The cicadas are here. It's an almost unbearably-loud hum in the evenings. You know, the first few months I lived in cicada country I thought there was a hum somewhere in the power lines. Boy, was I wrong. When I first saw one of those suckers I realized a couple of things: First, I'm very happy to let them live in the trees. (I don't have to see them that way.) Second, well... If that infernal humming is the worst that those things can do to me, so be it. Let them hum. Now, almost a decade later, I welcome the sound. It's comforting, really. True, I prefer the quieter chirp of crickets and the glow of lightning bugs... but I'm okay with the cicadas. So long as there's not another plague while I live here.
I regret that I still haven't written the reviews I promised last time I posted my current reading list. Life has gotten in the way, and I've been trying to focus on keeping up with non-internet-related activities rather than writing several long summaries of the books I have on my shelf. That being said, I would like to highlight a few books I have found worthwhile in the hopes that you'll at least request them at your local library! Here goes:
Extra Virginity (Tom Mueller): This is a fantastic expose of apparently wide-spread fraud in the international olive oil industry. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and though I have been aware of the extra virgin olive oil scandals for quite some time I only just got to this book over the past six months. I highly recommend. (Moral of the story: If you buy cheap oil, you're probably getting what you pay for. Spend as much as you can afford, and on well-reputed labels. Mueller's blog has a growing database of olive oils that have checked out.)
The River Cottage cookbooks (Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall): I purchased The River Cottage Meat Book a couple of months ago, and I must say: It is a fantastic resource if you're into local, sustainable meats. There is so much information regarding buying, storing, and preparing pastured meats (and game!) in this book that you'd be hard-pressed not to find at least half the information relevant to you, even if you don't want to make the offal recipes. (Please do, though. Eating nose-to-tail gets you both the most nutrients and reduces waste.) I got the book for about $25 on Amazon, off of the $40 retail price. I have got to tell you--I'd have paid retail. It's that good. I also checked out The River Cottage Cookbook at our library, and the series' family-friendly cookbook. They're all well over 400 pages of instruction, tips, techniques, and flavors. I want to find a copy of the fish book, as I'm not incredibly confident in my fish-cooking skills.
The Les Halles Cookbook (Anthony Bourdain): Yeah okay, so this one is decidedly not family friendly. If you want to keep this within arm's reach of your children, please reconsider. Bourdain, as always, drops a number of f-bombs. I'm not bothered by this, really, and generally enjoy Bourdain's writing style. It's refreshing to have such a conversational book full of truly useful information and recipes. I generally love French cooking (not haute cuisine--the peasant stuff), so this was right up my alley as far as interests go. I suggest you check it out, unless you're offended by strong language. While I'm at it--have you read Kitchen Confidential? No? Do it.
The Food of Spain (Claudia Roden): NERD ALERT! Seriously my dear readers-- If you enjoy history and food politics as much as I do, and like eating Spanish cuisine (or even if you prefer one of these things to the others), you must read this book. I don't care if you ever make a single recipe from Roden's book; there's just so much interesting information in there to digest. Roden delves deeply into the history of Spanish cuisine, from the Romans to the Celts to the Moors, Jews, and then the Inquisition. Her recipes look superb, and from those I've tried personally I can say with confidence you won't be disappointed. She writes about Spanish regional cooking, traditional beverages, and more. This one, like the River Cottage books, is extremely long and well-worth your time. There are also gorgeous photographs of the Spanish countryside and architecture.
I've got a couple more I'm going through right now. If I remember I'll give a quick run-down before I have to return the books to the library. In the meantime, my five-year-old has figured out that she can blow through chapter books. (I'm a proud mama; please indulge my little bragging session!) She's about halfway through Charlotte's Web and has finished about five books in the last week. If you've got any suggestions for long-ish chapter books that are emotionally-appropriate for an almost-six-year-old, please let me know. We've got the Clementine and Ramona books on our list for the summer, but I have a feeling I'll be needing more.
What's on your reading list this summer--food-related or otherwise? I'd love to know!
, a book about which I learned from Christina over at the From Scratch Club. (If you're not familiar with FSC, I'd like to take a moment and recommend you head over to check it out here. It's a group of women in the Albany/Saratoga Springs area of New York state that focuses on local and sustainable food.) I put Adler's book on my reading list, thinking that I'd finally get around to reading it sometime during the summer. I ended up bumping [the book] to the front of the list because of the rave reviews I kept reading around the internet. Truth be told? I'm not sure why I didn't go read it immediately. It is fabulous and inspiring and I think every home cook should read it--especially those just starting out on a cooking journey who feel overwhelmed by it all.
series that I mentioned in my previous post. Adler's book is long enough to satiate your hunger for words, but short enough so as not to be overwhelming. Please go read [her] book. And maybe give a copy to a loved one who wants to cook but doesn't know where to start.