Universal Book Reviews

Rating: Pretty Good

There are so many things from my childhood I wish I knew how to make.  So when I saw a recipe for what sounded familiar, I bought the book and wanted to try this recipe, as well as others.

The book I bought is called The Complete Guide to Traditional Jewish Cooking and I tried several recipes, just to see how I like the book.

One of the recipes I tried was for “Aubergine Caviar From Bessarabia” (page 89) .  I had to remember that aubergine is an eggplant (and that a courgette is a zucchini). For years I’ve been wanting to make a dish that I remember one of my grandmas making, but I remember very little of it.  I remember it had garlic, eggplant, and was spreadable on bread.

When I read this recipe, I thought “Aha!  I’ve found it!”  And I did!  I did make this recipe and it turned out pretty well.  It looks terrible, but don’t be deterred by that.  A grilled eggplant that was put through the food processor doesn’t look good, but it tastes fantastic!

The other recipe I tried was for what the book called an “Apple Strudel” on page 446.  This recipe gave me much more trouble.  First, I couldn’t find the filo dough in the proportion the book specified, so I used what I could find at my local grocery store. Secondly, I think the directions weren’t completely clear.  At one point, the directions have me roll up dough like a “Swiss roll”.  I don’t know what that means.  So I rolled it up like a burrito. Thirdly, because I couldn’t find the the correctly dimensioned dough and wasn’t able to figure out all the directions, I ended up having TWO strudels instead of one.

So I gave one to my grandmother and one to my dad.  We ALL agreed that there was entirely too much butter even though I used about 3/4th of what the recipe called for.  In the end, my strudel didn’t really look like the pictures in the book, though those pictures were somewhat helpful, but not completely.

Overall, I think I will try other recipes, but I’ll make sure I can understand everything.

N.B.  Skim the books in the bookstore to see if you recognize the ingredients.  Books that were published outside the US use metric measuring system (this book uses both, which makes it easy), and they also call things differently.  As I mentioned, courgette and aubergine were the first words I ran into in this book that I had to think about, but much of the world calls cilantro “fresh coriander”.  I’m sure there are other words, but these are the ones I found so far.

Extreme Pumpkins II

Tom Nardone. HP Trade 2008, Paperback, 96 pages, $13.95

Rating:  An Excellent Resource

Reviewed by Lynn Peterson

Tom Nardone is at it again and this time with even more extreme pumpkins in his new book Extreme Pumpkins II.  From snot to dirty diapers, he continues the legacy of disturbing pumpkins.  In this book, he even finds uses for rotting pumpkins, something few people aside from those who compost can achieve.

I’m especially fascinated by his carving of squash.  It gave me a moment of why didn’t I think of that?  Squash are pumpkin-like, and they’ve got goo you can scoop out, so why not.  He makes use of squash to make a space alien, an alligator head, and my favorite, Godzilla attacking a village of little pumpkins.

Extreme Pumpkins II is going to continue motivating people to try new and interesting ways of carving pumpkins and creating bizarre pumpkin sculptures.  My friend, Ethan, has taken extreme pumpkin carving to a new level by underwater pumpkin carving.  Below is a picture of Ethan and the pumpkin he carved while Scuba diving.

Photo credit: Tamara Thomsen

Getting Started Knitting Socks (Getting Started series)

Ann Budd. Interweave Press 2007, Hardcover, 136 pages, $18.95

Rating: An Excellent Resource!

Reviewed by: Lynn Peterson

If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at knitting socks, this is the book for you!  I tried to learn to knit socks by taking a class, and I came away with an unfinished pair of socks and plenty of confusion.  Those unfinished socks sat in my knitting closet until I picked up this book.  Not only did I finish those socks, but I made 7 more pairs!  If you are a beginning sock knitter, “Getting Started Knitting Socks” is the book for you.

