Three Book Reviews Away from the 100 Mark! Let’s Talk About… Man in the Moon, by Dotti Enderle; The Deen Brothers Take It Easy, by Jamie & Bobby Dean and Melissa Clark; and Julia Child
Reviewed today:
“Man in the Moon,” by Dotti Enderle (Delacorte Press, $14.99, 152 pages) came out last year but got hidden away in my daughter’s room and just recently reappeared. Really good Young Adult (YA) fiction, set in Texas during the summer of 1961. Janine doesn’t know what to think. She’s worried. What if her father can’t find work? Her brother, Ricky, is sick. Really sick. Too sick to play hard, too sick to go outside. Is he going to get better? Her mother is frustrated and short-tempered. Her dog Buddy is restless. Then she hears noises coming from the corn. It’s a visitor. What does he want? Great read — a quiet book, that builds in intensity.
You know Paula Deen from the Food Network? The talk show appearances? Her cookbooks? Here is the best recipe ever for puddin’ — it’s hers, and it’s called Not Yo’ Mama’s Banana Pudding. It is just u-licious, but it is not exactly low-cal so get ready.
These guys Jamie and Bobby Deen are cuties, and they’re hers, too. They grew up in Georgia, run the family restaurant in Savannah (The Lady & Sons), do guest gigs on Good Morning America and are also on the Food Network (“Road Tasted” is their show). These two are mama’s boys for sure — they’re just as adorable as she is, and aim to please.
Their third cookbook (Ballantine Books, $25, 200 pages) is highly usable, yummy and has lots of great ideas for easy, fast meals. (They timed the release for the beginning of school, cuz they know we all forget how to get dinner on the table once the schedule changes. Again.) Look for “Speedy Mini Meat Loaves,” Chicken “Scampi” Pasta, crock-pot cooking (my favorite) and on and on and on. You know three of us don’t eat meat, chicken or fish over here. The one who eats meat, the one who’s crying because dammit, chicken is easy, please eat meat, y’all? Please? Whatever. I made the Spicy Beef and New Orleans Red Rice Skillet Dinner last night, about ten minutes after I ripped open the package of books. It was fast, easy and super-good. (I left out the beef, obviously. Added some cooked brown rice, veggie broth instead of chicken and put in extra hot sauce.)
Anybody who says you can’t cook Southern and cook veggie can just kiss my grits. Leave out the bacon grease and call it a day, would you? Thank you. I am going to experiment with the Chicken and Dumplings recipe and do a veggie soup with dumplings, instead. (Or just leave in the chicken and ask my mama over for dinner.)
I’m thinking… I can recreate Southern cooking to make it vegetarian. Can I do the same with French? Cuz you know Steve and the kids won’t eat duck. Quack, quack. Wish me luck, Julia. I’m thinking of you, up there in foodie heaven. Just ordered volumes 1 & 2 of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Will avoid aspics. Just sayin’.
Bon appetit!
— wm