Engaging, precise baking guide that will have readers heading for the kitchen with enthusiasm and confidence.
A tasty treat of practical cookie making, historical cookie-mold information, and a wide range of recipes, all served with appetizing sides of baking history and great photographs.
Watson (Island Women Trilogy, 2015, etc.) adds to her collection of how-to books on soap and lotion making with a colorful collection of recipes, decorative cookie lore, and clear, practical advice for bakers of all levels. Starting with honest descriptions of her own failures—some cookies were “flattened into unrecognizable blobs”—she provides historical context for molded cookies of all types, along with her secret ingredient to ease the unmolding process and produce exquisite treats. Few cooks will be able to resist her enthusiastic and encouraging call to kitchen action: “You’ll have to experiment a bit, but don’t let that daunt you. Remember, when you experiment, you may not get cookies you like—but the one thing you’re sure to get is information, and that’s always helpful!” But Watson’s book has appeal outside the kitchen; she weaves in a Saint Nicholas story and a detailed cookie-making lesson with style. Also helpfully included is an FAQ section and extensive resources for purchasing molds or learning more. A “historic preservation architecture consultant” by trade, Watson is organized, thorough, and undeniably readable. Her guide is also surprisingly entertaining. While relating her first attempt at molding, she says, “Since my reason for buying the mold in the first place was the making of beautiful Saint Nicholas cookies, I was very disappointed. For all I knew, so was Saint Nicholas.” Shepard, her husband, provides dozens of clearly labeled photos for mouthwatering visual inspiration.
Engaging, precise baking guide that will have readers heading for the kitchen with enthusiasm and confidence.Pub Date: March 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0938497646
Page Count: 222
Publisher: Shepard Publications
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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