Village Books Blog

On Eating Animals

The latest book I'm taking on is Jonathan Safran Foer's latest, Eating Animals. Those of you who know me know that I may be a weensy obsessed with Foer's fiction. Although I'm a strict fiction reader, I had to delve into his nonfiction book about, well, eating animals. When Foer and his wife (Nicole Krauss--The History of Love--are they a power couple or what?!) learned they were having a baby, they really began evaluating their lives--in particular, their eating habits. What sort of habits would they want to pass on to their child? They both came to the conclusion that perhaps this was the perfect time to stop their occasional vegetarian ways and instead go all the way. Eating Animals is the result of Foer's desire to understand why they were making that decision. Thus far the book is an interesting take on vegetarianism (something I don't practice). For example, when I read a book about vegetarianism, written by a vegetarian, I don't expect the author to give an extremely convincing argument on why we should eat dogs (don't worry, I'm not going to eat my dog. Or yours, for that matter). Yet, early on in the book I was facing just that argument. It caught me off guard, and let my guard down that I was going to spend the next 300 pages reading a fire and brimstone sermon on why I'm wrong for being a meateater. Some of the matter is, of course, shocking in its imagery, as we all are aware of the horrific practices of slaughterhouses and factory farming. Much of it is informative. And Foer's style still prevails even in his nonfiction (woo-hoo!) I will always eat meat and I'm ok with that. We'll just have to see if any of my unwise practices as a meateater change after I finish this book. I'm certainly aware of what I do wrong, but will I be moved enough to take action, or will I simply feel like I've just been dealt a major guilt-trip? That's yet to be determined, but it has at least got me thinking and that's better than nothing, right?

-Lindsey

The sensual pleasure of food

The texture. The bite. The aroma. Not to mention that my dog, Sam, likes to park himself on a rug in the kitchen and watch me cook, that is when I make it up from the couch where I'm reading about exquisite pastries that make me want to get up and bake them or wander into one of Bellingham's great bakeries.

Here are some of my favorite books to read and peruse when I want to cook, bake, or just luxuriate in the possibilities of what I could pop into my mouth.

Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado

Babycakes by Erin McKenna

Frank Stitt's Bottega Favorita by Frank Stitts

America's Best Lost Recipes by Cook's Country Magazine

Food and Booze: A Tin House Literary Feast


--Sheri

An Evening "In The Kitchen" with Katherine Flinn

Below is an account of an special book and food event written by Sheri Toomey, a bookseller at Village Books:

Let me just say my mouth was watering from all the heavenly scents emanating from In the Kitchen as Kathleen Flinn showed how to prepare some specialties from her new book, The Sharper Your Knife the Less You Cry, at Ciao Thyme's In the Kitchen event, the first co-sponsored with Village Books.  It's great to live in a city where people appreciate good food and where we also have talented chefs (and great people) like Jessica and Mataio who want to share their inspiration and kitchen with authors like Kathleen Flinn.

Sitting down at the dining tables at In the Kitchen is a treat. It's like going to a favorite restaurant, learning new cooking techniques and, for this event, hearing great stories from a wonderful writer. The design is comforting and warm and you just feel like you're in someone's kitchen. You know, the
place where everyone always congregates at dinners and parties. We're lucky to have it in Bellingham.

Kathleen applied to Le Cordon Bleu after being downsized while working in England. She asked Mike, then her boyfriend, living in Seattle, if she should come back and try to find a job in Seattle. Instead he reminded her of her dream to go to cooking school and offered to spend that time with her in Paris whiled she attended Le Cordon Bleu.

I sat next to Mike and he told us a little bit about how her book got published. Her agent had some interest from publishers, but not a lot. They passed. Then a call came from her agent that she needed to go to New York. 14 publishers were interested and it went to auction. A wonderful surprise.

Her next book will follow the story of several of her classmates after graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, from restaurants, boats and exporting wine all across the world including Tel Aviv, Brazil, Chicago, L.A., Shanghai, and a chef who works on a boat to Alaska.

The recipes she made for the evening's event are all in her book, which would make a great holliday gift for anyone who loves cooking and/or Paris.  I'm looking forward to more collaboration with Ciao Thyme, authors like Kathleen Flinn (we'd love to have her back) and more delicious food.

Take a look at Katherine's blog about the same event.