review: farm to fork & some fantasy

This was definitely a good weekend with a bonus Monday to curl up with some yummy books. I hope you and your loved ones are warm and safe. The penguins were surprised to wake up to 14-18 inches (depending where you stick the ruler). Please don’t blow away — it’s currently gusting 45-55 mph here!

I am taking advantage of the relative quiet to try to complete some work. When I finish my tasks for the day, I plan to curl up with some books and not spend the time writing the reviews I should be. This one has sat for a few weeks waiting for me to scribble something about it. I just keep turning to it for inspiration while I’m cooking instead of sitting and writing. I don’t think it is a book I would rush out and purchase, but one that is definitely useful to flip through now and then for inspiration.

Farm to Fork: Cooking Local, Cooking Fresh
by Emeril Lagasse

I happily picked this up from the Strand ARC shelf as the weather started to turn and I looked at my Green Market squash wondering if I was going to do anything other than roast it. As I try to cook more seasonal and local, I’m trying to find ways to keep both our taste buds and my booking from getting too deep in a habitual rut. Emeril’s book definitely helps with that.

Be warned: this is not a vegetarian book. It’s definitely a locovore book, if you are lucky to have fresh seafood and meats at your Market or at least to help you bridge the gap. I’ve mostly skipped over the meat recipes at this time, but I’m pretty sure there will be some that simple legume substitutions will work for.

The book is structures through the type of fruit, vegetable, or dairy product. Yes, there are standards such as roasted brussel sprouts/potatoes/choose-your-root-vege, but I found inspiration that may be due to my exploring new ways to cook (such as my pasta roller) winter vegetables such as a sweet potato ravioli.

I find this book most inspiring for the flavour/ingredient combinations Emeril uses. While I own The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, I often get overwhelmed by all the possibilities. Emeril has provided a very good starting place from which to expand and better enjoy all the fresh local items I might pick up.

Recent Fantasy Reads:
Dragon Wing (The Death Gate Cycle #1)
by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman

Rhapsody: Child of Blood (Symphony of Ages #1)
Prophecy: Child of Earth (Symphony of Ages #2)
by Elizabeth Haydon

I find it difficult to review the fantasy and science fiction that I read. These books are my escape. I enjoy long epic fantasy and really want to read through the entire world and corpus of works at least once. I should one day write up my thoughts on Pern, Valdemar, and the Ender’s World writings, as examples.

• Category: books