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Nov 20, 2011

indri rated it:

#2011-29#

yang didapat ketika baca buku ini = lapar.

masakannya enak-enak, kelas restoran, dan banyak resep italia favoritku, canneloni dengan saus yang menetes-netes, taart coklat berwarna putih, kepiting saus lemon.

penguasa-penguasa dapur yang bikin teringat ketika baca buku ini :

1. Burger Blenger.
Sudah pernah nyoba? Kalau menurut saya, rasanya enaakk sekali. Dagingnya yang dipanggang sampai empuk, tebal dan mantep lah (sangat jauh beda denga More...

8 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 25, 2008

Jackie rated it:

***oops--I misposted this review with the wrong book earlier this week. Sorry! I'm blaming holiday craziness!

This is a glorious book. It's about food as a touchstone and a means for memory, community, nurturing, healing, loving, seduction, sustenance, pleasure, joy, beginning, endings--life. It is the story of a cooking class that learns far more than culinary skills at the hands of a chef whose wisdom is not limited to food stuffs. The language is lush and decadent, More...

1 comment like (12 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2008

Brenda rated it:

The School of Essential Ingredients is a story of a cooking class, but is oh so much more! The spices, smells, textures, and flavors throughout the book are used as connection points to the students, their lives, memories, needs, and secrets. As you read this book, you get a warm, cozy feeling from it that lingers with you. You can almost smell and taste right through the book.

This is a book I probably would never have picked up, and if I had, it would have taken a long time for More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2009

Michele rated it:

Renowned chef Lillian owns a restaurant in the Pacific Northwest and every Monday night she hosts a cooking class.

Yep, that's pretty much it. Sounds too simple, right?

This novel is, above all else, a beautifully written character study of each student in Lillian's class. Each character is given their own chapter and their diversity is bound to strike a chord in readers from all walks of life.

Bibliophiles everywhere will see themselves in Lillian's mother, a wo More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2009

Carrie rated it:

When an ARC arrives at my house, it usually goes in the stack of ARCs waiting to be read. But recently, I have cut down on ARC requests and have been diligently making my way through them. I’m pretty sure I only have one left in the stack to read. So, when The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister arrived on Tuesday, it was serendipitous timing - I had just finished Blindspot, and hadn’t picked up another book yet.

I started it Tuesday night, staying up way too late re More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Feb 12, 2009

JoAnn/QuAppelle rated it:

While I did finish this book, mainly to read about the food, this topic has been done before and done better, I think (by Joanne Harris and Sarah Addison Allen). I did not mind the magical realism (I am a fan of Alice Hoffman's, after all!) but the writing left a lot to be desired. I found the writing repetitious and the author used FAR TOO MANY SIMILES. By the middle of the book I was mentally groaning every time I encountered yet another simile.

Another thing that annoyed me was her More...

8 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2009

Traci rated it:

The School of Essential Ingredients is more than a cooking school. Chef and instructor Lillian proves it's a chance to rediscover your own life. The School of Essential Ingredients allows readers a peak into the life of each student and we watch with pleasure as their worlds realign and come together.

While nothing earth-shattering really happnes here, the pacing is beautiful--it reads so quickly, but has that lovely, languid slowness that I crave on a January afternoon. This is a More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2009

K8e rated it:

This book was AMAZING!!!!! I was hungry while reading it, and hungry for more when I finished. Congrats to Erica for writing such an amazing first novel. I loved the how each chapter was a different characters point of view about their life and how they ended up in Lillian's cooking class. There were some of the best pieces of advice within the pages of this book. I think it really appeals to people who cook, or don't cook for that matter (like me) but now I want to really start learning ho More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 22, 2009

Susan rated it:

If you appreciate the concept of the Slow Food Movement and cooking without recipes you'll love this book. Definitely one of my all time favorites. A great weave of food and characters. I loved putting the book down and climbing out of bed to zest some orange peel in a cup of fresh hot chocolate.

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 29, 2008

Lisa rated it:

Hmmmm...I see a lot of people here liked this book. For me the writing style was almost embarrassingly florid, and simile-laden. WAY too saccherine for me.

