Book Description
When poisoned bon-bons end the life of a town trouble-maker, candy shop owner Abby Shaw finds herself trapped in an extremely sticky situation.
Customer Reviews:
Good book for cozy readers.......2007-04-25
This second book in the Candy Shop series by Sammi Carter was even better than the first. I like the little town of Paradise where Abby has inherited Divinity, the candy shop her Aunt left to her. We are becoming more familiar with the citizens of Paradise and the town in this second installment of the series.
The story is about Savannah who comes back to Paradise with her husband after being away for many years. Savannah is not remembered fondly by the people in Paradise, because of her pranks and behavior when she lived there. Since Abby has also been away for years before coming back to run Divinity, she relates to Savannah. After winning a candy contest, Savannah disappears. Abby organizes a search for her. The story is well written and makes you want to continue to read late into the night. My only problem was the ending. We are left knowing what happened, but we don't know why. Many loose ends are tied up by Abby saying we will never know what really happened. The unanswered questions kept me from giving this book five stars, but I did enjoy it and plan to continue with the series. This is a light cozy read that cozy lovers will enjoy.
Another great read.......2006-11-03
Again, this is a great new author to me. I enjoyed both books and look forward to the next one. They are a light hearted mystery.
Chocolate Dipped Death .......2006-07-19
Fun book with recipes I really enjoyed this mystery good writer.
Death by Chocolate.......2006-06-05
In the 2nd book in the Candy Shop Mystery Series, it appears as though Abby Shaw is not the only person to return to her roots in Paradise, Colorado after a long absence. Town pariah, Savannah Horne, has returned to enter Divinity candy shop's annual contest. When she comes in first place in the semi-final round, more than a few feathers are ruffled. It seems that Savannah is widely despised for cheating with several "attached" men, and her general attitude of nastiness hasn't earned her many friends. Most people in town are eager to see her leave, and when she ends up dead, the list of suspects keeps growing by the minute. Topping the list is Abby's cousin, Karen, who found her husband having drinks with Savannah at a local bar. Karen has been acting strangely lately, and Abby fears that Karen has murdered Savannah over an event in their past. Abby begins to investigate, hoping to clear her cousin's name, and hopes to find the real murderer in the process.
This series is a light, fun read. I enjoy reading about the aspects of running a candy shop, and missed a bit of that from the previous book. More of this book was spent outside the actual shop, and I missed some of the information regarding making the candy and running a business. Beyond that, the mystery was good. I do agree with a previous reviewer that thought the ending was rushed, and what information "Jason" knew was not fully explained at the end. I do look forward to more books in this series, and am interested to see the relationship between Abby and Jawarski develop.
The first book in the series is called "Candy Apple Dead". Enjoy!
When Chocolate Isn't Good.......2006-04-12
The Annual Confectionary Competition has become a staple of winter in the small town of Paradise, Colorado. Abby Shaw is doing her best to carry on the tradition. As the new owner of the candy shop Divinity, it is her responsibility to run the weekend. Things are running okay until Savannah Horne arrives.
Savannah hasn't been in town since high school, but memories are long in Paradise. When she was here, she made life miserable for everyone. Twenty years later, Abby thinks that Savannah might have changed, but the rest of the town isn't ready to forgive.
When Savannah wins the first night of the contest, Evie Rice is furious. The two women used to fight over everything in high school, and neither is quite ready to let the old rivalry go.
The next morning, however, Savannah disappears. After a day of searching, Abby finds her body. The list of suspects is long, including the obvious like Evie and Savannah's sister, who is hardly upset at her sibling's death.
Also on the suspect list is Abby's cousin Karen. Karen has been acting rather strange since Savannah showed up the first night and the evidence seems to keep pointing to her. While Abby had no intention of getting involved, she quickly determines that she will have to find the real killer to keep her cousin out of jail. Abby's resolve is only reinforced when the case takes a very personal turn.
Meanwhile, tensions in the family are brewing over Divinity. Abby inherited the shop from her aunt, and some of the cousins think they had more of a right to own the shop. Can Abby keep the peace and the store?
