Tag: book reviews

Cookbook Review: The Unofficial Strawberry Shortcake Cookbook

~ Crystal Sands ~ 2 Comments

When I was a little girl, I loved strawberries. Every year, on my birthday, my wish was to get a strawberry cake. If I could get a strawberry shortcake, that was the best. As a child of the 80s, you can imagine my joy when I discovered Strawberry Shortcake cartoons and toys. I loved Strawberry Shortcake’s dress and green and white leggings. Most of all, I love her hat–that fluffy hat with strawberries on it was a dream. In fact, decades later, when I graduated with my PhD, I made sure I got one of those fancy, fluffy doctoral caps because I thought it looked kind of like Strawberry Shortcake’s hat. If only it was pink!

When I read that food writer, A.K. Whitney, had published an unofficial Strawberry Shortcake cookbook, I knew I had to have it. First of all, it’s a beautiful book. It’s hardcover and full color on the inside. The colors are dreamy, and the whole thing is nostalgic. And when the book arrived in the mail, I wasn’t disappointed.

One of my favorite things about this cookbook is that Whitney tells a little story with each recipe that connects the recipe to the Strawberry Shortcake television series or lore. For example, Whitney includes a recipe for “Hopsalot’s Carrot Cake Muffins” and explains that Hopsalot is Apricot’s bunny companion. Whitney also features a recipe I can’t wait to try when pear season comes this year–“Times Pear Danishes”–and she opens with a little narrative about the 1981 film, Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City.

To write my review of this book, I made two recipes. The first one I made was Strawberry Shortcake, of course. The directions were clear and easy to follow, and the ingredients were all things the average home cook will have at home. I love that the recipe included homemade whipped cream, which is really just the only way to go, isn’t it? The recipe came out great, so I also tried “Can’t-Stop-at-One Vanilla Butter Cookies.” These were so simple to make and so delicious. I plan to add this recipe to my cookie gift boxes I give as gifts to friends and family.

One of most favorite features of this book is that it actually lays flat! This is a huge plus for me because it is such a pain when a cookbook won’t lay flat and you have to put things on the sides to hold it while you follow the recipes. This feature is a big plus, and I give kudos to the publisher for making it happen. I am of the mind that all cookbooks should lay flat, yet so many do not.

This cookbook is fantastic for family baking time. This book builds a bridge–a bridge between generations–between those of us who grew up with Strawberry Shortcake and younger generations who are interested in Strawberry Shortcake as something quirky and vintage. If you grew up with Strawberry Shortcake, you are going to want to share this book with the children in your life, but I think it’s perfect for adults too. This cookbook offers quick and easy recipes that are both delicious and beautiful. And, of course, this book is just great fun.

The Unofficial Strawberry Shortcake Cookbook by A.K. Whitney is published by Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, and is a part of series of unofficial cookbooks, featuring unofficial cookbooks for Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and more. You can get your copy here or at your local bookstore.

Under the Henfluence: A Book Review

~ Crystal Sands ~ 4 Comments

Day 333 of 365

I am jealous of two things in my life–barns and I am jealous of this magnificent book. I wish I was not, but this is the book of my dreams. In her new book, Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them, Tove Danovich weaves her experiences with chickens with the latest research as well as the history these beautiful birds to create a book that compels readers to think about chickens with a more open mind. She asks readers to consider a world where chickens are treated with the respect they deserve.

In her introductory chapter, Danovich writes, “This book is about chickens, yes, but it is also about how they can change your life if you let them” (p. 7).

And Danovich shows the readers how she is changed by her chickens, along with what she learns about their intelligence and their individual personalities. Danovich’s stories and experiences will resonate with so many of us. She describes that first day meeting her baby chicks, of picking them up at the post office early in the morning and meeting the fluffy babies. This early chapter really spoke to me. I remember that morning of picking up my baby chicks at the post office and being in awe. I used to keep a blog called Pajamas, Books, and Chickens. In my first post, I wrote about meeting my chickens for the first time:

I stood at the back door of the post office and knocked. When a woman came to the door, I told her I was there for a box of baby chicks. She asked my name and then disappeared behind the post office door. She reappeared a few minutes later with a box much smaller than I had anticipated, and that box was cheeping loudly. I loved those chicks before I could even see them. I loved how they sounded. As I carried the girls to the car, I spoke through the holes in the box. “Hi, babies, I am your mama, and everything is going to be alright.”

