I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking

Average customer rating:

Heed the warnings

gotta love the guy!

love that alton brown

I love this guy!

Be Afraid

I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking
Alton Brown
Manufacturer: Stewart, Tabori and Chang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking

I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0

Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen

I'm Just Here for the Food : Kitchen User's Manual

I'm Just Here for the Food: Cook's Notes (I'm Just Here for the Food)

ASIN: 1584793414

Amazon.com

Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking should be required reading for those who truly want to learn how to become great bakers. In his own off-beat style Alton explains the science behind the process simply and in a manner you will not only remember, but subconsciously apply to all your baking endeavors. What is salt's role in the baking process? Why use eggs? Why is the way you mix important to overall success? Stylized and presented like his first book and popular Food Network show Good Eats, Baking is more like a goofy textbook rather then a pretty, photographed book with a bunch of recipes. If you are looking for a couple of quick, simple recipes to make cookies or bread, keep looking. If it's an education about the "Whats," "Whys," and "Hows" of baking with the intent to lift your skills to a new level: welcome!

Baking is a precise science that needs to be followed to the letter if you want success. It is highly recommended to read the introduction and "The Parts Department" section before attempting any of the recipes in this book. The essence of Alton Brown's book is not to simply follow recipes, but to get a deep understanding of what is going on during the baking process. The introduction goes over the layout of the book and how it should be used (the ingenious "method flaps" for instance), the low down on how to read recipes, the importance of measuring by weight vs. volume, and baking's five core steps. The "Parts" section explains just that: ingredients. What is the chemical make up of proteins, carbs, and fats? Why is their interrelationship so important to success? How well do you know flour, eggs, sugar, and baking soda? Once you have the basics down and your parts measured it's time to get mixing. The rest of the book is smartly broken up by the six major mixing methods (Muffin, Biscuit, Creaming, Straight Dough, Egg Foam, and Custards). Each technique is explored in detail with recipes to follow. You won't find any ultra fancy recipes in Baking. The focus here is on the basics and getting the basics down right. Rediscover some old favorites like chocolate cookies and muffins, buttermilk pancakes, biscuits, shortcake, multigrain loaf bread, and good old fashioned cheesecake. There is no denying it, follow Alton's advice and you will be a better baker. Guaranteed. --Rob Bracco

Book Description

In his best-selling first book, Food Network star Alton Brown described what happens when food meets heat. Now Brown is back and ready to revolutionize the world of baking-and more. Breads, cakes, cookies, pies, custards, ice creams: The popular host of Good Eats explores the science behind our favorite sweets-and savories-explaining it all in his own inimitable style.

The book opens with a complete encyclopedia of the core ingredients or "the molecular pantry"-what they are, what they do, and how they play together (or don't). The main part of the book is divided by mixing method: Biscuit, Creaming, Muffin, Straight Dough, Modified Dough, Eggfoam, Custards, and a section called As Well As . . . , which includes such specialized methods as crepes, popovers, mousse, and doughnuts. .

To underscore the importance-and ease-of mastering the mixing techniques, the book features a special design that adds a half-page flap to the opening page of each mixing section. Printed on the flap is the master mixing technique to serve as a ready reference for each recipe that follows in that section.

The more than 80 recipes cover all the basics any baked-good lover could covet, from pie crust to funnel cake to homemade Pop Tarts to cheese soufflé. Select master recipes feature variations that underscore the effects of altering ingredient ratios or preparation methods. The classic chocolate chip cookie, for example, can be interpreted in soft, chewy, and crispy consistencies.

At 304 pages, the trivia-filled tome also contains all the fun components Brown fans have come to expect: fact-packed sidebars, intricate illustrations, glossaries, appendices, equipment lists-the works. It's everything readers have been waiting for . . . and more! AUTHOR BIO: Alton Brown is the writer, director, and host of the popular Food Network television program Good Eats. His first book, I'm Just Here For the Food, received the 2003 James Beard Foundation KitchenAid Book Award for Best Reference Book. His second book, Alton Brown's Gear For Your Kitchen, was nominated for both a James Beard and an IACP cookbook award.

