For the Love of Food and Yoga: A Celebration of Mindful Eating and Being

For the Love of Food and Yoga: A Celebration of Mindful Eating and Being

Authors: Liz Price-Kellogg & Kristen Taylor

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (2015)

I can’t tell which I fell in love with first – yoga or food. There’s a certain zen to each craft – be it working towards inner peace through daily asanas or allowing the flavours of a perfectly balanced meal dance across the tongue. While many people think the practice of yoga is ascetic and the enjoyment of delicious cuisine is overly decadent, separating each other with a distinct wall, the fact is that the two can work in glorious harmony. Authors Liz Price-Kellogg, a trained yoga instructor, and her student Kristen Taylor, embody this philosophy in their book For the Love of Food and Yoga: A Celebration of Mindful Eating and Being.

Food and Yoga is a combination of photo album, yoga guide and cookbook. The pages are packed with 100 recipes, each either vegan or vegetarian, and are peppered with inspirational quotations (“YogiBites”) from the likes of people such as Einstein, the Dalai Lama, Julia Child and even Steve Jobs. Asanas are shown in glorious full-colour photographs taken along the St. Lawrence River and are titled in both Hindi and English, with an (English) description as to the benefits of that pose. For instance, one of my favourites (Bhujangasana or Cobra Pose (p. 161)) “strengthens upper body, elevates mood, opens heart center” and is photographed with a glorious view of the river and its shores. Recipes are also artfully captured by either the authors, Blake Price-Kellogg or Jonathan Taylor, each enticing readers to try the cleverly-titled recipes like Restful Rosemary Potatoes (p. 80), Seated Spinach (p.134) and Chakra Fruit Salad (p. 254). In fact, even non-foodies will find this book is worth buying for the photography alone, more suitable for keeping on coffee tables or open shelves rather than closed-door pantries.

Vasisthasana III (Advanced Side Plank) - All Rights Live Yum LLC

The recipes themselves are a great combination of simplicity and complexity – both in ingredients and flavours. Realized Roasted Tomatoes (p. 68) call for only a handful of ingredients and steps, but lend considerable depth to a simple pasta dish or warm grain salad. Likewise, Buddha Brussels (p. 64) will turn almost anybody onto the flavour of roasted sprouts thanks to their perfect marriage of garlic, Dijon and just a hint of cayenne. The innocuously named Liberating Lentil soup (p. 108) is full of complexity thanks to a generous helping of both umami, tart and sweet ingredients – each in harmony with the other and creating a satisfying, yet crave able, bowl of comfort. It’s impossible to pick just a single favourite from the book, but both the vegan Asian Style Wealthy Wonton Purses (p.230) and the Sinfully Sublime Mousse Mountains (p. 244) are in demand with those who taste them!

Napoleon - All Rights Live Yum LLC

For those days when body and soul nourishment is lacking, Liz Price-Kellogg and Kristen Taylor’s book is more than satisfying food for the soul. Whether you’re a Zen master, five-star chef, master photographer or simply someone who loves the art of balance, you’ll find something to love in the pages of For the Love of Food and Yoga: A Celebration of Mindful Eating and Being.

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The Art of Baking Bread

The Art of Baking Bread

Author: Matt Pellegrini

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (2012)

We are a culture built on bread. With the exception of a few Asian countries where rice is the basic staff of life, every nation in the world has their own creation of ground grain, water and (occasionally) yeast. Well made bread is becoming a luxury in these times of cheap, mass produced loaves – which while conveniently baked, pre sliced and wrapped for the eager sandwich maker, have the taste and texture of an old sponge. Making your own is simple in its most basal sense, but there are myriads of ways to recapture the ancient essence of the craft. Matt Pellegrini attempts to do just that in his book The Art of Baking Bread.

                                                                                                               

This book is definitely one for all bread bakers, regardless of experience. The first 35 pages are dedicated to ingredients and tools essential for proper bread baking at home, and these are followed by Pellegrini’s Eight Essential Steps of Bread Baking (p. 38) – a visual, baby-step like guide through the basics. Those new to the world of baking bread will find the full colour photographs in the tutorial invaluable. For experienced bakers, this will be old hat, though some of the more “professional” notes as to dough temperature and hydration are more geared towards die-hards or those with pastry school certificates. I was fascinated by the scientific knowledge included in Baking Bread, not so much for bettering my own loaves (though I'm sure it would come in handy) as for the sheer trivia of it all.