This is the second book in the series, and another good light read. The plot did seem to bog down a little during the search for Savannah phase since it's obvious to the reader what the outcome will be. But once the body is found, things kick into high gear. The story weaves all over the place with one red herring after another until Abby finally puts everything together. While at first I thought the ending was great, the more I've thought about it, there are several loose ends that were left unresolved in the rush to finish things.
In the first book, Abby was struggling with her recent divorce and seemed a bit harsh at times. She's really smoothed out here and is a very likable heroine. The family story lines are interesting and add depth to the story and Abby. I'm interested to see where the author goes with these plot lines.
My biggest gripe is a matter of timing. There are several times when Abby seems to live through the same time twice, having left the shop in late afternoon then suddenly doing something at 2 PM, for example. This is something that really bugs me, and it happened several times. It doesn't affect the timeline of the story, but it did pull me out of an otherwise well written book.
The inclusion of six recipes will just be icing on the cake for readers with a sweet tooth.
While not perfect, this book is still enjoyable.
Product Description
A magical story every child is sure to love. Young Abigail wakes each night, dons her princess crown, and travels to a magical glade to oversee the great unicorn race. Brilliant illustrations bring this beautiful story to life.
Customer Reviews:
A Magical Book.......2007-05-15
Each page of this exceptional book is magic. Along with colorful unicorns, your child will love the elves, fairies, and the pixies. The story is enchanting; the illustrations are sprinkled with stardust.
A story to celebrate a child's imagination.......2007-05-06
Reviewed by Stephanie, Parish (age 3) and Isaac (age 1) Rollins for Reader Views (4/07)
Both Parish and Isaac immediately were drawn to "Unicorn Races." They think the unicorns are horses, and Isaac has been trying to make horse noises ever since reading this.
The story is about the mystical nature of a child's dreams. The illustrations capture this well. The illustrations are dreamy. Parish loves the little girl's dress. She thinks it is an Easter dress, because it is so special. She now thinks she needs a magic wand. I suppose I will have to cover a wooden spoon with aluminum foil and sparkles just to satisfy her.
Each page sparkles with stars and magic. There are special treats each child will love. A few pages have a buffet table of cakes, cookies, and ice-cream sundaes.
In "Unicorn Races," Abigail pretends to go to sleep. As soon as her mother closes her bedroom door, she dresses in her special dress, princess shoes, and crown. She grabs her magic wand and waits for her unicorn. The unicorn flies her to the unicorn races where they also have a feast of sweets. She starts the race; the unicorns race across the sky. Fairies, elves and Abigail cheer the unicorns on. Then they all enjoy their treats. The unicorn returns her to her bed for a few hours of sleep
"Do you like this book?"
"I like this dress. It is an Easter dress."
"Do you know what her wand does?"
"It creates magic."
"What do you think of the pictures?"
"Horses. Look at the cakes. MMMM...."
I had to explain unicorns to Parish. Isaac is making horse sounds and pointing to the pictures of the horses.
"Should we keep this book or give it away?"
"I want to keep it."
"Unicorn Races" is cute book that will delight preschoolers as well as beginning readers. All the words used are familiar and easily sounded out. First and second grade girls will love this book. The colors are a bit too girly for boys. Parish and Isaac recommend it.
Magical Illustrations.......2007-04-06
Linda Crockett's magical illustrations create a comforting environment in which to escape from the pressures of reality. Unicorn Races is an enchanting story about a girl named Abigail who is transformed into a princess. As if in a dream, she is transported to a land of cookies and ice cream sundaes in a beautiful forest. The strawberry icing on the cupcakes looks delicious and everyone is eager to start the races so they can attend the party.
"In a flash, the six majestic unicorns quickly bolted from the clearing. Like a rainbow after a midsummer's shower, the colorful beasts stretched across the shadowy skyline. The princess watched in astonishment as they gracefully took flight."
As the unicorns race through the sky and run through the ocean waves, they finally run past the finished line and the party can begin.
This beautiful book features a padded cover, sturdy binding and page after page of lavender, rose and sapphire illustrations. The coloring used in the art creates a magical setting filled with sparkles like each page has been sprinkled with fairy dust.
