Weekend Cooking (10) : Review and Giveaway

THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER by Jael McHenry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are many different methods of coping with grief.  For Ginny Selvaggio, a 26-year-old with Asperberger's syndrome, losing herself in cooking rituals helps her to deal with the sudden death of both her parents.  This coping mechanism is nothing new to Ginny:  the structure and distraction to be gained from focusing on the sensations of various foods, as well as the details of preparation, has been her way of dealing with the sensory overloads that have bedeviled her from childhood.  Ginny's sister, the "normal" Amanda, tries to bring order to Ginny's life in the wake of their parents' death, but her well-intentioned efforts result in a fracturing of their relationship, which may or may not be reparable.

As Ginny struggles to maintain her equilibrium, she recreates her grandmother Nonna's recipe for bread soup, and is startled to discover that it causes Nonna's ghost to appear.  After uncovering a box containing handwritten recipes, Ginny recreates several, each time calling forth apparitions that help her to understand more about her family and herself.  When Ginny befriends a young man mired in his own grief and guilt over his part in his wife's death, she is determined to try and use her gift to help him heal.  With the aid of her "visitors", Ginny also tries to find the way to her own place of healing, both in her relationship with her sister, and within herself.

I was very much taken with the premise of this book.  In The Kitchen Daughter, McHenry gives readers a wonderful story about the durability of the human spirit, and the powerful role food can play in our lives.  She has also done the seemingly impossible in writing a book in which there is not one iota of contrived tragedy or corny sentimentality, despite the fact that the story involves visits from the departed.  Love expresses itself in many forms: for those who perceive it in all things culinary, it is hardly a stretch to accept that certain foods will embody a spiritual connection to special people in our lives. 

Particularly poignant is her description of the Jewish burial society chevra kadisha, whose consoling rituals include food preparation for those who have lost family members, or are suffering some terrible hardship.  It was wonderful to watch Ginny join with them to use her culinary gifts in a way that made her feel part of a communal society, something she struggled with on a daily basis as she functioned in the world at large. 

This book is a must read for anyone who is familiar with the comforting effect kitchen routines can have on a troubled soul. It is a must read for anyone who loves stories with characters that tear at your heart, who are flawed and ironic, who make you care so deeply that your eyes well over at their pain.

Read it with a box of tissues and a soothing cup of  tea at hand.  Or, if, like me, you are sweltering in the summer heat, read it with a serving of "The Georgia Peach" using the recipe in the book.  You'll be glad you did.

Thanks to the generosity of Gallery Books, I have one copy of The Kitchen Daughter to give away to one lucky reader of this blog.  To enter, please leave a comment indicating a particular food that has a special association for you.  For an additional entry, be a follower of this blog.  If you follow in a reader or feed, please let me know so that I can give you the extra entry.  All entrants MUST include an e-mail address either in a comment, or by e-mail to Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com.  Book will be mailed by the publisher.  Giveaway limited to U.S. residents only, and no P.O. Boxes please.   Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on August 8, 2011.  Good luck to all!

I received a hardcover edition of The Kitchen Daughter from the publisher, Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

A sad tale from a dark time

JERUSALEM MAIDEN by Talia Carner

My rating:  2.5 of 5 stars

Set at the decline of the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem Maiden tells the story of one Esther Kaminsky, an Orthodox Jewish girl whose artistic genius is stunted by religious strictures that dictate she marry and bear children in order to hasten the Messiah's arrival.  Though Esther is encouraged by a beloved teacher to express herself through her paintings, Esther cannot bring herself to defy the rabbinical dictates until she witnesses first-hand the despair that submitting to an arranged marriage can bring.  After agreeing to a plan that she believes will be a path to freedom, Esther finds herself the victim of a cruel trick that traps her in the role of wife and mother.  Her plan to pursue her artistic career while not abandoning her faith foiled, she ends up living a life that she did not want or choose.  Years later, when an opportunity to go to Paris presents itself, Esther grabs at it, and once there, she reconnects with her former teacher.  Over the weeks she spends in Paris, Esther morphs into a "modern" Jew:  she never looses her connection to God, she just manifests it in different ways as she sheds the restrictions that, for her, stifled rather than opened the way to God.  Everything changes for Esther as she at last gives in to a forbidden love, and comes to believe that her talent is a gift from God to be used, not hidden.  Just when she believes that in developing her art she is doing what God has always intended for her, tragedy strikes one of her children, causing her to question all that she has become.  In response to the catastrophe, Esther makes a great sacrifice that will change her life forever.

