Special Occasions Books - Page 11

Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes

Christopher D. Salyers

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Another Approach to the Lunchbox Dilemma 4 out of 5 stars.
206 of 223 people found this review helpful.

Christopher D. Salyers introduces us to an art form little known outside of Japan in this beautiful little book FACE FOOD. He spent time in Tokyo investigating this curiosity about the manner in which Japanese children take their lunch to school. What he has explored is a tradition of food preparation dating back to the Kamakura Period (1185 - 1333), a time when the Bento Boxes (`charaben') were first created.

As with so many aspects of living in the Japanese view - from floral arrangements to tea ceremonies and flamboyant sushi preparation for hungry audiences at a sushi bar - the mothers of school children take great pride in creating little artworks out of the lunchbox items we usually just wrap in waxed paper. The foods are sculpted and arranged to form pictures: vegetable slices, fish cakes, cheese, eggs, fruits and, of course, rice are juxtaposed to resemble children's favorite popular cartoon characters or simply fantasy arrangements. And what Salyers brings to this collection of color photographs of the charaben creations is a social background of the mothers who gather to prepare these FOOD FACES, vying for the most inspired as well as the most nutritional product!

The bulk of this book is devoted to photographs of the Bento Boxes, with the menu contained in each collection explained as well as the culinary `artist' being credited. Not only is this a fascinating little book to read and enjoy, it is also yet another art form that few of us in the West know. Perhaps we should take a hint at viewing sculpted food products as replacement for our fast food laziness - and at the same time find the pleasure in creating nutritional works for the children to proudly carry to school! Grady Harp, March 08

Editorial Review:

All across Japan, parents come up with unique ways to bring attention to their children's lunch boxes. And what better way to make children eat than to turn their midday meals into a cartoon? With Face Food, Christopher D Salyers documents the very real phenomenon of crafting food into visually creative and appealing forms, such as Pikachu, Daraemon and Cindarella, bringing health, heart and imagination to the bento box. How-to guides and articles by designers and chefs accompany photographs, all of which illuminate the dynamic reasons behind this wholly Japanese pursuit.

Napkin Origami: 25 Creative and Fun Ideas for Napkin Folding

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Easy to follow 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Well-written with clear instructions and good step-by-step. I liked that there are a variety of shapes included. Many of them are quite challenging. Overall, think this book has the proverbial "something for everyone." If you're looking to dress up your table, this book is a good choice.

Editorial Review:

Why fold a napkin into an ordinary square when it can become a swan, bread holder, or pirate’s ship? Like magic, these amazing origami projects turn humble paper or fabric napkins into restaurant-worthy centerpieces that transform the table. There’s a napkin sculpture for any and every occasion: simple patterns, such as a leaf, fish, or heart; designs for those special moments, including a baby bootie for a shower or a bunny for Easter dinner; innovative creations like a peacock, dessert server, and carousel; and complex shells, rosettes, and pleated wraps for formal dining. All the traditional origami techniques, tips, and symbols are beautifully explained; elegant photography throughout makes the process easy to follow and showcases the remarkable results.

The Best of Waffles & Pancakes

Jane Stacey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The crisp, honeycomb texture of waffles and the golden delicacy of pancakes are the perfect base for a host of delectable tastes. In The Best of Waffles & Pancakes, Jane Stacey has gathered a delicious assortment of recipes for just about every occasion. Incorporating whole grains, nuts, fresh fruits, and vegetables, she serves up favorites such as German Apple Pancake, Buttermilk Waffles, and Sourdough Pancakes, as well as inspired new lunch and dinner creations -- Cheddar & Onion Waffles with Chutney, Sweet Corn Cakes. Desserts couldn't be more tempting, from Belgian Waffles with Strawberries & Cream to Caramel-Pecan Waffles to Chocolate Crepes. Regional and ethnic influences are represented as well in such flavorful and hearty recipes as Blue Corn Pancakes, Potato Pancakes with Roasted Garlic, and Wild Rice & Smoked Cheddar Pancakes.

With more than 45 inspired recipes and full-color photographs, The Best of Waffles & Pancakes is proof that these two wonderful foods are much more than simple breakfast fare.

834 Kitchen Quick Tips: Techniques And Shortcuts for the Curious Cook

Cook's Illustrated Magazine

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Restart the grill with a hairdryer. Use chopsticks to dry wine glasses spot-free. Peel a kiwi with a spoon. Skewer cheese using pretzel sticks. Leak-proof a cone with mini-marshmallows. Slice strawberries with an egg slicer. Protect a cake during transport with toothpicks with mini-marshmallows.

