Eating St. Louis: The Gateway City's Unique Food Culture Review

Eating St. Louis: The Gateway City's Unique Food Culture
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This book stirs up memories.
Last Saturday evening, I got home from a tiring trip around 9 o'clock, and the only thing I wanted to do was get into bed. But there was a package waiting on my doorstep. Inside was "Eating St. Louis," and I was up until after midnight leafing through this entertaining book, remembering a lot of great meals and, more important, the people and places that served them.
Of course, it helps when your recollections of St. Louis restaurants go back to the '40s, when my Mom and Dad took me to Medart's, The Hill and the Mayfair's dining room on each of our annual vacation trips to the big city. It also helps if you were living there when Gaslight Square was still going strong and later on when all those intriguing shoestring restaurants started popping up on Euclid and in the Loop. But anyone who has spent much time at all in St. Louis will have fun recalling the eating places, food markets and drinking establishments that turn up in this book.
I don't want to make it sound as if "Eating St. Louis" is fixated on the past. Pat Corrigan gives equal time to the current restaurant scene, and I was interested to find out how much it has grown in the ten years I've been gone from town. This book would be a useful guide for anyone planning a trip to St. Louis and hoping for some great meals -- or for folks who already live there and want to expand their dining-out repertoire. Some of those places on Lafayette Square sound especially tempting.
As you can tell from the above, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've known its author since the days we worked together at the Post-Dispatch, and I have read several of her many books. "Eating St. Louis" is now my favorite...though the one about the Zoo is still right up there.

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Eating St. Louis: The Gateway City s Unique Food Culture explores why we eat what we eat (and where we eat it), serving up stories and photos of the places, people, and comestibles that have come to define and feed St. Louis. Patricia Corrigan, book author and former Post-Dispatch restaurant critic, interviewed more than 130 individuals to learn little-known tales about local restaurants, food manufacturers, groceries and specialty food shops. Here too are tidbits about our gourmet food, low food, fast food, and slow food, facts about local farmers markets (and the sources of the bounty), and a spicy spoonful of the politics of food. Eating St. Louis also raises a glass to local breweries, wineries and iconic watering holes. Published by Reedy Press in cooperation with Doisy College of Health Sciences at Saint Louis University.

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The Lunchroom of Doom : Ready-for-Chapters #2 Review

The Lunchroom of Doom : Ready-for-Chapters #2
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Poor Billy Furball, he's been thrown out of the school lunchroom for having a food fight with himself. It was so bad, they had to bring in special cleaning equipment. And on top of that, because of his behavior, Billy has to see the school psychiatrist, who has informed him that there is no such thing as werewolves...it's just a game that got out of hand. Now, to support and cheer up their fellow werewolf, the rest of the club has decided not to eat in the lunchroom either. First, they tried to eat outside, but it rained. Next they tried to each in their club sponsor's car, but it was too full of shedded werewolf hair. So, finally they went down the block to eat at Honest Tom's Tibetan-American Lunchroom. The food wasn't bad and they got to meet Captain Sterling of the North American Space Squad. He has been abducted by aliens more than 400 times. Now as the club lunches each day at Honest Tom's, strange things begin to happen...This is the second book in Daniel Pinkwater's Werewolf series, and just like the first, it is full of wacky characters and laugh out loud scenes. The easy to read short chapters and hip, kid-speak language will keep your youngsters hooked and turning pages to the very end. This is a silly, funny, very absurd story that is just perfect for 7-10 year olds.

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Even a child who is pure of heart And does his homework neatly May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms And the moon is full completely Werewolf Club member Billy Furball has been banned from the school lunchroom for having a food fight with himself. Worse yet, Dr. Cookie Mendoza, the Board of Education Psychiatrist, insists that none of the members of the club are really werewolves because werewolves don't exist. How will our heroes confront such crises? To support their pal Billy, the other members of the Club boycott the school lunchroom, too. All end up dining instead at Honest Tom's Tibetan-American Lunchroom where they get to know Captain Sterling, of the North American Space Squad, and Carla Lola Carolina, the restaurant's manager. When Carla undergoes a rather strange transformation the situation gets serious! Only a grisly encounter with alien meatballs...oh, it's too horrible to tell. You'll have to read The Lunchroom of Doom yourself to see what happens.