~The Rebecca Review
Imaginative, colorful, a real winner for young children.......2007-03-20
The first thing that catches your eye with this book has to be the rich, colorful illustrations on every page. Combine that with an imaginative story that children, and especially young girls, are sure to love and you have a real winner of a book. In this story Abigail spends each night in a clearing in a magical forest where unicorns race across the night sky. After the race and some well deserved treats she is returned home for her night's rest. Beautifully illustrated and sure to keep the attention of young children, Unicorn Races is a recommended read.
Sweet Dreams, Indeed.......2007-03-17
A night hasn't gone by in nearly a month that our child hasn't pulled this from the stack to read. She is also inclined to use the post-story "quiet time" she has to thumb through the book herself. The story is sweet and captures the magical imagination of every young girl. Who hasn't dreamed of being a princess? spending time with the fairies and elves? The pastel illustrations add a lot to the story. It's nice to have a princess book that uses imagination, not television characters, to drive its fantasy. The book offers a fairy tale that princesses will love to hear over and over. Parental readers (who WILL be reading the book over and over) can easily change the color of the winning Unicorn, as the illustration doesn't segregate the winner from the crowd.
Average customer rating:
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Unicorns of Balinor (#7 & #8)
Mary Stanton
Manufacturer: Apple (Scholastic)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Unicorns of Balinor | Fantasy & Adventure | Series | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000LJV10I |
Product Description
Books 7 and 8 in series: "Night of the Shifter's Moon" and "Shadows Over Balinor". Individual paperbacks, no slipcase.
Average customer rating:
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Unicorns of Balinor (#1, #2, #3, & #4)
Mary Stanton
Manufacturer: Apple (Scholastic)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Unicorns of Balinor | Fantasy & Adventure | Series | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000LJT6FK |
Product Description
First 4 books of series: #1 "The Road to Balinor"; #2 "Sunchaser's Quest"; #3 "Valley of Fear" and #4 By Fire, By Moonlight". Individual paperback books, no slipcase.
Customer Reviews:
The Were-riders of High Hallack.......2006-08-11
"Year of the Unicorn" is my favorite Witch World novel among the many five-star novels in this series by Lifetime Grand Master of Fantasy, Andre Norton (Alice Mary North). Each setting, each character is illuminated with clear description and color, like scenes from a medieval Book of Hours. Even though I first read this book in 1965, I can still close my eyes and see Gillan and the ancient Dame Alousan gathering herbs in the high-walled garden of Norstead Abbey. I can see the twelve and one high-born maids riding forth from the Abbey - the twelve and one maids who were promised as brides to the Were-riders of the Waste.
The heroine, Gillan realizes that she is not meant for the quiet life of her vowed companions. She possesses a magic that is forbidden to the goodly Dames, and a restless curiosity that is stifled behind the stone walls of the Abbey. And so she rides forth, disguised as the bride who had threatened to kill herself rather than marry a Were-rider. In order to survive, Gillan must rely on her unschooled magic to separate illusion from reality, and true love from the snarling masks of the Were pack.
"Year of the Unicorn" is a grand adventure, a love story, a coming-of-age novel set like a jewel amidst the fantastical Dark and Light of Norton's Witch World. `Unicorn' veers away from the `mainstream' WW adventures of the Tregarth family ("Witch World", "Web of the Witch World", "Three Against the Witch World", etc.), but it is perfect in its own setting (the Wastes and Dales of High Hallack), and in its own right.
a look at the Gregg Press hardcover edition.......2004-12-20
The Gregg Press hardcover edition (0-8398-2356-8) is approximately 6"x8", dark blue with gold lettering with Andre Norton's signature on the cover. Published in 1977. The dustjacket is by Jack Gaughan and (except for title changes) is used on all of the Witch World titles that Gregg Press published. The endleaves have 2 maps of the Witch World by Barbi Johnston. Interior B&W art by Jack Gaughan & Alice Phalen. This novel was first published by Ace in 1965. It occurs just after the defeat of the Hounds of Alizon's invasion of High Halleck. A story of exile, illusion, marriage, shapeshifting magic and alliances.
My favorite Witch World Novel.......2001-01-24
"Year of the Unicorn" is my favorite Witch World novel among the many five-star novels in this series by Lifetime Grand Master of Fantasy, Andre Norton (Alice Mary North). Each setting, each character is illuminated with clear description and color, like scenes from a medieval Book of Hours. Even though I first read this book in 1965, I can still close my eyes and see Gillan and the ancient Dame Alousan gathering herbs in the high-walled garden of Norstead Abbey. I can see the twelve and one high-born maids riding forth from the Abbey - the twelve and one maids who were promised as brides to the Were-riders of the Waste....
