Blogcritics Category: Books: Drinks and Food

Book Review: Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson

Maggie Ball — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:41:49 EST

The Manolo Blahnik of cookbooks: lavish and practical at the same time.
I must confess here that I’m one of those bah humbug types who is probably going to be visited by Jacob Marley in chains one of these day. Christmas to me is mega-fuss, greedy children (mine mainly), overwrought days of forced shopping, and too much of everything. Having said that, I’m inclined to do things like make my own pickles...

Book Review: God Made Food and God Made My Body by Michael Vander Klipp

Jennifer Bogart — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:42:56 EST

Finally! Bright, photograph-based board books that glorify God while introducing simple vocabulary.
It’s never too early to point your children toward God as creator by using examples found in the world around them. The God Made... series of tiny board books is a sweet and irresistible introduction that does just that by introducing first words to toddlers while sharing God’s role as creator with them.Weighing in at 14 pages each and...

Interview with Entertaining Guru and Author Patricia Mendez

Dorothy Thompson — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:56:25 EDT

"Hosting casual entertaining is a gift that you give to others."
Patricia Mendez has catered and coordinated special events in the Los Angeles area since the early 1990’s. Her experience also includes coordinating a Mothers of Preschoolers community group for three years and working with women of all ages as a Director of Women’s Ministries for eight years. She met many “new nesters” who...

Book Review: Waiter Rant by The Waiter

Alyse Wax — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 17:36:49 EDT

If you were never a waiter, you probably won't identify with this book.
I was really hoping Waiter Rant was going to be more dishy than it turned out to be. Based on the anonymous blog of the same name, Waiter Rant talks about the arrogant customers and insane restaurant owners, all from the cynical viewpoint of The Waiter.I have not read the blog, but the book version of Waiter Rant is a mish-mosh of anecdotes,...

Book Review: The Compassionate Carnivore - Or, How To Keep Animals Happy, Save Old MacDonald's Farm, Reduce Your Hoofprint, And Still Eat Meat By Catherine Friend

Ruthie — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:34:48 EDT

Friend raises animals for food and has a relationship with them while they are alive.
“This book is not a declaration of war against farmers, since I am one. It's not a plea for everyone to become a vegetarian, since I will never be one.” What Catherine Friend does with The Compassionate Carnivore is show readers how they can eat meat and still be farm animal friendly. She explains different ways of raising animals,...

Book Review: Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Wine, Food, and Family by Sergio Esposito

Lou Novacheck — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:00:44 EDT

�Wine is sunlight held together by water.� � Galileo Galilei
If you’re a wine lover, but have never tried good Italian wines, I promise you that by the time you’ve finished Sergio Esposito's Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Wine, Food, and Family, if not before, you’ll be champing at the bit to taste a good Italian wine.If you’re not a wine lover, I’ll make you the same...

Book Review: Dump Your Trainer by Ashley Marriott and Marc L. Paulsen, M.D.

Alexandria Jackson — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:51:39 EDT

Do you really need to pay someone to count for you?
Dump Your Trainer is written by two personal trainers, Marriott and Paulsen. The premise of the book is that, unless you're a celebrity or a professional athlete who can afford to spend $2,000-$4,000 per week, you're just wasting your money on a personal trainer if your goal is to lose weight.The main reasons according to the authors...

Book Review: French Women Don't Get Fat - The Secret of Eating for Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano

Lynda Lippin — Thu, 6 Mar 2008 20:21:05 EST

Guiliano believes, and I have to agree, that even in America we can lose weight and enjoy ourselves as the French do.
While not a new book, French Women Don't Get Fat is such a cultural phenomenon in the US that I was very excited to have the chance to review the newly slimmed down paperback version with added recipes. Many of my recent diet articles have focused on simply eating less. Instead of deprivation or weird food restrictions (no bread, no fat, no...

TV Review: The Biggest Loser

Alexandria Jackson — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 21:37:00 EST

The Temptation Round encourages bingeing.
This is the fifth season of The Biggest Loser, a show where competitors try to lose the most weight in order to receive the $250,000 prize. Alison Sweeney hosts the series, and contestants work out under the supervision of professional trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels. This season, teams of two are competing against each other rather than...

Book Review: Educating Peter by Lettie Teague

Marisa DVari — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:50:25 EST

Yearn for an easy way to learn everything about wine?
Are you curious to learn more about wine but afraid to ask? You are not alone. A few decades ago, many Americans who didn’t know their Burgundy from their Bordeaux felt intimidated by scary, middle-aged, male sommeliers who approached tables at fine dining restaurants with a silver tastevin (a small, very shallow silver cup or saucer...