Related Vacation Book Subjects: Minnesota
More Pages: Cook Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
Books to read if you're planning a vacation in "Cook", sorted by average review score:
Barbie Fun to Cook Book
Published in Hardcover by DK Publishing (01 July, 2001)
Author: Dorling Kindersley Publishing
Average review score:

Way to Go Barbie you Cookingrl!
My first question is: "How does Barbie stay so skinny eating all this delicious food?" On the other hand, who cares...just pass me the brownies. Can I say, Barbie does look cute in an apron as well. Children love to learn how to cook. It is only when we get to be adults that we find out it is a bit of work. Not too much, but it does take more effort and your mom and dad are not there to pick up after you. I just hate that!!!!

So, what is Barbie cooking? You will find recipes for all her favorite foods. Simple step-by-step photographs show you how to make fruity freezies. They are great for the summer and you could make them now. This is a really fun cookbook even a "girl-at-heart woman" can enjoy. Remember making those chocolate cakes and eating them as fast as you made them in your "light bulb" based oven? Well, here you are using a real oven and kids sure have grown up!

I would advise adult supervision around the stove, but my mother let me start cooking at a very early age. I am sure she was nearby, but I was so intrigued with cooking...I just remember my poor dad scrubbing burnt pans...(Until I learned how to watch what I was doing and not leave things on the stove while I was outside playing. Hey, I was only 7) The recipes include: A Fruity Feast, Sunshine Breakfast, Mini Muffins, Sandwich Stacks, Aprinana Cake, Chocolate Cookies, Fuity Freezies, Lemon Cooler, Super Shakes, Rainbow Fruit Snack Sticks, Cute Cookies (and they are cute!), Birthday Cakes complete with butterflies (Martha would be proud of Barbie), Chocolate Dipped Fruit, Mini Pizzas, Burger Bites, Dippy Chicken (Thai Chicken with peanut dip), Perfect Pasta with tomato sauce, Stuffed Baked Potatoes, Nacho Nibbles, Super Sundaes, Brownies and Two Minute Treats (popcorn, banana sandwiches, salad, celery with fillings, apple boats with cheese sails).

Barbies appear on each recipe and tell you why you "just must" try their recipes. "Here are two ideas for a fabulously fruity brunchtime treat." says Barbie. She then gives pictures of all the ingredients with their names and then shows step-by-step phographs of a real kid helping her cook. This is totally a girly, girl cookbook.

Safety tips are also included
Recommended for girls age 5-8, Fiona Munro's Barbie Fun To Cook is an illustrated, step-by-step cookbook for creating short, simple, nutritious dishes. Extensive color photographs of the ingredients, preparation steps, mouth-watering finished dishes, and of course Barbie herself make every cooking technique easy to grasp and fun to learn. Safety tips are also included, though very young children should of course have adult supervision in the kitchen. Highly recommended to help teach youngsters the joy of cooking! From Sunshine Breakfast, Chunky Chocolate Cookies, and Pick-Up Pizzas, to Dippy Chicken, Burger Bites, and Best-Ever Brownies, Barbie Fun To Cook is a welcome addition to any youngster's cookbook shelf!

The Battle of Cape Esperance: Encounter at Guadalcanal
Published in Hardcover by United States Naval Inst. (December, 1992)
Author: Charles O. Cook
Average review score:

A battle won by the U. S. Navy in the Solomons.
A nice little book about a battle between U.S. and Imperial Japanese Navy ships in Iron Bottom Sound. During this brief encounter the U.S. Navy sunk a Japanese cruiser and destroyer at a cost of a destroyer. Subsequent action by airplanes out of Henderson sunk an additional two Japanese destroyers.
Cook was a participant in this battle and goes into great detail about what happened. The U.S. Navy which had been rather lackluster up to this point, showed they were brave and ready to confront equal or superior forces. The result was the Japanese were bested in this battle, with moderate losses. They withdrew after completing their mission.
Since the book is short at only 150 pages, the reader can easily read this in a few hours and understand a little on the Guadalcanal campaign, especially the naval side.

An excellent account of an overlooked battle.
Popular mythology of the Solomons Campaign holds that the Japanese Navy was invincible at night and hopelessly outclassed the United States Navy. Read the average account of the battles in the Slot and you come away with the impression that the Japanese won them all, or at least all up until Second Guadalcanal.