Customer Reviews:

Heed the warnings.......2007-10-07

The first thing I attempted to bake out of this book was the pillow bread recipe. Read the philosophy, tool requirements, got stuff together - done. Bread rose. Wonderful! Bread baked. Not so wonderful. Was actually quite raw in the middle. This was intensely disappointing. I re-read the directions. Yep - everything is where when and how it should be. I look back at the reviews and hello! There are typos in this book. I thought it kinda weird that I should cook a great huge loaf of bread for no more than 25 minutes, most especially when my other bread recipes call for 40 minutes on much smaller loaves. I do not think this is Mr. Brown's fault. I do think it is the suspicious typo drama. Mr. Brown's other book is magic. No worries right off, wonderful food. The roasting methods are particularly accurate and pleasing. This book was a huge bummer. Perhaps if I had tried a recipe sans typo, I would not be typing this review. Oh well. I will forgive Mr. Brown if another edition comes out that redacts the terrible typos. Until then it's Martha Stewart and me, again.

gotta love the guy!.......2007-10-05

This is the book I've been looking for since I started cooking. I have purchased books, subscribed to magazines, visited web sites, etc. but I all have ever found was recipe collections. Alton teaches you how to cook, explains how and why it works and makes it entertaining. Just like his show on Food Network. Same goes for his other book - "I am just here for the food". These two books are the only ones you'll ever need, knowing the process you can create your own recipe collections.

love that alton brown.......2007-09-20

I bought this book for my husband, who is an aspiring pastry chef. He absolutely loved it. Alton Brown's sense of humor shines as much in the book as it does on his tv show. There are so many great tips and recipes! This book was well worth it.

I love this guy!.......2007-09-12

If you watch the food network you know Alton Brown. His books are as good as the show.
The recipes are good and he explains Why you do what you do.
I'd buy this book again!

Be Afraid.......2007-08-15

To qualify as a great or even good cookbook, it's important that the recipes be accurate. It's just not enough that the book and author are highly entertaining.
The newly "edited" edition is still filled with mistakes and that's just wrong on many levels, the first of which is wasting the consumers' time and money on preparing recipes which fail because of typos.
The responsibilty to make sure that recipes are correct is ultimately Alton's, since he's the guy cashing in on the deal, plus it's his name attached to the product... so who else am I going to blame?
My heavy duty KitchenAid Mixer fell off the perch, as they say, after struggling with the Focaccia dough (page 260). It needs at least 1 cup more water and the 4 tsps. salt (even Kosher salt) is way too much, let alone more salt sprinkled on top, just for good measure and guaranteed water retention for the next week.
I would happily cut Alton some slack here if this were not the "corrected" edition and if this were the only recipe with typos, but right now I'm a bit ticked off that I must shell out at least $300.00 to buy a new mixer.
Is it too much to ask that a "great" cookbook have accurate recipes, hmm?

I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking

Average customer rating:

great
Amazing!
Alton at his best!
Great Explanations
Chicks dig a guy who can cook.

I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking
Alton Brown
Manufacturer: Stewart, Tabori and Chang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

History | Gastronomy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Reference | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1584790830

Amazon.com

Alton Brown, host of Food Network's Good Eats, is not your typical TV cook. Equal parts Jacques Pépin and Mr. Science, with a dash of MacGyver, Brown goes to great lengths to get the most out of his ingredients and tools to discover the right cooking method for the dish at hand. With his debut cookbook, I'm Just Here for the Food, Brown explores the foundation of cooking: heat. From searing and roasting to braising, frying, and boiling, he covers the spectrum of cooking techniques, stopping along the way to explain the science behind it all, often adding a pun and recipe or two (usually combined, as with Miller Thyme Trout).

