Review: Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

A Natural History of Four Meals
Author: Michael Pollan
Publisher-Format: Penguin (2007), Paperback, 464 pages
Subject: Sources of human food
Genre: science reporting
Source: my own shelves

This one has been sitting on my shelf for more than two years.  It's actually on loan from my daughter who thought I would enjoy reading it.  I'm not sure if "enjoy" is exactly the correct word, but I certainly learned a lot, and came away from the read with an entirely new perspective on food and eating.

I had been a bit concerned that this was going to turn out to be another one of those proselytizing, preachy, "my way or the highway" diatribes on how we can only eat nuts and seeds if we're going to save ourselves and the earth.  Instead, I found myself immersed in a well-researched, objective, candid, and non-judgmental explanation of many aspects of eating and food production.

Pollan maintains that as omnivores we can eat just about anything - animal or vegetable - and thus are faced with ethical and physical dilemmas about what we should be eating, how we should be acquiring that food, and how we should be sharing that nourishment with our fellow humans.

To illustrate our dilemmas, he traces four different "meals": the industrial, large organic, local farmed, and hunted/foraged wild meal.  He looks at huge agribusinesses dealing in millions of acres of corn and the US dependence on grain fed vs grass fed beef with all the ethical and health issues involved - chemical fertilizers, anti-biotic fed cattle, inhumane treatment of animals, opportunities for contamination and the spread of disease, all in the service of the mightiest crop of the US - CORN.  He not only researches but personally visits and experiences all aspects of the meal and how it finally gets to McDonald's where he takes his family to partake of chicken nuggets (are they really chicken?), fries, drinks full of corn syrup, etc.  No where does he say we shouldn't be eating any of this, instead he goes to great lengths to provide the reader with the information that is buried in the "nutrition" and "ingredient" labels, so that when we choose to eat this meal, we can understand exactly what we ARE and ARE NOT eating.

Next he takes a look at so-called "Organic" meals and traces the components of a meal purchased at Whole Foods, only to find himself on a huge industrialized "organic" farm in California.  Absent the chemical fertilizers and pesticides, there doesn't seem to be much difference in the way the food is produced, picked by low paid migrant workers, and then shipped around the world (can you say carbon footprint???).

His third meal, one that I might label the localvore meal - naturally grown food, free range chickens and grass fed cattle, slaughtered and sold within 100 miles of the farm.  When asked about his farm, the farmer replied that he actually was a Grass Farmer, and that the other crops and animals were all an outcome of growing good grass. To me, this was the most fascinating section of the book.  I certainly have a much greater respect for the small farmer less than a mile down the road from me.  Again Pollan dives into his research, working on the farm for a week, participating in haying, egg gathering, chicken killing, baling, cattle moving, etc.  His ability to portray the hard physical labor at the same time he gives us the joy of seeing farming as it was practiced by our ancestors, was especially enjoyable.  One set of figures he gave just blew me away.  In one season, this 100 acre grass farm, surrounded by 450 acres of woods, and run almost entirely by the family produced:

30,000 DOZEN eggs
12,000 broilers
800 stewing chickens
50 beeves (representing 25,000 pounds of beef)
250 hogs (50,000 pounds of pork)
800 turkeys
500 rabbits

AMAZING!  (at least to me).

Finally, in his attempt to investigate the complete history of human food and eating, he sets out to prepare a meal that is one he hunts and forages for himself.  Never having been a hunter, or much of an outdoorsman, he finds himself at a distinct disadvantage, and so enlists the help of an elderly Sicilian as a mentor.  This part of the story is amusing as well as enlightening as he sets out to shoot some kind of game in the forest.  Due to the time of year, his "catch" ends up being a wild boar.  After the old man insists that Pollan must participate in the "dressing" of the  pig and guides him through all the gory steps, our author vows that he will never again be able to eat pork.  However, he eventually changes his mind when the old man takes his portion and turns it into prosciutto, sausage, and several cuts for roasting. Pollan rounds out his roasted pork meal with a salad of fresh picked dandelion and other salad greens, fava beans, egg fettuccine with mushrooms, fresh cherry tart, and even goes so far as to try to harvest his own sea salt from under the San Mateo Bridge near San Francisco where he was living.  He is nothing if not thorough.