Some of the information in Baking Bread seems to be put there purely for the benefit of blossoming bread artisans or pastry students. While I appreciate that there are two “standard” ways to knead dough by hand (stand mixer kneading is left out) and there are as many bread shapes as bakers, the bulk of home cooks are not concerned with calculating dough temperature or hydration more than what the recipe states it should look or feel like. Nor do I know anyone who is about to MacGyver a lame or a proofing box just to churn out a loaf or so a week for sandwiches. But that’s not Pellegrini’s point. Showing how to create the best bread possible is, and bakers will undoubtedly modify and develop under their own circumstances.

This book does have the honour of finally teaching me about the Baker’s Percentage (p. 166), which as a math-hater I failed to comprehend when I saw it in other books or online. Pellegrini is correct in his statement that “the baker’s percentage is much easier to understand one you’ve looked through...the recipes covered” (p. 166). If I took away nothing else from this book, I mentally cemented his thorough, simple lesson and have since been able to apply it to my own loaves.

Pellegrini is passionate about technique and theory, and it shows in spades with Baking Bread. However, the book is not all “talk”. A small section contains simple, yet indespensible, recipes for a variety of dough “types” including basic lean, pre-fermented, enriched and sourdough. With these four basic recipes under your belt as a breadsmith it becomes merely a matter of adding and subtracting ingredients to create almost any flavourful loaf in the world.

Pellegrini’s tone can, at times, be condescending (he goes so far as to call non-converts of kitchen scales “fools”), he does manage to pass along a wealth of knowledge in a book half the size of its competitors. The trivia, techniques, patient coaxing and occasional criticism are nothing short of the treatment a college professor may bestow on a new undergraduate class, and the aim is identical – to bring out the best and forget the rest. If you are passionate about the world of flavourful, wholesome bread and are looking to bring the experience to the home oven, The Art of Baking Bread may just be your required reading.

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The Peanut Allergy Epidemic: What's Causing It and How to Stop It

The Peanut Allergy Epidemic: What's Causing It and How to Stop It
Author: Heather Fraser

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (2011)

Does your work or school have a “no-nut-no-peanut” policy? Allergies to tree nuts, as well as to the botanically unrelated legume known as the peanut, are rampant in modern Western society, with over 4 million cases of peanut allergy currently diagnosed in the United States alone. Why the

 Western community falls victim to this hyper-reactivity while those countries building their cuisine on the backbone of these legumes is the focus of Heather Fraser’s book The Peanut Allergy Epidemic: What's Causing It and How to Stop It.

It needs to be noted before utilizing Epidemic as any sort of authority on peanut allergies that Fraser is not a medical professional in any sense. Rather, the author is a historian by trade, whose child suffered an anaphylactic reaction to peanut butter at the age of thirteen months. Her love of historical details shows strongly in this book, as Fraser spends three full chapters on the subject (only one of which regards the peanut allergy in particular). In fact, the bulk of the first two “parts” of this book are completely removed from the issue splashed across the cover. Fraser covers the history of “mass allergy” and theories behind developing anaphylactic reactions in general long before getting into the “nitty gritty” of the peanut reactions. To be fair, her investigation into this forum, especially it’s impact on children, is fairly detailed, with comparisons of socio-political, economic and clinical factors and a worldwide statistical contrast in the final chapter of the book.

While I’m sure Fraser means well with this publication (the second in her peanut allergy series, which began with The History of the Peanut Allergy Epidemic), it is all too clear that she is on a mother’s one-track mind as to who she blames for her son’s reaction. My main issue with Epidemic is that Fraser incessantly blames the vaccinations given to children for the rise in peanut allergies to the exclusion of any of the other 15 theories she glosses over in Chapter 2. The culprit she cites is the mercury used as a preservative in the serum, as well as the peanut oil that was once used as a carrier for the inert virus. Today, however, the only adjuvant legal for use in the US and Canada is aluminium hydroxide, and discernable mercury traces are only found in the flu shot and Hepatitis B vaccine administered around age 11 – long after anaphylactic allergies make their presence known. Fraser also neglects to mention at all in this book that these severe allergies she is focusing on are all mediated by an antibody class that is determined by genetics and in-utero conditions before birth and generally are not modified by external forces. It also raises the question as to why beef, chicken and egg allergies aren’t equally as prevalent due to the fact that beef extracts are still a large part of vaccine sera and many of the virus cultures are generated on chicken embryos and egg whites.

