How to Be a Budget Organic

My mother - an avid reader of Prevention Magazine - sent me this article today on how to make thrifty organic food choices. It is a quick informative read on how to prioritize on a tight budget. Click here to read the article online.

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Mark Bittman writes "The Minimalist" column for The New York Times. My father swears by his recipes -which are reliably easy and delicious. If you plan to cook for your wedding or just want easy recipes to give your caterer consider picking these up.

To Buy or Not to Buy Organic by Cindy Burke

This book as gotten excellent reviews. It was written by journalist and former chef Cindy Burke. She distills some of the politics of the organic food movement and reviews key terms like organic, local, sustainable and grass-fed. She also tells you what to buy and what not to buy. Good for those of us who like answers.

Kosher Cooking

If you want to have a kosher wedding reception and you are thinking about cooking some of the food yourself, or just want ideas to give your caterer, consider picking up one of the following contemporary kosher cookbooks.

1. Kosher By Design Entertains: Fabulous Recipes For Parties And Every Day
"Building on her popular Kosher by Design, Fishbein leads readers through an array of extremely doable kosher options, covering finger foods to main dishes to desserts, while giving suggestions for organizing a menu, decorating a table and serving foods. International offerings like Pesce Arrabbiatta, Moroccan Short Ribs, and Caribbean Jerk Chicken appear alongside variations on familiar classics, such as Mexican Gefilte Fish, Strawberry Apple Kugel, and Mexican Brisket. The author is hip to trendy food items such as edamame, olive tapenade, fennel and porcini mushrooms, reinforcing this cookbook's value: yes, every dish is kosher, but far from old-fashioned. "



2. Quick & Kosher - Recipes From The Bride Who Knew Nothing
"This is the hilarious story of Jamie Geller, a spunky young TV exec who came into marriage and kosher cooking without knowing a spatula from a saucepan. Determined to master cooking, yet pressed for time, she was dismayed to find that most cookbooks consider an hour of preparation time quick, and presumed more culinary skill than many of us have. So Jamie set out to compile her own special collection of quick and easy recipes and Quick & Kosher is the result of her quest. This one-of-a-kind cookbook contains more than 160 recipes requiring no more than 15 minutes to prepare, 120 full-color photos, clear step-by-step instructions, reliable prep and cooking times, tips and techniques, and advice on pairing wines with various dishes. Recipes range from traditional to exotic, and are well indexed and cross-referenced."


3. Hip Kosher: 175 Easy-to-Prepare Recipes for Today's Kosher Cooks
"This book is a great find - from fun recipes filled with loads of learning made easy. I look forward to flipping through the pages and finding a new recipe to try - they've all been hits with our friends so far. Easy to follow - definitely well tested - and they all paste the taste test of top notch food! Thank you, Ms. Ronnie Fein, for bringing this book to us!" - AS.R. Crow

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

I loved this book. Well researched and compellingly written, Schlosser does a very good job of explaining why our food system is the way it is - and why Americans are so overweight as a result. I would not say it is a beach read, but it is probably as close as a non-fiction book about food can get and still be powerful.

A few quick reviews:

Atlanta Journal Constitution
"'Fast Food Nation' should be another wake-up call, a super-size serving of common sense...."

The New York Times
"...Schlosser is a serious and diligent reporter..." "[Fast Food Nation] is a fine piece of muckraking, alarming without beling alarmist." - Rob Walker, NYTBR 1/21/01

Publishers Weekly, Starred
"Schlosser establishes a seminal argument for the true wrongs at the core of modern America."



If you prefer movies, or just want to add some visuals to the mix and have not seen Supersize Me - it is must see TV.

The Tofu Tollbooth - by Elizabeth Zipern + Dar Williams

The Tofu Tollbooth is considered a bible for vegetarian and vegan travel. It lists restaurants, health food stores and other naturally inclined venues by state:

"The guide contains more than 1,000 health-food options, and for each site, the concise write-ups contain address and phone number, directions from the highways (a wonderful addition), hours of operation, and the parade of cute icons that let you know what to expect to find there (once you memorize that the face with beret stands for café, the carrot in a glass denotes juice bar, and the hot pepper means an especially hot tip)." - Amazon.com

This book is not only good for road trips - it can also help you find sources of natural food for your wedding!


If you like folk music and do not own any of Dar Williams albums I also highly recommend checking out some of her CDs:



You can also download her music directly from iTunes

Organic Foods: Top 10 Reasons to Go Organic

This is a quick top 10 reasons list put out by Prevention magazine. A fast answer to the big question of "why organic?" Click here to read the article.

If you are interested in learning more about our food system I recommend Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.

Here are some raves about the book:
The New York Times Book Review
Thoughtful, engrossing . . . You’re not likely to get a better explanation of exactly where your food comes from.

Los Angeles Times
Michael Pollan has perfected a tone—one of gleeful irony and barely suppressed outrage—and a way of inserting himself into a narrative so that a subject comes alive through what he’s feeling and thinking. He is a master at drawing back to reveal the greater issues.

The Seattle Times
If you ever thought ‘what’s for dinner’ was a simple question, you’ll change your mind after reading Pollan’s searing indictment of today’s food industry—and his glimpse of some inspiring alternatives. . . . I just loved this book so much I didn’t want it to end.

Michael Pollan also wrote The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World, and most recently In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.