Reviewer Mary Lignor: Mary is a retired librarian, originally from Connecticut but now living in New Mexico. All her life Mary has loved books and has passed this love on to her daughters. Mary started working in a library when her children were young as an Assistant Librarian and ended up as its Director. Her favorite books are suspense, political intrigue and anything involving the World War II era.
Author: Maria Liberati
ISBN: 978-192891102-9
Click Here To Purchase The Basic Art of Italian Cooking-Holidays & Special Occasions
I
am not of Italian descent nor do I speak the language. But, do
I eat Italian food? OH YEAH!!!
I waited
impatiently for this book and when I received it, dived right in.
The recipes are easy to make and so delicious. Miss Liberati
has divided this book into chapters highlighting occasions such as
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day,
Valentine's Day and Carnevale. She has suggested meals starting
with appetizers, entrees, desserts and beverages. I have been
pouring over this book and have decided what my Christmas Dinner will
entail. Just to be difficult I took something from the
Carnevale chapter. Chicken Breasts Di Livorno (now doesn't that
sound better than frying chicken breasts stuffed with proscuiutto and
mozzerella cheese?) Actually, I may just go with the Roasted
Chicken Con Sapori along with Roasted Potatoes Con Sapori. I
hope Ms. Liberati will forgive me for bouncing around but, I really
love this book.
Ms Liberati also provides a Glossary of
Italian terms in the back of the book to help us non-Italians with
the pronunciation. Thanks for that!!
Also, all the recipes
are step by step so Gourmet Chefs and Novice Cooks and anyone in
between can understand and follow the directions. Thanks for
that too!! Even if you aren't a great cook you will enjoy the
stories of how Carnevale began and the stories of Valentine's Day.
According to the author's bio she is a former international
supermodel and by the look of her picture on the front cover, I
certainly believe it. She is a lovely woman who doesn't look
like she eats anything, but she certainly can write interesting
articles about cooking. I really enjoyed this book and plan to
enjoy it a lot more in the coming months. The recipes that I've
tried are delicious and if you haven't enjoyed Italian food in the
past you will when you try some of them.
A small final
note to Maria Liberati: My daughter Amy, who is also a reviewer, has
always hated snow. She grew up in New England so she saw a lot
of it. When we sat down to look at The Basic Art of Italian
Cooking we found on page 34 a Christmas Cocktail
called Snowflake (ingredients: white rum, banana cream
liqueur, juice from one whole lime, a whole banana, and crushed ice).
Put all ingredients into a blender and serve in a goblet decorated
with Christmas colors. After making up a batch, we didn't
bother with the goblet as it isn't Christmas yet and we didn't want
to rush the season. But, I can tell you that both Amy and I are
no longer enemies of Snowflakes. They are A-OK with us.