While I do appreciate the need for an awareness vehicle when it comes to the increase in severe childhood allergies, Epidemic borders on the extremist with respect to the anti-vaccine campaign. I had hoped for a more balanced investigation on the variable causes listed in the index, as the topic is an interesting and ever-popular one, but instead I felt a bit like I was reading a fear-mongering manifesto. Given my own background in holistic nutrition and homeopathy, I was left wondering whether a book written by an alternative health practitioner (not a “common” doctor) would be in a similar style.

For a purely historical reference, The Peanut Allergy Epidemic: What's Causing It and How to Stop It by Heather Fraser is worth a perusal. However, it is not a reliable medical text, nor should it be used as a parent’s sole source of information when choosing whether or not to vaccinate their child. I would not generally recommend this historian’s book to those looking for an answer to their allergy woes.

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Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season

Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season

Author: Hannah Kaminsky

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (2011)

Hannah Kaminsky is nothing short of a Jill-of-all-trades. The author of an award winning and well written blog (bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/) packed with delicious recipes, gorgeous photos and fantastic tips, she also finds time to create and share adorable knitted creations, have a personal presence on Twitter, and pen several cookbooks. Five of these are e-books, ranging from lunch box goodies to homemade candy and even ice cream, while the two she has in print concern some of the fancier or more complex dessert options that exist. Every single recipe and aspect of her blog is completely vegan, and while she does include savoury mains and other items, it is clear that her passion lies in the art of baking. Coupling her gift at writing with her love for all things sweet, Kaminsky’s second cookbook, Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season, will make a dessert lover out of anyone.

This compact, beautiful recipe collection is composed of over 100 offerings: pies, ice creams, cookies, crisps, cakes and muffins to name a few. What makes this book a joy to cook from is it’s attention to the seasonality of the kitchen – the recipes are divided by the seasons, and are “heavier” or “lighter” accordingly. Kaminsky stresses ingredients that are as fresh, seasonal and nutritious as possible, and as a result many of the desserts featured in this book are allergy-friendly as well. Allergen-appropriate offerings are included under their relevant headings (gluten-, peanut-, tree nut- and soy-free) in a separate index (p. 236). The inclusivity of all those with a sweet tooth is refreshing in a dessert book when so many are filled with these, along with eggs and dairy. Kaminsky also includes an intensive “dictionary” of sorts regarding her choice ingredients, tools and substitutions (p. 3), and for those who are a bit greener in the bakeshoppe (vegan or otherwise), there’s also an interesting and helpful “troubleshooting” section filled with her personal experiences and solutions (p. 16).

Given that the ingredients Kaminsky chooses to utilize are dependent on the seasons and often reflect her own personal grocery availability, some of them are not what you would usually expect to find on the dessert table. Recipes like “Olive Oil Ice Cream” (p. 56), “Black Pearl Truffles” (p. 172) with black sesame seeds and wasabi and “Raspberry Lavender Cupcakes” (p. 103) were a bit beyond me, although I know they probably taste fabulous and variations are seen at fine restaurants worldwide. There are certainly “tamer” recipes included in Vegan Desserts as well – rugelach, biscotti, and Raspberry Mocha Semifreddo (p.104) make appearances and (as with every recipe) are accompanied by bright, full-colour photographs.

