Review of “1000 Spanish Recipes” in this week’s Boston Globe

I almost missed this one, which came out yesterday (I wrote it in February) – the last hurrah of the late, great Penelope Casas.  As is often the case with doorstop cookbooks like this, there’s good value to be had, and a decent overview of a vast culinary landscape, but you do have to keep your wits about you.

Click here to read today’s review of ‘1000 Spanish Recipes’ in the Boston Globe.   Hit the paywall?  Click here for the PDF version of this week’s ‘1000 Spanish Recipes’ review. 

Review of “Baking with Less Sugar” and “Real Sweet” in this week’s Washington Post

If you want to see what unadulterated joy looks like, tell your children you’re going to be testing baking books for the next two weeks.  Be prepared for lip prints on the ceiling.  (If you want the opposite effect, substitute “vegan” for “baking”.)    Even the ominous notion that these would be “healthier” sweets – with less sugar, or different sugars – did little to dampen their enthusiasm.

There’s definitely something a little overwhelming about having 3 or 4 desserts in the house at a time.   I called friends over for emergency sampling. When we were invited to dinner, I brought the testing results with me.  Still, sweets piled on sweets, and by the end of the testing period – as you’ll see – I felt a bit like The Hungry Caterpillar (“The next day was Sunday again.  The caterpillar chewed through one nice green leaf, and after that he felt much better.”)  Fortunately, my next testing is a vegetable book.

Click here to read this week’s review of  ‘Baking with Less Sugar’ and ‘Real Sweet’ in the Washington Post.