Review: Tasting History, by Max Miller with Ann Volkwein

 

Tasting History, by Max Miller with Ann Volkwein. Published 2023 by S&S. Cooking.

Do you watch the YouTube channel Tasting History? You really should, because it's awesome. A couple of times per week,  host Max Miller cooks up some dish or other from the past. Could be anything. He peppers his demo with historical background and stories; it's super fun and Max is adorable.

He's been running the channel since 2020 and now he has his first cookbook. The book sorts recipes geographically rather than the more traditional way, by course, and that's fun. Most if not all of the recipes appeared on the channel and the book includes some helpful information about sourcing some of the more specialized ingredients and elements. There's a lot to enjoy here.

My husband wanted to dive right in when the book arrived shortly after its publication date and he made the gingerbread recipe.

Not traditional a traditional or modern gingerbread cookie, this is really ginger bread, made with stale bread crumbs and a lot of honey. The finished product is more like a weird candy or unusual dessert, best eaten bite-sized as the flavor is really strong and sweet. 

Glancing over the book, most of the recipes are pretty approachable but I would definitely read ahead of time if you plan to make something and keep an open mind about the results.

I can't wait to make more recipes from this unusual and delightful cookbook.

FTC Disclosure: I did not receive this book for review. I purchased it from Bookshop.org.

Pin It and Do It! The Results

So here are the results of my Pin It and Do It Challenge!

I set out to do three things from my pinboards.

First up was reading The Secret Garden, which I had pinned to my Books I Want to Read board. That's one! Here's my review.

Next up was a recipe I pinned to my Food board called Bourbon Chicken. You can see the recipe at You're Gonna Bake It After All. I forgot to take pictures but it was delicious. Like, make it every week delicious. I tweaked the recipe a little; I used dark brown sugar and plain vinegar because they were what I had on hand. But it was fabulous!

Finally, I made an owl!

I pinned this to my Crafts board and you can find the pattern and more information at You Go Girl. I love crafting with wool felt and I look forward to making more of these, and more felt ornaments from my craft board. I love the owls that feature embroidery and different color schemes, too.

So go visit LoveLaughterInsanity.com for more Pin It and Do It Challenge results and thanks to Trish for running this great challenge!

Weekend Cooking: REVIEW: Alice's Tea Cup: Delectable Recipes for Scones, Cakes, Sandwiches, and More from New York's Most Whimsical Tea Spot, by Haley Fox

Alice's Tea Cup: Delectable Recipes for Scones, Cakes, Sandwiches, and More from New York's Most Whimsical Tea Spot, by Haley Fox. Published 2010 by William Morrow Cookbooks.

I'm starting to develop a mini-collection of cookbooks from my favorite New York City restaurants, and the latest addition is the wonderful Alice's Tea Cup from the equally wonderful eponymous restaurant and tea shop.

Alice's Tea Cup is a small chain of eateries in NYC; I've visited two, several times, and it's just one of my favorite places. Ultra-girly with an Alice in Wonderland theme, big girls (and boys) can enjoy wonderful sandwiches, soups, salads and incredible baked goods, along with teas from their phone-book-sized tea menu. The cookbook includes a variety of their most notable offerings, including Lapsong Souchang Chicken, various salads and of course their incredible, unforgettable scones.

 I made the Mixed Berry Scones, which uses their basic scone recipe but handfuls of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. They were delicious! I would make them again in a heartbeat and look forward to trying more recipes!

The recipe was easy to follow and sensible, and of course the resulting scones were fantastic. The recipe did not give the yield but I made about 13 scones from one batch. They took longer to cook than the book said they would (17 minutes versus 12) but I think the reason is that I baked all the scones on one sheet rather than breaking them up into two batches. A friend was on her way over and I didn't have time to bake the batches separately! But they came out perfect and since there is no egg in the recipe, it was just a matter of cooking them long enough for the ingredients to settle together.

I highly recommend the book if you like to make sweet treats. I haven't tried any of the savory recipes (yet) but I can't imagine they're anything but wonderful. It's a great way to get a little taste of New York in your own kitchen.

Weekend Cooking is hosted at Beth Fish Reads.

REVIEW: Kosher by Design Lightens Up, by Susie Fishbein

Kosher by Design Lightens Up, by Susie Fishbein. Published 2008 by ArtScroll Mesorah Publications. Nonfiction. Cooking.

Like many people, I love to cook and bake, and what's more fun than experimenting with a new cookbook? And like many women, I'm primarily responsible for providing meals for my family, so I appreciate cookbooks that offer practical advice, doable recipes and of course- delicious food! Well, I'm happy to say that Susie Fishbein's latest delivers on all counts.

First of all the book is beautiful to look at and practical to handle in the kitchen. Packaged in a hardcover binding that lies flat on the counter, each recipe is presented on its own page with a brief introduction detailing its nutritional benefit and accompanied by a color photograph of the finished dish. Fishbein also makes note of each recipe's kosher category- meat, dairy or parve (neutral). At the beginning, she provides some brief guidelines on kashrut (kosher laws) and teams up with dietitian Bonnie Taub-Dix to provide nutritional tips and definitions of different terms related to food and nutrition.

Fishbein has written an entire series of books dedicated to kosher cooking- past titles include Kosher by Design Short on Time, Kosher by Design Entertains, Passover by Design and many more- so she's experienced when it comes to creating appealing and popular kosher food. I tried two of the recipes in this book- the Garlic Burgers and the Coconut-Lime Tart- and found both of them to be easy to prepare and delicious. Fishbein takes advantage of a wide variety of cuisines and ingredients. She adapts ideas from Korea, Greece, Mexico among others, as well as including traditional favorites like cheesecake and the Reuben.

I only have one quibble with Kosher by Design Lightens Up. Nowhere does Fishbein include nutritional information with the recipes, such as calorie count, fat and carbohydrate content, or other information that many people interested in a healthy diet would like to know. In her introduction Fishbein says that this book "is not about numbers or nutritional analysis. It is about becoming a more educated eater." The two are not mutually exclusive, and healthy eating isn't about guesswork or about trusting a cookbook author to know what's best. Family cooks need information at their disposal as well as reassurances, so they can make the best-educated decisions possible for themselves and their family. These days, basic nutritional information can be found in almost any cookbook (or cooking magazine) you pick up. I don't think there's any good reason to exclude it from this volume.

Overall though I think Kosher by Design Lightens Up is a useful and appealing volume. I would make just about anything here with confidence and I think the book would be useful for both families that keep kosher and for those that don't. I find it to be a welcome addition to my collection, my kitchen and my dinner table.

Rating: BACKLIST

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for review.