Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Cult of Ruth

Save me the plums by Ruth Reichl

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It is fairly strange reading a memoir about the height of the subject’s fame and realizing you contributed to it, that you were part of the reason that Reichl’s semi-dreaded “cult of Ruth” took place. But the way that Reichl feels about Gourmet magazine is how I feel about her writing. She writes about the early childhood infatuation with the magazine – the swordfish adorning a 1950’s cover beckoning her to delve deeper and read “the night of lobster” which transports the young Reichl and […]

Very Pretty, But Not Practical for My Life

Modern Mediterranean: Sun-drenched recipes from Mallorca and beyond by Marc Fosh

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This is a very pretty cookbook with some interesting recipes, but not terribly doable for my life. If you live in or around Mallorca, this is probably a great cookbook. In fact, this is exactly the kind of cookbook I coveted 20 years ago. I received an ARC of this cookbook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Marc Fosh is a British expat chef who owns and runs a Michelin starred restaurant on Mallorca. Mallorca is blessed with many fresh local ingredient and […]

A Worthwhile Cast Iron Cookbook

The Modern Cast Iron Cookbook: A New Generation of Easy, Fresh and Healthy Recipes by Tiffany La Forge

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I adore my cast iron skillet and my housemate’s cast iron dutch oven and I use them several times a week. However, I have friends who are intimidated by their cast iron. When I saw Tiffany La Forge’s The Modern Cast Iron Cookbook on NetGalley, I was excited and hoped to find a cookbook I could share with my more tentative friends. Tiffany La Forge is a pastry chef and food writer. She has a blog, Parsnips and Pastries which I visit occasionally, though i […]

Get Lost

Finding the Flavors We Lost by Patrick Kuh

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In his chapter on Williamsburg artisan food makers, Kuh starts to fall into the “ugh hipsters” trap and dismiss a bar’s row of empty growlers as for decor rather than use before realizing it was he who was acting pretentious. DUH. This was nearly impossible to read due to pretentiousness and dilettantism and I’m the type of person to use the word dilettante.  I have a high tolerance for pretension but this was ridiculous; the author flits from subject to subject without regard for narrative […]

It is only natural, of course, that each man should think his own opinions best: the crow loves his fledgling, and the ape his cub.

Utopia by Thomas More

Sonnets by William Shakespeare

Heloise and Abelard by Peter Abelard and Heloise

Fairy Tales by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm

Fairy Tales by Charles Perrault

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Utopia – 3/5 Stars Have you read Utopia? I hadn’t before this. I decided to read it because it’s one of those books that has always been in the periphery of my life and life’s reading because of how much I’ve read dystopian literature. But I avoided it. It reads a lot like Plato’s Republic and makes references to it, and it’s presented like a would be travelogue. Sort of like later books like Thoma Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia or Jan Morris’s […]

Bland and Watery

Fresh Flavors for the Slow Cooker: Reinvent the Slow-Cooked Meal by Nicki Sizemore

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Anyone who knows me in real life or on Facebook knows that I adore my InstantPot and will proselytize on it’s wonders at the drop of the hat. I am the Kool Aid Man of the electric multicooker. As much as I love my InstantPot, it does not slow cook well, and I would be happy to use my slow cooker more often. I like my kitchen toys. When I saw Nicki Sizemore’s Fresh Flavors for the Slow Cooker: Reinvent the Slow-Cooked Meal offered on […]



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