"Year of the Unicorn" is a grand adventure, a love story, a coming-of-age novel set like a jewel amidst the fantastical Dark and Light of Norton's Witch World. 'Unicorn' veers away from the 'mainstream' WW adventures of the Tregarth family ("Witch World", "Web of the Witch World", "Three Against the Witch World", etc.), but it is perfect in its own setting (the Wastes and Dales of High Hallack), and in its own right. This is Norton at the top of her form.
One of the best in the Witch World series.......1997-06-24
The courageous Gillian changes places with a distraught bride-to-be, in order to escape from the dull, unvarying routine of the convent. Little does she know that the groom-to-be is a were-rider. When his comrades discover that Gillian is part witch, they create a fetch, a false Gillian to ride with the pack. The true, shadow Gillian must follow the were-riders through many harrowing, supernatural adventures in order to become whole. Strongly plotted, believable heroine, and one of Norton's strangest and most beautifully detailed settings
Average customer rating:
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Unicorns of Balinor (#5 & #6)
Mary Stanton
Manufacturer: Scholastic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Unicorns of Balinor | Fantasy & Adventure | Series | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000LJTHAO |
Product Description
Books 5 & 6 of series: "Search for the Star" and "Secrets of the Scepter". Individual paperbacks, no slipcase.
Average customer rating:
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My Unicorn Has Gone Away: Life, Death, Grief And Living in the Years of AIDS
Robert J. L. Publicover
Manufacturer: Powder House Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
AIDS | Disorders & Diseases | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Social Services & Welfare | Poverty | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Internal Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books | Cardiology | Critical Care | Endocrinology & Metabolism | Gastroenterology | General | Hematology | Hepatology | Infectious Disease | Nephrology | Neurology | Oncology | Pulmonary | Rheumatology | Urology
ASIN: 0963475908 |
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Customer Reviews:
Do not fight in here...do not fight in here.......2006-04-23
Every time I listen to this it breaks my heart that I can't see the actual film of it. It's hard to believe that they actually destroyed this and still have "Tomb of the Cybermen", and the Dominators. When I first heard this I hated Patrick Troughton's Doctor he was so cold. I always heard how lovable and funny his incarnation of the doctor was, I couldn't believe how he helped the Daleks trick and use Jamie ,his companion, for their experiments. He hurt Jamie several times in this story. I later changed my feelings towards this doctor when I finally heard the rest of the story. The desperation in the Doctors voice after Jamie tells the him not to touch him and that when all of this over they're finished. Jamie accusing the Doctor of only caring for himself, and the Doctor telling Jamie does he really believe it was easy for him to put him through all this? The Doctor getting the Daleks to destroy each other with the human factor they used Jamie's emotions to get and the very first appearance of the Dalek emperor. This was good. Tom Baker is still my favorite but I'm in love with Troughton's doctor.
Customer Reviews:
Great Work!.......2007-03-27
This is a masterful work of novelization. This story was supposed to be the last appearance of the Daleks on Doctor Who, because the creator of the Daleks, Terry Nation, wanted to start a series with them in America. The series didn't pan out, so the Docter's arch-enemies returned to where they became famous. This is also the story that Patrick Troughton ( the second Doctor)said he would return to play in a movie. John Peel used is great resources as a fan and historian of the program to get the most out of the retelling of this seven episode story of which only one episode survives. The story travels from London of 1960s to the English Coast of the 1860s to the Daleks home planet of Skaro to reach the final destruction of the Docter's greatest foes. It would not be the last Docter would see of the Daleks however, being a time traveler would meet the wicked creatures several times in wanderings through time and space.
How the Daleks met their final end.......2004-04-08
Like its cousin, The Power Of The Daleks, the novelization for Evil Of The Daleks was also written by John Peel and is a story that's incomplete in TV form (except Episode 2). However, this is a very significant story in the Doctor Who canon, as this sees the very end of the Daleks. At least that's what it was meant, as Dalek creator Terry Nation was looking to market his creations in America, hence this story. Like the Power novel, is written so that it gives depth into the characters. This book is more effective, as there aren't many supporting characters that there were in Power.