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Louie's Backyard Cookbook Review

Louie's Backyard Cookbook
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The collaborative effort of Jane Stern, Michael Stern, and Doug Shook, The Louie's Backyard Cookbook wonderfully showcases island cuisine recipes of Key West that made the Louie's Backyard Restaurant an innovative trailblazer of gourmet dining. The more than 150 recipes by Doug Shook range from Mango Slaw, to Chilled Celery Root Soup, Zucchini Spoonbread, Ginger Rhubarb Cobbler to pack the pages of this "user-friendly" cookbook of delightful, classy, taste-tested Key West restaurant sensations.

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Mixing elegance with an island attitude, Louie's Backyard is an award-winning Key West, Florida restaurant famous for its fine food and relaxed oceanfront ambience. Lunch regulars say the Conch Fritters are the best in Key West, and dinner regulars praise the Conch Chowder.Everything is homemade in the restaurant, from the tangy Balsamic Vinaigrette to Louie's famous Key Lime Pie. The entrees are an artist's creation with the finest ingredients, from the Jerk-Rubbed, Free-Range Chicken Breast with Black Beans and Papaya Salsa to the Sauteed Key West Shrimp with Bacon, Mushrooms, and Stone-Ground Grits.

Louie's Backyard Cookbook not only contains the creative recipes of Executive Chef Doug Shook but also takes you to the edge of the sea with photos and stories that will make you feel the ocean's breeze. It is the next best thing to experiencing the islands themselves. This important addition to the Roadfood' Cookbook series is sure to be a favorite with people in the Keys and throughout the country.


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Mama Dip's Kitchen Review

Mama Dip's Kitchen
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I bought this book for my wife whose been looking for a cobbler receipe. Not only did this give us an excellent cobbler but fantastic receipes for all sorts of southern dishes. My wife is not originally from the South and wanted the "secrets" to good southern cooking. Mama Dip has provided her with some of these secrets.
In addition to the receipies, the story of Mama Dip's life was inspiring. It gives us a glimpse into the life of a poor southern family. The book is worth buying for this story alone.
I'm anxiously awaiting additional titles from her!

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The Route 66 Cookbook: Comfort Food from the Mother Road Deluxe 75th Anniversary Edition Review

The Route 66 Cookbook: Comfort Food from the Mother Road Deluxe 75th Anniversary Edition
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I began this book reading it as though it were a novel--devouring every word. I have driven Route 66 some, have several books about it, and enjoy the lore and history. And I love reading about food of all kinds, as well as cooking. Marian Clark has certainly done a lot of research and included many interesting anecdotes, but I sometimes had the impression that some could have been fleshed out a little more, to advantage. A number of interesting-sounding people and places got only a sentence or two. By the half-way mark in the book, I was convinced that travelers had better be prepared to subsist on chili, pie, salad dressings, and barbecue sauces, if this is a representative cross section of what's available along the Mother Road. Recipes for these seem to make up close to half of the offerings. And by then I was merely scanning the pages.
Michael Wallis's introduction is touching and lyrically written, and a sheer pleasure to read. I'd like to have seen recipes for more of the gustatory delights that he recalls so vividly, but alas, nary an omelette, nor a single biscuit and gravy. 'WAY more than enough gooey desserts for the overweight, glucose-intolerant traveler, though.
The color photos that fill sixteen pages of this Deluxe 75th Anniversary Edition seem to be only of snapshot quality, pretty amateurish, and in my opinion the book deserves better. Some are obviously reproductions of old photos, and can't be helped. The others, though...
So, am I sorry I bought this book? Am I glad to have it in my library? No, and yes. But I'm still disappointed. There are better books on Route 66 out there, and better books on comfort food, though perhaps none that present the two together as this one does. But I have a feeling I'll be referring to those other works more often in the future than I do this one.