Finally, I want to comment on an attitude that bubbles in the background.  Everywhere Pollan went, when he interviewed anyone not involved in agribusiness, he heard again and again the theme of eating what our ancestors ate, looking at how other countries view eating as a communal activity to bring people together, NOT as something to squeeze in between soccer games, business meetings, or spa appointments, and ultimately facing the choices of what to eat based on the seasons, the location, and the hard work of local farmers.

NOTE: when we discussed this in our library book club last week, one of our participants had checked the Young Reader's edition of the book out of the library.  As we passed it around, we decided that it was probably an excellent choice for those who want the story without quite as much scientific detail.  There are charts, illustrations, and a much more open-spaced presentation.  I think with either version, you can't go wrong.  If you read only one book about food, this is the one I'd recommend to start with.

Weekend Cooking - a welcome addition to the cookbook shelf

Author: David Joachim

Publisher/Format:Robert Rose (2005), Paperback, 621 pages

Subject: Food definitions

Genre:  Reference

Source:  Public Library

This is a fantastic guide that would be a welcome addition to any well stocked cookbook collection.  Even for those who do not have a lot of cookbooks, this one is quite useful.  I've been thumbing through it now for the past two weeks since I got it from the library, and with all the holiday cooking, it has really come in handy.  For instance, tonite I had a recipe that called for grinding almonds in a food processort to make almond flour.  I really didn't want to get the food processor  out just to do this, particularly when I had purchased a bag of almond flour last week because several cookie recipes I'm planning to bake called for this.  However, I was at a loss on how to convert cups of chopped almonds to cups of almond flour.  Joachim's guide had it right there.

There are definitions of ingredients with lists of acceptable substitutions.  What do you do if you don't have any  persimmons for your mother in law's favorite recipe?  There are also exceptionally thorough tables of conversions, listing metrics, liquids, solids, etc. etc. etc.

I noted when I went to order this one for myself that there is a new edition out. .  The cover indicates:

Practical and enjoyable to read, this new edition of The Food Substitutions Bible has the best instructions for the home cook or professional chef who needs to find a great substitution when a vital ingredient is missing at a critical time in the preparation of a recipe.

Every substitution includes exact proportions and precise directions for making accurate, reliable replacements. Out of confectioner's sugar? Finely grind half a cup plus one and a half tablespoons of granulated sugar with three-quarters of a teaspoon of cornstarch in a blender or small food processor.

This new edition features:

More than 300 new entries and cross-references for ingredients, such as agave nectar, and equipment, such as a mandoline. Five new ingredient charts and measurement tables, such as Picking Coffee, Container Size Equivalents and Alcohol Retention in Cooking 20 percent more content overall...

The straightforward page design makes each entry, chart and sidebar easy to understand and follow. This new edition is bigger, better, updated, expanded and completely revised, providing more information more readily.

I'm not waiting for Santa on this one.

Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.

Weekend Cooking - Review of Preserving the Harvest

 Beth Fish Reads sponsors this weekly meme where we foodies can chat about cookbooks, cooking gadgets, recipes, or anything else gustatory. Be sure to stop over there to find other terrific weekend cooking posts.  This week's post has a great new cookbook for kids.....I love it.

 I haven't done a weekend cooking post for several weeks.  I've been too busy reading and cooking and putting up the bounty this year's wonderful weather produced through our fairly short growing season here in Maine.  I didn't even have time to take pictures of the food, and figured jars of jam and applesauce is something you can see everyday, so I decided to forget that part.  Here's my great find.

Author: Carol Costenbader
Publisher/Format: Storey Publishing, LLC (2002),  Rev., Paperback, 352 pages Subject: Various methods of preserving foods
Genre: how-to, Cookbook
Source: my own

This one has it all.  Great recipes (there's a terrific one for Apple Beet puree that Mr. Tutu and I have been scarfing up for the past week), wonderful conversion charts, a glossary of terms, and chapters on every different way of preserving food you can dream up.  There are hints on how to choose produce if you don't grow your own.  How much to buy, how to keep it through the winter, and wonderfully innovative ways to share it with others for gifts.

