Best Food in Town or Easy Appetizers

Best Food in Town: The Restaurant Lover's Guide to Comfort Food in the Midwest

Author: Dawn Simonds

Nobody does comfort food like Midwesterners. Whether it's coconut cream pie or savory cheese soup, spare ribs or cornbread, there's a restaurant in the Heartland that makes it best. Dawn Simonds compiled this essential guidebook to more than 230 unique restaurants, where home cooking is an art. All of these restaurants share a dedication to cooking from scratch with fresh ingredients and serving delicious food in a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. Simonds offers colorful descriptions of the restaurants and their owners, assessments of the food, price guides, directions for getting there, and other important details. With Best Food in Town as a guide, readers are certain to find restaurants to satisfy any comfort food craving.

Go to: Improving on the Job Training or Leadership by Design

Easy Appetizers

Author: Maxine Clark

Get any meal off to a great start with this fabulous selection of simple first courses.

Soup is the classic way to begin a meal at any time of the year with ideas like hearty Tomato Soup with Pesto or cool Gazpacho. Fresh and inviting, Salads are a deliciously light way to get the taste buds flowing. The selection includes Tuscan Panzanella and Caesar Salad. These simple Dips and Breads have a distinctly Italian flavor with crostini and toasted focaccia on the menu. Vegetarians are offered mouthwatering suggestions, such as Deep-fried Artichokes and Warm Goat Cheese Souffles. Fish and Seafood are perfect for kick-starting your meal-choose from Thia Shrimp Cakes with Chile Jam and Drunken Clams. Meat and Poultry options include the antipasti dish Bresaola and Arugula with Olive Oil and Parmesan and zesty Chicken Lemon Skewers. Whether you are looking for something special to get a dinner party under way or a quick idea to jazz up a mid-week supper, this selection of simple appetizers is all the inspiration you need.

The Amateur Gourmet or Great Vegetable Plot

The Amateur Gourmet

Author: Gini Anding

Gini Anding and Amy Page first met in a pastry shop on the main street of the Ile Saint-Louis in Paris. It was a chilly, rainy evening, and both were wearing the same navy blue raincoat and carrying identical black umbrellas. At the counter, they both ordered two slices of quiche Lorraine and four small palmiers. Simultaneously, they burst out laughing. While one is slightly shorter and plumper than the other, both are blondes and also Americans. "We could be taken for sisters!" one of them exclaimed.

From this chance encounter came a magical friendship and The Amateur Gourmet.

Sometimes in the world of fiction, a character takes off and the author loses control. So it is with Gini Anding and Amy Page in the Witness series of romantic mystery novels: Witness on the Quay (2005), Witness at the Bridge (2006), Witness in the Square (2006), and a work in progress, Witness by the Church. Amy is the protagonist in these novels, and she is writing a cookbook, a project that many of her friends thought she'd never finish because of her constant additions and revisions. Even her creator began to despair of having her find the last period. Fortunately, it just so happens that Gini shares Amy's love of cooking and interest in all things culinary. It was only natural that Gini take over and make Amy's cookbook real, proving once and for all that creations of the imagination exist in our concrete everyday reality.

New interesting textbook: Labour Market and Social Protection Reforms in International Perspective or First Aid in the Workplace

Great Vegetable Plot

Author: Sarah Raven

For cooks and gardeners who appreciate fresh produce but are short on time, The Great Vegetable Plot is an indispensable companion. Stunningly illustrated by award-winning garden photographer Jonathan Buckley.

Aimed at both the cook and the gardener, Sarah Raven's new guide to growing your own vegetables makes the most of labor-saving, time-efficient ideas. This is not a book about becoming self-sufficient, but about concentrating time and energy on varieties that are really worth growing. She demonstrates how to plan and plant your plot, recommends the best vegetables to grow and eat, and offers clear instructions on cultivating them with minimum effort and maximum reward. Ultimately, however, The Great Vegetable Plot is about pleasure--from the enjoyment of planting and growing your own produce to the priceless reward of having fresh vegetables just outside your door. Sarah Raven is one of the best and most original of the new generation of garden writers; among her previous books is The Cutting Garden.

For the Love of Food or Veggie Revolution

For the Love of Food: Recipes and Stories from the Chefs of the IACP

Author: International Association of Culinary Professional

The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is the largest and most prestigious international group of food professionals in existence, and the best of the best are found within its membership. Outstanding food writers, food photographers, culinary historians, marketing professionals, food manufacturers, and cooking teachers claim membership in the IACP. These people are recognized worldwide as authorities through their diligent work and their collective endeavors within the organization. One day a group of chefs and restaurateur members decided to step forward and make their expertise and passion known, too. And what more appropriate idea than to publish a cookbook featuring a collection of recipes, memories, and stories from this distinguished and diverse group?

