The Cook's Family
By: Laurence Yep
Reviewed by: C.Donado
Period: 6
This book is about a girl named Robin and how her family has problems. Robin is really sick of it and when she gets to be in a fantasy life she really starts to enjoy it. Robin and her grandmother were at a restaurant one day when the waiter came up to them and said that they were just the right people to pretend to be the cook's family. Robin and her grandmother start to like being around Wolf, the cook, that they go visit him every week. Robin's family is still having family problems and her parents fight all the time. Finally, Robin starts to do something about the problems.
I liked this book because it has a good way of describing a fantasy life. Robin meets Wolf for the first time and she performs for him. Wolf applauded. "She seems to float," he said to the waiter. Robin gets really good food but can't eat it because ballet. Robin feels like a bad daughter and tries to get better at it. Finally she finds out that she was a great pretend daughter.
I also liked this book because it talks about how to overcome family problems. Robin's parents have been fighting since her mom started to work at their family company with her brothers, Robin's uncles. Robin and her brother get really sick of it and her brother hates that their parent's are always fighting. "Be brave for me," Robin said. "It will go away soon." Later their parents figure a way out of all the fighting.
My favorite part of this book was the ending. Robin wakes up in the morning and decides to take the first step in repairing her family. So Robin makes pancakes, coffee, and gets the newspaper. Her dad comes to breakfast followed by her mom then her brother, and Robin hears the news that her parent's are going to take consoling. Robin calls her grandmother to tell her that her mom was not going to the store that day and finds out that her grandmother had a date. So in the end, all went well.

I love ballet and I love anything to do with Asia, so obviously I loved this book. It was awesome and I highly recommend it, Lawrence Yep is a great author.

This book is about a girl and her grandmother who get whisked into a drunk cook's life. When Robin and her grandmother unexpectedly get pulled into a restaurant by a waiter they are persuaded to be (act)a cook's wife and daughter. Wolf (the cook)however is not fooled by this act but willingly follows along. While a family war is raging among Robin's mother and father Robin finds another family in the cook and his friends. She feels that she is not "chinese" enough to please the cook and struggles to be more chinese. The flow of this book ranks among Yep's best work. Each part of the story swirls with the next to create a touching multicultural novel about two groups of people trying to fit in with one another.This book is a sequel to Ribbons. The ending of this book is strong, touching and even sad but this adds to the exqusite story spun by Laurence Yep.

I was delighted to have come across this book. While I'm not much of a cook, I like to think that I could be. This book makes it sound easy and, more importantly, FUN. I recommend it to anyone interested in eating, shopping, or cooking or for an "off the beaten track" cultural/culinary tour of our great city of Chicago. Hats off to the author; she probably weighs a ton by now but it must have been an interesting journey. (Great cover, too!)

As a frequent visitor to Chicago, I love to take advantage of a big city's resources. I found "A Cook's Guide to Chicago" to be an invaluable culinary guidebook. Written in a humorous and easy to read style, the book demystifies those strange foods I can't identify, and lists stores that carry the exotic foods I love but can't find in my own neighborhood. Better yet, the author offers tips and recipes that feature them. With this book, I'm armed with a resource that enables me to search out foods I didn't even know existed!

Each chapter is filled with interesting facts that make identifying and locating groceries and cooking utensils fun.
(The description of South Water Market made me want to shop there just to see the area.) The book's layout makes it simple to use, and it is thoroughly indexed. The graphic design is a visual treat.

But the best part about this book, for me, is not the facts, but the feeling it gave me while reading it. I fell in love with food and spices and cooking all over again. Suddenly, just going down the same aisle at my usual supermaket to make the same predictable meal just didn't cut it. With these newly defined foods and locations of ethnic grocery stores, I was ready for a culinary adventure. The author's skill in writing, her sense of humor and love of food all combine to portray cooking as a sensual and exotic world. "The Cook's Guide" is the perfect companion to explore that world - I highly recommend it.

As a resident of Chicago, I am grateful to the author for writing this book. Now, I know where to have my knives sharpened, buy fresh ginger, and find the best teas.

I basically picked this book up on the discount shelf and to my surprise found I consult it regularly. The menus are so simple to make and so far it has all been delicious.

A cook book a guy can give his friends.

