What I'm Reading: January

Food Matters -- A Guide to Conscious Eating by Mark Bittman. Simon & Schuster, 2009. Paperback, $15.00.

    I'm an admirer of Mark Bittman's approach to food. His early January article in the New York Times about three basic recipes for cooking at home motivates me when I  think I just can't be in the kitchen another evening. Still, I haven't read any of his books and don't own any of his cookbooks. "Food Matters" will put an end to the Bittman drought in my reading schedule.

Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman. Scribner, 2009. Hardback, $27.00.

     My first introduction to this book was a short segment on the weekly Splendid Table podcast which I listen to almost religiously. Ruhlman's premise, that all cooking distills down to a set of ratios and that recipes are built from these ratios, makes for investigative thinking for me. As I read this book I'm testing out his ratio premise on many of the recipes that I have committed to memory -- my banana chocolate chip muffins, my meatloaf, my piecrust. So far, so good. The ratio thing seems to have validity.

Gardening in the Desert: A Guide to Plant Selection & Care by Mary Irish. University of Arizona Press, 2000. Paperback, $17.95.

     I've spent an enjoyable hour with Mary's Irish's book on desert plants and already I know that that this will be a valuable resource for learning about plants in Southern Arizona where we've purchased a winter home. My first reading session taught me about basic trees -- mesquite, palo verde, ironwood -- and soil structure (think alkaline in the desert). I'm sure there will be many more times that I'll read a section after a desert walk and learn something more.

Yard Full of Sun: The Story of a Gardener's Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand, by Scott Calhoun. Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, AZ, 2005. Paperback, $22.95.

     Here's a beautiful book published by Rio Nuevo Publishers in Tucson that features the story of one gardener's establishment of a home and yard in a southern desert climate. Scott Calhoun is a frequent lecturer at Tohono Chul Park, a great spot in the Tucson area to see and learn about plants and desert gardens. (The tea room at Tohono Chul serves organic slow food, too. Good for lunches!)  Artful photography and an engaging storyline make this a compelling read. Along the way you learn some botany and some practical tips. For example, the first tool on Scott's desert gardening tool list is a Mikita 42-pound electric jackhammer!

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NOTE: "What I'm Reading" is a monthly blog post that highlights books of interest. While I try to keep in mind the themes of this blog -- knitting, photography, good food, family, gardens, quilts, books, lakeshore, farm -- the reading list is more eclectic. Keep in mind that I'm a lover of reading who uses a Kindle almost daily, reads the New York Times on a cellphone app but still loves to hold a book and savor the page turning and layout on paper.