Cook's book provides a fine, straightforward narrative of one of the early engagements which the US Navy, in fact, won. It's a readable, exciting book which also contains information useful to serious students of the war and campaign.

Beading With Peyote Stitch: A Beadwork How-To Book (Beadwork How-To Book)
Published in Paperback by Interweave Press (July, 2000)
Authors: Jeannette Cook and Vicki Star
Average review score:

Worth buying, worth reading, worth keeping, and a warning
One of the few instructional beading books that also makes good reading. Sure, it's a must-have for the beading table, but it's a great take along for commuting, waiting at the dentist, or on the bedside table for inspiration before sleep. The good news: if you are a fan of the original Beady-Eyed Women (the authors have other books), this one has lots of color pictures, and not just in the (40-page!) Gallery section. More good news: Lots of diagrams, and most of them are right next to the text, so people who need both words and pictures can understand the steps. The text-links to the diagrams are easily numbered, and that's a big help. Even more good news: there are some great ideas in this book that I haven't seen in others. The section on making geometric shapes and links is worth the price of the book. The surprise: the picture amazon.com shows as the book cover is not the one on the cover of the book I got. The instructions for the Vicki Star's "Stellar Star" is not included in the book, but the picture is, on p.75. The bad news: The diagrams showing bead placement use blue ink to show existing beads and the same tone of purple ink to show added beads. If you are a diagram user, read under a bright light, or you won't understand what's going on. It would have been a better idea to use contrasting colors for existing and newly added beads in the diagrams. More bad news: In the section on making bead triangles, there is an assumption that if you've done one side, you can figure out the other. Some of us can't, and one more diagram would have been helpful. Instead, after a step-by-step description of the first half of the triangle, we are told, "you don't have to make two steps down or two steps up, but you still have to take the ten-cent tour." As the two-step process was crucial, that final diagram would be a big help. More bad news for beginners: This is the only book I've read (and I own more than 30 books on beading)in which odd-count peyote stitch starts with an even number of beads, and even-count peyote starts with an odd number of beads. In the odd-count, you add another bead in row three, which, as the authors say, "turns the first three rows upside down." In the even-count, there is a diagram (with asterisk footnotes explained on the flip side of the page) that left me confused. I finally got it, but I'm a slow learner, so this may not be a problem for people who are fast learners. The conclusion: Buy the book. The well-explained tips, scattered throughout the book are worth the price of the book. You'll learn something no matter what level you are on, and the color pictures are enough to inspire any level beader.

BEADSTRUCK IN COLORADO
I have finally found a book that takes beading to the height of its' art potential. This is not a book for beaders who enjoy following patterns but is a really unique source for stretching your creative abilties with this medium. You will find the designs quite contemporary and sophisticated, not a good book for the more conservative bead artist. And artist, not beader you will call yourself if inspired by this book.

Can The Greeks Cook
Published in Spiral-bound by Dietz Press (1963)
Authors: Lillian Pritchard and Fanie Venos Steele
Average review score:

A fine collection of recipes and Greek customs
My Greek mother-in-law gave me this book soon after my marriage (I'm not Greek). I've found the recipes easy to use and accurate. It also includes information on superstitions and customs, which makes it fun to use.

The book considered the "classic" by the Greeks in this area is Nicholas Tselementes' "Greek Cookery." While this is a good book, "Can the Greeks Cook!" is easier to use and more reliable.

Authentically yours
My parents migrated to this country from Greece early in the last century. I never paid much attention to my mother's cooking, but after I married I wanted to introduce my non-Greek husband to the marvelous world of Greek cookery. This book is the closest I have ever found to my mother's way of cooking. Both my parents were originally from Peloponnesia, and the recipes in this book reflect accurately their way of cooking. I am tired of giving my daughters these recipes, so I am ordering these books for them. I love this book.

The City When It Rains
Published in Hardcover by Putnam Pub Group (January, 1991)
Author: Thomas H. Cook
Average review score:

Not his best
This is my 11th book by Cook and it is very readable, but it is not his best book. It is very sad, considering that the main female died in the beginning and Corman spends the rest of the time trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. Add his personal situation plus the other people in his world and it is worthy of tears. I learned a lot about the underbelly of New York nightlife. But the more recent TC books are much more interesting and mysterious. PS I wish he would get another picture on his book jackets. He looks like a street person. But maybe that's what he wants to look like.