I for instance had the best crop of basil I've ever managed to grow.  But I've never had much luck before in drying it.  Costenbader gives us several different methods and I think I'm going to try more than one to see which gives me the best results.  The book even shows how to used dried foods, and how to reconstitute dried fruits and vegetables.  Preparing a family "root cellar" never seemed like a possiblity until I read her suggestion to use the stairwell  (inside the bulkhead doors) to our basement!

Canning and freezing chapters offer very clear, well-illustrated directions for a variety of crops.  Pickling recipes run the gamut from the traditional bread and butter to some decidedly new-age chutneys.  There are excellent discussions about what equipment to buy, how to adjust recipes that didn't come out right, and checklists to use emphasizing the latest guidance on healthy practices. 

If you do any "putting up" this is definitely the book for you.  It is one that will be passed down for several generations.

Review: The Food of a Younger Land

"A Portrait of American Food -before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation's food was seasonal, regional, and traditional -- from the lost WPA Files.

Author: Mark Kurlansky
Format: hardback 388 pages
Subject: food, recipes, social customs
Genre: non-fiction, collation
Source: public library
Challenge:Support Your Local Library

 During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration (WPA) created the Federal Writer's Program (FWP)  to provide work for unemployed authors.  There were a number of projects that evolved, including a series of guidebooks for the different states.  Late in the 30's, the "America Eats" project began.  There were actually a series of projects in different sections of the country, which were intended to be combined in one huge report.  WWII intervened, and the reports from individual writers were never collated or published.

Enter Mark Kurlansky, researcher extraordinaire.  He has taken the long abandoned manuscripts, culled out the best and put them together in this delightful look at how our parents and grandparents ate.

The book is divided into the original five geographic sections envisioned by the FWP.  Each section features representative essays, stories, recipes, anecdotes, reports of festivals and church suppers, along with photographs and drawings.  I started this book as an audio, which while well done, did not lend itself to savoring all the information, so I borrowed a print edition from the local library.  It is such a fun read, that it is now on my wishlist to purchase so that I can add it to my food collection. It is part history, part social memoir, and part cookbook.  All of it  interesting and enticing.  Some of my favorites include

From the Northeast:

• the North Whitefield Maine Game Supper, 
• the almost infinite discussion of the variations of clam chowder,
• the glorious reminiscences of the New York Automat (complete with 5 page glossary of slang and jargon for short order cooks in New York); 
• the "Italian Feed" in Vermont;

From the South:

• recipes for possum, squirrel, rabbit, rattlesnake and chitterlings;
• a good recipe for crab imperial (an outstanding and scrumptious chesapeake bay dish well remembered from MY youth--it was THE dish for banquets, weddings, and any big celebration--no girl left home in Maryland without knowing how to make it). 
• The introduction to Mississippi food written by Eudora Welty is one of her earliest works and representative of the kind of work the FWP engendered.

From the Middle West:

• recipes and stories about food favored by various Indian tribes such as buffalo tongue as a delicacy favored by the Sioux (who incidentally never used salt until they were introduced to it by white men in the early 1900's); 
• the Lutefisk favored by the Scandanavians who settled in the Great Lakes region; 
• recipes from the cooks serving the vast lumberjack camps in Michigan---

"At night they came into camp stamping with cold and grim with hunger.  In the cookhouse the long tables were loaded with food; smoking platters of fresh mush, bowls of mashed potatoes, piles of pancakes and pitchers of corn syrup, kettles of rich brown beans, pans of prunes, dried peaches, rice puddings, rows of apple pies." pg. 269.

From the Far west

"The life of these people is not entirely one monotonous round of fried beans, baked beans, boiled beans, and just beans,varied only by an occasional jack rabbit or two...";

• there were numerous recipes and essays about salmon, smelts, clams,  Montana Beaver Tail, and Washington Wildcat parties.  
• This fascinating section also included a list of Colorado superstitions (pg. 296) of which my favorite is #12: " You will receive mail from the direction in which your pie is pointing, when it is set down at your place at the table." 
• The recipe for Depression Cake is almost identical to one I inherited from my gram (via my mom) which is known in our family as "YUM YUM Cake"--I still make it every Christmas. 
• And the essay by Claire Warner Churchill entitled "An Oregon Protest Against Mashed Potatoes" had me rolling on the floor.

