Green Books Campaign Review - Sweet Utopia by Sharon Valencik

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.

Sweet Utopia by Sharon Valencik
published 2009
183 pages

Synopsis:

These easy-to-make, sensational desserts are all lactose- and cholesterol-free. Now you can create the luscious flavors and familiar textures of traditional desserts without the use of eggs or dairy. Straightforward ingredients are used to create a variety of the best cakes, cookies, pies, puddings, and other treats. Full-color photos provide inspiration for making these tempting sweets.

My thoughts:

So, my first cookbook review, and I choose a vegan cookbook? I know, it's a little crazy - I'm not a vegan- but the idea of "better for me" desserts won me over, and I had to try it. The book itself is quite nice - large pictures for each recipe make it easy to see what you are trying to make, and I felt all the recipes were explained in a way that made them seem quite logical to follow. The "green" part of this book is, of course, that all the recipes are vegan, and also that the book itself is printed on paper that contains postconsumer recycled content, which apparently saved 89 trees.

The author gives many ideas and suggestions for the vegan cook, including what to do if you don't have the ingredients you need, substitutions for many of the ingredients, and the option to make most of the recipes with non-vegan ingredients if necessary. She states that all the specifically vegan ingredients are easy to find at your local grocery store, and for the most part I found that to be true. So, how are the recipes you ask?

The first recipe I tried was Chocolate-Pecan Paradise Pie. (Here's a picture of my finished product). It was described as looking like a thick brownie pie - I thought maybe it would be a cross between a brownie pie and a pecan pie. It was....not exactly that. I thought it tasted alright, but not really like what I expected when I read the recipe. There is molasses in the recipe, and I felt like that taste came through quite strong.

It wasn't bad, but not as fantastic as I would have hoped based on the description.







I also made the recipe for Pumpkin -Chocolate Chip Muffins, but left out the chips, and baked it into a loaf. (Again, my finished product - halfway eaten!) I thought this recipe was quite good, although not as good as other pumpkin bread recipes I've tried.




I also tried to make Cappuccino Custard, but that was a pretty serious fail. It required mixing of cornstarch and soy milk over medium heat - don't let the mixture come to a boil - don't let the mixture form lumps. I tried making this twice, and each time ended up with paste. I'm sure it was my own error, but didn't have the patience to try again.

I think if you are a vegan, or interested in starting a vegan lifestyle, this would probably be a great resource. For someone like myself, who was just an interested observer, I don't think the recipes are good enough to warrant purchasing the book. However, if eating vegan is something you are interested in, there is a lot of good information in this book, and I would recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher for sending my this book to review. If you are interested in learning more about the Green Books campaign, including a list of other books reviewed, make sure to visit their website!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, JoAnna Emma. You have my heart wrapped around your tiny little finger. It has been such a joy to be your aunt - I can't believe you are already one year old! You've had a busy year - here are some highlights.
























































































































































Sweet girl, I can't wait to see what you learn next. Happy, happy birthday. I love you so much!

Relative Reads Review - On the Road

I was given the great fortune of growing up in a family of readers. Both of my parents read, and so do the majority of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. In fact, my Great-Grandma had cataract surgery in her 90's, because she couldn't bear to not be able to read. I thought it would be interesting to read some of the books THEY have discovered and enjoyed over the years, so I asked them to send me some recommendations, and the fun began! I have a list of the titles various family members have suggested on the side of the blog, so if you want to see what will be coming up you can take a peek.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac (read inspired by Uncle Jim)
published 1957
310 pages


Synopsis from publisher:

On the Road chronicles Jack Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent with his friend Neal Cassady, "a sideburned hero of the snowy West." As "Sal Paradise" and "Dean Moriarty," the two roam the country in a quest for self-knowledge and experience. Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz combine to make On the Road an inspirational work of lasting importance.

My thoughts:

Those of you who have read my Relative Reads posts before might notice a difference from past installments - this book isn't recommended by a relative, but INSPIRED by one.

This summer at the lake, as I was pestering everyone for book recommendations, I started talking books with my Uncle Jim. He mentioned that he had recently read On the Road, but that he hadn't been that impressed with it. When I asked why, he said he thought it was because so much of the book mirrored his own life as a young man that it just wasn't that interesting for him. Well, obviously that peaked my interest - my uncle used to be a beatnik??!!? So he graciously sent me his copy of the novel, and I have to say, it was an interesting reading experience.

I have to be honest and say that stream-of-consciousness narratives are difficult for me to read. I'm sure it's part of my own dislike of feeling "out of control", but the lack of structure often makes it a challenge for me to keep track of the actual story. I think perhaps it's a higher-level mental skill that I just never developed. Anyway, that narrative style made this novel a struggle for me.

That being said, I'm glad I worked my way through, because I get why it was such a mind-blowing story for its time - this was probably the first articulation of the idea that life's too short, so grab as much of it as you can, as fast as you can, and don't worry about the consequences. Dean Moriarty is a true larger-than-life hero, and the relationship between Dean and Sal is full of passion and complexity. And, despite my struggles, there were moments in the narrative that made me stop and catch my breath - here are some of my favorites -

"We turned at a dozen paces, for love is a duel, and looked at each other for the last time."


"A pain stabbed my heart, as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world."

"Why think about that when all the golden land's ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you're alive to see?"

"I woke up as the sun was reddening; and that was the one distinct time in my life, the strangest moment of all, when I didn't know who I was—I was far away from home, haunted and tired with travel, in a cheap hotel room I'd never seen, hearing the hiss of steam outside, and the creak of the old wood of the hotel, and footsteps upstairs, and all the sad sounds, and I looked at the cracked high ceiling and really didn't know who I was for about fifteen strange seconds. I wasn't scared; I was just somebody else, some stranger, and my whole life was a haunted life, the life of a ghost. I was halfway across America, at the dividing line between the East of my youth and the West of my future."


I found this video of Kerouac reading just a bit of his novel, and the meter of the narrative became apparent. I almost think hearing this novel aloud might enhance it for me - now if I can just find a good audiobook version.






This was certainly an experience. It's fascinating to put my uncle in the place of Dean and Sal - I've only heard a few of his stories, but I'm pretty sure he could write a book that would rival this one. I don't know that I can recommend On the Road, but I don't regret the reading of it myself.

Finished: 10/22/09
Source: on loan from Uncle Jim - thanks!
Rating: 5/10

This book counts toward: