Foodies Read 2015 Challenge

I have done this for the last couple of years and have quite enjoyed doing this challenge, probably because I don't put too much pressure on myself to get the challenge completed.  So like other years, I will be doing the Short-Order Cook. I will be linking up with my books here and on the website.

Books completed:
1)
2)
3)

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen - Lucy Knisley

Title:  Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
Author:  Lucy Knisley
Pages:  192
Published:  2013
Challenges:  Foodies Read, Nonfiction, I Love Libraries, Eclectic Reader
Genre:  Graphic, Memoir, Nonfiction
Edition:  Paperback
Source:  Library

Description:  A vibrant, food-themed memoir from beloved indie cartoonist Lucy Knisley.

Lucy Knisley loves food. The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, this talented young cartoonist comes by her obsession honestly. In her forthright, thoughtful, and funny memoir, Lucy traces key episodes in her life thus far, framed by what she was eating at the time and lessons learned about food, cooking, and life. Each chapter is bookended with an illustrated recipe—many of them treasured family dishes, and a few of them Lucy's original inventions.  (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I can't recall how I had first heard about the book, but however I was able to hear about the book, I am glad I was able to find out about it.  It was a nice break from the heavier reading that I had been taking over the past month or so and really liked the illustrations that graced the book and particularly liked the recipes that ended each chapter.  

I had several favourite sections in the book.  My first favourite was the chapter on Junk food and how she craved it while on a trip with her dad.  I also enjoyed the sections on Mexico and Japan and her adventures there.  I also liked the one on when she and friend had some amazing croissants and how she tried to replicate them after coming back from that particular trip.

Bottom line: Overall, it was an enjoyable read and would consider purchasing a copy or at least request the book again and write/photocopy the recipes that I would be interested in making at some point.  The illustrations were really well done and the story really engaged me as a reader and really liked the small glimpse that I was able to get into Lucy's life and her love of food.  I look forward to whatever Ms. Knisley has in store next.  Recommended.

Rating: 4.25/5

Pages for 2014: 3392

The Foodies Read 2014 Challenge

I did this one and actually managed to complete my goal of reading 1-3 foodie books this past year (think I read 2, but I know for sure I read 1).  I know some of you are wondering what qualifies as a foodie book, but as the host describes, its a book that "is centered around food and/or drinks. That could be a cookbook, a food biography or memoir, a non-fiction book focused around a specific food, wine, chef or restaurant, or a fictional story in which food plays a major role."

I am hoping to read at least one food-related book, maybe 2.  If you wish to sign up, click the photo above.  So in other words, I hope to obtain the level of Short-order cook.

Dearie - Bob Spitz

Title: Dearie: The remarkable life of Julia Child
Author: Bob Spitz
Pages (File Size): 576 (7530 KB)
Published: 2012
Challenges: E-Book, Foodies
Genre: Non-fiction, Biography
Edition: E-Book
Source: Library

Description: It’s rare for someone to emerge in America who can change our attitudes, our beliefs, and our very culture. It’s even rarer when that someone is a middle-aged, six-foot three-inch woman whose first exposure to an unsuspecting public is cooking an omelet on a hot plate on a local TV station.  And yet, that’s exactly what Julia Child did.  The warble-voiced doyenne of television cookery became an iconic cult figure and joyous rule-breaker as she touched off the food revolution that has gripped America for more than fifty years.

Now, in Bob Spitz’s definitive, wonderfully affectionate biography, the Julia we know and love comes vividly — and surprisingly — to life.  In Dearie, Spitz employs the same skill he brought to his best-selling, critically acclaimed book The Beatles, providing a clear-eyed portrait of one of the most fascinating and influential Americans of our time — a woman known to all, yet known by only a few.

