Books & Media

It's book club time again! Tonight we're gathering to discuss My Life in France at Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op’s Selby location from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. and near Harmony Co-op in Bemidji from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. 

Count me among the many thousands of supporters, friends, and admirers of Heavy Table, a phenomenally good website focused on food in the Upper Midwest in general, and Minnesota in particular. In just over two years, the Heavy Table -- and its editor James Norton -- have become a true force for good food in our state, telling the stories of Minnesota's restaurants, farmers, trends, and tastes in ways that are both tasteful and mouthwatering. With daily articles, photos, graphics, and illustrations, Heavy Table makes the case for Minnesota as the center of our country's thriving food culture. Tired of listening to your friends on the coasts brag about how no other town compares to theirs? Send them to Heavy Table and shut them up.

Has it really been a year? Today Daniel Klein's the Perennial Plate series releases video number 52, officially completing a full year of weekly videos featuring Minnesota foods, producers, recipes, and farms. Many of Daniel's terrific videos, which cover topics from hunting and eating squirrels to making ice cream in the snow, have been posted all over the web -- on the Huffington Post, Grist, and right here on SGT.

Paris in the 1950’s. Le Cordon Bleu. Food in France. It’s a good thing these book club posts aren’t supposed to be objective, balanced journalism. Turns out I tend to like pretty much any book that has to do with making, eating, or enjoying food. (I guess that's not all that unusual here on SGT, right?) But when you add Julia Child, France and her beautiful, delicious story into the equation? Forget it -- I’m in love.

What would you do to really make a difference? Would you give up most seemingly “normal” trappings of modern city life to create the ultimate experiment?

February’s Simple, Good, and Tasty Book Club pick focuses on author Colin Beavan and the year he spent trying to do as little damage to the environment as possible. Beavan eventually spun that year into a book (and accompanying film) entitled No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process.

Our first book club first pick of 2011, Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat, tells the stories of women working towards eating and farming sustainably. Author Temra Costa writes about the relationships, nurturing, and inventiveness that women bring into the “delicious revolution” that is happening in our food world. Join us on January 27 at Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op from 7:00 - 9:00 pm or in Bemidji (near Harmony Co-op) from 5:30 - 7:30 pm to dig into these stories.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be squeezing in some last-minute shopping this holiday season. To help, I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite food-related books and DVDs. Whenever possible I like to do my gift shopping at two places I frequent: food coops and the internet. Here are items you can pick up while you get your groceries or surf the web in your PJ’s:

For the traditionalist... 

I knew three things about Steward Woodman before reading his recently-released book Shefzilla: Conquering Haute Cuisine At Home.

Although it's a year old now, I find myself returning to Micaela Preston's excellent book, Practically Green, on a regular basis. Subtitled "Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making," Practically Green is a small, handy, good-looking book intended to make it easy to be green (sorry Kermit, couldn't resist). The book doesn't pretend to be a comprehensive guide to green living, local food, recycling, or anything else. It's not political or didactic; it doesn't preach or make me feel bad about what I'm not doing better. Practically Green includes broad, easy-to-follow sections (Eating, Living, Cleaning, etc.), with loads of specifics suggestions for things to buy and make. 

Selfishly, I found myself super excited when this month's book club pick was announced. I'm a huge Molly Wizenberg fan -- she of the successful blog Orangette and the amazing, go-to recipe collection, and she of the blogger-turned-author fad that has swept the nation these past few years. I guess I just love her natural, homey, chefy, and Frenchy vibe -- and apparently I'm not alone. Wizenberg's practical. She's cheeky. She leads with her taste buds. She seems like someone I'd enjoy sharing a bottle of wine with. And, to be completely honest, I've also got a girl crush on her for parlaying her blog into a book deal. I bought this one the week it came out. You go, Molly!