I did find the courage, after seeing Kaminsky’s generous use of herbs in sweet treats, to attempt one of the more “unusual” cookies in Vegan Desserts – a tender cookie she calls “Sweet Basil Shortbread” (p.68). Laced with lemon juice and zest and rich from the vegan margarine and powdered-sugar base, tiny little specks of green pepper the otherwise flawless face of the sweets. Not having any basil in the garden (and loath to buy some as I personally cannot stand the flavour), I utilized what I was growing out in the backyard – lemon thyme, lemon balm and pineapple sage. The flavours of these herbs really shone through in the dough (as I’m sure the basil would have done) and everyone who tried them referred to them as “refreshing” and perfect for the warmer weather – even though it is a traditionally rich dessert! I can’t wait for the early fall apples begin appearing to try out the “Apple Spice Scrolls” on page 122, and my omnivore, “butter and eggs need to be in cake” mom even bookmarked the unique (and very Italian!) “Torta Al Vino” (p.166) which uses red wine, Champagne grapes, pine nuts and almond flour! While we aren’t growing the Champagne variety in our backyard vineyard, I’m sure we’ll find another sumptuous grape to match.

Like all good books, this one is not without it’s faults. However, Kaminsky has an answer for that too on her blog, under “Cookbook Errata” (bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/cookbook-errata/). Every issue I noted while leafing through Vegan Desserts was caught by Kaminsky or another source and compiled in numerical page order, and many of them are minor adjustments to ingredients or method that would not have any major impact on the outcome of the dish. Updated photos of some of the recipes are also on her site or FlickR page, but rest assured this book is a photo album for any gastronome.

I really enjoy the layout, writing and recipes I found in Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season. The appeal to my sweet tooth was just as great as the ability to use my local and seasonal produce was, and as a baker and lover of good food in general the uniqueness of the recipes provided food for much more than thought! Anybody with a sweet side to their tastebuds will find something to enjoy in this work – regardless of their diet, region or season.

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The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life: Cruelty-Free Crafts, Recipes, Beauty Secrets, and More

The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life: Cruelty-Free Crafts, Recipes, Beauty Secrets, and More
Author: Melisser Elliott
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (2010)

There are a handful of the same problems that plague cooks at home: the same few things get repeated. You know the drill - the same proteins cooked in the same way with the same sides at the same time each day. While omnivores often claim that they have a broader palette to dip their proverbial basting brush in, the growing population of flexitarian, vegetarian and vegan “foodies” is out to change the misconception that meatless always equals monotony. Regardless of whether you are just trying to reduce the meat in your diet, are a “brand new” vegan, or are an old hand at the practice, fresh options are always welcome. Melisser Elliott does one heck of a good job of not just dishing up good eats but also providing a side of tips for daily animal-free living in her new book The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life: Cruelty-Free Crafts, Recipes, Beauty Secrets, and More.

Packed with information on all things vegan, Guide to Life is almost a manifesto. Elliott breaks down a host of possible reasons for choosing to adopt the lifestyle, from the stereotypical “animal rights movement” to the health benefits and environmental bonuses lent by an animal-free existence. Twenty pages of nutrition basics follow, including my favourite heading: “So, Where Do You Get Your Protein?” (answer: it’s a heck of a lot easier than the national Food Guides would have you think). Also mentioned are strategies to cope with food allergies, healthy eating through pregnancy and even an address of the stereotypical, hurtful correlation between veganism and eating disorders. Elliott includes a personal story from one of her close friends who battled the disease and won hand in hand with a vegan diet. Those looking for more personal accounts of living an animal-free life will adore the interviews peppering the book’s pages throughout, including those with fellow female bloggers, friends and business owners.

And the recipes! Those who read food blogs will notice some fairly prominent names in Guide to Life in addition to Elliott’s: from Hannah Kaminsky of Bittersweet to Kittee Berns from Cake Maker to the Stars. The sprouts and polenta preparation from Elliott’s Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Tempeh over Soft Polenta (p. 161) were delicious, while tempeh is a food I can’t enjoy due to my dietary restrictions. A friend of mine looking to include more protein sources in her diet (proof that vegans get perfectly fine amounts!) tried and adored the Thanksgiving Dinner Cutlets (p. 172) over the holiday season. I can’t wait to whip up Cookin’ Crunk author Bianca Phillips’ Sweet Tater Bread (p. 183) either – and I happen to know a few willing taste-testers to try it!

When you’re done making the goodies in Guide to Life, Elliott has some great how-to’s on presentation, packaging and storage too in the chapter “Do it Yourself”. If a green thumb has you going, vegan gardening (who knew there was such a thing?) tips abound as well, and for the textile-minded crafters there are awesome patters for Reusable Produce Bags (p. 199), Cross-Stitching (p. 203) and knitting projects from Kristen Blackmore (p. 213) and Kaminsky (p. 215) too.