At its heart, Dearie is a story about a woman’s search for her own unique expression.  Julia Child was a directionless, gawky young woman who ran off halfway around the world to join a spy agency during World War II.  She eventually settled in Paris, where she learned to cook and collaborated on the writing of what would become Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a book that changed the food culture of America.   She was already fifty when The French Chef went on the air —  at a time in our history when women weren’t making those leaps.  Julia became the first educational TV star, virtually launching PBS as we know it today; her marriage to Paul Child formed a decades-long love story that was romantic, touching, and quite extraordinary.

A fearless, ambitious, supremely confident woman, Julia took on all the pretensions that embellished tony French cuisine and fricasseed them to a fare-thee-well, paving the way for everything that has happened since in American cooking, from TV dinners and Big Macs to sea urchin foam and the Food Channel.  Julia Child’s story, however, is more than the tale of a talented woman and her sumptuous craft.  It is also a saga of America’s coming of age and growing sophistication, from the Depression Era to the turbulent sixties and the excesses of the eighties to the greening of the American kitchen.  Julia had an effect on and was equally affected by the baby boom, the sexual revolution, and the start of the women’s liberation movement.

On the centenary of her birth, Julia finally gets the biography she richly deserves.  An in-depth, intimate narrative, full of fresh information and insights, Dearie is an entertaining, all-out adventure story of one of our most fascinating and beloved figures. (via Goodreads)


Thoughts: This my second book about Julia Child that I have read (read My Life in France last year) and I really enjoyed with the book and was quite impressed not only with Julia's life, but also with the detail of that was put into the book.  It made me want to purchased a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1 and more impressed that got published when it did.  I won't say entirely how much I was impressed with the publication of the book, but I can tell you I didn't put the book down during that section and was totally enamoured with that.

If there was one thing that impressed me about Julia Child is that she was incredibly decisive about getting the book published.  She didn't let moving around due to Paul's job and a co-author not helping out impede her to making sure that this cookbook was published; it was almost like she was a woman with a mission to make sure that American cooks were able to make the same things that were made in France and to let them know that cooking something was something to be enjoyed and to be done with a sense of purpose.  I got the impression that she believed that a meal shouldn't come from a can or a box, but rather something that was to feed not only your body, but also your soul.

Also she didn't like the whole health food movement, but believed that food should be enjoyed in moderation, rather than in large amounts.  So yes, have those foods that are fatty and not exactly good for you, but have them in moderation and have them occasionally.

While for the most part the book was really good, it was a little slow at the beginning, but once it got into her adult years, it just seemed to really get going.

Bottom line: If you are fan of Julia Child and if you are a foodie fan, I would highly recommend this book.  Highly recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5

Pages for 2013: 12129

Foodies Read 2013

During the course of 2012, I started noticing that I was increasingly attracted to "foodie books".  In fact, I read the 2 within several weeks of each other (Kitchen Counter Cooking School and My Life in France).  But I also managed to sign out a couple of others that I didn't get around to, but still wish to read (Dearie and Yes Chef) during the coming year.  Here are the details for this particular challenge:

Many of us who love to eat also love to read. But we go beyond that. We love to read about food. If that is you, then you are invite to join us in the Foodies Read Challenge for 2013. This is the second year in which we’ll indulge ourselves with good food writing.

If you are new to a food/reading challenge, you may be wondering – what is a “food book”? A food book is a book which is centered around food and/or drinks. That could be a cookbook, a food biography or memoir, a non-fiction book focused around a specific food, wine, chef or restaurant. Also allowed is a fictional story in which food plays a major role.

Here’s how the challenge works:
Decide how many food books you want to read in 2013. Pick one of the reading levels below. Remember, this is a challenge, so try pushing yourself.

Levels:
Short-Order Cook: 1 to 3 books
Pastry Chef: 4 to 8 books
Sous-Chef: 9 to 13 books
Chef de Cuisine: 14 to 18
Cordon-Bleu Chef: More than 19

At this point, I am going to aim for Short-Order Cook, as I really don't know what other "foodie" books I will be attracted to during the coming year.