Following their adventures at Gatwick Airport, the Doctor and his companion Jamie are shocked to see someone steal the TARDIS. The Doctor is suspicious. Who would want to steal a time machine that has the outward appearance of an outdated British telephone box? "...whoever took it must have known exactly what they were stealing. Which means they must know who I am." he says.
His suspicions prove right, as he and Jamie are whisked off to Victorian England, 2 July 1866. They meet Edward Waterfield, a professor, who with his financial backer and benefactor, the leonine bearded Theodore Maxtible, are under the thrall of the Daleks, who have kidnapped Waterfield's daughter Victoria.
"The conquest of humanity has eluded us. The Daleks must know why." The Doctor's task is to discover the human factor. To that end, he works at a series of instruments recording Jamie's thoughts on a capsule, as he sets out to rescue Victoria. "It is for you... to select the major emotions and thought processes to make up the human factor," he is told. Once finished, the factor will be transferred to the Daleks so they will become unbeatable, something the Doctor would rather die than do, but the Daleks have his time machine, plus he doesn't want to endanger Victoria's life, despite not having met her. The Doctor seems to sum up the kind of enlightened person he is when he tells the fiance of Maxtible's daughter, "I am not a student of human nature. I am a professor of a much wider academy, of which the human being is merely a part." His cleverness comes in at times when it looks like he's at a disadvantage, which makes the Second Doctor, with his dark Beatles mop-top, and impish smile, come alive.
Jamie's nobility and bravery is one of the highlights Examples of the human factor are given by Jamie's rescue of Kemel, the muscular 6 and a half foot mute Turkish strongman initially told that Jamie is a murderer and to stop him. Kemel realizes his being deceived and aids Jamie in his quest.
The reason I wish this story were available in TV form is that Daleks are seen acting human, calling the Doctor "friend" and playing trains with him. Another is the image of seeing the Daleks respond not with "I obey" but "Why?" That is what differentiates Daleks from humans, blind obedience versus questioning authority.
Two things are in variance. The other is the timing of this story to other Dalek stories. Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks and John Peel agree that this story takes place after the Dalek Masterplan of 4000 AD, with Peel placing his novel more than a thousand years after that adventure. Yet other reference books place the scenes on Skaro either between the 19th and 22nd century, or in the case of History of the Universe, around 2966 AD. And Maxtible's death is not detailed in the novel, being in variance to how he dies in the TV version.
One major important thing reinforced in the novel from Terry Nation and John Peel's history of the Daleks book is that the Emperor Dalek here is NOT Davros, but the Dalek Prime, the Gold Dalek who experimented himself to become an immobile, grossly mutated creature that became pure mentality and needed a support system. Another great novelization by John Peel.
An excellent novelization of a top-notch Doctor adventure.......2004-01-15
There is no doubt that the Daleks are the most popular and in some ways frightening enemy that the Doctor has ever encountered in his very long career. This story surpasses the original episodes in some ways, as it is not hamstrung by the budget limitations and technology of a BBC production of the 1960s but can take advantage of our "theatre of the mind", so to speak, and the author has taken the time to delve fairly deeply into the characters as well.
Here we actually get to see what made the Daleks truly dangerous, both in technology and in their intelligence. The Emperor Dalek devises a truly terrifying plan to simultaneously rid itself of both the Doctor and the interference of humanity, while at the same time making use of the Doctor himself to advance the plan. Multiple layers of deception even trick the Doctor into very nearly outsmarting himself.
This is one of the earlier adventures featuring Jamie, the longest-running and most popular male companion ever. The young Scotsman is well portrayed in this novel, unlike others that often make him out to be stupid, overly clueless, or sometimes even incompetent. Jamie is not stupid, and is within his limitations an exceedingly capable young man. He demonstrates this -- and in fact, his demonstration is critical to the plots on both sides.
The writing is well paced, the characters clearly drawn, and the adventure proceeds with smooth and increasingly powerful pacing. This is one Doctor Who novel which belongs on any fan's shelf, and which can in fact stand on its own in any science-fiction collection. HIGHLY recommended. "EXTERMINATE!"
