Morimoto

I was really excited to receive my pre-release copy of Morimoto, published by DK, DK is one of my favourite publishers, their Eye Witness travel guides are just amazing. I was expecting beautiful pictures and I was not disappointed.
So who is Chef Morimoto and why should I get his book? Masaharu Morimoto is the regular iron chef Japanese in the Iron Chef and Iron Chef America shows. I always have fun watching these shows on the Food Network, and I was curious to see what a book by him could provide.
The book starts with a 2-3 page biography of Chef Morimoto and his career as a chef, this biography was written by JJ Goode (a long-time food writer). It is then divided in several chapters:

• Sashimi and Sushi: Including a description of how to cut fish, clean octopus and clean clams
• Rice, Noodles, Breads and Soups: With several recipes for rice dishes, including my beloved sticky rice in lotus leaves
• Fish and shellfish: With recipes for lobster, crab, shrimp, etc.
• Duck, Chicken, Pork, Beef and Lamb: This is the chapter that seems to be the most “fusion”, since it includes a lot of recipes that seem French-ish, and stuff with hot fiery chiles
• Vegetables, Tofu and Eggs: A chapter that I was especially interested in, because of its vegetarian content. It includes a recipe for tempura vegetables. Sadly, a lot of veggie and tofu recipes include some type of meat, or cheese
• A special chapter called Recipes to Contemplate: Which includes an abalone croquette. Curiously, there is a typo on the title and it says “albalone” (page 211).
• Desserts: There is a tofu cheesecake that looks delicious (my readers will have to try it for me and let me know what they think, since I cannot eat any cheese)
• Stocks, Oils, Spices and Sauces: Recipes for different sauces and stocks that are needed for the various recipes in the book

The thing that I liked the most about this book is that it has a kind of “guide” in each chapter describing how to use the ingredients, like how to cook the rice, what dashi is, how tofu is made, etc. All the explanations and most of the recipes are accompanied by step-by-step photos illustrating the process.
This is definitely a book worth getting for reference and as a cook book. The only “but” for me is the same as always, the price is $40 USD but it is $50 CAD. At today’s conversion rate it should be about $42 CAD. A 25% markup is too much for us Canadians. I recommend ordering from an American bookstore, like Barnes & Noble, they give you a discount and even with the shipping it’s well worth it. (Sorry Canadian retailers, it’s not my fault, it’s just common sense).
The amazing photography is by Quentin Bacon.

I won another contest!

Street meat
Originally uploaded by Maria in Toronto.

I don’t know what is with me lately, but I just won another contest. I am so excited. I won a free copy of Found Magazine‘s book Found.
I owe it all to the street meat I found on Spadina Av. last fall.
Thanks Torontoist and Simon and Schuster!

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More knitting advance

A few months ago I got Knitting Lingerie Style and started making a really nice camisole (sleeveless, of course!) I started it before the Victoria Day weekend using Alchemy Silken Straw. Everything that I have done with this project has turned out wrong from the beginning. First I had to repeat the cast-on, then I had to do it again because I decided that I needed to double the yarn for more coverage. Then I made a mistake and knit 7 inches from the cast-on instead of 7 inches from the armhole. Now that I finally started to do the lace I have been doing a 7 stitch repeat, when I should have been doing a 6 stitch repeat with only one stitch at the beginning of the row.
I am definitely not going to rip it again, but I am just tired of it. I have been making it for more than 2 months and the progress has been really really slow. Also, the Alchemy Silken Straw is really annoying, it is not plied, so there is a big chance that you may not catch all the threads when you’re knitting. It’s tricky and annoying.

So I decided that for my trip to Mexico I would take an easier project. I looked into my stash for my skein of Seasilk and started making the Montego Bay Scarf from summer’s Interweave Knits, designed by Amy. It is a relatively easy, and repetitive stitch that fit all right for the plane ride. I also brought a skein of Silk Maiden for my mom and she started making the same scarf with that yarn.

So, after the last disappointment with the Silken Straw camisole I couldn’t take it anymore, so I decided to cast-on for an easy project that may take long (or not), but that will not drive me nuts like this has been doing. I dug in to find the Filati Fantasia Cezanne that I got more than 2 years ago. I casted on for the cardigan that I got from Knitwerx and I have already done about an inch.
Let’s hope and don’t go crazy with this project too.