Apart from the fact that all the interviews are with women (and the marketing power a female-centric book has), there is no reason why this book needs to be labelled as a guide for girls alone. I know several men who make the transition to a meat-free life and need some inspiration for their daily menus. If they can get past the (dare I say) sexist connotation of every vegan as a woman, the purchase of The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life: Cruelty-Free Crafts, Recipes, Beauty Secrets, and More is well worth anyone’s purchase – and who knows, you might just make at least a part-time veggie out of your meat-eating mama!

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The Autism Cookbook: 101 Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Recipes

The Autism Cookbook: 101 Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Recipes
Author: Susan K. Delaine
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (2010)
Imagine: you and your child, in a shopping mall, the Saturday before Christmas. Santa and his elves are ringing bells, dancing around in bright, sparkly get-ups. Kids nearby are screaming for the latest toy. Harried shoppers shove their way through the crowded department stores with armfuls of packages. All the while, the cheery holiday music is blaring over the sound system, interspersed with announcements of the latest door-crasher sale. It’s enough to cause an instantaneous migraine.

Only it’s not December. Nor is it a weekend in your city’s major shopping centre. The two of you are just in your local grocery store on a completely unremarkable day. Yet your young one is treating the excursion as if it was Christmas Eve. Because, to your child, every trip to a public place is an experience akin to those holiday – rush mall crawls. Like 1% of the population, your child lives with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a condition that affects social and behavioural development patterns. ASD can present in a rainbow of symptoms, like withdrawing into silence and avoiding eye contact or acting out in “temper tantrums” brought out by innocuous events. There are many associated conditions that come along for the ride – most commonly gastrointestinal difficulties like allergies and intolerances. Problems digesting gluten, casein and many chemical additives are widespread, often forcing individuals with ASD and their families to rely on medically prescribed drugs and specialty foods. Even the most dedicated individual with a basic cooking background can be balked by the list of “cant’s”, and the completely foreign style of living and eating often throws any meals once innately prepared out the window. Often the special “ASD-approved” recipes are just as confusing and complicated as the condition itself – and the last thing any parent needs is to spend hours reading up on that night’s dinner components.

The Autism Cookbook: 101 Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Recipes was compiled by one such parent of an autistic child. Susan K. Delaine’s book is not directly marketed as a book of child-friendly recipes, but the bright, photo-packed cover gives away her intentions. Simple, nutritious recipes are the rigueur de jour here, and for busy families coping with cases of food allergies, the promise of quick and easy food is nothing short of a godsend.



The Apple Bread (p. 122)



Unfortunately, that feeling of salvation is short lived with this book. While Delaine has good ideas, the “quick and easy” mentality and her obviously rushed lifestyle are all too apparent. Of the “one hundred and one” recipes included, none of them contain a yield notation. While the dust jacket boasts that there are twenty raw recipes, the introductory note mentions twenty-three, and if you were to check the lengthy index you would not find a single entry under “raw”. A manual count of each recipe designated as a raw food in parenthesis reveals only ten in the category. In reality, there are actually 23 of those specialty recipes in the pages of The Autism Cookbook, as described in the “Why Raw?” section of the introduction, and the variance is not overly staggering, but consistency throughout the book would have been beneficial.

What I did find staggering, however, was the amount of glaring errata in the actual recipes. I tested out several different recipes and each of them was a complete, inedible failure – and by reading the ingredient ratios and methods it’s no wonder why. For example, the scone recipe on page 171 gives no temperature for baking, nor any yields (a common theme in the book). It also calls for 1 ¼ cups of dry ingredients, using only a single (and very “strong” tasting) flour without a single binding agent, and yet 1 cup of liquid. In that liquid ingredient ratio is a ¼ cup of vinegar – and half a cup of agave nectar! Then it instructs the would-be baker to “form a dough”, then “cut [it] into wedges”. Well, it doesn’t take a professional baker to realize the outcome of my “verbatim” experiment – a waste of (expensive) ingredients and a bowl of sweet, sour and funky-smelling grey mush. The Brownie Bites recipe on page 167 looks appetizing in the photo, but calls for flour in the directions and omits a listing for it in the ingredients. If you wanted to try one of Delaine’s raw recipes, and decided on the enticingly-named “Velvet Pudding” (p. 204) you will have to look elsewhere – the recipe under the title is for some sort of oily muffin that’s baked at 400F for 25 minutes.