The "last" Dalek story.......2000-10-20
The second last of the Target adaptation of Doctor Who stories, and the last of a TV serial. At the time the story was broadcast, back in 1967, it was intended to be the last ever Dalek serial in Doctor Who (Terry Nation had hoped to have a standalone Dalek series produced in America).
Like 'The Power of the Daleks', this adaptation is by John Peel and benefits from a larger page count than the general run of Target adaptations. This allows Mr.. Peel to explore the motivations of the different characters, which increases the enjoyment of the read.
Following on directly from 'The Faceless Ones', the TARDIS has been stolen by persons unknown from Gatwick Airport. Following leads which the Doctor believes were deliberately left for them, he and Jamie end up at an antique store run by Edward Waterfield. The antiques at this shop appear to be both authentic and brand-new.
As it turns out, Waterfield is an agent for the Daleks and he takes the Doctor and Jamie back to the 1860s, his own time, where the Daleks force the Doctor to conduct experiments on Jamie to discover the Human Factor, which they believe is what has allowed the humans to defeat them in the past.
The climax of this story occurs on the Daleks' home planet, Skaro, and introduces the Emperor Dalek, the ruler of the Dalek race and its empire.
A decent size adaptation which allows the reader the opportunity to sink their teeth into a juicy story, which includes a few twists and turns which may take those who don't know the storyline a few surprises.
Daleks are evil......but good........1998-06-27
After reading POTD , found another Dalek book called EOTD. After finishing this book ,i found that this was even better then Power. Peel is great at Novelizions and this is his best. The Doctor is looking for his Tardis with has been stolen. In the end he finds that the daleks have taken it and he must obey them or die. The Plot of this book is full of suspense and is one of the best Patrick Troughton stores there was but only the 2nd episode out of 7 is left.Well done mr.Peel.
Average customer rating:
- Don't fight in here.....Don't fight in here.
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Doctor Who - The Evil of the Daleks (BBC Radio Presents - The Missing Stories)
Bbc
Manufacturer: BBC Enterprises Ltd, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing a Div of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
General
| Nonfiction
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Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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| Audiobooks
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ASIN: 0553471643
Release Date: 1993-05-01 |
Customer Reviews:
Don't fight in here.....Don't fight in here........2006-04-24
Every time I listen to this it breaks my heart that I can't see the actual film of it. It's hard to believe that they actually destroyed this and still have "Tomb of the Cybermen", and the Dominators. When I first heard this I hated Patrick Troughton's Doctor he was so cold. I always heard how lovable and funny his incarnation of the doctor was, I couldn't believe how he helped the Daleks trick and use Jamie for their experiments. He hurt Jamie several times in this story. I later changed my feelings towards this doctor when I finally heard the rest of the story. The desperation in the Doctors voice after Jamie tells the him not to touch him and that when all of this over they're finished. Jamie accusing the Doctor of only caring for himself, and the Doctor telling Jamie does he really believe it was easy for him to put him through all this? The Doctor getting the Daleks to destroy each other with the human factor they used Jamie's emotions to get and the very first appearance of the Dalek emperor. This was good. Tom Baker is still my favorite but I'm in love with Troughton's doctor.
Amazon.com
Mark Bittman's New York Times column, "The Minimalist," is a much-consulted source for easy but polished recipes. The Minimalist Cooks at Home features these less-is-more recipes plus others never before published--formulas that require a minimum of technique and/or ingredients. Bittman's dishes draw on the world's cuisines and, taken together, represent what might be called a new kind of home cooking. Anyone seeking delicious everyday food that's quick to put on the table yet satisfies the demands of modern palates should embrace the book. In succinct chapters that cover the major dish categories, salads through desserts, Bittman offers fare like Roast Cod with Tangerine Sauce, Chicken Under a Brick, Real Paella, and 15-Minute Fruit Gratin. These approachable, flexible dishes should enter the repertoire of cooks at all skill levels, as well as please those they feed. Bittman also includes recipes that illustrate a particular cooking technique or sequence; his Creamy Broccoli Soup, for example, presents a formula--three parts liquid, two parts vegetable, one part dairy--that can be applied widely to create new dishes instinctively. Cooking lessons like these, plus shortcuts and multiple suggestions for flavorful variations, make the book particularly useful. With photos that illustrate a number of the techniques, and recipe notes that further explore dish anatomy, the book delivers on its promise to provide strategies for good eating with little fuss. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
People are hungry for ways to simplify their cooking--without sacrificing quality or taste. Now you can satisfy that hunger with
The Minimalist Cooks at Home.
