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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Guest Post: Anima Kinsi {Book Review}

Hey Everyone! 
This is my dear friend, Kinsi! She blogs over at Anima Kinsi 
We used to work together and she moved away and then I moved away! I miss her so much! We had a great time, always laughing or talking! She's going to share a book review today so check it out and leave her some comment love or visit her page!
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Thanks, Jenna! I’ll take it from here.

Hola, Spicy folks!
Some of you may know me, but uh, if the number of followers on my blog is any indication, most of you don’t.  Let me introduce myself.  I’m Kinsi: military wife, homemaker, occasional freelance writer, and all-the-time lover of the Lord.  I’ve also been told by some inside sources that I am also quite the hula-hooper, Zumba/Hip Hop Hustle maven, and a great bilingual advice-giver (“No” in English, “NO” in Spanish).

So, now you know me.  Like, really know me.

Since we’re so well acquainted, let’s talk about something that totally floats my boat.  Oh yeah, that’s right, I’m talking BOOKS. 

Since the holidays are upon us, and everyone can’t help but talk about food, think about food, and stuff their faces with food, we might as well read about it too! There’s nothing wrong with consistency, after all.  I think Jeffrey Steingarten, author of The Man Who Ate Everything would absolutely agree.

I have to tell you, this book is absolutely one of my favorite reads in years.  Earning my degree in English made reading a chore at times and I almost forgot that I can actually read things of my own choosing; books that are not actually written in Middle English, for example.  Published in 1997, this is the first of Steingarten’s full-length books, featuring excerpts from his days as master food critic and intimidating old curmudgeon of Vogue.  If you aren’t a frequent reader of Vogue (and really, don’t Vogue and food seem like opposing forces?), you may recognize Steingarten from his more recent appearances on Iron Chef: America.  Steingarten first appears here around 11:33.


I’ve gotta tell you, I have a soft spot for grumpy guys.  My husband is notoriously grumpy.  Maybe that’s why Mr. Steingarten makes me shoot water from my nose every time I watch/hear/read him, even when I’m not drinking water- like a magical comedy trick.

Back to the book: The Man Who Ate Everything, while perhaps questionable in its construction (seriously, he pretty much just sewed together/edited a bunch of stuff he already wrote) is unquestionable in its wry wit.  If you’ve ever cried over a deflated cake, fought with a wily loaf of bread, or questioned the sanity of foreign food practices, you will find something familiar and laughably honest within its pages.  To boot, Mr. Steingarten includes a recipe at the end of most chapters, inspired by the chapter’s subject matter.  
See this webpage for a… taste.  Oh, I slay me.

I was near tears when I finished this book.  Not, of course, because Steingarten had written anything particularly emotional (though, finishing on the subject of a perfect pie is sure to make one’s heart pitter-patter), but because I so enjoyed living these culinary adventures.  To be honest with you, I stretched this book out for as long as I could bear.  I probably spent a year slowly trekking through it- too scared to finish and return back to flimsy fictional stories about unhealthy romances and memoirs of self-discovery.  
“LET THEM EAT CAKE,” I say!

Give this tasty treat a try.  After all, it’s calorie-free.
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Thanks again Kinsi! & Thanks for stoppin by,
xoxo Jen.
Linkin up:

Make it Yours @ My Backyard Eden
My Girlish Whims
Sew Woodsy
Southern Lovely

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