The Southwest section was the shortest--for some reason the WPA lumped only Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Southern California into this section.  Most of the recipes were heavily influenced by the Spanish American presence  so prevalent in that area. 

• Don Dolan contributed an essay entitled " A  Los Angeles Sandwich called a Taco."  
• There were also several essays and discussions of the food (and customs) of the Choctaw and Hopi Indian tribes, and
• A story about Oklahoma prairie oysters (aka the results of 'cattle neutering'.)

The book concludes with lists of cookbooks available during the era, and a current bibliography for more up-to-date resources.  This is a tour de force.  Kurlansky has done a yeoman job of taking a ton of material and getting it down to a manageable and enjoyable volume.  A great read for anyone interested in social history and food.

Mini Review: Milk, Eggs, Vodka

A quick  fun read I had on my list for my food category in the 999 challenge. Keaggy has collected used grocery lists, and assembled them, along with funny, snarky, and insightful comments on who might have had such lists. The book actually shows the lists, with the bad penmanship, the eclectic assortment of paper (or wood chips) used to write them, and the abominable spelling. It was a quick and fun read...definitely not worth buying, but if you see at the library grab it for an enjoyable hour.

The author even has a web page with a downloadable master grocery list that looks kinda cool and a web site where you can submit your list if you think it's worth sharing.  All in all, a fun concept.

Reading Weekend wrap-up

What a great way to recover from pies, pies, pies and more pies.  The weather cooperated by giving us a horrendous Nor'easter (no snow just rain) that meant nobody wanted to go out to do anything, except stay home curled up with the cats in front of the fire.  So for the weekend, I managed to get through:

New Yorker staff writer Calvin Trillin gives us a fun little book about the eating adventures of a true gastronome, and his wife Alice who believes life should be strictly limited to three meals a day. Trillin takes us on a series of trips to France, Montreal, Omaha, Kansas City (his hometown), San francisco, Baltimore, and New Orleans among others. His attempts to experience food has him flying in tamales from New Mexico, barbeque from Kansas City, crab etouffee from New Orleans, crabs from Baltimore and other such delectables.

Reading this the day after the Thanksgiving Day feast was perfect. I could read it and not feel that I HAD to track down some of these feasts. Otherwise, I'd have been on google looking up home delivery!

For all who enjoy food, and humorous writing, this is a treat. As one of the last books in my Food category for my 2nd 999 challenge, it was really fun. Bon Appetit!

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I picked this up last year, but never got around to reading it.  Several LTers have indicated it was a good read, and I second the motion.  It is a gentle, loving, easy to read, tear-jerker.  A wonderful story to read with youngsters, and remind us all what Christmas is really about.  A great way to kick off the Christmas season on a gentle reading weekend.

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Subtitled The story of a boy's hunger, this is the story of a young boy whose mother was (to put it gently) not the greatest cook in the world. As he describes the horrors of the food she made, he manages to highlight the relationship of food to love in our lives.

While he has always been interested in food and cooking, his father did not allow him in the kitchen, so when his mother dies and father must take over the provision of meals, life becomes even more dire. After dad hires (and later marries) a cook/housekeeper, the food gets better, but life somehow does not. In fact, the family is uprooted and moved halfway across England to establish a more uppity lifestyle to please the 'new mum.'

Later when he gets old enough to get a job at a pub, and then a posh hotel, he realizes his calling in food prep. His father's death brings everything to a boil, severs the link with bridezilla, and provides Nigel with the impetus to go to cooking school and take up his true vocation.

I 'read' this one as an audio while preparing our leftover Thanksgiving meal. I loved hearing the British terms for foods --had to go look up a few--and laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes in a few places. It really brings out the role food (and in Britain the role of TOAST) plays in our lives, and how our relationships with food providers are formed so early in life. An enjoyable read--it's as much a coming of age bio as a food event-- even if you're not a foodie.