This book is a sad one.  Overwhelmingly sad. The earlier portions of the book are replete with descriptions of poverty, vermin, and deplorable living conditions.   There are seemingly never-ending human tragedies.  At one point, when I thought that nothing more could happen to poor Esther, locusts arrive. Yes, locusts.   The novel is also filled with scenes of heart-breaking pathos, such as when Esther is excluded from the comforting embrace of her male family members at her brother's graveside, and her ineligibility, as a girl, to say the Kaddish that brings comfort to those who mourn.  Even the epilogue, which contains the requisite plot twist, has an aura of overarching sadness, leaving the reader bereft at the needless sorrow and wasted lives for so many of those involved.

There are several reasons why the book did not really work for me, and it was not the dark mood.  I can read and enjoy a sad book with the best of them.  The real problem is the fact that I did not connect with Esther on any level.  Significantly, this was not a function of the difference in time or culture, but rather, that as a character Esther just did not come off the page for me.  I am also not a big fan of the "star-crossed lover" scenario, and so for me, the melodrama of that part of the story was unappealing.  Finally, the plot line, while authentic, was fairly predictable.  To be fair, I have read a fair number of books about the lives of the ultra-orthodox, and in that regard, the book may be of more interest to someone who has not had a similar reading background.

In sum, this is a book that I am not sorry I read, but one I am not likely to recommend.

I received an advance reader's edition of Jerusalem Maiden from the publisher, HarperCollins.  Jerusalem Maiden was released in June of 2011.

Weekend Cooking (9): Review and GIVEAWAY

GLUTEN-FREE COOKIES by Luane Kohnke

My rating:  4.5 of 5 stars

Who doesn’t love cookies? Maybe those people who thought they had to settle for a store-bought gluten-free alternative. Not anymore. If anyone you know is living gluten-free, or simply cutting down on the gluten in their diet, run, don’t walk to pick up this book.

Once confined to a small population of those who suffer from celiac disease, a gluten-free diet is now being adopted by a growing percentage of the population, with its adherents found in the autism community, those afflicted with GI problems, and others who simply find that they feel better when abstaining from gluten products. Falling into that last category myself, and because I love to bake, I was very interested to check out Gluten-Free Cookies. I was delighted with what I found. This is a lovely looking book, with beautiful photographs, and clear, easy to follow recipes. Each recipe contains a short introduction, with helpful advice and tips designed to maximize the chances of a successful result. While some of the recipes contain fairly long ingredient lists (which is pretty typical of gluten-free baking), others require surprisingly few ingredients, none of which would be considered unusual.

One of the problems with living gluten-free is the fact that so many of the commercially prepared products are full of artificial ingredients with names sounding like they came out of a chemistry book, rather than a food compendium. As a welcome contrast, here, the author’s approach is one of “freshest ingredients with minimal substitution” (5). In addition, she stresses that she wanted the taste of the cookies to be of paramount concern, so that they would be great cookies that just happened to be gluten-free, as opposed to “second class” alternatives (5). In fact, that is one of the things that impressed me the most about this book -- the fact that the author, who trained at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York City, cared so much about the taste, texture and appearance of her cookies.

The recipes fall into six general categories.  “Classics” include chocolate chip pecan, peanut butter, shortbread and old fashioned sugar. A children’s collection features jam thumbprints, snickerdoodles, gingerbread and cutouts to name a few. There are “Fruit delights” such as lemon drops, cranberry-orange nut drops, and apple cookies, and “bars and squares” of double-chocolate brownies with walnuts, double-cherry streusel bars and chocolate-raspberry fingers. A whole chapter is dedicated to “meringues only” with lovely concoctions in the form of brown sugar pecan kisses, lavender clouds and fruit and nut bonbons, and many others. Finally, a entire section set aside for “celebrations and sharing” contains treats for those special occasions with instructions for, among others, pecan wedding cakes, and french chocolate macaroons. There is even a recipe in the children’s section for a double-chocolate “pizza cookie” that can be assembled and frosted to resemble a cake that would surely be a hit at any child’s gluten-free birthday party!

