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Book ReviewsExtending the Table: A World Community Cookbook |
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Book: Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook
Written by: Joetta Handrich Schlabach Kristina Mast Burnett |
Publisher: Herald Press (PA)
Average Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5
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Excellent!
Rating:
5 / 5
My husband and I cook almost exclusively from this cookbook and its companion, More with Less. But I love this one! A few of the recipes are too spicey for me, but by and large it's taught me whole new ways to "do" food that I never would have thought of.
It's important to us to live lightly on the earth and not overconsume, so we are delighted to have this resource to help us eat "low" on the food chain while also saving money and eating some of the tastiest dishes we've ever made! I really like that it's a cookbook not just about eating, but about everything from farming and environmentalism to poverty and hunger to fellowship and sharing to energy use in cooking. It really helps us make conscious choices about our cooking - after all, food is a moral choice.
But most of all, the recipes are all delicious, hearty, nutritious, inexpensive, and easy to make, even for a cooking klutz like me!
My Favorite Cookbook
Rating:
5 / 5
The recipes from all over the world, mainly third-world nations, are delicious, easy-to-prepare, healthy, and can be made from inexpensive ingredients after an initial investment in spices. My husband and I were unemployed students and this cookbook gave us an endless variety of ideas for how to prepare lentils, at 50 cents a meal! I buy fresh garlic and ginger and keep both in my freezer. No need to peel the ginger if you've washed it before freezing it, and it breaks apart easily when it has been frozen. Though seasonings can be expensive, they can make the most basic ingredients--dried beans, lentils, grains--savory and satisfying! If you don't have the ingredients the recipe calls for, improvise! These recipes are extrememly versatile.
There is a index for the recipes origin, so you can decide to have a complete dinner featuring a particular nation or region. Many meals can be prepared with one or two pots on your stove, as many kitchens in the world contain only a wood-fired stove.
If you buy this book, spend some time just reading it-- it is filled with stories and observations from MCC volunteers who lived in community with the poor of the world and experienced generosity and hospitality of their neighbors. Some stories will bring you to tears. You will never think of food in the same way again.
the most inspirational book on my shelves
Rating:
5 / 5
I've collected hundreds of books - from philosophy to mysteries to cookbooks. And, I'm a philosophy teacher who reads (lots of) fiction for pleasure. But if I were to save only one book for eternity, it would be this one. The recipes are presented clearly and are simple to prepare. But the book is more than the recipes. It is also a collection of inspiring stories from around the world. For those of us in the US, with luxuries and overabundance the norm, it is a humbling look at how the rest of the world struggles with the simplest needs. I have no particular religious affiliation but this is the book I turn to (at least once a year) for a spiritual overhaul and reality check. I can't recommend it enough.
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