On the savoury side, there is a turkey or beef-stuffed turnover recipe on page 54. The filling itself is great - flavourful and a good texture for making tacos or burritos with. But the pastry recipe and assembly directions included alongside this gem is problematic – like the scones and the Apple Bread (p. 122) I tried, there was too much liquid for the (single) flour, no binder to keep the dough together, and the author expects the cook to knead, roll out, fill, crimp and seal 2" squares of dough!



Chocolate Chip Scones (p. 171)
- after a lot of tweaking and a lot
less liquid!



One of the biggest issues I have with The Autism Cookbook is that the photos are completely inaccurate representations of any of the recipes they accompany. Not a single baked good shown could possibly be made with buckwheat flour as Delaine calls for, nor would a frosting recipe made with blueberries like the one on page 228 look anything like the shock of electric colour in it’s representative photo. If you are hoping to find the chocolate cupcake recipe used for the front cover’s main shot, unfortunately it, like all of the other photos, is there more for style than substance: there is not chocolate cupcake recipe on offer.

While the book is clearly written by a mother with the best intentions, it was not written by an author or a cook, nor tested or proofread prior to publication. If I had bought this book with the pressing need for nutritional support that many families with food-related issues have, I would be extremely angered by the waste of money on it. As it is, I am very disappointed at the obvious lack of testing and editing this book was subject to and am even more dismayed that it is being marketed to families with food-allergic children who are desperate for a semblance of “normalcy” in their daily living.

The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur: Over 140 Simply Delicious Recipes That Treat the Eyes and Taste Buds

The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur: Over 140 Simply Delicious Recipes That Treat the Eyes and Taste Buds
Author: Kelly Peloza
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing (2010) (www.skyhorsepublishing.com/)

It used to be that vegetarianism was only a movement led by pot-smoking, unshaven hippies. The general population’s entire knowledge of the phenomenon known as veganism was that it was followed by those same hippies who just marched on Parliament and threw cans of paint on their hamburger-grilling neighbours. If you, as an omnivore, was invited to a vegan’s home for dinner, you’d be dreading it – because after all, the only vegan foods in the universe had to be brown rice and black beans, a nut and lentil loaf or – God forbid – a dish with the spongy white block known as tofu. It’s not surprising that the mentality of vegan food as being bland, boring or even downright scary has persisted in today’s lay community, especially in my parent’s generation and older. Most conventional restaurants today are incredibly meat-centric, and the traditional “breakfast of champions” is still bacon and eggs, and until very, very recently you couldn’t buy a single prepared vegan product outside of a health food store. There is still a major imbalance in the modern grocery stores, even the most well stocked of the bunch: while you’ll find whole aisles dedicated to shrink-wrapped cuts of meat, a well-stocked deli, and maybe even butcher and fishmonger counters, (not covering the array of frozen, meat and/or cheese-based stuff of many frozen meals), the entire vegan-friendly stock may fill one cooler case and a handful of shelves.

Times are changing, though, and how! Vegetarianism is now as commonplace in society as omnivorous living, whether for health, economic, ecological or ethical reasons. Country-wide movements for the installation of “Meatless Mondays” are occurring in the USA – land of the burger and Texan steak – and Canadians dining on Alberta beef and Pacific salmon are encouraged to do the same. Even vegans are becoming mainstream, viewed by some sceptics or desperate individuals as a new “weight-loss” or “detox” fad, but seen far more frequently as simply another culinary lifestyle just like keeping Kosher or Halal. Vegan foodies are all over the media spectrum; blogging, on TV, and not least in the bookstore. Far from rehashing tired stir-fries and fruit salads while bemoaning the challenges of egg- and dairy-free cookery, authors like Kelly Peloza embrace the delicious and decadent side of life. In her work The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur, Peloza dishes up over 140 recipes for every type of cookie you could ever want. From drop to bar, rolled cut-outs to no-bakes, the sweets are almost endless. Every offering is completely animal free – no dairy, eggs, or honey – and most can be made with ingredients found in any baker’s cabinet. If there is any stigma about the “difficulty” or expense of vegan baking lingering in your mind, Peloza effectively slays it with her chewy Giant Bakery-Style Double Chocolate Cookies (p. 78), spicy Chai Cookies (p. 17) and her Cashew Cappuccino Nanaimo Bars (p. 153).