I cooked things from this book and everyone said "ooh" and "yumm". Usually when I cook they say "no thanks" and "uck".

Move over Martha Whats-her-name.

this is the best cook book of all time. move over martha whats-her-name.

Most definitely worth your time, although compared to the original Dragonlance it does not measure up. If you are into fantasy, then this has everything to offer. Not the best idea to read this novel as a first fantasy book. I recommend it to anyone who has read Dragonlance or loves these kind of non-stop action stories.

Very provocative!! I loved the characters but I think the world needs to be a bit more original... The adventure the characters embarked upon were interesting as well. The main character needed to develop a better personality, although some of the situations were very humorous. As far as being a Dragonlance book, it didn't match up, but different authors can change a novel drastically. I did like the cover design, though!

It had been so long since I had read Dragons of a Fallen Sun that I had almost entirely forgotten about it, when I finally bought this book. I was glued to the book the moment I started reading it.

Weis and Hickman are truly amazing... I've said it a million times and I'm sure I'll say it again.

If you like French haute cuisine, this book will give you a lot of insights into how it's created -- not how it's cooked, but the amazing amount of work by a large group of people to produce and serve it. The writing is serviceable but a bit simplistic.

I just heard that Mr. Loiseau was found dead yesterday, probably a suicide in the face of a downgrade in his Gault-Millau rating and a possible downgrade by Michelin. What a tragedy.

Echikson does a great job profiling all the players-with Loiseau as his "mad bird" at the center-and the teamwork and total devotion it took to acquire all the "right stuff" to earn three stars. It's an engrossing behind-the-scenes story for any serious or not-so-serious gourmand. Also lovely photographs enhance the text.

I reread this book every few years, just for the pleasure of it, and recommend it to anyone with an interest in France, their wine, cheese, or food.

I am a retired Registered Dietitian and a person who likes "healthy eating" and interesting recipes. I just purchased this book. As my first foray into making a recipe, I prepared "Burgundy Beef in Pasta Shells with Tomato Sauce", p.194. I carefully followed the recipe and ended up with twice as much filling and 1/2 as much sauce as needed for 16 shells. Plus, I needed a much larger casserolle, 9x9", than recommended. Either the author has not prepared the recipe, or, more likely, the errors slipped by in the proof-reading stage of publication. My revised version (with canned spaghetti sauce) tasted great. I look forward to trying several other recipes, but I will be careful to ask myself if the ingredient proportions seem right.

I use this cookbook all the time because the recipes are always tasty and the ingredients are usually on-hand! It is a very practical, cookbook that doesn't oversimplify at the expense of taste.

This pasta and grains recipe cookbook is your doorway to good eating, excellent health and longevity. All the way from Northern Italy and Sicily and throughout the world, it brings you an alternative diet that has proven to be creative, delicious, and exciting awakening for people around the world.

Ironically, I obtained this book thinking it was a historical account of Captain Cook's progeny, based on a hastily-read (although positive) review of it in Outside magazine. However, despite not being a fan of contemporary fiction, I was immediately swept up in the deliciously woven prose: contemplative, evocative, personal, and mysterious. Its imagery entranced and lulled (but not bored!) me in its depiction of a Hawaii both exotic and yet accessible, while the seedy underbelly of its mystical and tragic plot slowly and deliberately unfolded. Although it seems incogruous for a gothic novel to be set in a tropical paradise, Daughters of Captain Cook is a compelling, nearly seamless read.

I was drawn to this book by the lyrical quality of the words and also because it was set in Hawaii. Hawaii intrigues me and I absorb stories about things Hawaiian like a sponge.

On the surface the story is simple. A Kansas-bred woman and her Caucasian Hawaiin-born husband return to live in Hawaii with their child. His native Hawaiian half-sister has inherited the family estate and her 14-year old daughter begin a relationship that is rooted in the ancient incest culture of Hawaii. The story is both a mythical allegory as well as a heart retching journey through the wife's pain. It ends tragically.

I was swept up in the beauty of the words and a story well told.

Daughters of Captain Cook is an enduring addition to the tradition of The Great American novel. Spalding's considerable descriptive gifts set the novel in a darkly exotic Hawaiian island where her vivid characters struggle to manage the tensions of marriage, sibling rivalry, sexual jealousy and loss. Hawaiian history and bizarre royal customs clarify and complicate the plot as it unfolds inexorably before us. This is one of those precious books that repays close reading at the sentence level, but which sweeps you up in its powerful narrative at the same time. Once begun it's hard to put down.

