Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking focuses even more strongly on home cooking by providing not only recipes but also lots of ideas for day-to-day cooking, so that you can put together a great meal even when you’re tired or haven’t been shopping. Most recipes include lots of ideas for variations as well as tips for putting together full menus. My favorite chapters were “Party Platters” for its snack as well as party ideas; “Sandwiches, Wraps and Rolls,” which is replete with great ideas; and “Anytime Eggs,” because I love eggs anytime.

Favorite recipes: Caramelized Onion Dip; Tomato-Mozzarella Cheese Toasts; Pan-Seared Tuna Tacos with Mango-Avocado Salsa; Grilled Bacon, Egg and Cheddar Sandwich; Rotini with Sausage, Cannellini Bean and Swiss Chard Ragu; Poached Chicken Breasts with Spring Vegetables and Horseradish; Classic Cucumber Salad; Green Rice; Mini Baked Potatoes

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Fresh Every Day is a fairly straightforward cookbook of favorites from Foster’s Market, adapted for home cooking. I really appreciate the numerous tips, shortcuts and variations that Foster provides for her recipes. My favorite chapters are “Breakfast for Anytime,” “Simple Soups,” “Seasonal Salads and Salad Meals” and “Seasonal Sides”; I think the chapter titles say it all.

Favorite recipes: One-eyed Jacks; Fresh Mozzarella Salad with Avocado, Roasted Corn and Grape Tomatoes; Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese; Roasted Tomato, Corn and Potato Salad with Wilted Spinach; Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Carrot Soup; Wild Mushroom Soup with Sherry and Thyme; Grilled Buffalo Chicken Strips; Chicken Cacciatore; Lemon Icebox Pie with Gingersnap Crust

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The House of the Scorpion is a novel intended for young adults, but it is only distinguishable as that by the youth of its main characters and the sometimes simplistic straightforwardness of the writing. The themes it addresses — the outsider, the moral obligations of those in power, the determination of nature vs. nurture — are much more complex and will appeal to readers of any age.

Read the rest of my review at: http://scifemme.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/review-the-house-of-the-scorpion-by-nancy-farmer-2002/

I picked this book up because I thought it was science fiction. While it does depict a utopian society, I would consider it more fantasy than sci fi, since its premise depends so much on supernatural elements that are never adequately explained. It is also fantasy in its expressed wish for a simpler, happier society doing its best to bring the rest of the human race back to that ideal. But it is an endearing fantasy nonetheless.

I reread this beloved book from my childhood to see if it held up over the years. It did, and Meg is still an inspiring, empowering character for me.

Authentic Mexican is my favorite of the three cookbooks. The recipes are very detailed and include many notes on techniques and ingredients. The section on timing and advance preparation is extremely helpful for planning my cooking strategy; I wish every cookbook included such thoughtful notes. I also appreciate the many traditional and contemporary variations on each recipe provided, which enable the cook to try the dish multiple ways or easily substitute ingredients.

Favorite recipes: Chile-marinated Vegetable Tostadas; Fresh Green Tomatillo Sauce; Quick-cooked Tomatillo-Chile Sauce; Potatoes with Mexican Sausage; Scrambled Eggs with Mexican Flavors

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Salsa That Cook is a fun little cookbook from which I have made several very successful recipes. The cookbook opens with a selection of salsas made from a variety of chiles. The recipes that follow use the salsas as key ingredients to enliven such dishes as macaroni and cheese and baked goat cheese. I usually make the salsa ahead of time and hope that I have enough left over for some good old-fashioned chips and dips.

Favorite Recipes: all of the salsas; Tangy Green Guacamole; Seared Red Chile Enchiladas with Chicken and Aged Cheese; Chiaquiles with Spinach, Zucchini and Aged Cheese; Today’s Macaroni and Cheese; Spicy Vegetable “Stew”; Chipotle Mashed Potatoes; Mexican Fruit Pops

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I have cooked the least out of Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen, probably because the recipes are the most advanced of the three cookbooks of his that I own. Each recipe is long and detailed, with notes on advance preparation, shortcuts and variations. I cannot stress enough how helpful these notes are, and I am surprised more cookbook writers don’t take the same approach. This cookbook also includes mouth-watering photographs.

Favorite Recipes: Guacamole; Essential Chopped Tomato-Serrano Salsa; Essential Roasted Tomato-Jalapeno Salsa; Chilied Tortilla Soup with Shredded Chard

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A good book so far, but I was told that this was science fiction, and I don’t really think it is. Too me it seems more like fantasy. In other words, I haven’t found any science in it.

I really love this book. I am going to buy a copy for my son, but really it is for me.