Soften butter with a rolling pin. Prevent a scorched saucepan with marbles. Clean a garlic press with a toothbrush. Melt chocolate with a coffee maker. Pit cherries with a paperclip. Drain lobster with a pair of scissors.

What's the best way to preserve leftover herbs, peel eggs in record time, or chop chocolate with ease? Ever wondered if it's possible to soundproof your coffee grinder or tame the heat of fresh chiles? Find the answers to these questions and more in this indispensable A-Z handbook. Even the most experienced cook will find that these tips—the most highly-rated feature of Cook's Illustrated magazine—-deliver unique and clever solutions to common kitchen problems.

Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Entertaining

Beth Hensperger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Best-selling authors Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann present 300 new recipes specially created to serve a group, proving that the slow cooker is the perfect tool for effortless entertaining on weekends and even weeknights. Like the recipes in Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook and Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two, the dishes here feature fresh, wholesome ingredients and reinforce what an essential appliance the slow cooker is for any busy cook. There are recipes to suit a wide variety of entertaining styles, from casual to formal; both classic slow cooker favorites such as New-Fashioned Pot Roast with Fresh Rosemary, Mulled Wine, and Hot Spinach Dip; as well as many more adventurous, innovative dishes such as Fondue with Sparkling Apple Cider, Brandied Red Onion Soup Gratinée, and Braised Pheasant with Mushrooms in Riesling that will really impress. In addition, this is the only slow cooker cookbook that includes lots of tips and techniques on how to use your slow cooker for a wide variety of entertaining options, covering all the bases: appetizers, drinks, soups, sauces, entrees, desserts.

The Ultimate Bridal Shower Idea Book: How to Have a Fun, Fabulous, and Memorable Party

Sharon Naylor

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Send it to a bridesmaid 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I purchased for my maid of honor and sent it to her without looking. She is really excited about some of the ideas she found. She recommends this book.

GREAT! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This has so many awesome ideas for a bridal shower. I love it.

Tons of Ideas 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

There are many different themes listed in this book. It's a great book if you have not choosen your theme yet. Lacking pictures and detail of some of the others though

Valuable Book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

We are planning a shower and I found this book to be chock full of great ideas and hints.

This book is worth your money... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I liked this book. It would be a good purchase for anyone planning on throwing a Bridal Shower.

The Brewmaster's Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer with Real Food

Garrett Oliver

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Traditional craft-brewed beer can transform a meal from everyday to extraordinary. It's an affordable, accessible luxury. Yet most people are only familiar with the mass-market variety. Have you tasted the real thing?

In The Brewmaster's Table, Garrett Oliver, America's foremost authority on beer and brewmaster of the acclaimed Brooklyn Brewery, reveals why real beer is the perfect partner to any dining experience. He explains how beer is made, relays its fascinating history, and, accompanied by Denny Tillman's exquisite photographs, conducts an insider's tour through the amazing range of flavors displayed by distinct styles of beer from around the world. Most important, he shows how real beer, which is far more versatile than wine, intensifies flavors when it's appropriately paired with foods, creating brilliant matches most people have never imagined: a brightly citric Belgian wheat beer with a goat cheese salad, a sharply aromatic pale ale to complement spicy tacos, an earthy German bock beer to match a porcini risotto, even a fruity framboise to accompany a slice of chocolate truffle cake. Whether you're a beer aficionado, a passionate cook, or just someone who loves a great dinner, this book will indeed be a revelation.

The Summer Book

Susan Branch

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A Great Escape! 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This is my all-time favorite book by Susan Branch! The recipes, the ideas, the personal stories all bring it home. When the dog-days of summer hit I reach for my copy and escape ~ she has so many ideas that don't take a lot of pre-prep. Her recipes are great (try the potato salad or the pacific coast peelers). A great addition to anyones cooking library and a must for those soon-to-be-brides! I have even given this book as a hostess thank you. You won't be disappointed!

Captures the feeling of summer perfectly 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Susan Branch is a talented woman. Her cookbooks are beautifully illustrated with her drawings throughout. Her stories convey a warm sense of family and fun and will make you daydream about summer even in August.

Her recipes are simple and fairly easy to make and she leans heavily towards family friendly comfort foods with a little bit of pizazz. In fact, it is her ideas for presentation that make some of the recipes so special (the Bowl of Vegetables comes to mind...a simple twist on crudite that is elegant and delicious).

Those with picky children may find this book to be a surprising source of ideas (Lemon Linguini, Corn Salad, Lemon Chicken, Sweet Potato Fries, Kiwi Cups and Tortilla Roll-ups to name a few).

Her recipe for Crab Cakes is very good as is the one for Fish Tacos. Her recipes for vegetables are among her best; very simple and often quick ways to make vegetables special without drowning them in anything.

The Profiteroles recipe is my husbands favorite; the shells are simple to make and freeze very well. I love to make the Crostini for parties, the recipe is very flexible and all of the variations are a treat.

I love that she is not afraid to mix ideas and food and drawings and inspirational sayings all together in one book. You might not think that a quote from Gandi and a recipe for Jell-o shots could co-exist, but they do, and it works.

Having Tea: Recipes & Table Settings

Tricia Foley, Catherine Calvert

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What could be cozier on a blustery winter's day than a mug of tea by the fire with freshly baked Irish soda bread slathered with sweet butter and tangy orange marmalade? Or more invigorating on a crisp, cool afternoon in autumn than a picnic in the country with sharp English cheeses; crusty white peasant bread; vegetable, cheese, and apple tarts; and Thermoses of steaming warm tea? Or a better way to celebrate the ripe berries of summer than a dessert party tea in the garden with lemon-curd tartlets, raspberry shortcake, raspberry sorbet, sugar cookies, and tea served in flowered china cups?

A cookbook and style book, Having Tea includes a range of stunning locations with recipes, menus, table settings, and serving ideas for tea. There are formal and elegant teas that ring in the winter holidays with rich dark fruitcake, shortbread, brandy snaps, and sherried English trifle; a tea for one in the study with spicy ginger Bundt cake and a plate of cookies; and tea for two in a loft, with slow-scrambled eggs, cornmeal muffins and apple butter, and panfried tomatoes sprinkled with fresh tarragon. Each menu provides suggestions for the ideal tea to suit the meal.

Since the American style of tea drinking originated in England, Having Tea goes to the source to show two classic English tea rooms, tea at the Savoy Hotel in London, and a tea dance at London's Waldorf. In addition, there are special sections on the history and different varieties of teas, selections of teapots and tea services, and directions for brewing the perfect pot of tea. A final section, the "Tea Larder," offers ideas for tea trimmings from honey to mint or ginger, tea sandwiches, and a directory of mail-order sources for tea.

With approximately fifty recipes for tea sandwiches, crumpets, scones, cookies, and cakes as well as hearty tea-time meals, Having Tea will make you want to make having tea part of your day. It shows how, far more than a beverage, tea is a grand indulgence that provides food for the body and the soul.

Patricia Wells' Trattoria: Simple and Robust Fare Inspired by the Small Family Restaurants of Italy

Patricia Wells, Steven Rothfeld

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

All you need is this book and a lace curtain in the window 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I have been cooking with 'Bistro', Patricia Wells' book of simple French recipes, for several decades now. I have recently been converted to her 'Paris Cookbook'. So what stopped me from buying her book of Italian trattoria cooking?

Two words: Marcella Hazan.

I am addicted to Hazan's 'Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking'. It's clear. It produces restaurant-quality meals that take only modest effort. And "fancy" is the last thing it is.

I thought I just didn't need another Italian cookbook.

But now, fourteen years after it was first published, "Trattoria" --- a bargain at $13 --- is finally in the house. And, more to the point, in the kitchen. And I am chastened.

You want simple? This is it. Easy? Forget about it. Organized? Buying the book could be the last time you'll ever need to think about an Italian menu.

Why? Because the fact is, you really don't want rich and fancy. You want a trattoria --- an uncomplicated, modestly decorated, family-run establishment featuring traditional regional fare. You drink the house wine. You tend to order whatever special is being pushed. And you are likely to leave satisfied though not sated.

Patricia Wells recreates that experience here.

Editorial Review:

Whether it's a bustling eatery in the heart of Florence or a tiny alcove tucked away on a side street in Venice, the trattoria is where Italians go for robust flavors, great friendship, and good times. Patricia Wells' Trattoria now feeds America's passion for Italian food with 150 authentic recipes. Savor a Fresh Artichoke Omelet, succulent Lamb Braised in White Wine, Garlic, and Hot Peppers, a hearty portion of Lasagne with Basil, Garlic, and Tomato Sauce, or a luscious Fragrant Orange and Lemon Cake, and much more. This essential cookbook of Italian trattorias presents a full range of homemade recipes for antipasti, soups, dried and fresh pastas, polenta, seafood, poultry, and meat, with special chapters on breads, pizzas, and desserts. Come explore the heart and soul of Italian cooking in Patricia Wells' Trattoria.