Apart from the wealth of delectable recipes, Ms. Kohnke has provided pages of valuable information on the basics of gluten free baking, addressing  the specific challenges of working with rice and nut flours. She also includes an ingredients list, with an interesting discussion of several components of gluten-free recipes that may be unfamiliar to the home baker:  she explains what xanathan gum is, the difference in finished product when using brown rice versus white rice flour, and the fact that pure vanilla extract will be gluten-free, but most imitation extracts will not be. In addition, there is advice on how to convert your own wheat-based recipes to a gluten-free cookie, allowing those requiring gluten-free treats to have an old favorite in edible form. Finally, the back of the book contains a reference guide for obtaining specialty flours and additives, and a list of groups and publications of interest to the celiac community. It is not surprising that in his foreword to the book, the Director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University cites it as a great resource for those needing to live gluten-free.

Thanks to the generosity of Sellers Publishing, I am delighted to announce that I have one copy of Gluten-Free Cookies to give away to a lucky reader of this blog. Entries are open internationally, but no P.O. boxes please.  Book will be mailed directly by the publisher.

To enter, please leave a comment on this post. Followers of this blog will receive an additional entry; if you follow in a reader or RSS feed, please let me know so that I can give you the additional entry. Entrants must provide an e-mail address either in the comment, or by e-mailing me at Bookgirlblog@hotmail.com. Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on July 31, 2011.

I received a finished copy of Gluten-Free Cookies from Sellers Publishing, Inc. 

Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads in which bloggers share food-related posts. Stop by and see what's cooking this week!

Weekend Cooking (8): Book Review

EAT NAKED by Margaret Floyd

My rating:  3 of 5 stars

In her new book Eat Naked, nutritional therapist Margaret Floyd advocates consuming food in its most natural state, essentially eliminating the heavily processed foods that are staples of many American diets.  She defines "naked" as food that is whole and unrefined, grown naturally and locally, purchased in season, and minimally prepared.  A mouthful to be sure.

In starting the book, I figured  that I could safely guess what a "naked" apple or head of lettuce might be.  What was less clear to me is how one would define "naked" meat or dairy, but Floyd does so quite clearly.  Through individual chapters covering produce, meat, dairy/eggs, fish, fats, grains/beans/nuts/seeds and beverages/sweeteners/condiments, Floyd sets out how to pick the most nutritious options in each category. 

There is a fair amount of stating the obvious here:  condiments you make fresh at home are obviously more healthy than those processed options available at the grocery store; quality oils are superior in both taste and health benefits to inferior varieties; and your local farmer's market is the best place to find "naked" foods.  For those who have read alot in this area, there is also a fair amount of familiar information, as in the listing of the "dirty dozen" and "clean fifteen" produce items, and the fact that thirst may often masquerade as hunger.  But for the person new to the world of healthy eating, the book is a fine start:  Floyd's writing is concise and easily understood and there is alot of worthwhile information contained therein.  In addition, the 40 pages of recipes in the back contain some interesting options. 

The thing I most appreciated about the book is that despite some controversial notions -- she drinks only milk that's raw, whole and unhomogenized (61) -- Floyd "keeps it real" as when she admits that she sometimes eats "wildly un-naked foods" (185).  In fact, in her closing chapter, she reminds her readers that "inflexibility isn't much healthier than not giving a rat's ass about what you put in your mouth.  Both are extremes and, in my mind, terribly out of balance" (185).  That nod to reality is what makes her approach workable in my mind; moderation in all things and all that.  Just don't ask me to drink raw milk; that is where I draw the line.

I received a copy of Eating Naked from the publisher, New Harbinger Publications.  Eating Naked was released in June of 2011. 