Cook's best book
Thomas Cook is most known for his small town mysteries-- except for a couple of books starring Atlanta cop Frank Clemons.

But this atmosphere drenched, big city noir is a perfect example of the genre. A free lance photographer is determined to solve the mystery of a beautiful woman who jumped from a high rise to her death. As he becomes obsessed with the case, he is determined to prove that she did not commit suicide.

The City When it Rains is to noir novels what "Laura" and "Vertigo" are to the movies. This is a masterful book about the risk of chasing a dream. About the balance of risking too much through negligence and of risking too little in the name of love.

Thomas Cook's popularity has risen with his terrific books like "Breakheart Hill" and "The Chatham School Affair." Someone should take that opportunity to reprint this, his finest work.

Cooks' Tools: The Complete Manual of Kitchen Implements and How to Use Them (#06558)
Published in Hardcover by William Morrow (May, 1984)
Author: Susan Campbell
Average review score:

Tools are a key to good cooking
My late husband said that every technician needs good tools. My hobby is cooking and good tools are as much a part of the meal preparation as the ingredients or the techniques. I loved this little book when I read it 10 or more years ago and vowed to buy it someday. Some very unusual tools are listed. There are many pencil drawings as well. For the food lover, it is one more little piece of fun.

Quite Delicious
As a long time collector of all things kitchen, I inherited a brand new rotary whisk of an unknown date, but definitely seemed to be a collector's item. I decided to let it live in a drawer with the rest of the kitchen items, thinking it would definitely be lonely all in its original box. I mean, kitchen tools were meant to live out their lives whipping up delicious food.

I did so love finding pictures of a "molinillos" on page 135 and didn't even know there was an asparagus peeler.

While there are no recipes, there are instructions for assembling various dishes like a Black Forest Cake. You can even learn how to chop lettuce. Who does that? Ok, there is such a thing as a chopped salad. Anyway, you should chop it with a "plastic" knife instead to prevent browning. I rather like using it to shred the lettuce for sandwich displays.

So, you can learn a bit about actual cooking, while seeing the items in use. The "How Knives are Forged" is well worth the price of the book.

Information is included on: Knives, Scissors & Shears, Other Cutting Tools - peelers, mushroom fluter and such, Pounding, Pressing and Pureeing Tools, Crackers and Crushers, Meat Grinders, Grinders & Mills, Boards, Rolling Pins, Piercing Tools, Pastry Brushes, Spoons, Whisks & Beaters, Separators & Homogenizers, Sifters, Strainers, Shakers and Spinners, Food Mixers and Food Processors, Bowls, Cake, Bread and Pastry Tins, Molds & Presses, Casseroles & Baking Pots, Soufflé Dishes, Gratin Pans, Roasting Pans, Saucepans, Frying Pans, Sauteuses & Deep Fryers, Grills & Griddles, Barbecues, Smokers, Fondues, Toasters, Warmers & Coolers, Racks, Trivets and Diffusers, Cake Decorating Equipment, Papers, Plastics, Foil, String and Cloths, Teapots and Kettles, Coffee Makers & Jugs, Wine Making & Brewing Equipment, Glasses, Yogurt, Ice Cream & Drink Makers, Measuring Equipment and Storage.

If you love to cook, you will find this entertaining. Probably will cuddle up in bed
with the book on a Saturday night because your best online friend is busy doing who knows what. Probably something more delicious than cooking!

Back to listening to Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

New Cookbooks I love:

Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking
Idiot's Guide to 20-Minute Meals

The Creation of Mythology
Published in Paperback by University of Chicago Press (June, 1986)
Authors: Marcel Detienne and Margaret Cook
Average review score:

A great attempt to see what cannot be seen
How do we find the origins of anything? In mythology and folklore, there have been attempts to use language and the narratives themselves to recreate the origins. Others attempt to apply pyschological theory to explain the commonness of "man's mythic past" -- "man" here a term purposely chosen to reflect the patriarchical veil that most studies have processed the world through. Marcel Detienne does some of these things in his search for the origins of Greek mythology -- the term "mythology" is used as a general word and does not reflect later attempts to classify and identify different type of narratives. While I may not agree with all of his statements and the translation leaves a bit ot be desired (as all translations due I might add), I am very pleased as a historian to say that Detienne has no problem saying flat out "we may never know" the origins of Greek mythology. This may leave many readers at a loss if the book was chosen to give all the answers but it is a far more realistic approach that attempts to create what can never be uncovered and to understand what has no record.

