Country fare: Reminiscences and recipes from a Maine c

Release Date: August 04, 2009

Welcome to Nathalie Dupree's South, a place of ladies' luncheons, bake sales, fresh fish dinners, and pit barbecue, where time seems to move a bit more slowly and where fresh, flavorful food is an indispensable part of everyday life. For years, television host and author Nathalie Dupree has led the renaissance of Southern cooking, bringing the best of the region's fare to the rest of the country. Now available in paperback for the first time, Nathalie Dupree's Southern Memories is the culmination of her lasting love affair with Southern food and Southern living. It is a heartfelt tribute to the people and places that have shaped her philosophy of cooking and entertaining.Join Nathalie as she explores the glorious South, from the oyster beds of North Carolina to the rice fields of Louisiana, with dozens of delicious stops in between and foolproof recipes for more than 150 regional favorites. This culinary tour of the region she has called home for more than forty years pays homage to the old and the new. Offering recipes for such Southern classics as Hopping John, Frogmore Stew, Angel Biscuits, and Country Ham Cooked in Coca-Cola, Nathalie also presents a hearty helping of less traditional fare, including Beef Tenderloin with Oysters Rockefeller Sauce and a savory Vidalia Onion Tart.Gorgeous full-color photographs capture the South's gracious ambience, and Nathalie's personal reminiscences highlight the history and customs that have influenced the way Southerners eat today. For anyone who has longed to step into Nathalie's world as seen on her PBS series, Southern Memories will be as welcome as a cool iced tea on a hot summer day.

From the Atlantic Ocean to well-tended organic farms, Maine’s landscape offers some of the country’s best raw materials for rustic, hearty cuisine. To the natural bounty, add the independent spirit and quiet humor of the people, and it’s apparent why chefs, farmers, fishermen, and artisans are drawn to the state. Their fierce pride, respect for the land, and lack of pretension are recognizable ingredients in all the food they produce. Food writer Brooke Dojny counts herself among those who love the cooking of Maine — the flavors, the oddities, the quirks, the people, the lore, and the language. Join her on a delicious journey through the foodways of one of our most diverse culinary regions, where tried and-true flavors and innovative creations live comfortably together on home dinner plates and restaurant menus. In Maine, where the craggy coastline is so much a part of the state’s image, there’s no getting away from seafood. Both shellfish and fin-fish are enjoyed year-round. Lobster stews, salads, and pies; steamed mussels and fried clams; oven-roasted cod and seared halibut are just a few of the traditional fish dishes, so simple to make at home, that are represented here. Dojny’s love for the local produce finds its way into warming soups, bright side dishes, and entrées that pair native produce with fish and meats. And yes, Maine’s growing season is short, but the people are resourceful. Pickled and preserved vegetables, along with salted and smoked fish and dried beans nourish throughout the winter months. Dojny’s tribute to the food of her adopted home boasts 165 recipes in all, including a few dozen from some of Maine’s most accomplished chefs, and a sweet nod to those famous wild blueberries, in pancakes, muffins, pies, scones, and other baked goods. Local stories and food lore, historical facts and literary quotes, and a traveler’s guide to hidden road food gems make this the ultimate food-lover’s guide to the salty personality of Maine cuisine.

From the Atlantic Ocean to well-tended organic farms, Maine’s landscape offers some of the country’s best raw materials for rustic, hearty cuisine. To the natural bounty, add the independent spirit and quiet humor of the people, and it’s apparent why chefs, farmers, fishermen, and artisans are drawn to the state. Their fierce pride, respect for the land, and lack of pretension are recognizable ingredients in all the food they produce. Food writer Brooke Dojny counts herself among those who love the cooking of Maine — the flavors, the oddities, the quirks, the people, the lore, and the language. Join her on a delicious journey through the foodways of one of our most diverse culinary regions, where tried and-true flavors and innovative creations live comfortably together on home dinner plates and restaurant menus. In Maine, where the craggy coastline is so much a part of the state’s image, there’s no getting away from seafood. Both shellfish and fin-fish are enjoyed year-round. Lobster stews, salads, and pies; steamed mussels and fried clams; oven-roasted cod and seared halibut are just a few of the traditional fish dishes, so simple to make at home, that are represented here. Dojny’s love for the local produce finds its way into warming soups, bright side dishes, and entrées that pair native produce with fish and meats. And yes, Maine’s growing season is short, but the people are resourceful. Pickled and preserved vegetables, along with salted and smoked fish and dried beans nourish throughout the winter months. Dojny’s tribute to the food of her adopted home boasts 165 recipes in all, including a few dozen from some of Maine’s most accomplished chefs, and a sweet nod to those famous wild blueberries, in pancakes, muffins, pies, scones, and other baked goods. Local stories and food lore, historical facts and literary quotes, and a traveler’s guide to hidden road food gems make this the ultimate food-lover’s guide to the salty personality of Maine cuisine.