I'm Just Here for the Food is chock-full of information, but Brown teaches the science of cooking with a soft touch, adding humor even to the book's illustrations--his channeling of the conveyer belt episode of I Love Lucy to explain heat convection is a hoot. The techniques are thoroughly explained, and Brown also frequently adds how to augment the cooking to get optimal results, including a tip on modifying a grill with a hair dryer for more heat combustion. But what about the food? Brown sticks largely to the traditional, from roast turkey to braised chicken piccata, though he does throw a curveball or two, such as Bar-B-Fu (marinated, barbecued tofu). And you'll quickly be a convert of his French method of scrambling eggs via a specially rigged double boiler--the resulting dish is soft, succulent, and lovely. But more than just a recipe book, I'm Just Here for the Food is a fascinating, delightful tour de force about the love of food and the joy of discovery. --Agen Schmitz

Book Description

As host of Food Network's Good Eats, Alton Brown entertains and informs viewers with a lively mix of wit blended with wisdom, history with pop culture, and science with the kind of common cooking sense that our grandmothers took for granted. In this, his first cookbook, Brown presents readers with an instruction manual for the kitchen, combining 60 wide-ranging recipes with a wealth of culinary information that allows anyone--at any level of expertise--to understand the whys and wherefores of cooking.

Customer Reviews:

great.......2007-09-04

i love this book, it is broken up by cooking methods (i.e. boiling, roasting, etc.) and each is explained. the best part are the magnets that come in it...you see!

Amazing!.......2007-08-21

As a fanatic of Alton Brown, I loved this book. I got it for my birthday thinking it would be a nice cook book, but it was so much more than that. It had the history and the science of cooking, and as Alton explains, the science of cooking is very important. If you like Good Eats, you'll love this book too!

Alton at his best!.......2007-04-01

This is the ideal gift for someone starting out on their own in the world of cooking, or for anyone who enjoys "Good Eats" on the Food Network Channel. Alton Brown is informative, funny, and he uses a common sense approach to food science.

Great Explanations.......2007-03-09

Although this book has some recipes in it, it is filled with explanations and illustrations. It explains the science and technique behind cooking. I have enjoyed reading the book and am now in culinary school. Alton's book has helped me to understand why you do things a certain way and has given me an edge over other students.

Chicks dig a guy who can cook........2007-01-19

I bought this book for my 14 yr old son and 15 yr old nephew. They both think it's great. Each method of cooking (searing, grilling, braising etc.) is presented in a straight-forward scientific way, explaining what works and what doesn't. At the end of each section are a few simple recipes to demonstrate the method. I would recomend this to anyone who has teen-age boys in their life. And as my nephew said, "Chicks dig a guy who can cook".

Book Description

Nonlinear Time Series Analysis of Economic and Financial Data provides an examination of the flourishing interest that has developed in this area over the past decade. The constant theme throughout this work is that standard linear time series tools leave unexamined and unexploited economically significant features in frequently used data sets. The book comprises original contributions written by specialists in the field, and offers a combination of both applied and methodological papers. It will be useful to both seasoned veterans of nonlinear time series analysis and those searching for an informative panoramic look at front-line developments in the area.

Average customer rating:
Funny Ladies: The Best Humor From America's Funniest Women
Bill Adler
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0740706128

Book Description

Spanning more than 100 yearsworth of funny women in American, Funny Ladies offers witty words from the likes of Jane Fonda, Dorothy Parker, Phyllis Diller, and Bella Abzug. Readers will treasure the nearly 1,000 quotable quips in this delightful new book. Funny Ladies is like a hilarious gabfest with some of the wittiest women on the planet. This clever book offers amusing insights from a whole host of female humorists, writers, and comedians-from Erma Bombeck to Dolly Parton, from Roseanne to Marilyn Monroe-all of whom have a most entertaining attitude.Author Bill Adler divides these wild, wacky and often wise sayings into categories, that including advice, fame, life lessons, and sex. Together, they make for a comprehensive and unrivaled book of humor. As Goldie Hawn says: "Comedy breaks down walls. It opens up people. If you're good, you can fill up those openings with something positive. Maybe you can combat some of the ugliness in the world."