A Mythology Book of Compact Mythic Proportions
This 135-page opus is truly one of the most comprehensive and fascinating analyses of the origins of Greco-Roman mythology ever written. Without preaching one particular mode of thinking, Detienne takes the eclectic approach and explores the birth of mythology from a myriad of angles; the linguistic, religious, psychological, philosophical, historic, and socio-economic aspects of Greek culture are all probed in depth throughout the 7 chapters. Detienne bases a great deal of his analysis on the works of the ancient masters and modern critics -- an approach most fitting to his task, but one, however, that gives the book far too many esoteric references to make it material for everyday reading, even for a classicist. The concepts presented in the book are, nonetheless, very well organized, and thought-provoking.

Easy Cooking: Simple Recipes for Beginning Cooks.
Published in Library Binding by William Morrow (March, 1972)
Author: Ann. Beebe
Average review score:

The Shark in Charlie's Window
The paperback edition of this book is titled 'The Shark in Charlie's Window', which made it harder for me to locate. Having read this book about 12-15 years ago I really enjoyed it, but did not remember the title or the author (I was 12). I was overjoyed when I finally located it and promptly bought it for my 7 yr old daughter. After Charlie finds a shark egg on the shore (when what he really wants is a dog!) he takes it home and watches it hatch. Feeding it an odd combination of vitamin E capsules in hamburger, the shark (Nipper) begins to grow and FLOAT!! Much mayhem ensues. This is a great, fun kids read!

Awesome fiction for teens
Thank Heavens! I finally found this book I had forgotten the title to from my teens. It's an Incredible book I will get and give to my nieces. THANK YOU for your reviews which gave me the hints I needed to find it

Edmond Halley: Charting the Heavens and the Seas
Published in Hardcover by Clarendon Pr (May, 1998)
Author: Alan H. Cook
Average review score:

This well researched book gives a rich view of Halley

Edmond Halley is famous for his comet - or more specifically for showing that the comet returned by calculating its orbit. We also know of his relationship with Isaac Newton, and Halley's crucial role in the publishing of Newton's Principia from Westfall's major biography of Netwon.

Alan Cook has produced a well researched and sympathetic biography of Halley. Here we find details of Halley's upbringing, his voyage to St Helena to survey the southern skies and observe a transit of Venus, and his appraisal of Hevelius's observations by naked eye compared with telescopically aided observations. There is a basic account of his marriage (Mary Halley has left little trace behind her) and a good account of Halley's finances. The circimstances of the murder of his father are explored, and once again we are reminded of the autocratic and mercantile flavour of those times.

There is a full account of Halley's sea voyages, undertaken as they were in tiny unstable wooden ships. His mapping of the magnetic deviation of the compass, and of the tides and depth of the sea in the Channel mark Halley as perhaps one of the first government scientists.

Halley's time as the Royal Astronomer is documented, together with his fractious time at the Chester Mint during the recoinage overseen by Newton. Cook provides a mildly critical account of Halley's involvement with the publication of Flamsteed's star catalogue.

Halley is shown as a man of action, a shaper, and a man prepared to trust his judgement in difficult circumstances. This is a sharp contrast to the Newton revealed by Westfall's book, the obsessive and semi-reclusive thinker concerned mainly with his own thoughts.

Halley's world is described, and his interactions with Wren, Hooke, Pepys and the royal households of the time are well documented. The myth of Halley's poverty after his father's murder is laid to rest with some detailed examination of estates, wills and chancery court proceedings.

There are technical details of the Venus transit measurements, and a very welcome analysis of Newton's lunar theory, together with a statistical comparison of the Moon positions of Halley and Flamsteed.