Compiling recipes and stories from the chefs included here was a labor of love for everyone involved. The recipes were lovingly and lavishly prepared and photographed by food photographers and food stylists who are also members of the IACP. The end result: A compendium of visits inside the heads and kitchens of some of the most creative and talented chefs in the world.

Book about: Pot Pies or Southern Vegetable Cooking

Veggie Revolution: Smart Choices for a Healthy Body and a Healthy Planet

Author: Kneidel

For anyone' choosing a vegetarian diet or even thinking about it, Veggie Revolution provides a comprehensive look at the many reasons people cite for giving up meat. Although one of the most common motives is concern for animals, there are a number of other equally important reasons to become a vegetarian, including improving health, preserving the environment, and working toward a sustainable planet. More and more people interested in social consciousness are making deliberate dietary choices, and vegetarianism, in particular, is the ultimate form of grassroots activism. Once you've decided that the vegetarian lifestyle is for you, Veggie Revolution will make your entree into this new lifestyle even more delicious with numerous recipes that are sure to exceed your greatest expectations.

Publishers Weekly

This account of how one family has explored the connections between food, health, community and the environment may inspire others to look beyond stereotypes to discover the many dimensions of a vegetarian lifestyle. Writer/biologist Sally Kneidel and her college-age daughter, Sara Kate, have compiled more than 100 recipes along with preparation tips, nutritional guidance and advice on how to eat at restaurants and at other people's houses with ease. While much of the health information is now commonly known, the Kneidels' well-reasoned defense of vegetarianism, focusing on humane treatment of animals and the environment, is worth considering. They describe U.S. meat industry policies that affect animals, independent farmers and the environment; and the impact of factory farm practices on health and community relations. Particularly inspiring are Sara Kate's description of how food fosters community and social change in the grassroots village in Mexico where she worked, and the vegetarian co-op she co-formed, and brief interviews with young vegetarians. Best suited for young adults who are vegetarians or considering a vegetarian lifestyle, this work may also prove useful to parents of young vegetarians who want a more complete understanding of vegetarian nutrition and menu options. (Oct. 15) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

VOYA

There are many reasons why people are eating less meat-or none at all. This mother-and-daughter team tackles the topic with open minds and an admirable willingness to see other perspectives. The authors investigate the range of reasons why people choose vegetarianism. In straightforward, non-alarmist terms, they explore Earth's capacity to grow food, the costs-environmental and ethical-of factory farming, and the impact of a meat-heavy diet on people's health. The Kneidels visit factory farms-a relatively recent innovation-and independent farms where animals are raised in a more traditional manner. Likely readers will be predisposed towards vegetarianism, but this book is a well-rounded, although occasionally repetitive guide for those developing their philosophy of food. The grimmer scenes are handled thoughtfully; the authors do not shy away from the realities of factory farming but have compassion for farmers who are more or less trapped into this model of production. The Kneidels conclude that an organic diet including little or no meat is ideal, that obtaining food locally provides the greatest ecological bang for your buck, and that changing consumer habits and demands is the only way to transform current farming practices. Recipes with international scope will appeal to more practiced cooks. The bibliography, suggested reading and Internet resources will inspire those interested in further exploration and activism. Overall it is a thorough and readable introduction to the world of vegetarianism.

Library Journal

There are many reasons to become a vegetarian, and the Kneidels aim to inform readers about vegetarianism's positive impact on personal and planetary health. Unfortunately, they offer repetitive descriptions of their farm visits for research purposes rather than concise examples of farm conditions. In their understandable eagerness to convey the unhealthy nature of factory farm-produced meat, poultry, and eggs, they end up overwhelming the reader with information; most of the cooking data are readily available in other vegetarian cookbooks, e.g., those published by the Moosewood Collective. One valuable conclusion that the Kneidels draw is that eating locally produced foods, including meat and poultry, may have a more significant ecological impact than a traditional vegetarian diet would, owing to the decreased use of fossil fuels to transport food outside of its community of origin. While this is a good introduction to issues surrounding vegetarianism and the politics of meat production and consumption, complete with contemporary examples, other titles have done so more eloquently (Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation) or with better organization (Frances Moore Lapp 's Diet for a Small Planet). An optional purchase for public libraries.-Shelley Brown, Richmond P.L., British Columbia Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.