Book Description

Danny Gatton was a players' guitar player, hailed by both Rolling Stone and Guitar Player as the greatest unknown guitarist anywhere. His legend has only grown since his untimely suicide in 1994, along with appreciation for his blinding speed, effortless genre-hopping, flawless technique, and never-ending appetite for tinkering and problem-solving. Drawing from first-hand interviews with dozens of friends, family members and fellow musicians, Unfinished Business places Gatton's musical contributions into context, and documents his influence on those peers who admired him most, including Albert Lee, Vince Gill, Arlen Roth and Lou Reed. 290 pages, 6 inch. x 9 inch. "Danny Gatton comes closer than anyone else to being the best guitar player that ever lived." - Steve Vai

Customer Reviews:

At last, Danny Gatton's story is told!.......2007-06-02

"Unfinished Business" by Ralph Heibutzki is a great read and provides great insight into the life of a not-so-well-known American guitarist. I was a fan of Danny Gatton before his untimely death and own 8 CDs by him. After reading Ralph's book, I ordered the other half of Gatton's canon (8 CDs and an instructional DVD) including a live soundboard recording by Evan Johns from the period when Danny was playing with Evan.

As I was one that always wondered what would cause a "normal" guy like Danny to take his life, on the heels of Roy Buchanan taking his own life, the book provided much insight into those dark days. It also provided insight into his glory days, his love of classic cars, and his struggles with the music industry.

The book was so captivating that I took it everywhere with me. I doing so, many folks inquired about it ... and more people in my town knew of Danny than I ever imagined. One friend was so impressed with my overview of the book, he requested to read it when I finished with it. Because I want to keep my signed copy intact, I'm buying him a copy as a gift.

If you have any interest in Danny Gatton or any interest in an amazing American guitar hero, "Unfinished Business" is his story.

reinvigorated my interest in Danny Gatton and replaced my ignorance with information.......2007-03-09

The book reinvigorated my interest in DG. I had a couple cds of his and knew him to be a hot shot guitarist, but never concentrated much focused listening time on his music. Reading the book has gotten me on a DG binge, and I've picked up a few more cds and some live recordings (Fat Boys 1974!) and have listened alot more closely. Before reading this book, I didn't know about his death or anything about any interfamilial squabbles, but the author presented them very even-handedly. I knew Gatton was a well respected and influential guitarist but I was still surprised to read about some of the other musicians who were influenced by or impressed by his music. And being a guitar player myself (big surprise) I feel motivated to try to learn a lick or two of his myself. Thanks for the great book!

The Real Story.......2006-06-22

As a musician, I was very fortunate to know Danny personally as he played in one of his earliest DC bands with my uncle, Rick Harmel. I recall that he took time to show me a few practice scales almost everytime I ran into him - no matter how busy he appeeared - and he was a warm-hearted, generous guy to the core.

This book balances the abrupt, tragic end of Danny's life with the highs and motivations that made Gatton a player's player. It also spotlights many of the people (like Arlen Roth) that contributed their loyalty and friendship to Danny. Thank you Ralph for a great homage and superb, thorough account of the life of the Master of the Telecaster. A "must read" for all guitarists - and anyone else who enjoys a moving account of an accomplished human being.

Thorough Research & an Appreciative Ear.......2004-10-28

The other reviewers have discussed the merits of Danny's playing, so I will mostly stick to extolling the book. Heibutzki talked to just about everybody, and found most if not all of the print material and used this in his thoughtful, comprehensive biography.
As an interviewer, the author got his subjects to open up, and what they say frequently tells as much about themselves as about Danny. As a consequence, the reader gets a sense of the mileau of clubs, studios, band and record label politics, and Washington DC and Southern Maryland music and lifestyle from the 60's to the 90's. A great deal of attention is paid to Danny's interest in cars, and his family life, as well as his early days gigging in various teenage bands and with Liz Meyer & Friends before he became "unfamous".
Also, the book comes with a bibliography and discography, as well as a useful index, showing the author's almost academic thoroughness.

A very good biography with a couple of weak points........2004-01-22

I enjoyed this book overall. It gives one a good enough idea of who Danny Gatton was and what made him such a respected guitarist. I knew a little about Gatton going in, not a lot though, and I feel like the author succeeded in filling in the blanks. I also thought the book handled Gatton's unfortunate death in an objective fashion while remaining sensitive to the emotional issues involved.

[Reviewer note: This review was edited on 02/07/2005. After looking it over again, I decided it appeared a bit more negative than I had actually intended.]