8 comments like (19 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2009

Heather rated it:

Lillian has discovered that the art of preparing fine foods can heal many of the soul's wounds. Personal experience tells her so. As students filter into the cooking school that she holds in her restaurant every Monday night, she begins to teach them the secrets of culinary excellence, tailoring the meals to each particular person's unspoken need. As raw ingredients are transformed into luscious feasts, each person in the class is also changed. From the frazzled housewife to the couple with a st More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2009

Donura rated it:

Lillian has loved cooking since she was a young girl. As she put it, “she thought smells were for her what the printed words were for others, something alive that grew and changed. She also knew that many people did not comprehend the language of the smells that she did.”

She became one of the lucky few who are able to follow their passion and not only cook for others to enjoy but to teach others to see, and smell and touch and taste what different foods have to offer.

Ms More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 18, 2009

Laurie rated it:

I was so impressed by The School of Essential Ingredients. Erica Bauermeister shows equal passion for the English language and food by painting beautiful pictures of food through creative and engaging language. The School of Essential Ingredients is a collection of short stories weaved around a Monday night cooking class. Each story focuses on a cooking class student and their life delving deep into their past or present situation. Erica Bauermeister manages to evoke a wide range of emotions. Th More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2009

Sara rated it:

I just finished reading this book, which I must say I might never have picked up, except for the fact that I won it in a Goodreads Free Book contest. I'm so glad I did, because the book is very, very good. Essentially, it's the story of Lillian and the restaurant she owns where she holds cooking classes. However, that doesn't begin to tell the story. Lillian has a magical talent, which is that she can select food for individuals that helps them remember critical events in their lives in a po More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2009

Tattered Cover added it

This is a glorious book. It's about food as a touchstone and a means for memory,community, nurturing, healing, loving, seduction, sustenance, pleasure, joy, beginning, endings--life. It is the story of a cooking class that learns far more than culinary skills at the hands of a chef whose wisdom is not limited to food stuffs. The language is lush and decadent, rolling off the page and into your mind like a drug. I could taste, smell, see and feel everything as if I was indeed standing at the More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2009

Rory rated it:

I've given 5-star ratings to a lot of books I've really liked. But "The School of Essential Ingredients" is on a totally different plane. This is a novel of pure love, toward food and toward life. I've never said this in any other review I've written either on here or in my movie reviews: This book will change your life, no matter if you simply read it straight through without much reaction. Scenes will creep into your memory at times you never expected. If you're not a foodie, you'll More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 07, 2008

Laura rated it:

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister (9780399155437, $24.95, January 2009, Fiction, Putnam) is absolutley charming and Bauermeister's writing is chock full of beautiful metaphors.

On Monday nights, Lillian closes her restaurant to customers and opens her arms to the students of her cooking class. Not one to depend on recipes, Lillian opens her students eyes, hearts and minds by concentrating on each ingredient as a guest at the table to be admired and enjoyed a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2008

Rebecca rated it:

One of the best parts of this book turned out to be the thing I was a little wary of before starting it: every chapter is from a different character's viewpoint. I'm a people-watcher. I love to guess where people are going and why. This book takes that idea and actually gives you the answers. We get a glimpse into all these people's lives.

I was surprised how much I liked the story. It's a very quick read--I just got the copy yesterday afternoon and I'm already done. The descriptions, More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2009

Tami rated it:

I've been reading during my lunch breaks. I forgot "Chocolat" that day and happened to get this advance, so I started reading it. And wouldn't you know? ANOTHER book about food and life. I finally finished "Chocolat" this morning, and I ran to pick this one up again. And so far, I absolutely adore it. The writing is beautiful, and I love all the characters. It even made me cry already, and I'm only on page 82...

This book was beautifully written. It really More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2008

Lanette rated it:

Oh, what a great book. I just finished it this morning after staying up way too late last night reading. I loved the author's style. The book itself reminded me a lot of Maeve Binchy's "Evening Class" except they are in cooking class. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves food and cooking... Amy Cassano, Kelly, Jen, Sera, and definitely Amy Curti, too... dont know when it's coming out (this was a first-reads preview) but put it on your list. It's a quick read and you'll More...

