Review - Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook by DeDe Lahman & Neil Kleinberg

TITLE:  Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook: Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond from New York's Favorite Neighborhood Restaurant
AUTHOR/EDITOR:    DeDe Lahman & Neil Kleinberg
INFO:    Hardcover, Non-Fiction, 224 pages
PUBLISHED:   Little Brown & Company, 2010
ISBN#:   978-0-316-08337-9
HOW'D I GET IT:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:  The Clinton St. Baking Company is one of the hottest brunch spots in a city obsessed with brunch. A tiny thirty-two-seat eatery on Manhattan's trendy Lower East Side, the restaurant draws long lines of customers who come from far and wide to sample fresh-baked goods, hearty omelets, sugar-cured bacon, and light-as-air pancakes with maple butter.



In the Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook, owners DeDe Lahman and Neil Kleinberg share more than 100 treasured recipes that have made their restaurant a sensation. Learn the secret to their house-made buttermilk biscuits and tomato jam, irresistible muffins and scones, delicious soups and sandwiches, and their decadent, eye-catching desserts. Helpful techniques, like Neil's patented omelet "flip and tuck," and gorgeous color photographs throughout will have readers cooking like pros in no time, and sharing the delicious results.

MY TAKE:   This book is the newest addition to my "gift-worthy" list.  I got to test out a few of the recipes a few weeks ago when I made brunch for 7 of us.  Unfortunately, I don't have photos to show the yummies as my camera was out of commission during that time.  I will tell you what I used from the fantastic book:

Vanilla Buttermilk Waffles
Maple Butter
Crunchy Bananas with Cinnamon Chili Chocolate Sauce

I also made the required bacon and sausage with coffee and orange juice.  I am thrilled to report that it was a resounding success.  We've used the maple butter a few times since then. 

The recipes are very clear and easy to understand.  Lots of full color photographs aid in making these delightful dishes (as well as enticing you to hurry up and make it!)  The authors take the everyday cook into account with these scrumptious concoctions.  My next experiment will be their Split Pea Soup.  It's a long-cooking recipe that is making my mouth water just writing about it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys trying great new recipes or collects fabulous cookbooks.  Very gift-worthy!
  
MY RATING:    4/5

WHERE TO BUY IT:   Amazon, The Book Depository, Powell's Books, IndieBound

 

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris

TITLE:    Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People [Hardcover] 
AUTHOR/EDITOR:    Amy Sedaris
INFO:    Hardcover, How-To, 304 pages
PUBLISHED:   Grand Central Publishing, 2010
ISBN#:   978-0-466-55703-0
HOW'D I GET IT:   Received from Hachette Books for Review

FROM GOODREADS:  America's most delightfully unconventional hostess and the bestselling author of I Like You delivers a new book that will forever change the world of crafting. According to Amy Sedaris, it's often been said that ugly people craft and attractive people have sex. In her new book, SIMPLE TIMES, she sets the record straight. Demonstrating that crafting is one of life's more pleasurable and constructive leisure activities, Sedaris shows that anyone with a couple of hours to kill and access to pipe cleaners can join the elite society of crafters.   

You will discover how to make popular crafts, such as: crab-claw roach clips, tinfoil balls, and crepe-paper moccasins, and learn how to: get inspired (Spend time at a Renaissance Fair; Buy fruit, let it get old, and see what shapes it turns into); remember which kind of glue to use with which material (Tacky with Furry, Gummy with Gritty, Paste with Prickly, and always Gloppy with Sandy); create your own craft room and avoid the most common crafting accidents (sawdust fires, feather asphyxia, pine cone lodged in throat); and cook your own edible crafts, from a Crafty Candle Salad to Sugar Skulls, and many more recipes.
PLUS whole chapters full of more crafting ideas (Pompom Ringworms! Seashell Toilet Seat Covers!) that will inspire you to create your own hastily constructed obscure d'arts; and much, much more!

MY TAKE:   I really enjoyed Sedaris' previous book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence.  It was a real kick with some surprisingly helpful information.  This new book was still really funny, but just not what I was expecting.  I had really hoped to find some new, inexpensive crafts to make but instead, just found myself laughing at her "creations". 

This is not a book for kids as the chapter "Making Love" is definitely for adults, but quite hysterical.  The author states, "The craft of lovemaking is simple to initiate, yet difficult to accomplish.  Even for the amateur crafter, the starting point is obvious:  roll up the sleeves, take aim, and begin poking about the pubicly-tufted fleshy parts."  The photos that accompany this chapter include a man in an extremely short yellow robe which only made me laugh harder.

The photography and instructions can actually be very helpful if you desire to make things such as:  Secret Treasure Box ~ Decorate the outside of a box you're fond of.  Fill the secret box with irreplaceable sentimental treasures and keep in a safe place.

If you'd like to read more about Amy, you can check out her "unofficial" fan club.  Thank you to Hachette Books for the chance to review this creatively funny book!
   
MY RATING:    3/5

WHERE TO BUY IT:   Amazon, IndieBound, Powell's Books, The Book Depository

 

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - The Glamour of Grammar by Roy Peter Clark

A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English

TITLE:    The Glamour of Grammar
AUTHOR/EDITOR:    Roy Peter Clark
INFO:    Hardback, Non-Fiction, 294 pages
PUBLISHED:  Little, Brown and Company, 2010
ISBN#:   978-0-316-02791-5
HOW'D I GET IT:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:   Early in the history of English, the words "grammar" and "glamour" meant the same thing: the power to charm. Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools, aims to put the glamour back in grammar with this fun, engaging alternative to stuffy instructionals. In this practical guide, readers will learn everything from the different parts of speech to why effective writers prefer concrete nouns and active verbs. THE GLAMOUR OF GRAMMAR gives readers all the tools they need to"live inside the language"--to take advantage of grammar to perfect their use of English, to instill meaning, and to charm through their writing. With this indispensable book, readers will come to see just how glamorous grammar can be. 

MY TAKE:   I found this to be an engaging and helpful book.  Many times these guides can be rather dry and boring.  Not so with this one.  Mr. Clark has created an easy to follow guide through this mysterious language of ours.  While this could be classified as a reference or "how-to" book, I felt it was primarily a "great read" that was actually fun.

The author is a big advocate of using the dictionary and immersing yourself in the words.  He is obviously a master when it comes to both the construction and dissection of words and sentence structure.  I found it amusing and instructive that he also delves into communication via texting and Tweeting.  (My personal opinion is that both of these new forms of messaging are murdering proper language.)

The structure of the book is extremely user-friendly.  The short chapters with titles such as "Learn seven ways to invent words" and "Tame taboo language to suit your purposes" are easy to read and get right to the point.  An appendix at the end of the book makes it a simple task to go back and find a particular passage.

I think this book would make a fabulous gift for students, those for whom English is a second language, and for any writers or would-be writers in your life.  It has a permanent place on my bookshelf.
   
MY RATING:    4.5/5

WHERE TO BUY IT:    Amazon, The Book Depository, IndieBound

 

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.