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Next year will mark the 75th anniversary of America's most legendary highway, Route 66. This 2,400-mile stretch of interstate runs across eight states and straight through the American psyche. John Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie, and carloads of nuclear families from the 1920s to the 1960s threaded their way through the heartland, and the unique restaurants that blossomed along Route 66 are justly celebrated. There are other successful road guides, but Marian Clark's The Route 66 Cookbook is the only culinary guide to what Steinbeck dubbed "The Mother Road." It includes over 250 delicious, time-tested recipes from places like the U Drop Inn, the Covered Wagon Trading Post, the Pig Hip, and the Bungalow Inn. It is also a nostalgic recreation of the Route 66 of the past, with stories from the waitresses and cooks who poured the coffee and baked the pie.With 105 b&w illustrations--as well as a new 16-page color section--this is a gem of Americana, and a treasury of comforting dishes from a time when the flavors along the road changed as dramatically as the landscape and accents as you sped across the heartland.

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False Pretenses (Thorndike Press Large Print Christian Mystery) Review

False Pretenses (Thorndike Press Large Print Christian Mystery)
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The characters are fairly well developed, and except for two are believable. Kathy Herman has a terrific way of designing scenes where you can hear the dishes clinking, and smell the coffee and bacon or the gumbo and fresh bread. It brought back so many good memories for me. She draws a small town community is a loving way, and it is clear that somewhere along the way Herman has experienced small town. However...
The back cover promises a terrific read; and Herman has written and published numerous novels, so you'd think this would be a "wowser", and yet somehow this particular novel falls a little flat. Perhaps I was expecting too much, or perhaps because this Cajun-flavored storyline doesn't ring true. The problem is definitely the storyline; it doesn't flow well. Something happens--an event--then all the characters must talk about the event for a few pages and even a chapter or two, then another event, and the characters talk about it, and so on. It is studiously plodding, and in the end is completely unbelievable. Frankly, it reads more like a soap opera drama than a suspense or finely crafted mystery.
I grew up in Louisiana; and I spent decades living with, being friends with, conversing with Cajuns. There is no way a person who is born and raised in Texas can suddenly shed the Texas accent, Texas thought process, and Texas loyalty and suddenly change their name and become Cajun... a believable Cajun with a Cajun accent, and mentality. It would be like someone who grew up in Germany, speaking German trying to become a Southern Bell and speak Southern. Can't be done.

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Zoe Broussard loves the life she and her husband Pierce have built in her beloved Louisiana hometown—especially their popular brasserie Zoe B's, to which folks drive all the way from Lafayette for lunch or dinner. It seems like heaven.

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Joia Miami 2011: Dining + Lifestyle Guide Review

Joia Miami 2011: Dining + Lifestyle Guide
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I have been living in Miami for over 2 years and I discovered Amazing Restaurants with unbelievable offers in this guide, Highly recommended.
And you will find everything, shopping, spas ,bowling, skydiving you name it .
Perfect christmas gift for example. :)


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The Sultan's Kitchen Review

The Sultan's Kitchen
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This is the BEST cookbook! I am NOT an experienced cook, but I was even able to make the BREAD (from scratch!) for the meat filled pastry (Katmer with Kiymali filling)! I had no trouble understanding the instructions or finding the ingredients (they were ALL available at my local grocery!)! Another great thing about it is the photographs! There are a LOT! (If it looks good, then you want to cook it, right?) I have cooked my way through half the recipes and loved them all! This book made me a much more confident cook! Oh, I almost forgot to say, everything tastes GREAT! I don't even have to go to a Turkish restaurant anymore!

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Tangy egg-lemon soup.Vegetable-stuffed eggplants sauteed in fragrant olive oil.Richly stewed lamb on a bed of pilaf.These are the flavors of Turkey, whose fabled cuisine evolved in Ottoman kitchens: those traditions are rendered by an expert in The SultanÆs Kitchen.Over 130 tantalizing recipes, complete menu suggestions, and stunning images will inspire any cook to create dishes fit for a sultan.

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The 100th Customer Review

The 100th Customer
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We checked this book out from the library - my 4 1/2 year old and almost 3 year old LOVE it. And we as very picky parents (we like children's books that are real quality) love it too. It is a very heartwarming story of a little boy who puts his grandmother first and a caring group of animals who put a little boys first. It's about caring for others and has enough plot and excitement for our two boys too. They asked for it over and over. We're ordering a copy now!

