Saturday, June 30, 2012

Now Cooking with The Farmer's Market Guide


Eat fresh, seasonal, and locally-grown produce. That is what a farmers market encourages you to do and so does this new cookbook. With 251 color images, it is filled with lots of traditional, time-tested, and delicious recipes for everything from corn and brussels sprouts to tomatoes and rutabaga. 

Small and portable, you can take this book to the market, identify the item by photograph, read a brief description, and see at a glance the most common ways for preparing the vegetable.

With Identification Guide and Recipes
by Jennifer Loustau
Schiffer Publishing, 2012
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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Review: Doña Tomás


California chefs Dona Savitsky and Thomas Schnetz showcase dishes from the menu of "authentic Mexican cooking" that has made their restaurant -- Doña Tomás -- a pioneering success in upscale Berkeley.

More than 90 recipes are  included in this volume, divided into chapters on breakfast, lunch, salads and side, and dinner.  The opening chapter -- Básicos -- offers a primer on the ingredients, equipment and techniques of a Mexican kitchen.

Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking by Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky
Ten Speed Press, 2006



Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Now exploring Schelling's Game Theory


Thomas Schelling, who wrote the foreword for this book, won the Nobel Prize in economics for "having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis." This came after he had taught a course in game theory and rational choice to advanced students and government officials for 45 years.

In this book, Robert Dodge provides in language for a broad audience, the concepts that Schelling taught.

Schelling's Game Theory
How to Make Decisions
by Robert Dodge
Oxford University Press, 2012


Saturday, June 16, 2012

Reading the History: Fear of Food


There may be no greater source of anxiety for Americans today than the question of what to eat and drink. Are eggs the perfect protein, or are they cholesterol bombs?  Is red wine good for my heart or bad for my liver? Will pesticides, additives, and processed foods kill me?

Here with some very rare and very welcome advice is food historian Harvey Levenstein: Stop worrying!

Fear of Food
A History of Why We Worry about What We Eat
by Harvey A. Levenstein
University of Chicago Press, 2012


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Reading the History: Rum


‘Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!’

A favourite of pirates, the molasses-coloured liquid brings to mind clear blue seas and weatherbeaten sailors. But enjoyment of rum spread far beyond the scallywags of the Caribbean – Charles Dickens savoured it in punch, George Washington served it at campaign rallies, Queen Victoria sipped it in the British Navy’s grog, and Kamehameha I of Hawaii drank it straight

A Global History
by Richard Foss 
Reaktion Books, 2012



Friday, June 8, 2012

Second Nature Readings: Taste Matters


The human tongue has somewhere up to eight thousand taste buds to inform us when something is sweet, salty, sour, or bitter—or as we usually think of it—delicious or revolting. Tastes differ from one region to the next, and no two people’s seem to be the same. But why is it that some people think maple syrup is too sweet, while others can’t get enough?

What makes certain people love Roquefort cheese and others think it smells like feet?

Why do some people think cilantro tastes like soap?

John Prescott tackles this conundrum in Taste Matters, an absorbing exploration of why we eat and seek out the foods that we do.

Why We Like the Foods We Do
by John Prescott
Reaktion Books, 2012
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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Now Cooking with Forks Over Knives


What if one simple change could save you from heart disease, diabetes, and cancer? For decades, that question has fascinated a small circle of impassioned doctors and researchers.

Their answer?

Eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet — it could save your life.

The Plant-Based Way to Health
by Gene Stone
The Experiment, 2011



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Review: Windfall


Environmental historian Robert W. Righter follows up his 2003 report on Wind Energy in America, which detailed the struggles of wind-derived energy developments gaining acceptance, with WindFall at a time just a decade later when wind is suddenly the world’s fastest-growing source of energy.

"With so much activity in the industry, it became apparent that I had to do more than update an old book. I needed to write more on the contemporary situation, much more," Richter explains. "Who would have thought in the 1990s that giant wind turbine 'farms' would be radiating across the country, creating a scourge for some, a blessing for others? Whether welcome or not, wind developments are coming on line and being planned faster than American, Japanese, and European manufacturers can produce the turbines."

In a surprisingly short amount of time, skepticism about the feasibility of wind farming has been eclipsed by objections to the environmental and aesthetic impacts of industrial-size wind turbines on rural landscapes and visual corridors.

As a work of history, Windfall effectively documents the major issues and developments in wind energy up to 2009, from debates about role of government and the location of wind farms to questions about the efficacy of wind turbines and their role in addressing future energy needs.

Wind Energy in America Today
by Robert W. Righter
University of Oklahoma Press, 2012
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Friday, June 1, 2012

Farm and Garden Picks: The Long-Legged House


First published in 1969 and out of print for more than twenty-five years, The Long-Legged House was Wendell Berry's first collection of essays, the inaugural work introducing many of the central issues that have occupied him over the course of his career.

As he later wrote, “What I stand for is what I stand on,” and here we see him beginning the acts of rediscovery and resettling..

by Wendell Berry
Counterpoint, 2012