Weekend Cooking is a fun event hosted by Beth Fish Reads in which bloggers share food related posts.  Stop by and see what's cooking this week!

What's Your Go-To Book? - GIVEAWAY

In helping to run a used bookstore I often find myself being asked to recommend a book from amongst our varied stock, which is short on best-sellers but long on wonderful old backlist titles.  Normally I try to tailor the recommendation to the customer's tastes, although sometimes the customer will simply say, well, what do you like? -- which is nice but not particularly helpful. While I have made many a suggestion in my time, there is one book that I find myself putting in my customers' hands over and over again.

The "book" is actually a set of three books, known officially as "The Spoils of Time Trilogy," authored by acclaimed British writer Penny Vincenzi.

The trilogy opens in London just before the advent of the First World War, introducing the Lyttons, a British family who runs a venerable publishing house. As the saga unfolds, the reader is swept up in the lives of unforgettable characters as well as the cataclysm of world war. Settings shift from the English countryside to the slums of London, the battlefields of Europe, and the cities of America. Moving through the events of World War II, and the years beyond, these novels are simply some of the most captivating books I have ever read in this genre. The oft-used phrase "couldn't put it down" was never more apt.

No Angel
#1

From the publisher's website:

No Angel is an irresistibly sweeping saga of passion and family: a riveting drama and a fervent love story. Celia Lytton is the strong-willed daughter of wealthy aristocrats who is used to getting her own way. She moves through life making difficult and often dangerous decisions that effect herself and others-not only her husband and children; but the destitute Sylvia Miller, whose life is transformed by Celia's intrusion; Oliver's daunting elder sister, who is not all she appears to be; and Sebastian Brooke, for whom Celia makes the most dangerous decision of all. Set against the tumultuous period of the First World War, No Angel is, as Good Housekeeping wrote, "an absorbing page-turner, packed with believable characters and satisfyingly extreme villains, eccentrics and manipulators."

Something Dangerous
#2

From the publisher's website:

The dazzling Lytton twins, Adele and Venetia, grow up with the world at their feet. Born into the great Lytton publishing empire, they are rich and admired, with a confidence verging on arrogance. At eighteen, in 1928, their future seems assured but the specter of Nazi Germany is growing and, gradually, the twins' lives darken in unimaginable ways as they and their friends and family, including those in New York struggle to cope with circumstances for which their privileged world has not prepared them.  Something Dangerous is a riveting drama about an embattled dynasty, and a passionate, multi-layered tale of love and politics.

Into Temptation
#3

From the publisher's website:

Into Temptation, the third book of the trilogy, shifts the focus to Barty Miller, rescued from the slums as a baby by Celia Lytton and now living in New York, heading her own publishing company. The Lyttons' publishing empire has fallen under bad times and the family is worried that Barty will make a business decision that would be devastating to them. But will she How will she finally treat this family that have taken her from the slums Will she be a hard business woman or will she do the right thing for Celia's sake As events unfold, long-buried secrets concerning the whole family are revealed, having a profound effect on everyone.


The onset of summer and the potential for extended hours of leisurely reading, is the perfect time to lose yourself in these books. If you like big, thick, generational narratives with a heady mix of history, romance and plot twists guaranteed to keep you glued to your beach chair or hammock, these are the books for you.

Thanks to the generosity of Overlook Press I have a complete set of the trilogy to give away to one lucky reader of this blog.  To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment indicating what your go-to book is when asked for a recommendation.  For an additional entry, be a follower of this blog; if you follow via RSS feed or in a reader, please let me know so that I can give you the additional entry.  Books will be mailed directly by the publisher.  Entries limited to U.S. only and no P.O. boxes please.  All entrants must provide an e-mail address either in the comment section or in an e-mail to me; no e-mail address, no entry.  Contest ends at 11:59 p.m. e.s.t. on July 27, 2011.  Good luck!

Giveaway Winner

I am happy to announce that the lucky winner of  The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson is Margaret.

Thanks to all who entered, and be sure to check back on Wednesday when I will be posting a new giveaway for a wonderful 3 book set.  Hope to see you then!