I read this book because I saw a movie "Evidence of Blood" based on the Thomas H. Cook novel. I liked his writing style, so I read a few more of his books. Since Early Graves was published in 1990, Judith Neelly's death sentence was commuted after she was pardoned by the Alabama governor in the late 90s. I hope that means life in prison and not pardoned and released. These were two heinous crimes. This book is written very well, too bad I didn't read it sooner.

GOOD JOB ON COLLECTING FACTS & REVEALING EVIDENCE. THE AURTHUR DONE A GOOD JOB OF TELLING BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY. HE DID NOT SUGAR COAT THE HORRIFIC ACTS THAT WERE COMMITED. HE STATED THE TRUE IDENTITIES OF THE MURDERERS' GREAT JOB ON TRACKING FROM CITY TO CITY & STATE TO STATE & GIVING THE TRUE REGIONS THEY WERE IN.

I know chriats personally,i met her after she commited her crime.I have to honestly say the book does not include shadolla and tadaryl as it should.I don't condone what christa done but as a tax paying citizen I am paying for Tadaryl to live in prison and shadolla is free and it couls happen again with the knowledge that she has and has gotten away with it.thats what scares me the most.Christa is really a loving person..she made a terrible choice on jan 12,1995......but as you read the book tadaryl kept throwing colleen back and shadolla even states "you cant leave her like this" and christa says"shut-up i need to think i didnt mean for it to go this far".ive seen christa shave her head so cancer children would have a wig,now is that a monster?I think not.christa was too small to use the asphault as the court says.tadaryl had to do that part,,,,,and that part is what killed colleen.im very sorry for colleens death but now im sorry christa is dying.Ive heard her say a million times "all i ever wanted is love"now she's dying.the book itself is not as bad against her as intended if you read it with an open mind.it tells a lot but not all.the audio tape the book refers to could not be used in court because the audio worked not the video so she wasnt making fun of or reinacting the part she was being honest and told the police what happened where.she has a good heart and she's dying soon.Public please see her as a person and not a monster.she's the most caring person ive ever met in my life.thank you.please let her go out with dignity

The Rush Hour Cook series is a collection of small books that are designed to easily fit into a purse or briefcase without taking up much room. In the "Family Favorite" book you can expect the usual categories of soups, sides and starters, main meals, and desserts. One of the requirements for a recipe to make it into the Rush Hour Cook series is that the ingredients must be easy to find in just about any grocery store. So if you plan on preparing something from the book you can drop it into your purse or carry it along and pick up the ingredients on the spot.

Various tips are also scattered throughout the book. At the end there are five days of suggested meals as an example of meal planning and the shopping list that would be needed to prepare all of these meals. These are practical, easy to prepare, and quick recipes that include several I remember as a child. Some of the favorite recipes include popovers, chili, Dijon chicken, chicken and rice, chicken cordon bleu, pizza pockets, stuffed shells, apple crisp, and cinnamon streusel coffee cake. This is a great gift for the novice cook or the person who just wants to make a quick meal and get on to other things.

There's a child in all of us ... that certain someone who yearns for things that taste good and are quick to bring smiles to our faces and bellies. And that child ain't Julia. We have finally discovered a woman who understands the way most Americans eat: fast and faster. Brook Noel has penned a series of ultra-slim cookbook (think of them as gastronomic guides) that offer recipes, and serve up tasty tricks and tips. There's even a sprinkling of savory trivia --- who knew the pretzel was invented in 600 AD by a monk who crossed the dough to form hands in prayer? The meals in minutes (Noel insists "no list of ingredients shall be longer than the instructions") are easy to make. She proves that anyone can conquer kitchen chaos, win the battle of rush hour without rushing, and still come out smelling like a cinnamon bun.

I heard about this book on the radio and can see why this book has gotten so much press coverage. I love it! You can fit it in your purse and it includes complete grocery lists so you can grab all the groceries you need for a week quickly and easily. I bought the set of 4 and also bought a bunch to use as Chrsitmas presents and they received rave reviews! I think this book is a relief from those huge cookbooks with tons of useless recipes. My family has loved everything I have made so far!