There are some major milestones in my life, and, as wild as it sounds, getting our chicks was a milestone for me. In the days after we brought the girls home, I gave notice at my job in academic administration and set out to change my life.

Danovich tells a similar story–one so many of us will identify with, only her writing is vivid and gorgeous.

She writes: When I got to the front and told the woman what I was there for, her face lit up with a smile. “They’re just over on my desk. I’ll go get them for you.”

She walked into the back. I heard her coming toward me a few seconds before I saw her. “Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep!” the chicks yelled furiously from their cardboard box…For three small birds, they sure could make a lot of noise (p. 16).

Danovich has a beautiful writing style, and I love the way she describes both the highs and lows of keeping chickens. She describes the curiosity and learning that happens when you keep chickens for the first time–the kind that changes your heart and mind and brings you such joy. She also describes the heartbreak that happens when you fall in love with these magnificent creatures because, inevitably, there will be loss.

In the book, she describes her first loss where she felt responsible. Her dog killed one of her hens, Betty, and Danovich struggled to forgive herself. I know this pain well. We lost a dear hen to a hawk attack, but I was home and heard the scream. I didn’t run out to her immediately because I wasn’t sure what I was hearing. We lost Lucy II because I didn’t run to her immediately, and the guilt was powerful. I also really struggled because friends and family couldn’t understand my grief. So many times, I heard people say, “It’s just a chicken.”

Danovich writes of her own first heartbreak and of the grief the other hens felt about the loss of their friend and member of their little flock of three: When I stopped crying long enough to come outside to check on Lyle’s progress [he was digging a grave for Betty], I heard Peggy and Joan calling from the coop…Unless I was right next to the birds, I rarely heard them make a noise at all. Now their calls rang out from the coop to the front door, two hundred feet away. I took a moment to listen, as I had done so often when they were chicks. That’s when the tears came again.

“It’s the lost chick call,” I said as I got closer to Lyle. “The sound. It’s the same one they made as chicks when they were separated from the flock.” (p. 47).

Under the Henfluence resonated with me over and over again. Danovich even named her first chickens after characters in Mad Men. I also have hens named after Mad Men–Joan, a Rhode Island Red; Betty, the most perfectly beautiful hen I have ever seen; and Peggy, who is no longer with us. If you follow this blog and love my chicken stories, I promise you are going to love this new book.

Danovich not only tells the story of her own experiences with chickens, but she also tells the story of chickens in general–of their relationships with humans throughout history and what we know now thanks to new research about chicken intelligence and individuality.

I had the good fortune of speaking with Tove Danovich about her book. It’s a book she has been working on for years and a book that is missing from the “canon” of chicken books. So many chicken books approach chickens as commodity; this book approaches chickens with reverence. Sy Montgomery has touched on this topic in her chapter on chickens in her book, Birdology, but to my knowledge (and I have surely read 100 chicken books), Tove Danovich’s book is the first of its kind. I hope to ride her coattails and publish my own book on chickens, different but with the same message about the value of these animals, which is so much more than most people think.

Tove Danovich is paving the way to a different conversation. As a chicken person, I am thankful to her for writing this and to her publisher for publishing a book that is so needed. It is also a book that I think our culture is ready for. As more and more Americans get backyard chickens, they are learning the truth about these birds, one that been obscured by our food industry for reasons of profit.

Near the end of the book, Danovich tells the story of getting some ex-battery hens and what it is like rescuing hens from such a terrible life. She describes their lack of feathers, their uncertainty, and Danovich tells the truth about the rehabilitation of these animals. It is a truth more people need to know. Where we get our food matters. How animals are treated matters. It’s that simple, and it is my goal to follow in Danovich’s footsteps and rescue battery hens one day.

One of the last things Danovich told me in our interview really touched me. She said, “I don’t think there is any animal, big or small, that we have been surprised by how little they know. It’s always quite the opposite. If you get to know chickens, you will be surprised by how smart they are.”

