Catching Up, Yet Again

Yikes, I guess "Write something—anything!—on the blog" never made it to my To-Do list in May. So here comes another mishmash of stuff I've been up to.

Editing books, of course! You know I have edited a bunch of Michael Ruhlman's cookbooks, and even his first foray into fiction, but I had never worked on a straight nonfiction book with him until this one:

Grocery is still about food, but it's most definitely not a cookbook. Instead, the author explores how we get our food by looking at where we get it: For most people, that's the local grocery store. Sure, we might have Amazon deliver some stuff, and many of us eat out or take in more often in a month than our parents did in a year, but for the most part we schlep to the supermarket to buy the bananas, the chicken thighs, the English muffins, the bacon, and the yogurt. Every day, every week, however often—we go with our lists and fill up our carts. The book steps back to investigate the history of the grocery store as we know it (and also peers ahead at where it might be going), but mostly looks at the here and now, by examining Heinen's, a popular chain in Ohio. Ruhlman learns from a pro how to bag groceries the right way, tags along on a mind-blowing wine and cheese purchasing trip to California, visits a remote ranch to see where lamb chops really come from, and so on. Interspersed throughout are lovely reminiscences of his dad, who liked nothing better than to load up a cart—or two—with all kinds of food at the grocery store, come home, and then cook it up to share with friends and family. The apple didn't fall far from the tree at all in this case. 

Here are a few other books I did in recent months but forgot to tell you about:

 

While all this was going on, Pete was busy graduating from high school! And he's excited to be heading off to Colby College next year ... after a few months in Spain, that is! More about that next time, though.

Comments

[Wendy]

Those are some fine-looking kids you have there. My sorority started at Colby, a fact I don't have cause to mention too often. Well done, you all.

[KRW Lawyers]

The book isn't just educational, it's thoroughly entertaining, as well. I didn't realize how much I invested in Ruhlman's relationship with his father until the last two chapters. It got me. I loved this book from beginning to end. (You'll want to google images of the Heinen's in downtown Cleveland after you're finished; it doesn't disappoint.)

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I am a huge fan of Vietnamese food- I will have to look up that ginger, lemongrass, and mint cookbook- Actually all four of the books appeal to me-