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A sweet story focusing on talking Christmas ornaments.  A bit over the top for adults, but it's designed to be read, one chapter a night, starting on Dec 1st through Christmas Eve.  I personally think there are far better Christmas tales to share with children.  I just couldn't help thinking that it would make a great 1/2 cartoon TV special for the holiday season

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I'm about 1/2 way through this delightful story of three generations of women living in rural North Carolina in the early part of the 20th century.  I'm already in love with all of them and can't wait to see the story progress.  This book was thrust (literally) into my hands by one of our library patrons, who imperiously demanded that if I hadn't read it, I must, because it was probably the most beautifully written story she'd ever read.  Well, so far, she's not too far off the mark.  I'll probably be up late tonite finishing it.  A beautiful way to finish up the weekend.

Many thanks to Jenn for starting this tradition.  Maybe we should do it again sometime.

Sunday Salon

Sundays are supposed to be the day we relax, enjoy friends and family, take stock of what's been accomplished in the past week, and plan what's coming this week.  I don't even usually do a SS post because I'm generally too wrapped up doing whatever you're supposed to post about.  HOWEVER.........

This Sunday finds me trying to take a breath after a rather busy book week, and trying to get my mental arms around an upcoming ROAD TRIP this week.  So here's a quick splash of what's been happening and what's planned.

In the past two weeks I've gotten 8  books in my mailbox (either ARCs or contest winnings):

When Everything Changed by Gail Collins
Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim
Secrets of a Christmas Box by S. Hornby
The Gift of Murder (A Holiday Crime Anthology I bought to benefit Toys 4 Tots)
The Recipe Club by  Andrea Israel and Nancy Garkinkel
Who Turned out the Lights by Scott Biddle and Jean Johnson
The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katherine Kenison


I'm trying to decide what to take with me on this trip.  How much reading can I realistically expect to get done while visiting my Mom in Baltimore  (none--it's a fix the computer visit!),  my children (not much--too much food and catching up to do) and my granddaughter (none-girls are supposed to go shopping!).  So much for the first 5 days...

Then there's a week in Florida attending a Navy reunion (reading??? I don't think so) seeing old friends ("excuse me, I know we haven't seen each other in over 20 years, but there's a cozy mystery I need to read!!"), and then more friends on the way back north from FL to Maine.  We even have a planned stop in NJ to have lunch with hubbie's agent for his book (keep your fingers crossed!), so my only reading time will probably be early AM, late evening and in the car. Since there are a total of almost 60 hours in the car, I should be able to knock a couple off the TBR pile.

I'm trying to finish up my 2nd 999 Challenge over on LT, and decided at the last minute to re-arrange my categories to include a Christmas category.  So between now and Dec 31, I have 4 food books, 2 historical fiction, and 7 more Christmas books to finish up.

I think my New Year's Resolution is going to be NOT to add any more challenges to the two I have already for 2010: to read 75 books (that's a no-brainer), and to get at least bios read toward the US President Challenge.  So...here's what going with me when we leave town

• Calligrapher's Daughter and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane for the historical fiction category.
• Irish Country Christmas (audio), for the Christmas category
• The Recipe Club for the food category
• Aunt Dimity Slays the Dragon and The Dead Cat Bounce for a feature I've been working on about amateur female cozy sleuths
• If You Need Me-- just because I want to read it.

Also my MP3 has 11 mysteries, 9 novels including The Shadow of the Wind which is my current 'ear-read', and 5 non-fictions loaded up, so I'll be able to dip into whatever floats my boat along the drive.  Hubbie and I have similar tastes so we often listen to either a non-fiction or a mystery in the car. In any case, there will be plenty of reviews coming in late November.

So it's going to be a busy week....I know I'll get at least 4-5 hours of listening in while I pack, and run errands around town, so stay tuned.  The laptop is going with me, and we'll be sending back a few pictures of our adventures.  In the meantime, enjoy the crisp autumn air, the beautiful colored foliage, and the smell of wood burning in the fireplace or woodstove. 

I think it's time for a walk ---where's my MP3?

Travels with Tutu: French Riviera

We awoke to this gorgeous day, anchored out in Monte Carlo. The harbor was full of really, really, really expensive private yachts--think a parking lot full of Ferraris. But it was beautiful. We took the ship's tender into Monte Carlo, where we boarded a bus for a trip along the Middle Cornish (like a freeway) thru Nice, Villefrance and then up to the medieval walled city of Ez. Not like Dorothy going to Oz I assure you. This beauty was way way up on the top of a hill (I'd call it a mountain), and I don't think they had too much worry about being attacked. We got to a certain point and I opted out. My knees were doing well, but looking up (like straight up) at many many steps (uneven, and with not good hand rails), I stayed resting on the side of the road. This was my view looking up. There was a wonderful Perfumerie and une petite cafe at this location, so all was not lost. As we say in our family, "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping." My french, not used for years, was rusty, but actually came back quickly, and I spent a lovely air conditioned, sweet smelling 1/2 hour conversing with the shop's proprietress. Bob continued the climb to the top and later admitted that even he had difficulty...he was glad I chose to remain below. His view, seen here was spectacular! Next we drove through Villefrance, where Bob had been on his Navy ship back in the 60's. and then on to the gorgeous street markets of Nice. We wandered thru blocks of gorgeous flowers of every color and variety, bought some souvenirs, and simply enjoyed the sunshine of the Riviera. Finally, our guide rounded us up, led through a labyrinth of narrow dark streets to a small ristorante below ground where we tasted wines and cheeses and good fresh bread. I was way happier than I look in this picture. Lunch was bon gusto!. There were stops on the way back at the obligatory cathedrals - already on the third day they were beginning to blur together. Back to the ship to settle in for a quiet day at sea. As we sailed off from Monte Carlo west, we were delighted with this glorious sunset: The entire photo album is on Facebook (don't need an account to see them.)

Guest Review: Carbs and Cadavers

As you probably know, my sister, Tina (TUTU) has headed off to Europe on a cruise with her sweetie, Bob. (Last cruise I was her cabin mate, oh, how we fall out of grace.)

So when I visited her last month I perused all her shelves and stole this book to read and in her place will leave a review. (Maybe if I do a good job, she’ll take me next time.)

Carbs & Cadavers

Author: J. B Stanley

Category: Cozy Mystery

Pages: 257

The Supper Club Mysteries starts with this book and is extremely entertaining. The entire premise, and one I find hits too close to home, is a group of "fatties" joining together to support each other as they try to lose weight. They title themselves the FLAB FIVE.

James Henry, the main character, is a divorced former professor from Wm & Mary who has an addiction to Cheese puffs and is carrying 50 lbs. of extra weight. He has returned home to Quincy Gap to care for his elderly father after his mother's death. James gets a job as a librarian and settles into what he considers a boring life which only drives him to his addiction more often than not. He feels friendless and alone so when the opportunity to make new friends and lose a few extra pounds is presented to him, he jumps at the chance not knowing what he is getting himself into.

At their first meeting, they are all distracted by sirens (one member works for the local sheriff) and plunge themselves into an investigation of the events. Working together to both solve the mystery and lose weight, the dieters are melded together into close friends and band together to catch the killer.

The story is well-written and highly amusing with tales of diet cheating and buttons popping. I was completely engrossed in the story so I didn’t have to worry about a “Cheese Puff Attack”. As a fellow dieter, my interest was held as to their progress and their setbacks along with the mystery. I look forward to a second helping - pun intended.

So if you liked my review, come see me at ">Cheli's Shelves.

Happy reading!

Review: In Defense of Food

I love to eat, and have the shape to prove it. I grew up with an Italian grandma (dad's side of the family) who had to feed 8 sons on a very limited budget, and an Irish mother who couldn't cook anything very exciting (she never learned how). When I was 8, my father parked me in a Brownie troop with instructions to the leader that I was to earn the cook badge as early as possible. From age 10, I did most of the family cooking. Next to reading, food is still one of my top three hobbies. So I am often very tentative about anybody telling me what I should or should not eat, and how to grow, purchase, and prepare food. I love to watch cooking shows; I own--and peruse often--100's of cook books. Ieven have 6 different food feeds in my blog list. This book held my attention, made a lot of sense in several areas, and really got me thinking. It presents an excellent explanation of how the field of 'nutritionism' and marketing forces in the US have changed the diet (and-- the author posits--the health) of the western world, specifically the US.

