Buying Brew Chem 101: The Basics of Homebrewing Chemistry

I also wish the book was more technical, but given the name "101", I understood that this is a quick overview of brewing chemistry. I find it useful as an amateur home brewer looking to expand my knowledge.Get more detail about Brew Chem 101: The Basics of Homebrewing Chemistry.

Buy Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion: Red, White, and Bubbly to Celebrate the Joy of Living

A gift for a friend who has developed a new interest in African American wineries and collecting their wines.Get more detail about Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion: Red, White, and Bubbly to Celebrate the Joy of Living.

Purchase 101 Champagne Cocktails

If you one a one shot deal when it comes to champagne and wine cocktails this book is it. It is a compendium of cocktails made with bubbly all in one place, with over 100 recipes for fizzin' fun. I will definately be pulling out this book when the parties start rolling around. It will keep the guests on their toes and joyous all night long.Get more detail about 101 Champagne Cocktails.

Reflections of a Wine Merchant

Neal tells us about his personal rise to the top of his trade. Most importantly he tells us why and how. I enjoyed it. I love the stories behind the story. Get more detail about Reflections of a Wine Merchant.

Golden Door Cooks Light and Easy, The Review

Some cookbook's, such as Shirley O. Corriher's excellent Cookwise, focus on teaching; the recipes are merely there to aid each of the lessons. The Golden Door Cooks takes a more traditional approach focusing on the recipes themselves. The introductions to each recipe are generally short and usually involve a story about how much guests enjoy that particular recipe - and it is quite easy to see how they do.

All of the recipes I've tried so far in this book have been delicious. It is a clear demonstration that for certain dishes you don't need loads of oil or cream to make them work (though Shirley will teach you that for some dishes they are!) The soups are a particular favorite of mine both in terms of flavor and ease of preparation.

While the recipes of a cookbook like this one should weigh heavily in the grading, they are not the only thing. Organization and information architecture matter too, and here the book falls down.

The Golden Door Cooks misses on some basic information like the time to prepare a recipe. The reader is left to sort through the various instructions in the recipe to try to add up the time for different steps and guess which ones can be done in parallel. Trying to do this for multiple recipes at once might require MS Project.

The book also focuses on healthy cooking but doesn't make some of the calorie data clear. For example the Salmon with Dill Yogurt Sauce recipe is listed at 130 calories per serving, but the ingredient list includes the Parsnip Potato Puree that is listed at 200 calories per serving. So is the serving size for the puree different when served with the salmon? Does the calorie count for the salmon not include this one ingredient? The book leaves us guessing. While one might be able to intuit the answer in this case, the answer is not so clear when it asks us to drizzle Multi-Pepper Puree on top of the Creamed Corn Soup.

Overall I can heartily recommend this book, but a little more care would have made it 5-stars.Get more detail about Golden Door Cooks Light and Easy, The.

The Psychology of Wine: Truth and Beauty by the Glass Top Quality

The Psychology of Wine
Truth and Beauty By The Glass
Evan Mitchell and Brian Mitchell
Praeger -ABC-CLIO, LLC 2009

Evan Mitchell and Brian Mitchell bring a wealth of wining and dining experience to life in the pages of The Psychology of Wine. While the title may sound like just another stuffy wine tome, never fear. This book is neither boring nor banal. Indeed, it is a book best enjoyed by popping the cork of a favorite Pinot Noir or Pinot Grigio and indulging in the combined pleasures of a good read and a fine wine.

The Psychology of Wine entertains while it educates. It is filled with marvelous myths, amusing anecdotes and savvy advice. Learn the lore behind the birth of Dionysus and the hypothesis of the world's first "accidental" wine. Follow the life of the life the vine from dormancy through harvest. Get to the bottom of the age-old debate of "nature versus nurture." Find out where those dry, didactic numbers used to score wines come from and how to judge wines with a more "soulful" approach. Discover intriguing idiosyncrasies about wine such as the "pathological" nature of Pinot Grigios and which wine grows "wiser" as it ages.

As a foodie, wine lover and travel writer, I particularly enjoyed polishing my wine-speak in Part II, The Language of Wines and the delightful frivolity of Chapter 20 - Games People Play. No doubt as we swirl, sniff, sip and savor a variety of varietals at our next dinner party, we'll play a bit of "This wine is like..." and describe our wines in terms of music, movies and even moods. The Psychology of Wine is a keeper on my bookshelves.

Get more detail about The Psychology of Wine: Truth and Beauty by the Glass.

Lessons in Wine Service (Lessons from Charlie Trotter) This instant

This small but concise book about Charlie Trotter's approach to food and wine service offers an view from the inside. Nicely written and easy to read and hold (on a train?), the book contains chapter summaries that keep us refreshed. A bit redundant in some parts, but those parts are with purpose, namely to remind the reader of the most important points. This is a bargain. I expect to read more of this series. Get more detail about Lessons in Wine Service (Lessons from Charlie Trotter).