A land of vibrant cultures and vivid contrasts, Vietnam is also home to some of the most delicious and intriguing food in the world. While its cooking traditions have been influenced by those of China, France, and even India, Vietnam has created a cuisine with a spirit and a flavor all its own.Chef and restaurateur Mai Pham brings to life this diverse and exciting cooking in Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table. Born and raised in Saigon before emigrating to the United States, Mai has often returned to her native land to learn the secrets of authentic Vietnamese cooking, from family, friends, home cooks, street vendors, and master chefs. Traveling from region to region, she has gathered the simple, classic recipes that define Vietnamese food today: Green Mango Salad with Grilled Beef, Stir-Fried Chicken with Lemongrass and Chilies, Caramelized Garlic Shrimp, and especially pho, the country's beloved beef-and-noodle soup. With more than 100 recipes in all, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table offers home cooks the chance to create and savor the traditional flavors of Vietnam in their own kitchen.Filled with enchanting stories and stirring black-and-white photos of life in Vietnam, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table provides a captivating taste of an enduring culture and its irresistible cuisine.

Welcome to Junior's! is a nostalgic tour of Brooklyn from the 1930s to the 1990s with reminiscences and recipes from the legendary restaurant renowned for its rich and creamy cheesecake. Junior's holds a special place in Brooklyn, also home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Coney Island, and the Brooklyn Bridge. As well as a decade-by-decade history of the golden age of Brooklyn with wonderful photographs from the past fifty years, scattered throughout are memories and stories of how Junior's grew from its modest beginnings to its success today.From the very first day Junior's opened its doors in 1950 on the corner of DeKalb and Flatbush Avenue Extension in downtown Brooklyn, three generations of the Rosen family have worked hand in hand to build their restaurant into one of the most popular eateries in the borough today. First Harry Rosen, then his sons, Marvin and Walter, and now his grandsons, Kevin and Alan, have worked tirelessly to create and continue a famous Brooklyn neighborhood tradition -- a family restaurant that commands loyalty from its customers, and one to which they return day after day.Going to junior's is an event. It is a place that has become a home-away-from-home for Brooklynites over the years and is a popular destination for people from the entire New York metropolitan area. Today, just as on the day it opened, Junior's remains a quintessential Brooklyn phenomenon. It even looks remarkably like it did in the fifties -- bright orange booths that seat nearly four hundred, a glistening counter surrounded with diners, a busy soda fountain, and, of course, the bakery, brimming with all kinds of cheesecakes, homemade pies, towering layer cakes, and buttery pastries. Not only does Junior's stand for the best of ethnic, down-home fare but it also serves the best cheesecake in New York -- at the last count over four million slices each year.Welcome to Junior's! is not only a memory book to treasure but a cookbook with over one hundred favorite recipes. From Junior's signature cornbread, matzoh ball soup, crisp fried chicken, cheese blintzes, and baked stuffed shrimp to its legendary desserts -- Junior's famous #1 pure cream cheesecake, lemon meringue pie, strawberry shortcake, chocolate fudge layer cake, and ice-cream sundaes -- these recipes allow you to re-create a small slice of Junior's right in your own home kitchen.

A land of vibrant cultures and vivid contrasts, Vietnam is also home to some of the most delicious and intriguing food in the world. While its cooking traditions have been influenced by those of China, France, and even India, Vietnam has created a cuisine with a spirit and a flavor all its own.Chef and restaurateur Mai Pham brings to life this diverse and exciting cooking in Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table. Born and raised in Saigon before emigrating to the United States, Mai has often returned to her native land to learn the secrets of authentic Vietnamese cooking, from family, friends, home cooks, street vendors, and master chefs. Traveling from region to region, she has gathered the simple, classic recipes that define Vietnamese food today: Green Mango Salad with Grilled Beef, Stir-Fried Chicken with Lemongrass and Chilies, Caramelized Garlic Shrimp, and especially pho, the country's beloved beef-and-noodle soup. With more than 100 recipes in all, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table offers home cooks the chance to create and savor the traditional flavors of Vietnam in their own kitchen.Filled with enchanting stories and stirring black-and-white photos of life in Vietnam, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table provides a captivating taste of an enduring culture and its irresistible cuisine.