"Nutritionists pay far more attention to the chemistry of food than to the sociology or ecology of eating." and.... "Gas stations have become processed corn stations: ethanol outside for your car and high fructose corn syrup inside for you."

Michael Pollan offers easy to understand explanations, somewhat supported by experts, although I'm not quite ready to entirely buy something because "scientists commonly report", or 'are heavily leaning toward', etc. The author does point out the cyclical nature of all of these theories about what is healthy or not, and that they are heavily dependent on the science of the moment. He makes a cogent agument for returning to the days of grandma, before large food manufacturing conglomerates started tinkering with foods and making claims for health by eating this or that. He is especially believable in the campaign against engineered foods (or food products as he is quick to emphasize.) His explanation of how we went from a nation eating food to a nation eating manufactured food products, rather than food as it is grown or grazed, is eye-opening. The author has drawn up several "food statements", AKA rules, that make quite a bit of sense to help people return to eating the diet he claims human beings are biologically designed to eat. Among them (in no particlar order):

• Eat well grown food from well-known sources.
• Have a glass of wine with dinner.
• Do all your eating at a table.
• Try not to eat alone.
• Cook your own food and plant a garden.
• Eat more like the French, Italians, Indians, or Japansese. (I'll drink to that!)
• And, perhaps my favorite - Eat wild foods when you can. I just remember my Italian grandfather setting off with his basket to the woods and returning with mushrooms, and fresh dandelion greens. My grandmother would be in ecstasy. Of course that was over 60 years ago, and no one in a big city has that luxury anymore.

Finally he admits that while he doesn't pray before meals, the practice of saying a blessing helps insure that we don't eat thoughtlessly. He finds a statement offered by Wendall Barry to be a perfect meal starter:

"Eating with the fullest pleasure...that does not depend on ignorance is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world. In this pleasure we experience and celebrate our dependence and our gratitude for we are living from mystery, from creatures we did not make and powers we can not comprehend."

I learned a lot reading this book, and would recommend it to anyone interested in sorting through the current maze of food/eating gospels. I had it on the list for the food category for my 999 challenge, and look forward to reading his earlier work The Omnivore's Dilemma. For the record, my 85 year Mom, who is now a widow, has become an excellent cook over the years, and her food sense is still pretty sound. Let's hear it for Moms, nonas, tutus,common sense and fad avoidance.

They're Everywhere!!

As you can see , my TBR shelf is full--in fact it's grown to four shelves.

Since I confess to being someone who likes to seem like I'm in control, I decided to take today to prioritize things so I could leave town next week with a clear conscience:

• I have my sister Cheli lined up to do a guest review of one of the books she 'borrowed' from my TBR pile
• I'm taking my last 999 book (Saudade by Katherine Vaz) with me to finish while cruising (or flying over the Atlantic)
• I've been trying to straighten up the office and blog space because my daughter is going to house-sit/vacation/work here, and I'd like her to have a place to put a coffee mug at least.

So what happens when I return on Labor Day?

Although I'm participating in several personal reading challenges, I'm going to give priority to ARCs and Early Review copies I've agreed to read and review.

First priority: I have four books that I personally received from the authors:

• Susan Vaughan, a local author who has written several suspense romances, gave us a copy of her latest book Primal Obsession. Knowing how difficult it can be for Indie presses to get wide coverage, I offered to review for the blog. It's first up when I get back.
  
• Sam Moffie offered me a copy of No Mad. I confess it wouldn't be something that I would normally go out and buy, but I have been trying to expand into new genres and this looks like it will be interesting.
  
• Circle of Souls was sent by Preetham Grandhi -- another story with a young psychiatric patient with visions, her pyschiatrist, a murder, art therapy; the book cover calls it a "Stunning pyschological thriller". After reading The Rapture I think I can handle this and am looking forward to it.
  
• The Saint and the Fasting Girl was sent by the author Anna Richenda. It arrived just as I finished Sacred Hearts and I wanted to put some space between the two. It will be an excellent read for my 2nd 999 challenge's Historical Fiction category.
  