7 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 18, 2009

Sharon rated it:

This is one of the best books I've read. It's reminiscent of Like Water for Chocolate, another of the best books!

What I love about this book is having access to the sensuality of the author's writing. She has a way of making fresh ingredients sound luscious and the act of preparing food laden with sensual intrigue.

The book opens up with a look into the life of Lillian, the chef and cooking class teacher. Her life as a girl and how food and cooking became her vehicle of e More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 29, 2010

Sarah rated it:

This book makes me want to cook! For anyone that knows me, you know that I have had zero desire to cook until recently. This book might have just turned my spark to a flame.

"The more she cooked, the more she began to view spices as carriers of the emotions and memories of the places they were originally from and all those they had traveled through over the years. She discovered that people seemed to react to spices much as they did to other people, relaxing instinctively in More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 22, 2009

Darlene rated it:

This is my favorite book this year! Reflections of relationships intermixed with the most sensual descriptions of food. It's a personal look into the lives of a small group of men and women who are taking a cooking class. I cried every day that I indulged in this novel. It's comforting to know that we all face so many of the same issues. Wisdom runs throughout, but it is the remarkable way she chooses her words that amazed me. Too often I enjoy the story. I am savoring every word in thi More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 12, 2009

Kristi rated it:

Like Doreen Orion's book "Queen of the Road" this book includes recipes..well sort of...it's the most mouth watering book I've read in quite some time about cooking specifically! In the first part of the book there is a delicious recipe for orange hot chocolate with anise (licorice). Man does this sound good. I am planning to upgrade this recipe in Doreen's honor and add some orange liquor of some sort too. Oh, I cannot wait!

The other part of this book that makes it so fab More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Renee rated it:

This was a great book. It's the kind of book you need to read when you're in a reading rut, which when reading constantly is a requirement of your job happens often. The School of Essential Ingredients is a good pick for foodies but it's really a great pick for anyone. The book starts out with Lillian's story and how she began to cook and why, this leads to present day where Lillian owns her own restaurant and offers a cooking class once a month on Monday nights. So the book moves along each More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 21, 2011

Pamela rated it:

Take one look at this gorgeous cover and I ll wager you d love to be sitting on that beautiful bench, enjoying the scenery and life around you, holding yourself back just one more moment before heading inside so you can savor the anticipation of a delicious, sensual experience![return][return]The School of Essential Ingredients, written by Erica Bauermeister, introduces us to Lillian and the students attending her cooking class. From an early age, Lillian was drawn to the kitchen, and discove More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 14, 2012

Kim rated it:

received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads

My first impression of the book was that it would be awful. I do not like books about food written by people who can cook. I love food, I love cookbooks (that's the exception), but an actual story about food... I haven't had many good reading experiences of those kind.

When I started the book, I got the impression that "Lillian" was going to be pretentious and snitty about cooking. However, throughout the book, More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 30, 2009

Kathy (Bermudaonion) rated it:

Lillian’s father left her family when she was four years old and her mother turned to books for solace. I can certainly understand why, but her daughter was left feeling neglected. Lillian turned to preparing special foods to try to get her mother’s attention. Thus starting a lifelong love of food and cooking.

As an adult, Lillian opened a restaurant. Once a month, on Mondays when the restaurant is closed, Lillian conducts a series of cooking classes. The School of Essential Ing More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2009

Kate rated it:

I won this book in the GoodReads give-away and was kind of hesitant to read it as it had the possibility of being either good or extremely bad. It was not a complete waste of my time.
The book itself goes through the life stories, chapter by chapter of all of the students brought together by a cooking class. Some of the stories are extremely sweet, others lame. And of course, everything comes together neatly in the end.
My only criticism of the author is that I thought she was trying More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 05, 2009

Beth rated it:

I loved this book. It reminded me a little of Mauve Binchy books as it concentrated on each character but still brought them all together. It was so entertaining and once I started reading it I didn't want to put it down. It made me think a lot about what I'm doing in my life as a mother of a young child. I felt I had a lot in common with Claire. It also made me interested in experimenting to cook but I definitely need recipes. I envy Lillian's way of not needing a recipe to cook. :) I hi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)