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Local Bounty
By Devra Gartenstein
The Book Publishing Company
September 2008
192pp

This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized by Eco-Libris, a a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website.

Here’s the blurb from the publisher:

Cooking with seasonal produce is a delicious way to be ecologically responsible. Ripe, local produce has more flavor and nutritional value, uses fewer resources to store and deliver, and is more economical to buy than produce that has been shipped long distances. You can rest assured that you are supporting your local economy with every bite. Local Bounty reintroduces the world of seasonal produce: leafy greens in the spring; tomatoes, peppers, and summer squash during the summer and fall; and root vegetables and winter squash during the cooler months. The bounty of the garden is transformed into wonderful meals that will truly nourish and satisfy with a minimum of fuss to prepare. Real food, real taste.

The Short of It:

A wonderful collection of vegan recipes that capture the essence of the season.

The Rest of It:

Local Bounty is a tasty collection of recipes. Its main focus is using locally grown produce to produce vegan meals that are both simple and tasty. I’m not a vegan but I am considering a vegan diet as some of my recent health issues seem to respond positively to a plant-based diet. The other plus is that a vegan diet is environmentally sustainable. Buying local mean less fossil fuel is needed to transport produce and the practice of buying local keeps our local farmers in business.

The cookbook itself is divided up by season. Each section begins with a listing of all the seasonal fruits and veggies for that season. Since we are in Fall, I decided to try the recipe for Caribbean Pumpkin-Coconut soup. The soup was deceptively simple. I actually doubted how good it would taste when I prepared it as it seemed almost too simple for it to be good. The end product was a smooth, creamy soup with a hint of spice. I can’t really explain it but the soup had a pure, clean flavor. That’s what is so special about these recipes. There aren’t a lot of ingredients because the produce takes center stage and because of this, you can really taste each ingredient. This soup was so good that I plan to make it as a first course for Thanksgiving.

Here is a picture of the finished product:

Caribbean Pumpkin-Coconut Soup (Printed with permission)
Yield: 6 servings

2 pounds kabocha pumpkin or winter squash
2 quarts unsalted vegetable stock or water
2 leeks, cut in half lengthwise, cleaned well, and chopped
2 chiles (mild or hot), diced
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 bunch collard greens (4-6 leaves), cut into thin strips
1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/2 half teaspoon ground allspice

Cut the pumpkin in half top to bottom and remove the seeds. Cut the halves into chunks that will fit in your vegetable steamer and steam them for 20 to 30 minutes, or until they are very soft.

Bring the stock to a boil in medium soup pot. Add the leeks, chiles, ginger, garlic, and salt. Cook on medium-low heat for about 30 minutes. Add the collard greens and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Scoop out the squash pulp, place it in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Add a small amount of the stock, as needed, to facilitate processing. Combine the blended squash with the rest of the soup. Stir in the coconut milk, lime juice, thyme, and allspice. Taste and add additional salt, if needed. Cook for about 5 minutes longer, until heated through and serve.

Recipe notes from Ti:

I used 2 whole chiles (jalapenos) and it had a nice kick. If you cannot do spice, seed the chiles beforehand. I also did not have anything on hand but lowfat coconut milk but it was still thick and rich. You might be tempted to skip the collard greens but they added a nice texture surprise. Oh, and another great thing is that this soup freezes well.

Logo design: Susan Newman

Green Notes:

The Book Publishing Co. is a member of Green Press Initiative. The book is printed on paper with postconsumer recylced content, and processed without chlorine, which saved the following natural resources:

68 trees
3,293 pounds of solid waste
24,956 gallons of water
5,102 pounds of greenhouse gasses
48 million BTU of total energy

For more information, click here to visit Green Press Initiative.

To see a listing of all the books that will be reviewed, along with a list of all the blogs that are participating, click here.

Source: This review copy was sent to me by The Book Publishing Co. in conjunction with Eco-Libris and the Green Books Campaign.

The Return
By Victoria Hislop
HarperCollins
October 2009
404pp

The blurb from the publisher:

Sonia knows nothing of Granada’s shocking past, but ordering a simple cup of coffee in a quiet café will lead her into the extraordinary tale of a family’s fight to survive the horror of the Spanish Civil War.

Seventy years earlier, in the Ramírez family’s café, Concha and Pablo’s children relish an atmosphere of hope. Antonio is a serious young teacher, Ignacio a flamboyant matador, and Emilio a skilled musician. Their sister, Mercedes, is a spirited girl whose sole passion is dancing, until she meets Javier and an obsessive love affair begins. But Spain is a country in turmoil. In the heat of civil war, everyone must take a side and choose whether to submit, to fight, or to attempt escape.

The Short of It:

Passionate, lyrical and teeming with life…The Return is a love story like no other.

The Rest of It:

I fell in love with this book! I picked it up and had absolutely no idea what to expect when I opened its cover. What I found inside was a beautiful story about love and a heated battle to protect one’s country. This is a story within a story and alternates between Sonia’s story, which takes place in 2001 and the story of the Ramirez family that takes place between 1931-1936 and includes the Spanish Civil War.

The story opens with Sonia and her close friend Maggie’s trip to Granada. There, they enjoy the local color and Sonia realizes that her love of dancing is really a thirst that cannot be quenched. Sonia also realizes that her marriage is falling apart yet she isn’t quite ready to admit it. She wanders into a café and meets Miguel, a kind waiter that begins to tell her about Granada and the history of the Ramirez family. Upon her return home, Sonia enrolls in a dance class. A dance class that her husband James sees as an intrusion upon their marriage. He lets his relationship with a bottle dictate what happens next and before you know it, Sonia is headed back to Grenada to visit her friend Maggie who has decided to live there permanently.

Upon her return to Spain, Sonia’s love of dance continues to grow. The fiery passion of flamenco pulls her in and she gives into the rhythmic stomping of feet and the clapping of hands. As the music falls upon her, and her feet take over, she finds her true self and begins to truly appreciate the culture around her. As she sorts through her thoughts, she goes back to the café to see Miguel and to learn more about the Ramirez family. Miguel is a natural storyteller, and regales Sonia with the story of Mercedes and her family. What she discovers changes her life forever.

I highly recommend this book! Victoria Hislop takes a period of history that I knew very little about and creates a sweeping tale that’s left quite an impression on me. So much so, that I have been reading up on the Spanish Civil War. It’s THAT kind of book! Once it ends, you want the adventure to continue. This would make a wonderful book club selection and actually with Christmas around the corner a copy of this book along with a flamenco CD would be a great gift idea.