Finally, I took another look at Runway Knits by Berta Karapetyan, and was concerned that it only features Karabella yarns, which I thought you couldn’t find in Canada. I made a couple of phone calls and found out that the only place in Canada where you can find them is in BC, at a store named Wool and Wicker. I called the store and they were super super nice. They said that even if they don’t have the yarn you need, they can order it for you and they ship all across Canada. It may just be worth the effort, because some of the designs are really nice. My favourite is the Little Black Dress, which uses Karabella Vintage Cotton. Sadly, it uses 3.25 mm needles, I can just imagine how long it would take me to knit it! I also like the Ruffled Cardigan, which uses Karabella Aurora 4 (they do have this yarn at Wook and Wicker, they told me when I called), it also uses super tiny needles, though.
Oh, and at the end of the book there is a substitution chart, explaining the type of yarn you can substitute for the Karabella yarn used in each project. That is quite useful, actually.
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Romantic Hand Knits by Annie Modesitt

This week I got my pre-release copy of Romantic Hand Knits by Annie Modesitt. Some of the patterns are too “romantic” for my taste, but otheres are quite nice. By too romantic I mean they have too many flares and lacey add-ons.
Nevertheless, the book is very informative and quite fun. It contains 26 designs classified in 3 different chapters:
Above the waist, includes sleeveless tops (yaaaay!), sweaters, cardigans, and blouses. The designs are cute, and there are at least two that I would be inclined to make.
Below the waist, this section includes skirts and dresses. There is a beautiful dress, the Cleopatra, It is beautiful, but if I tried to make it I would be on that project for like a year, it doesn’t help that it is knit with 3.5 mm needles and covers from ankles to neck. It uses at least 7 balls of Tilli Tomas Pure & Simple, 100% silk (that’s for the smallest size, it wouldn’t fit me, I would have to go to the third size), it retails for $28 USD each, so the project is at least $196 USD. It is beautiful, though.
There is a skirt, called All About Eve that I just loooooved, it is made of ribbon and is one big wraparound skirt. I’m definitely going to try to make it.
Accessories, the accessories section has hats, gloves, scarves, wraps and a pattern for stockings. The stockings are cute, but being a non-sock knitter, I don’t think I’ll bring myself to make them. I will probably make one of the scarves.

One of my favourite things about this book is that it has a lot of help and instructions, and not your typical “knitting basics” help, but more advanced techniques, specific to the patterns, like: basic embroidery stitches, basic crochet techniques, basic lace knitting techniques, etc. This Resources section is scattered all around the book, just after the patterns where the resources are needed.

I also liked that, apart from specifying the yarn that was used for the model in the picture, it has a generic yarn type specification, in case you can’t find, or can’t afford the specific yarn that is called for.

The book is $35 CDN and will be released on August 7, according to amazon.ca (I have to say that at today’s exchange rate, if you see that the book is $27.50 USD it should be $29.10 CDN. I don’t know why, but I feel like those publishing companies are still taking advantage of us Canadians, the price is 20% more than it is in the US, why oh why??).

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Educating Peter

So I finished reading Educating Peter. I had a nice time reading it and did learn a bit about wine. I thought it would be more educative, though, like a guide. The book shows the story of how the author taught her friend, a movie critic, everything about wine. Starting with the colour, the taste, the different types of wines and the countries where it comes from.
I recommend this book if you want to have an entertaining read that will teach you something. The only thing I didn’t like, is that sometimes the tone sounded a bit pretentious. Lots of name-dropping, movie stars and directors. I think they included it to make the reader feel more connected with the wine world, via popular culture, but to me it sounded name-dropper pretentious.
Overall it’s a good entertaining book.

Educating Peter. How I taught a Famous Movie Critic the Difference Between Cabernet and Merlot. By Lettie Teague.

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Alone in the kitchen with an eggplant

I received my copy of this book a week ago. I was excited to look at it, being that I live alone and sometimes I am short on ideas about what to cook for dinner. I also have problems with leftovers, or with portions, since getting all the ingredients needed for certain recipes may result in huge portion sizes.
I haven’t finished reading the book, but sadly, it is not a cookbook. It is a collection of essays that deal with the common theme of cooking for one. They are nice essays and some contain maybe a recipe for one dish. So it is not quite what I was expecting. The essays look interesting, though. I will continue reading and will give more info in a few weeks.

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant. Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone. Edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler.

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Runway Knits

I got my copy of Runway Knits today and I am so excited. I really want to check out all the designs and see what this book includes.
As for what I’ve seen so far, it features Karabella Yarns (does anyone know if we can find Karabella in Canada? the website has a “find a retailer” button but it works only for the US).
Some designs are so beautiful I may want to make one or two. For what I saw, they look suited for the intermediate knitter.
I’ll take a closer look and maybe choose a project and will keep reporting.

Runway Knits: 30 Fashion-Forward Designs. By Berta Karapetyan.

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So so busy

I’ve been super busy lately and haven’t had much time to post. I haven’t even taken many pictures!
But, I recently received Educating Peter by Lettie Teague. I like the subtitle in this book “How I taught a Famous Movie Critic the Difference Between Cabernet and Merlot or How Anybody Can Become an (Almost) Instant Wine Expert”.
I am excited about starting to read this book, because I am also a bit of a neophile neophyte with respect to wine. OK, I’m not that bad, at least I know that there is red wine, white wine, rosé wine and sparkly wine. Oh, and let’s not forget Portuguese green wine. I want to go for a Niagara winery tour soon, just for fun, but it wouldn’t hurt to know what is going on.
The book is published by Simon & Schuster and is $25 USD. The publication date was March 13, 2007 so it’s quite recent.
So I’m going to start reading it and I’ll give an update to my readers as soon as have some comments to make. Maybe I’ll become an (almost) wine expert soon!

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