The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone

The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats

4 stars

nonfiction

(Received for review)

Let me start by saying I read a digital ARC (which isn't my preference but it was what was available).

The digital ARC had MAJOR formatting issues (for example anywhere you had "ff" or "fi" or "fl" in a word those letters simply weren't present.... sometimes there was a space where they should go and other times not) that HOPEFULLY will not be present in any finished copy.

Also, I'm desperately hoping that the meandering of the text and the sudden jumps in topic are at least partly due to the formatting issues.

I'm guessing it is.  Probably some of it would be in nice boxes or something that would indicate it is an aside.

Because wow meandering. You don't necessarily mind... because it's mostly interesting... but it's a bit of a jolt to be brought back to Fairchild and remember "oh yeah! THAT'S what this book's supposed to be about".

I do wish some of the modern moralizing had been slashed by a good editor.  It really did get old.

That and the level of meandering are what lost it a star.

Overall- SO INTERESTING.  If you enjoy history or plant biology or food you should really take a look.

The American Plate by Libby H O'Connell

3.5 stars
nonfiction

Sigh.

I wanted to love this.

And there were certainly parts I enjoyed.

But overall.... it's not Alton Brown.  And that felt unfortunate.

Okay, so it's not her fault she's not Alton Brown.

Really, there were issues of formatting and editing (Wonder Broad is the typo that stands out the most in my memory), and honestly, issues of attitude.

Because I'm sorry, saying things like "Needless to say, it took only a few generations of European settlers to damage the salmon population in the Columbia watershed" is smug and snotty and not a good objective historical perspective.  You may be able to give historic facts to back up that there was damage, but that can be presented without the attitude.

The Civil War section was very interesting.  The Jell-O section made me gag (because, ew... I can't stand jello).  The Elvis Jell-O recipe footnote was one of the funniest moments in the entire book (and it's a tragedy that it was buried in a footnote).

Overall, it's not a bad book, I'm just cranky.  And it just wasn't all that I wanted it to be.

If you have an interest in the history of food, try it.  And make sure you check the footnotes.  You'd hate to miss the Elvis one. :)

Birthday Breakfast: A Food Post

I promise, there will be actual bookish posts soon.  Really there will.

But I had THIS for breakfast today....


and it's just kind of too good not to share.

The original recipe for these Double Chocolate Brownie Batter Pancakes is from Chocolate Covered Katie.  It's a tiny batch of not-too-sweet chocolaty goodness.

Adding strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and sprinkles makes them AMAZING.  (Though I should point out that we only add the syrup and sprinkles for birthdays at our house.)

For those who hate doing math, like me, here's the recipe x16 (which feeds out family of 6 [Pixie doesn't count yet] with leftovers), with math courtesy of my husband, the human calculator.

(I should point out that the original has healthier ingredient options, such as using applesauce in place of the oil.)

4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups oil
3 cups milk
1/3 cup vanilla

Mix and cook!  If you're feeling fancy, make Mickey Mouse pancakes. :)

And a happy birthday to this crazy boy-

Happy birthday, Mister!