And that’s the truth.

Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them is a groundbreaking book and a powerful read. It is available right now in hardcover from Agate publishing. Buy a copy for yourself and for every chicken lady you know. It will be treasured.

And, to celebrate this new book, I’m doing a Farmer-ish giveaway. All you have to do is share this post and leave a comment that you shared it, and you will be entered to win a brand new, hardcover copy of this fantastic book.The deadline to enter is April 16 at midnight, and you must live in the U.S. Don’t forget to leave a comment to let me know you shared this post!

Book Review: My Chickens and I by Isabella Rossellini

~ Crystal Sands ~ 3 Comments

My Chickens and I (2018) by Isabella Rossellini is not your typical celebrity book. Rossellini gets chickens, and if you also have a deep respect for one of the world’s most resilient and sustainable animals, I think you will love My Chickens and I.

When this book first landed in my lap, I was intrigued but skeptical. I have always been a fan of Isabella Rossellini, but I have too often seen celebrities publish books just because they are celebrities. This seems to be true in the publishing world in general but even in the world of chicken publishing. After all, how many books have we seen rehash the same bits of advice about raising chickens from the same famous names in the chicken world?

I am so pleased to report that Rossellini’s book offers something different. Her thorough understanding and deep respect for chickens comes through in this beautiful book, making this a book I will treasure, read to my little boy, and give as gifts to the chicken people in my life.

I love the cover of the book, which features a photograph of Isabella Rossellini with her chickens; the picture feels authentic. Rossellini is in her hat, fluffy coat, and gloves on the ground, surrounded by her chickens who clearly know her well. Below the title are sketch drawings of chickens that Rossellini drew herself. The book is filled with these sketches, which add a charm and such a “feeling of real” to this whole book.

Rossellini fills the book with interesting facts and engaging information about chickens. She writes about her own chickens and what they are like. Rossellini also includes professional photographs of her chickens that were taken by her friend and photographer, Patrice Casanova. The text, sketches, and photographs combine to tell the story of Rossellini’s journey into chicken keeping. The beautiful photographs of Rossellini’s heritage-breed chickens are phenomenal, but the text and sketches create a warmth that really makes this book unique among other chicken books I have encountered.

For instance, in the book, Rossellini explains she has a flighty hen who would simply not be photographed, a Modern Game hen, so Rossellini explains that she can offer only a sketch of that hen, which is just so endearing. I always have at least one hen who is flighty or shy and just will not sit still long enough for a picture. I love that Rossellini has this experience too.

One of my favorite things about the book, however, is the science. I believe understanding the science of chickens leads to a much deeper appreciation of them. On every level, chickens are magnificent, and Rossellini captures this. She writes about chicken intelligence and the domestication of chickens. She explains how animals evolve with different traits, and she explores the differences between wild chickens and domesticated chickens. She also emphasizes the importance of biodiversity.

As she shares pictures of some of her beautiful heritage-breed hens, she also gives the history and background of each breed, which is just fascinating information for any true chicken nerd. My favorite she shares is the Araucana, a breed of chicken from Chile that lays blue eggs. According to Rossellini, “DNA analysis suggests that these birds were in South America before the arrival of Europeans. If correct, it would mean that Polynesian explorers arrived in the Americas before Columbus.”

This is powerful information, so I fact checked it, of course. And Rossellini is correct. There is good evidence from the Natural Academy of the Sciences indicating chickens arrived in the Americas at least a century before Columbus.

Who knew chickens could be so fascinating? Well, some of us knew.

This is a book I would highly recommend to both beginning and long-time chicken keepers, as well as for those who are considering chickens. Rossellini’s clear love and respect for these amazing animals comes through the pages of this book so beautifully. And I love that Rossellini gets chickens in the same way I do.

After keeping chickens for so many years, I have developed a deep reverence for these resilient, intelligence, resourceful, and helpful birds. This same reverence leaps off of the pages in My Chickens and I.

My Chickens and I by Isabella Rossellini (ISBN 978-1-4197-2991-1) is available in beautiful hardcover at all major online bookstores, but I highly recommend contacting your local bookstore and getting it ordered there in an effort to support local as much as we can.