What I'm Reading

Vanity Fair, June Issue
I love Vanity Fair and usually read every article, but this month it’s
all about the cover story. I mean, have you seen the cover?? I’m
calling it my treadmill motivator. I hang it up across the room and
run towards it…

Food & Wine, June Issue
Just about the best domestic food magazine left. Great article in this issue on how to grill one thing and spin it into a few different recipes. Makes heating up the grill or lighting the coals worth the effort.

The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone
I know what you’re thinking – “Alicia Silverstone, is she serious?” but I encourage everyone to flip through it before passing judgment. Yes, she’s pushing a macrobiotic vegan diet, which is too extreme for most of us but some of her arguments for eating less meat, chemicals, and refined foods are dead on. Presented in a friendly, nonthreatening way, she approaches a vegetable-based diet not just from a moral perspective, but from an environmental and health-based one too.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
Absolutely fascinating look at the food we’re all used to eating and how it all came to be. It’s so chock full of info though that I can only manage a few pages at a time before my brain threatens to explode. You’ll be horrified, embarrassed and seriously pissed off after reading this. And you’ll never look at an ear of corn the same way again.

New Good Food, Margaret Wittenberg
http://www.newgoodfood.com/
From the author’s site: Rather than being about what food is not, NEW GOOD FOOD is an introduction to or perhaps a reminder of what food is. It is a weaving together of descriptions, cooking suggestions, and just enough history, food science, and nutrition to get a glimpse of all the wonders each food has to offer.
Bottom line: this is a great resource and will help you feel like less of an uninformed loser while scanning the aisles at Whole Foods. Which, incidentally – is where I bought my copy.

Vegetable Love, Barbara Kafka
Beautiful cover design aside, this is like taking a walk through a farmer’s market – in fact, when I pick up something new from the market I come home and flip through Kafka’s ode to vegetables for a delicious way to prepare it.

My roommate’s autographed copy of Ad Hoc at Home, Thomas Keller
For the average person, this probably isn’t a cookbook you’ll actually
cook from, though you’ll definitely learn some neat techniques.
Rather, I treat it more like an art book because it is visually
stunning. Just flip through the pages and admire the passion of a man
who loves food and the beautiful way he displays it.

Quick Note: I’ve only included a link to Wittenberg’s book since it may be tougher to find. Everything else will be available at any major bookseller or newsstand. And until Barnes & Noble ponies up my sponsorship money I’m not playing favorites. That said, I know it’s a little more expensive than ordering on-line, but please visit a local bookstore to buy books when you can – we don’t want them to go away.