In the technicolor glow of the early seventies, Jessica B. Harris debated, celebrated, and danced her way from the jazz clubs of the Manhattan's West Side to the restaurants of the Village, living out her buoyant youth alongside the great minds of the day—luminaries like Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison. My Soul Looks Back is her paean to that fascinating social circle and the depth of their shared commitment to activism,

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An influential chef and food thinker combines personal stories with explorations into the cultural, historical and botanical back stories of the food we eat and the ingredients we use.

"In 1843, 14-year old Hanson Gregory left his family home in Rockport, Maine and set sail as a cabin boy on the schooner Achorn, looking for high stakes adventure on the high seas. Little did he know that a boat load of hungry sailors, coupled with his knack for creative problem-solving, would yield one of the world's most prized pastries. At long last, here's the hole truth about the invention of the donut!"--

On July 26th, 2008 Ronda Giangreco was a healthy, vibrant woman. Just back from her latest adventure at a cooking school in Italy, she was busy planning her next big dinner party. She and her husband had spent the day sampling wines in the Napa Valley with friends. Life was good. One day later she was a disabled woman. Told she might not walk for much longer, she asked herself the question, "...then where should I walk now?" Her answer - to the kitchen!...

"Traveling across four continents, from the ruins of Iraq to the savannahs of Kenya, Witold Szabłowski tracked down the personal chefs of five dictators known for the oppression and massacre of their own citizens: Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Uganda's Idi Amin, Albania's Enver Hoxha, Cuba's Fidel Castro, and Cambodia's Pol Pot-and listened to their stories over sweet-and-sour soup, goat-meat pilaf, bottles of rum, and games of gin rummy. Dishy, deliciously...

Julie Powell is a frustrated insurance worker who wants to be a writer. Trying to find a challenge in her life, she decides to cook her way through Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' in one year, and to blog about it. As Julie begins to find her groove as a cook, and her voice as a writer, the project takes on a life of its own. The project provides the struggling young woman with her life's purpose, to her very pleasant surprise....

Every US president, from Washington to Obama, has had African Americans cooking in their kitchen--many serving as head chef. But these cooks were not only culinary artists. They also served presidents as personal confidantes, informal policy advisers, civil rights advocates, and family friends. These chefs had a unique perspective, but one that has been largely ignored until now.Through fascinating research gleaned from cookbooks, historical documents,...