a different place.
Children who do not know how vital bees are will be astonished to learn how much we depend on them, how much we need them to do what they do best so that we might have food, and so that plants and trees can thrive. These days wild bee populations are in trouble and this book’s arrival is timely. The book’s environmental message shows children that little creatures can have a big impact on the environment and on humans. In addition to the story of the little bee, at the back of the book the author includes some bee facts, and she tells children what they can do to be a “Honeybee Helper.”
Throughout the book there are bright illustrations, and on most of the double page spreads there are Ani-motion panels, which allow readers to see characters in the story move.
Discover Magazine Features Hidato
Hidato: 200 Pure Logic Puzzles
is featured in the November issue of Discover Magazine in a full page article.
A highlight: “Now a new number puzzle called Hidato is poised to steal sudoku’s spotlight.”
Monday, November 3, 2008
The Amish Cook at Home Reviewed by Cincinnati.com
The Amish Cook turns a page
Lovina Eicher, aka the Amish Cook, whose syndicated column appears in The Enquirer and 130 other papers, has a new book, "The Amish Cook at Home" (Andrews McNeel, $29.99) written with her editor, Kevin Williams of Middletown.
The column was originated by Eicher's late mother, Elizabeth Coblentz, and Williams in 1991. Eicher took over writing it in 2002.
She and her husband, Joe, have eight children and live in southern Michigan. They farm with horses, use a horse-drawn buggy for transportation and use no electricity in their home. They do have a telephone in their barn, from which she talked about her life.
She will be in town Nov. 8 on a tour promoting the book, which the publisher describes as "an up-close-and-personal look at today's Amish life and cooking through the eyes of an Old Order Amish family." Williams rented a van to bring Eicher and her family to Cincinnati.
Go behind the scenes:
Question: What chores are you leaving behind for your book tour?
Answer: The garden is pretty well finished, we've made the tomato sauce and juice. Joe let the chickens loose so they finished up anything we didn't.
Q: Is it a good year in the garden?
A: The zucchini did well. I've got some in the freezer. I've put a lot out by the road for people to take. The carrots and the cucumbers did well, too. And I've got about 10-12 bushels of potatoes.
Q: It seems like your children have a lot of chores to do. How do you interest them in cooking and doing chores?
A: We work together. They take an interest in what I'm doing and help. Loretta, who's 4, likes to pick up the broom and sweep. She just started to like seeing the house look nice. They learn sewing by making doll clothing.
Q: You often write about cooking for big events like weddings and church gatherings. That seems to be an important part of Amish life.
A: I went to a wedding recently and was a helper in the kitchen. We made 320 pounds of fried chicken. There were 30-40 women working together, I was helping with the dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy. It was very enjoyable; my sisters and cousins were all there.
Q: You don't use electricity, but you have some other conveniences?
A: We have a propane refrigerator and freezer that work really well. I use a hand-held egg beater, and I like a chopper I bought at a Tupperware party. For making tomato sauce, I have a Victoria strainer.
Q: What would you like people to learn about the Amish way of life from your column and book?
A: That we really have a good time together as a family. People wonder what we do at night without TV. We do a lot of singing, read books and play games. We probably do have a lot more chores than most people, but it's not all chores.