Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table Review

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(More customer reviews)For anyone who has dined at either of Suzanne Goin's Los Angeles restaurants (Lucques and A.O.C.) you know the standards for this book are as high as they can be. No detail is overlooked, and yet there is a lack of pretension and fussiness that is as refreshing as it is welcoming and comforting.
So it is with Sunday Suppers at Lucques. This truly is what a cookbook should be. The format of presenting complete three course menus, oriented wholly around what is fresh and available, is a brilliant stroke that has eliminated my usual frantic search through several books to find the right accompaniments. The menus are generally focused around a salad, followed by a fish or meat course and finishing with dessert, but you are given the freedom to mix and match as sounds appealing.
Along the way Goin provides great insight and straightforward advice. I can't tell you how long I've waited to have a cookbook that actually helps you learn how to cook - the advice on chopping onions is worth the price alone. For Goin the foundation of great cooking is great ingredients. It sounds much more obvious than it really is. Along with other advice including how to learn to season foods properly and to think like a chef while cooking, you will learn a great deal while making delicious meals.
The sections on the foods that are available in each season are incredibly helpful to anyone who has ever gone to a store or farmers market with a comprehensive list for a menu only to find that none of the ingredients on the list are available. By helping you understand and focus your cooking on the fresh and seasonal Goin helps you craft a dinner that is as mouthwatering as it reads.
The menus themselves make me wish I could quit my job and cook every night and somehow still pay the rent! This is great Mediterranean/California cooking that makes you believe that making great food is within your reach. Gather a few friends together (all the menus are for six) and tuck in for a night of delicious food, wine and conversation, exactly what a Sunday night should be. Very highly recommended.

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Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't buy the book based on your opinion of the movie. I took my niece to see the movie and we loved it - Meryl Streep was, naturally, beyond amazing, while Amy Adams was charming. Nora Ephron was wise to do what she did with this story, because the real Julie Powell is quite insufferable, hardly an ideal role model for waking up one's life.
As far as the foul language goes...a well-placed swear word can add realism and punch to a story, but overuse of profanity by an author is, in this writer's opinion, not only offensive and jarring, but worse, downright lazy. If you have to rely so heavily on swear words, then you're only proving that you are unable to express yourself in print with any degree of finesse.
A lot of reviewers who gave this book a bad rating used the word "whiny." It is not misplaced, I assure you. I love humorous life stories in which a protagonist tries to make sense of things by embarking on journey of self-discovery through a special project, but, rather than being full of fun foibles, poignant moments, and growing insight, this author shows a character who is narcissistic, snobbish and insufferable. I'm not a republican or a Bush fan, either, but I absolutely LOATHE people who exhibit such blatant disrespect for other people's views, opinions, and beliefs (reminds me of Helen Goode on "The Goode Family," who whines to her husband, that it IS good to respect others, just "not them!"). Apparently, if you disagree with Julie Powell, you're just stupid.
I didn't come out of this too badly myself: I enjoyed the movie, am relieved I didn't spend money on the book, and interested in learning more about Julia Child, who sounds like an amazing person as well as an exceptional cook. As far as this trite goes, however...well, now it makes sense to me that Julia Child reacted to it the way she did (I'll give Powell this much: she was very gracious about Child's reaction, though she should be, since Child turned out to be her bread and butter). Too bad such a great idea was handled by such an emotionally immature individual.


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The No-Salt Cookbook: Reduce or Eliminate Salt Without Sacrificing Flavor Review

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(More customer reviews)The recipes are easy to follow. The food turns out wonderful and still with lots of flavor. Try the breakfast sausage recipe. I was so sorry to have to give up sausage but this is a great alternative!

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Over ten percent of the population suffer from high blood pressure. Tens of thousands more are afflicted with congestive heart disease. For these, and many others, doctors usually prescribe a low-sodium diet. But where can you find low- or no-salt food that actually has flavour? The No-Salt Cookbook helps you tackle the no-salt/no-flavour dilemma with gusto. No longer do food lovers on salt-free diets have to suffer. This carefully created cookbook offers more than 200 tasty salt-free recipes to help you stay fit and still enjoy eating.

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