What I’m Reading Now

August 9, 2012 Off By Lisa
I read cookbooks like novels.  Can’t help it – they’re like a love story.  My favorites are the ones that actually do tell a story in addition to giving great recipes.

Currently, I am loving The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution by Alice Waters.  It was published about five years ago, but I just received it as a gift this summer.  I love it.

Around here, we mostly follow a pretty basic Mediterranean-style diet, eating the very best of good, healthy, seasonal foods.  What I like about this style of eating is that so much of it is simple, from ingredients to preparation.  So this book was a perfect addition to my kitchen shelf.

Waters divides her book into two parts.  The first, “Starting from Scratch – Lessons  & Foundation Recipes” covers Waters’ food philosophy, suggestions for a well-stocked pantry, kitchen equipment, and kitchen organization.  The chapters that follow cover basic food items and simple recipes for them – the “foundation” recipes.  My favorite part of this section is the lessons about the food items or preparation techniques included all along the way.  Fun stuff.

The second part, “At the Table – Recipes for Cooking Every Day” continues in much the same manner, but with some expansion on the techniques presented in the first half.  The recipes are very user-friendly and great for new and more experienced home chefs alike. Now that I’ve read, I’m ready to cook my way through these babies!

The book makes me happy.  As I turn the pages, I am thrilled to find that many of Waters’ suggestions are things I already have and do in my own kitchen.  But even more exciting were the new and different ingredients and techniques I found on page after page.  I also love that her approach to good cooking – simplicity – fits perfectly with my current efforts regarding simplicity in all areas of my life.

I highly recommend The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution by Alice Waters for any home chef looking to learn or improve their kitchen techniques.  If you love delicious, simple food and preparing it for the people you love, give it a read.

Bon appétit!

CategoryLife
Tagsbooks food

About The Author

Lisa A. Listwa is a self-employed writer with experience in education, publishing, and the martial arts. Believing there was more to life than punching someone else’s time clock and inspired by the words of Henry David Thoreau, she traded her life as a high school educator for a life as a writer and hasn’t looked back. She is mother to one glorious handful of a daughter, wife to the nicest guy on the planet, and reluctant but devoted owner of three Rotten Cats. You can find her adventures and thoughts on living life deliberately here on the blog.

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