Then there are two Early Reviews I received from LT-- they will be the next up. Both are books I really wanted because the suspense thriller is a genre I am coming to enjoy more and more.

• Rizzo's War by Lou Manfredo
  
• Guardian of Lies by Steve Martini
  

Shortly after those, I have to get to ARCs I've received from publishers, and I'm going to try to behave myself and not request any more (unless they are to die for!) until I get this pile under control. In no particular order they are...

• The Maze Runner, by James Dasher - due out in October. I'm trying to expand and read more YA, and fantasy: genres I don't normally read. This one really caught my attention.
• The Weight of Silence, a book about children lost in the woods by Heather Guedenkauf. After I survived reading Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,I guess I can do this one without fainting.
• Half-Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage that Redrew the Map of the New World by Douglas Hunter. I love biography, and this book is a topic that really interests me.
• The Boy who Harnessed the Wind LP: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba. Set in Malawi, this is a true story of courage and inventiveness. I have enjoyed the previous books I've read this year set in various countries of Africa, and this will be another to help expand my knowledge. I'm hoping this will also be suitable for the YA group in our library.
  
• An Artist in Treason: The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkerson by Andro Linklater. I requested this one because it's set in a period I love to read about- the American Revolution- and it's about someone I'd never heard of. Curiosity is a great reason for picking books...
• Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron. I love the Deborah Knott series, so when Hachette Books offered me the chance to review and run a contest to share this one with others, I could not resist.
  
• The Christmas Cookie Club: A Novel by Ann Pearlman. I am a Christmas cookie nut...I go absolutely crazy baking for weeks before the holidays, and if I'm not going to be with people, I actually mail giant boxes of them. I'm always looking for new recipes and new mysteries, so in spite of the plain red cardboard wrapper on the galley proof, this one looks great. I'm hoping to be able to try some of the recipes as I read it, so I can share the results in my review.
• The Evolution of God, by Robert Wright. I honestly don't remember requesting this one, but it is an area in which I read a lot. I've tried three times to read Karen Armstrong's History of God but just couldn't get into it. Maybe this one will be better.
• South of Broad by Pat Conroy. Another of my favorite writers, and settings.
• The Brutal Telling (An Armand Gamache Novel) by Louise Penny. Another of my favorite authors. I was thrilled to be able to be among the first to get this one. My sister also wants it, so I may try to eek out a spot in the luggage to take it along for the cruise. The Armand Gamache books are some of the best in the genre today. I hope this one doesn't disappoint.

And finally, there are three others that I received as prizes from other people's contests that I am itching to get to:

• The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.
• The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden by William Alexander.
• The Woman Who Named God: Abraham's Dilemma and the Birth of Three Faiths by Charlotte Gordon.

So if you are OCD and counted the books in the pictures, there are 75 there. The ones that are left after the ARCs, and ERs are books that were on my original list to be read for various challenges during 2009. I'm not sure I can finish all 75 of them before New Years but I'm going to have a wonderful time trying.

Food and Books

My two favorite pastimes are anything to do with eating and anything to do with reading. I love to cook, eat, sample, nibble, grow edibles, explore food markets (not necessarily the super kind) and check out new recipes. 40% of magazine subscriptions to this household are culinary in nature. A couple of my virtual reading friends and I have been having a discussion on reading about food over on LT. I even had considered creating a Food category in the 999 challenge, but alas, my challenge categories are pretty full for the year, so instead I joined the Anything Culinary Book Group on LT to discuss some of these wonderful books. What tipped me over the edge was the comment from Kristen of BookNaround telling me I'd won the Giveaway of the $64 Tomato. This came after the following arrived this week in my mailbox (or should I say shopping basket?): The Christmas Cookie Club, The School of Essential Ingredients, Julie & Julia, and Alone in the Kitchen with Eggplant. And I just checked out Diane Mott Davidson's Fatally Flaky, for my daily audio ride. Mind you, these are not cookbooks...there may be recipes in most of them, but they are books about food, about people who grow food, prepare food, sell food, eat food. I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. The widget shows those on the list. Feel free to send me more suggestions. We could really enjoy this. Happy eating.