Mark Bittman, author of the New York Times column "The Minimalist," brings one hundred of his innovative recipes (many never published before) right into your kitchen. But
The Minimalist Cooks at Home is so much more than recipes. It features Mark's personal quick-cooking lessons, shortcuts, and ideas for variations, substitutions, and spin-offs.
Mark doesn't believe in arduous techniques, long lists of ingredients, and even longer hours in the kitchen. Instead, with a few choice ingredients and a few easy steps, dishes such as Paella, Fast and Easy; Ziti with Butter, Sage, and Parmesan; Spicy Chicken with Lemon-grass and Lime; and 15-Minute Fruit Gratin can be on your table in no time.
And by encouraging versatility,
The Minimalist Cooks at Home allows cooks of all skill levels to create a tailored repertoire of sophisticated dinners. This is modern cooking at its best--flexible, fast, and fabulous.
Customer Reviews:
Great book for some, but not for others........2007-07-27
Every week for the past 7 years, I have eagerly read Mark Bittman's NY Times column, so naturally I bought this book when it first came out. I'm the kind of cook who always has frozen limes and lemons in the freezer for juicing, but I find many of the recipes inaccessible for more than special occasions.
The book is certainly a good read and it does a great job of reminding us of all the foods that we may under-appreciate or not use fully, but the small number of ingredients in each of the recipes give them a small margin of error. Bittman does give substitutions, but the substitutions only go so far; often if one of the ingredients is problematic, you can't make the recipe at all. If you have any kind of constraints on the food you can buy, eat, or prepare --- budget, allergy, diet, access, religion, equipment --- the number of recipes that you can use drops sharply, especially with more than one constraint.
The ideal audience for the book is an adventurous cook who eats everything and is willing to put in a bit of extra time to go to an extra store for ingredients they wouldn't have lying around normally, like fresh lemongrass, dry sparkling cider, Riesling, or nam pla; equipment like a mandoline or a brick; or to spend a little extra for fresh herbs or to use large amounts of wine or good wine vinegar in a recipe.
Pretty good.......2006-08-12
I liked his approach to making a tasty meal with minimal effort, but I evidently have different tastes than the author. I like that he uses fresh ingredients, however, I prefer a more heart-healthy approach to cooking. Picking and choosing, I'm finding a few good recipes.
Perfect for WannaBe Improvisational Cooks.......2005-06-03
My mother was a great cook. Without recipes, she simply stood at the stove and threw things in the pot. Thus she rarely made the same thing twice but everything was delicious. In my 20s, I tried to cook the same way - the results were awful. Someone suggested I start with a recipe, then modify. Voila. Today I'm known as a good cook but what I'm actually good at is selecting/following (and modifying) recipes. This Mark Bittman cookbook is for people, I think, who cook (or want to cook) in a relaxed, creative, improvisational way. I bought a copy for a wedding gift, am now ordering one for myself!
If you just want to cook a few dishes well, buy this book!.......2005-04-07
`The Minimalist Cooks at Home' is from New York Times culinary columnist, Mark Bittman, who is filling a classic Times role created by the noted French chef, Pierre Franey, who elevated the fast cooking genre over thirty years ago in columns in the very same New York Times and in books compiled from these columns. Since I still see Franey's '60 Minute Gourmet' volumes on the shelves of bookstores, I guess I must keep them on mine at least until I review these two volumes of columns.