I couldn’t resist trying my hand at those three sweet treats – being born with a chocolate addiction (inherited from the other women in the family!), a mother adoring coffee *almost* as much as chocolate and a best friend with a love for Chai tea, there was never any question as to the first recipes I’d try out! A skim through the fairly standard ingredient glossary and FAQ – in which Peloza reassures the reader that using a different sugar, agave colour or even flour refinement is totally fine – I dove headlong into the pages.

Even if you just have a single mixing bowl, no electric mixer and a couple cookie sheets, it’s perfectly possible – no, make that essential – to make a batch of Peloza's huge, rich chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. A microwave makes the preparation of the melted chocolate base super-simple (of course you could break out the double boiler), and the fact that you don’t even need to sift the cocoa powder into the batter means you can have CD-sized biscuits ready in under an hour. If you’re not a huge chocolate fan but have a love of soft, spicy cookies like snickerdoodles, Peloza’s written one of the most uniquely-flavoured recipes I’ve come across in her Chai Cookies. I’m not a Chai tea lover myself – the few times I’ve had it in front of me it went unfinished – but the mixture of spices both in and on these cookies smelled heavenly. I know the students coming into IHN clutching their Chai Lattes swooped down on them lickety-split and declared them nothing short of delicious. Being an ex-coffee hog with a patriotic heart, though, I think I looked forward to baking the Cashew Cappuccino Nanaimo Bars most. What can I say... I’m Canadian! I think I was probably asking for trouble after the other two easy successes, but decadence has it’s price, I suppose. Those bakers planning to make the cream-filled bars take note: the base of margarine, sugar, cocoa, soy milk, graham cracker crumbs, cashews, melted chocolate and Kahlua makes twice the amount the rest of the ingredients warrant, and takes a good extra 10 minutes to firm up at the temperature Peloza specifies and I highly suggest freezing the base for 45 minutes before spreading on the creamy filling. Do make sure to get a good brand of ground coffee for the filling as well – and since I didn’t have the optional coffee extract hanging around but still wanted the extra “pop” of flavour, I used both the recipe-stated Kahlua and a teaspoon of instant espresso powder. I was not disappointed with the flavour at all in the end, and the extra base dough that I eventually scraped off of the pan mid-bake made some very delicious chocolate-cashew cookies for my mom.

One of the coolest things I’ve found about Connoisseur is Peloza’s handy “hint dropping” throughout the pages. Whether it’s how to bake cookies in a toaster oven, cope with a food-related allergy or (most useful for omnivorous bakers) how to veganize a prized family recipe, the tips scattered through the book are valuable bits of information that you’ll find yourself using time and again. If you have a penchant for variations, there is no shortage of them here either. Don’t want plain vanilla in your gigantic bombs of chocolate deliciousness? Well, what about almond or coffee? If you love making biscotti every year as Christmas gifts, you’ll love the two “basic” recipes for the sweet (chocolate and vanilla) as well as 8 other variations to make everybody happy.

Needless to say, this is no health manual. Sure, there are no eggs or butter to contend with, but there is plenty of chocolate, margarine, sugar and nuts to make up for that. Really – if you’re out to bake cookies, the last thing you should be counting is a calorie or fat gram! Though there is a special section of the book dedicated to “Healthier Cookies and Baking for Specific Needs” (starting on p. 191), decadence is still far and away the bill of fare in Connoisseur. Regardless of your particular diet (or lack thereof), belief system or personal lifestyle, you are sure to find a host of new favourites in The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur. Many “traditional” bakers will marvel at the dangerously simple versions of “everyday” cookies as well as the ingenuity of Peloza’s inventions, and “traditional” eaters will be none the wiser.

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