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The Berenstain Bears Go Out to Eat Review

The Berenstain Bears Go Out to Eat
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My family has always loved the Berenstain Bear books-- from my own youth, through my now-6 and 4 year old daughters, to my new baby. These books usually have a great lesson to teach, and a fun story to tell. THIS book only told a story, NO the trademark Berenstain Bears lesson, and not a very good story, at that.
The worst part was how mamma forced the cubs to eat vegetables with their dinners-- the story presented it as though no kid would ever want to eat a vegetable. My kids love vegetables (not that they don't love fries), I don't want them hearing Brother Bear saying "why do vitamins have to taste so bad?" What's the point in trying to make it harder for kids to eat well? I HATE when books or tv shows do this.
Even though my family is pretty traditional, it bothered me that the whole deal was that mamma was tired from doing all the home and child care, so papa decided to treat her to a night out. As the previous reviewer, I just changed a few words for that.
I used to buy Berenstain books on the name alone, I trusted them to be good. Now I'll have to check reviews first when possible. I have liked other of the newer Berenstain books, though. I hid this book under a bed after the first read, we're never reading it again.

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Papa and the cubs take Mama to Bear Country Grill for dinner. What a treat! From getting to the restaurant until dessert time, the night is full of fun and adventure. With the Bears, nothing is boring—especially not a night out on the town!


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Fresco: Modern Tuscan Cooking for All Seasons Review

Fresco: Modern Tuscan Cooking for All Seasons
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I've dined at the restaurant many times, and it is consistently good. The cookbook is just as good as the restaurant - especially the Penne Gratin (very rich, very decadent and VERY delicious!)
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking.

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This collection of 120 recipes from Fresco, a Tuscan-style restaurant in New York, features healthy, uncomplicated dishes using the freshest produce of each season. The recipes have been selected for their ease of preparation at home and include shopping tips and substitution suggestions.

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Pane E Salute: Recipes and Recollections from a Classic Italian Osteria Review

Pane E Salute: Recipes and Recollections from a Classic Italian Osteria
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New Englanders are fortunate enough to be within a reasonable driving distance to Woodstock, an idyllic Victorian town nestled in the Rutland region of eastern Vermont--perhaps one of the last places one might look for exquisite, authentic Italian cuisine served in an atmosphere that could just as easily be in Siena or Florence as Vermont. For everyone else, there is--thankfully--this book. While Heekin and Barber are not themselves Italian, their long love affair with Italy, its culture and its people have inspired them to the fine culinary heights that come from immersing oneself in the fundamental laws of simple, full-bodied living. They KNOW Italy. Heekin's exquisite, finely crafted prose introduces each section of the book, which is organized by season, and Barber's brilliant recipes (and his flair for imparting them in a way that is truly inspirational) make this lovely volume a must-have in ANY cook's kitchen, especially if you love Italy, real Italian food and what can only be called "authentic living." Live and cook by their recipes, and you'll transform your kitchen and home into a warm, cozy, sun-filled haven for you, your friends and family.

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Sweet Mandarin: The Courageous True Story of Three Generations of Chinese Women and Their Journey from East to West Review