General Halbert Eleazer Paine, commanding officer of the 4th Wisconsin Regiment of Volunteers, took part in most of the significant military actions in the lower Mississippi Valley during the Civil War. Nearly forty years after the conflict's end, Paine--a former schoolteacher and attorney who would become a three-term congressman--penned recollections of his wartime exploits, including his involvement in the Vicksburg campaign, the operations that resulted in the capture of New Orleans, the Battle of Baton Rouge, the Bayou Teche offensive, and the siege of Port Hudson. Now available for the first time, A Wisconsin Yankee in Confederate Bayou Country provides Paine's reflections and offer his excellent eyewitness account of the complexities of war. Paine describes in detail the antiguerrilla operations he coordinated in southern Louisiana and Mississippi and his role in the defense of Washington, D.C., where he commanded a portion of the line during Confederate General Jubal Early's 1864 movement against the city. His experiences shed light on the daily struggle of the common solider and on the political and legal debates that dominated the times. In one striking episode, he describes his arrest for refusing to return to their masters fugitive slaves who entered his lines. He discusses the occupation of New Orleans and the relations between Federal soldiers and local slaves and provides definitive commentary on dramatic incidents such as the burning of Baton Rouge and the destruction of the ironclad ram C.S.S. Arkansas. A departure from most accounts by Union army veterans, Paine's story includes less celebration of the grand cause and greater analysis of the motives for his actions--and their inherent contradictions. He sympathized with the many "contrabands" he encountered, for example, yet he callously dismissed a reliable servant for suggesting that the rebels fought well. Despite expressing kind feelings toward certain southern families, Paine all but condoned his troops' "excessive looting" of local homes and businesses, which he viewed as acceptable retribution for those who resisted Federal authority. After the war, Paine also served as commissioner of patents, championing innovations such as the introduction of typewriters into the Federal bureaucracy. With a useful introduction and annotations by noted historian Samuel C. Hyde, Jr., A Wisconsin Yankee in Confederate Bayou Country reveals many of the subtle advantages enjoyed by the troops in blue, as well as the attitudes that led to behavior that left a violent legacy for generations.

Through the pages of this book, country music fans can share the joys of Christmas with some of America’s most beloved stars. This rich collection of memories and traditions features stories—in the stars’ own words—of childhood memories and favorite ways of celebrating the most festive holiday of the year. Stars like Dolly Parton and Billy Ray Cyrus recall how childhoods like theirs—poor in terms of money, but rich in terms of love—resulted in some of the happiest Christmas memories they have. And memories are being made today with stars like Tim McGraw, Tanya Tucker, and Clint Black, who discover anew the magic of Christmas through their children’s eyes.Photos reveal the private side of the stars, and their recipes make Christmas country-style easy to achieve, with dishes such as Barbara Mandrell’s Christmas turkey and Alan Jackson’s cornbread stuffing, John Michael Montgomery’s wild goose with currant sauce, Charlie Daniels’s sugar cookies, Naomi Judd’s miniature fruitcakes, and many more.The 15-track CD features songs specially recorded for this book. The album includes Tim Rushlow’s “Little Drummer Boy, ” The Jordanaires’s “Joy to the World, ” and Kristy Rhode’s “Come On Ring Those Bells.” A portion of the proceeds from this book will benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital®, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum®, and the Edie Hand Foundation™.The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is operated by the non-profit, educational Country Music Foundation (CMF). The mission of the CMF is to identify and preserve the evolving history and traditions of country music and to educate its audiences. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum presents the country music story through its treasure trove of historic country music video clips and recorded music, dynamic exhibits with state-of-the-art design, and a regular menu of live performances and public programs.St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communities around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its fund-raising organization.The Edie Hand Foundation’s mission is to raise and donate money to Alabama communities and national charities to help raise a child or to defeat an incurable disease or to provide children joy at Christmas. Visit www.ediehandfoundation.org.More than 65 stars of country music share their favorite recipes, cherished holiday memories, and family photos in this country-style Christmas treasury that includes a 15-song CD.