While Franey is probably a far better cook than his successor, Bittman may be a much better writer or at least better at homing in on things which are important to people wishing to make good food fast. I have reviewed his `How to Cook Everything' and his `Fish' cookbook and have found both of them excellent material for a modest shelf of cookbooks. In this book and others Bittman has done from his Times column, Bittman is playing the thinking man's Rachael Ray. I say that with no disrespect toward Ms. Rachael, as I have favorably reviewed all her books. Rachael's recipe write-ups are great for people with fair kitchen skills who want very good step by step directions on how to get from groceries to dinner as quickly as possible. Bittman, on the other hand, takes a much broader viewpoint. His `minimalist' notion is not simply a matter of doing things quickly. In his words, `...these recipes require a minimum of technique and/or a minimum number of ingredients; most of them are fast as well. The approach is strictly less-is-more', an attempt to repoduce recipes that are so sophisticated, savvy, and fresh that they will inspire even experienced cooks while making them basic and simple enough to tempt novices'.
Like Jacques Pepin in both his classic `The Short Cut Cook' and his recent `Fast Food My Way', Bittman begins by selecting recipes which are simple to begin with rather than, like Franey and Ray, modifying recipes to shorten normally long cooking approaches. In Franey's case, a recipe in his book such as his chili has sometimes disappointed me. I believe Frenchman Franey never sensed the essence of chili and produced something which simply does not work very well as `chili', which, I suspect, simply does not make it without a long braise. Franey's collections of columns even go so far as to give us the French names of his dishes. A quick browse of Tony Bourdain's `Les Halle' Cookbook' will demonstrate that lots of classic French recipes are actually pretty easy to make, but a focus on French cuisine is a bit limiting in today's American thinking about food.
Bittman improves on Franey by making each recipe a little essay on how to succeed with a very useful and interesting family of dishes. The recipe is simply an exemplar which can serve as a jumping off point for a modest to wide range of variations. Surprisingly, Bittman also improves on Frenchman Franey by providing suggestions for wine pairings. He also covers `Keys to Success', points on ingredients or technique which will improve the quality of the dish.
My overall evaluation of this book may be jaded by having reviewed over 400 cookbooks and find no easy niche into which to stick this work and others based on Bittman's New York Times columns. The thing which best illuminates the value of this book for me is an opinion shared by both Ina Garten and Deborah Madison that the home cook should concentrate on mastering just a few good dishes and variations on those dishes. Madison assures us that cooking will become much more pleasurable when a simple dish can be whipped up largely from memory.
If you agree with this position, and I find it a very attractive position to take if you are not a foodie, but like to cook well at least once a week, then this book and it's siblings are some of the very best you can choose, unless you happen to be a vegetarian, in which case you go for Deborah Madison's new book, `Vegetarian Suppers'.
Madison and Bittman share strong writing skills with excellent choices of recipes in what are really volumes of `personal best' recipes.
If you eat meat, like to cook now and then, and do not have room for a large cookbook collection, you could do a lot worse than by limiting yourself to Mark Bittman cookbooks.
Highly recommended.
great cookbooks.......2004-06-23
These are great cookbooks (this and his other minimalist cookbook). Not only are the recipes fast, delicious, and simple, the flavors are clear, interesting, and distinct. My husband tends to cook dense, stew-like, Moosewood Cookbook concoctions, which I don't like at all. Now he cooks from Bittman's cookbooks, and dinner is much more interesting. We have tons of cookbooks, and these are definately my favorite.
Books:
- Cross Bones (Temperance Brennan Novels)
- Cycle of Hatred (World of Warcraft) (World of Warcraft)
- Darkest Fear (Myron Bolitar Mysteries)
- Dead as a Doornail (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 5)
- Dearly Depotted: A Flower Shop Mystery
- Death of a Dreamer (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries)
- Dressed for Death (Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries)
- Echo Burning
- English, August: An Indian Story (New York Review Books Classics)
- Epitaph of a Small Winner: A Novel
Books Index
Books Home
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- Lost Balls: Great Holes, Tough Shots, and Bad Lies
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- History: Fiction or Science
- How Technical Analysis Works
- Murder on the Iditarod Trail
- Architecture in the Digital Age: Design and Manufacturing
- Garage: Reinventing the Place We Park
- When the Finch Rises
Candy Apple Dead
The Chocolate Bridal Bash (Chocoholic Mysteries)
Murder Most Frothy: A Coffeehouse Mystery (Coffeehouse Mysteries)
Snipped in the Bud: A Flower Shop Mystery (Flower Shop Mysteries)
Scent to Her Grave (Bath and Body Mysteries)