Sweet Mandarin: The Courageous True Story of Three Generations of Chinese Women and Their Journey from East to West
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When Cambridge-educated Helen Tse and her two sisters opened their trendy pan-Asian restaurant Sweet Mandarin in Manchester, England in 2004, many (including their family) were taken aback to see three accomplished British-born young women turn their backs on hard-won careers in law, engineering and executive recruiting in favor of the wok. But as this sweeping family memoir reveals, their entrepreneurial spirit upheld four generations' tradition in the business of food, which eventually lifted the family out of brutal poverty in southern China to hard-won stability in England.
Grocery shopping for Chinese ingredients with her grandmother Lily, the author gradually teases out the anecdotes and, later, the painful buried secrets of Lily's Chinese childhood that are the most compelling parts of this story. Born in 1918, Lily was one of six daughters of Tai Po and Leung, the rare Chinese man who did not consider his daughters "subhuman" --- a burden and a curse. The early days of industrialization in China saw silk factories employing children like Lily, as young as five. In a breathtaking glimpse of the mores of the day, Lily fainted on the factory floor, and a ruthless foreman thrust her hand into a vat of boiling water to make an example of her for the other workers. Lily's father broke out of poverty by becoming a soy sauce producer, finding modest success as an entrepreneur selling his product in Hong Kong restaurants.
When jealous rivals murdered Leung and burned his factory, Chinese tradition forbade his wife or daughters from inheriting, leaving them at the mercy of an obscure nephew who announced he would only support the women of the family if one of the sisters became his cousin's concubine. To escape that fate, and the nightmarish Hong Kong slum her family was forced to live in, 13-year-old Lily found work as an amah, a servant for British families living in luxury on the Peak in Hong Kong. Scrubbing floors, nannying youngsters and waiting tables, Lily still managed to marry and have children. In Hong Kong, she saw them for literally minutes each week; when her employers took her with them to England, they were separated for years. By the time she brought her kids to England, they were nine and eleven, and her husband was an opium addict, involved with the Triads (China's criminal gangs), bankrupting her while living with a prostitute.
Perhaps the only reliable source of comfort, identity and life-affirming pleasure throughout the story is food. From her great-grandfather's soy sauce business, to her grandmother Lily's special chicken curry recipe, perfected during the six-week ocean liner trip to England, to hours spent working in her parents' fish-and-chips shop, to her own authentic and innovative creations at Sweet Mandarin, financial freedom and a sense of self all flow from cooking, feeding others and enjoying food. As Tse puts it, "cooking is at the heart of the Chinese family and for a Chinese woman it is at the very core of her identity." Lily taught her that "when you cook you are sharing your heart, so cook enthusiastically."
The journey from hunger in the rural village of Guangzhou to stylish abundance in Manchester in three generations offers a tantalizing glimpse into China's journey and the amazing resilience and sacrifice of an immigrant family, through the lives of the tough and talented women of the Tse family.
--- Reviewed by Elliott Walker

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Toad Eats Out (Step Into Reading. a Step 1 Book) Review

Toad Eats Out (Step Into Reading. a Step 1 Book)
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When m,y seven year old was younger and we were looking for things to read to him that wouldn't drive us crazy we found "Toad Eats Out." We really enjoyed this book over the years and we always wanted to compliment the authors for the way it makes sense and follows the real dining experience. ("...we leave a tip.") I think he still determines whether a restaurant is nice or not by whether or not there are water with ice, rolls and butter and plenty of forks! I guess I do too. we have since bought others by Schade and Buller and recommend you do too!
Rob
[...]

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Toad is back in another delightful escapade. This time, it's our warty hero's birthday, and he decides that he would like to go to a restaurant. To his surprise, all of his friends are waiting there to make his birthday a ribbity riot!

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To Russia With Fries: My Journey from Chicago's South Side to Moscow's Red Square - Having Fun Along the Way Review

To Russia With Fries: My Journey from Chicago's South Side to Moscow's Red Square - Having Fun Along the Way
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Although there is a bit of name dropping and a few self congratulatory stories, overall this book is entertaining and worth reading. Mr. Cohon, while summarizing business dealings which define perseverance, provides interesting perspectives on business management, networking and family values. He also provides a lot of information about the inner political workings of the former Soviet Union.

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Secrets of the Cirque Medrano Review

Secrets of the Cirque Medrano
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This is historical fiction that combines intrique and art. Set in 1904 Paris, a 14-year-old girl makes friends with the artists and performers, plus a spy or two, who frequent her aunt's cafe. A friend is even the subject for Picasso's famous painting, Family of Saltimbanques. Brigette and Paco become involved in political intrigue that pertains to the beginnings of the Russian Revolution. While Picasso plays an important role in the story, Scott is careful not to put words in his mouth and all of the characters are realistic. Scott combines history and art into an excellent novel for older elementary and early teen readers that may even encourage them to look at Picasso's paintings and learn more about circus performers.

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When her mother dies, Brigitte is sent to live in Paris where she helps her aunt and uncle in their café. Her new life seems strange and interesting. When Brigitte befriends Paco, the young circus performer from the Cirque Medrano who poses from the temperamental Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, she is drawn into a web of international intrigue.

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The Route 66 Cookbook Review

The Route 66 Cookbook
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This book has some really great recipes from a time past. This book has wonderful dinner fare. Super recipes for cakes, pies, and chili. If you are looking for book that has recipes from the 30s through the 60s, while you yearn for yester year. This is the book to get!

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