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Book Club: Clean Body

Friday, April 24th, 2009

Clean Body: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleaning Yourself by Michael Dejong is the perfect book for both the product-averse and the product-obsessed-whose-bathroom-cabinet-can-hold-no-more.

According to the book, 5 kitchen staples–in various combinations–can cleanse, moisturize, exfoliate all parts of our bodies:

1. Salt

2. White Vinegar

3. Lemon

4. Baking Soda

5. Olive Oil

I’m interested in trying some of his “recipes” for body scrubs and face masks.  I think I’ll stick with my usual shampoos, though!

I appreciate how Dejong keeps the book light and humorous– far from a militant, anti-consumerist rant, it makes me more willing to give his suggestions a whirl.

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Book Club: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Natural Home Remedies

Friday, April 17th, 2009

My long absence from Smorgasbite has been sad, but three happy things came in its place:

1. I got married.

2. I went on a lovely honeymoon to the Mayan Riviera.

3. I started and finished a book for the first time in a very, very [embarrassingly] long time.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Natural Home Remedies (Penguin) had been on my list for a while, and I brought it along to Mexico over others on the list (War and Peace, The End of Poverty) for its ease of reading on the beach with margarita in hand.  (Sadly, I couldn’t double fist since I had to hold the book.)

It turned out that this book was great honeymoon reading material for another reason, too.  Because we were looking forward to how our lives would be different as a married couple, and because he ended up reading this book too (Germs, Guns and Steel isn’t the most fun honeymoon read, it turns out), we decided on a few things based on what we read.

1. Make a ritual of drinking tea.

2. Don’t be afraid of taking herbs!

3. Get out of the rut of eating the same 5 vegetables.

What wild and crazy newlyweds we are.  Watch out New York!

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Book Club: Real Food

Friday, November 28th, 2008

Holidays inevitably involve a lot of talk about food, and much of it is guilt-ridden. “This is so bad for me,” “I really shouldn’t be eating this,” and on and on.

At these times I am reminded of what a different perspective I have than most people when it comes to what’s “good” and “bad” for us to eat.

Real Food by Nina Planck will likely convince you, as it did me, that bacon, butter, cream, beef, lard, and other animal fats can in fact be good for us…

…if they are organically/sustainably/humanely/locally raised and produced.

Indulgence by way of responsible consumerism. Works for me. (Yum, butter.)

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Book Club “Lite”: Gourmet Magazine

Sunday, November 9th, 2008

Books (and book clubs) are great and all, but sometimes–during a busy subway commute or late at night– reading a full page of text (and then turning the page and doing it all over again) aggravates A.D.D. or exhaustion.

At these times, captions and blurbs of text are more manageable. Especially if they’re interspersed with pictures.

My first nomination for Book Club Lite: Gourmet Magazine. Fancy ingredients and innovative techniques, but straightforward recipes. And for people who’ve always preferred pictures to words: the photographs are BIG.

I’ve decided to make several of this month’s holiday recipes in advance, to give you a heads up in case you might want to use some of Gourmet’s recipes at your Thanksgiving table.

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Book Club: The Reach of a Chef

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

The Reach of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman follows The Making of a Chef and The Soul of a Chef, neither of which I have read.  Thankfully, they were not prerequisites for understanding or enjoying The Reach of a Chef.

Thinking about food, cooking and restaurants through the eyes and minds of chefs was interesting and almost made me want to be a chef myself.  Even more, it made me want to eat at the restaurants at the best and most innovative chefs in the world.  Specifically, I am determined to make it to Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago.

So determined that I wrote a [fictional] poem for a contest on Eater to win tickets to an book/tasting event hosted by Achatz in New York on November 6.  I don’t know yet if I won.  And as far as I can tell, Eater is taking its (his? her?) sweet time in choosing a winner, and even in determining a deadline by which to choose a winner.

But I do have it written on my calendar.  I do, after all, enjoy contests.

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Book Club: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

There are two types of people: those who read books about food and those who don’t.

In my experience, nobody has anything against reading books about food, and the people who haven’t simply haven’t gotten around to it. And once you do read a book about food, you’re likely to read more. There’s something addictive to reading about recipes, where food comes from, and various food cultures.

I loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, an autobiographical collection of stories and articles by Barbara Kingsolver, her husband, Steven L. Hopp, and her elder daughter, Camille Kingsolver.

It’s a wonderful starting point for the food-book-novice because it’s easy to relate to and entertaining. It provides condensed summaries of agricultural and dietary issues and gives practical tips for how we can all begin to eat a bit more ecologically and nutritiously. A corresponding website provides additional information and recipes.

My favorite character is the younger daughter, Lily, whose burgeoning chicken business reminded me (to an alarming degree) of my 9-year-old friendship-bracelet enterprise. And babysitting business. And school fundraiser coupon book sales.

poll by twiigs.com

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