Ann Budd clearly explains sock construction before you even begin knitting a pair.  Then, she gives you several basic patterns based on yarn weight and gauge:  8 Stitches per Inch for Fingering Weight,  7 Stitches per Inch for Fingering/Sportweight, 6 Stitches per Inch for Sportweight/DK Weight, 5 stitches per Inch for Worsted Weight, and 4 Stitches per Inch for Chunky Weight.  Once you’ve learned the basics, you can knit socks with stripes, different ribbing patterns, cables, and even lace.  All are described in this book.

Below is the pair of socks I made using the Narrow Stripes Socks pattern on p. 66.  I used a yarn called Regia 4 Ply Wool Crazy Colors that I picked up at my Local Yarn Shop.

So, Comment Inbox is great in that it allows me to quickly sort through the comments and get rid of the spam.  But still the amount of spam was getting too much to handle even with the spiffiest of tools.  I have decided to close commenting on all posts older than one month and all commenting on pages (About page, etc).  If nothing else, closing these comments should limit the number of spam comments to moderate.  Fortunately, I moderate all comments before they can appear on a post, so none of you readers have to see the ridiculous amounts of spam that I’ve been deleting.

But if you are not a spammer, please feel free to leave comments.

I saw this stairs and bookcase in one over at Unclutterer, one of my favorite sites. Now, if you are like me, you’ve got so many books that they are coming out of your ears! I put in track and bracket shelving from floor to ceiling in one of the rooms in our house to manage all the books. Of course, the system has its limitations because I cannot reach the books on the top shelf. I like this stair bookcase though because the bottom shelves pull out to be stairs which gives you two benefits. First, you can reach the top shelves without lugging around an unsightly and clumsy step ladder. Second, you get added seating!

Borders has a coupon for 25% off the list price of one item.

At Barnes and Nobel, you can save 30% on Real Life by Dr. Phil, Indignation by Phillip Roth, or Liberty by Garrison Keillor.

Last night, I posted a book review of After the Fire, which I really enjoyed.  I have 5 copies of the book that I’d like to giveaway!  Email me at editor@universalbookreviews.com with your name and address.  I will print out the emails and randomly select 5.  However, I can only send these to US or Canadian addresses, no Post Office Boxes.

9/25/08: Contest is closed, and we’ve got five winners.  Congratulations Nicole V., Karen M., Donna T., Christina G., and Kathleen C.!  Hope you enjoy “After the Fire” as much as I did.

Barnes and Noble has a coupon for 10% off one item.  Expires Sept. 21st.

After the Fire

Robin Gaby Fisher. Little, Brown and Company 2008, Hardcover, 261 pages, $24.99

Rating: a really good book

Robin Gaby Fisher’s After the Fire is the true story of two roommates and the fire that nearly killed them.     Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos wake up in their freshman dormitory on the Seton Hall University campus to a fire alarm that is not a drill or a result of somebody pulling the fire alarm.  It is a real fire, and the boys barely escape with their lives.  They are rushed to the Saint Barnabas Hospital burn unit where they recover from their wounds and in that time learn what it means to be friends, be alive, and be men.

Two students died, but Shawn and Alvaro live, only to be in the hell of living burned.  Fisher describes the gruesome treatments they must receive in the burn ward, including one in which the patient is taken to a hot room to have his scabs scrubbed off to prevent infection.  It is such a painful treatment that patients are given IV morphine ahead of time, and though unconscious still show signs of pain. During one such treatment, Alvaro is in a coma, but he reaches out his hand as if to say stop, it hurts.

It is truly a poignant story, and one worth reading because you really see the true strength of the human character and the amazing power of friendship not just to bring comfort but to heal as well.  I sat down in the afternoon to read “After the Fire” and could not get up to stop for anything once I got started.  Fisher’s writing took me into the burn ward with Shawn and Alvaro.  I was right there with them, like a good friend of theirs.  The story was so horrifying, so gripping, that I just had to know how it ended.  Would the boys live?  Would the arsonsists be found and prosecuted?

Of course, since it’s a true story, you could read the news articles online, but I’d encourage you not to.

I installed Comment Inbox the other day on here because I was drowning in comment spam.  I can say that it has made my life a little bit easier.  Moderating tons and tons of spam is just plain annoying.