Alan Cook is a scientist and a busy academic administrator. The book is composed in 15 chapters each divided into many sections. One has the image of a busy man typing the odd page or two when possible, and the text does not 'flow' as a narrative. You get the facts with sound judgements backed up by references.

A well-deserved work on a fascinating scientist...
An outstandingly thorough and meticulously researched biography of one of history's most outstanding scientists. Matters related to events in Halley's life are notoriously difficult to reconstruct. He was not a pack-rat like Newton or Kepler, and failed to keep thorough diaries like Hooke. Biographers have to rely on the notes of others, public records, and published papers. Cook rises to the occasion and has produced a biographic work that will rival those of of other important scientists of the era.

Though remembered chiefly for the comet that bears his name, Halley was a scientist of extraordinary breadth and depth. Cook reconstructs all the major categories of Halley's productivity. Chapters are devoted to his youth, the year spent at St. Helena mapping the southern stars, his key role in prying the Principia out of Newton, his role in the quest for longitude at sea, his years as the Astronomer Royal, as well as his career on the high seas, both as a ship's captain (civilian) and scientist/explorer. A scientist like Halley demands a biography of considerable scope, and Cook delivers.

As much as any biography I've read, Cook's "Halley" spends considerable space delving into the contemporary zeitgeist. The 30 page opening chapter "Halley's World," is a splendid essay on the culture and spiritual/political/popular world of the late 17th and early 18th century in Great Britain and Europe.

This book is not an easy read, but it is absolutely essential for any student of the golden age of science. Halley lived in Newton's shadow, but was never eclipsed. Cook has done the literary world a great service in this book.

Cook's Night Out
Published in Mass Market Paperback by HarperTorch (January, 1998)
Author: Joanne Pence
Average review score:

A nice read, but nothing really to write home about
Since I got this book as a present, I could not start with the first book in the series (as I would normally do with any series) and had to jump right in the middle. Although it is already the fifth book in this series, I don't feel that I have missed much not having read the previous four books. Don't get me wrong: it is an entertaining read after a hard, long day (because you don't have to use your brain much), but the villain was simply too obvious, Angelina's attempts at becoming a chocolatier were half-heartedly (at least to me) and there are too many attempts in this book to make it seem like a Diane Mott Davidson-novel....without any recepies and without much success, however. At times I had the impression that Paavo Smith is the main-character of this book and not Angelina Amalfi. Angelina seemed more like a supporting character to me. If you are into Mystries including recipies better get the Goldy Schulz-series by Dianne Mott Davidson (far better) or the PennDutch-series by Tamar Myers (hilariously funny).

Very Entertaining
I'm not quite finished the book, but I couldn't wait to do a review of it. It was very good. It kept you going with trying to find out what was happening and how. It also kept you entertained with some of the things that happened with Angie and Connie. I am thoroughly enjoying this book (the first I have read from this author). I will definitely be picking up her others.

Another delightful work in this exciting and humerous series
Gourmet chef Angelina Amalfi is tired of her cooking career going nowhere. She decides to remedy that problem by creating the most irresistible chocolate the world has ever tasted, the angelinas. However, her experiments result in many delicious but rejected chocolates that she donates to the Random Acts of Kindess Mission. She also agrees to help with the mission's upcoming charity auction.

As Angelina's career hopefully takes off, her lover, San Francisco police officer Paavo Smith, watches his own vocation fall apart. On one case, murder evidence mysteriously disappears leading to the freeing of an obvious killer. This is followed up with the murder of a numbers runner who carries Paavo's phone number on him. The internal affairs department begins to wonder if they have a dirty cop to deal with. However, residing at the mission is a lifetime enemy of Paavo, who plans to destroy the cop by starting with his reputation. It is up to Angelina to not only save her lover's professional credibility, but his life as well..

The fifth novel, THE COOK'S NIGHT OUT, in the delightfully delicious Angelina Amalfi series is a reader's gourmet delight due to the escapades of the lead female protagonist. Paavo is a great character and San Francisco is always a star attraction. The romantic suspense story line is filled with intrigue. The four previous books in Joanne Pence's collection are being released one at a time, starting in February and any fan of romantic suspense needs to read them because they are some of the best books of the nineties.

Harriet Klausner

Related Vacation Book Subjects: Minnesota
More Pages: Cook Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100