But this book also has a couple of problems, I think. The most significant being that, in an effort to give Gatton the status he deserves, the author includes a fair amount of material that puts down other great guitarists as a way of building Gatton up. You can see this, for example, on page 76 with regard to Chet Atkins, and at other times throughout the book with some other guitarists.

This happens most often, though, in relation to Roy Buchanan. And I particularly think that's a shame. Danny and Roy were both great guitar players, two of the greatest of all time, in fact, and neither one gets near the recognition he deserves. That being so, I don't see where pitting them against each other adds much to the discussion. But regardless, which one was 'better' is highly debatable, and the relative status of the two should be presented fairly as such, as was done in Phil Carson's Roy Buchanan: American Axe.

The other thing I thought could have been improved would have been for the book to have spent a little more time giving us an idea of who Danny Gatton was as a person. Don't get me wrong, it does give you a better idea of who he was, and the book certainly does a great job covering Gatton's music and career, but I didn't come away from the book feeling like I really knew the man behind the guitar god, at least not as well as I would have liked.

This is a very worthwhile book though, despite the minor drawbacks. You may want to supplement the book with some CDs to get a better feel for Gatton's status as an elite guitar player, and who his influences were. Of course that starts with Danny Gatton CDs, but I would also suggest picking CDs by the following: Roy Buchanan, Hank Garland, Lenny Breau, and Tal Farlow.

Customer Reviews:

great gift idea.......2003-08-17

I purchased this book for my mom who is a huge 'Days' fan and she loved it! I think this is a great gift idea for avid soap watchers.

it is great.......2003-01-09

I love days of our lives its grart and IF you would Email me if you get iny yousd daysbooks

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE TRUE DAYS FANS.......2000-03-29

I'm an online Editor for Bella Online...and I can tell you that this book is a MUST HAVE! Now this book is a remarkable tool in testing your TRUE DOOL fan knowledge! Here is your chance to prove your loyalty to DAYS. This very informative book filled with articles, trivia, and pictures, from past and present DAYS questions with answers. Have yourself a DAYS celebration, invite your DAYS FRIENDS and play some trivia RIGHT from this book! Find out how many of your friends are TRUE DAYS fans or just 'CLAIM' to be. ENJOY! =o)

Wonderful!.......1999-06-29

A must have for any Days of our Lives fan - you'll enjoy it! The trivia questions are fun to do with other Days fans also.

Book Description

Category theory is a branch of pure mathematics that is becoming an increasingly important tool in theoretical computer science, especially in programming language semantics, domain theory, and concurrency, where it is already a standard language of discourse. Assuming a minimum of mathematical preparation, Basic Category Theory for Computer Scientists provides a straightforward presentation of the basic constructions and terminology of category theory, including limits, functors, natural transformations, adjoints, and cartesian closed categories. Four case studies illustrate applications of category theory to programming language design, semantics, and the solution of recursive domain equations. A brief literature survey offers suggestions for further study in more advanced texts. Benjamin C. Pierce received his doctoral degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Contents: Tutorial. Applications. Further Reading.

Customer Reviews:

Good Introduction.......2007-02-21

I have been reading several different category theory texts recently, and this one was very succinct and accessible. Particularly useful for understanding functional programming.

Basic crib sheet for category theory.......2006-04-03

Anyone coming to this book from Pierce's "Types and Programming Languages" will be disappointed. While his "Types ..." book is a model of clear exposition, this book reads like a set of notes jotted down on the back on an envelope. The extensive bibliographic sections are more than fifteen years out of date. Much of the material referenced is no longer in print, and recent developments are, of course, not mentioned. Those seeking a very gentle introduction to category theory would do better with the book by Lawvere and Schanuel, who cover more of category theory than Pierce. Mathematically mature computer science readers will find everything they need to know about the subject in Mac Lane's book.

Really expensive for a set of notes..........2005-12-07

You can find better introductions to category theory available on the net for free. And I'm not talking about P2P! Try searching for Lambert Meertens, Marten Fokkinga, and Jaap Van Oosten, for example.

If you have some money to spend, get Barr and Wells, Category Theory for Computing Science. It's a great book, *way* better than this!

Too terse.......2004-03-28

This is a very short book: 70 pages of text + a bibliography. The first 50 pages are about general category theory, and the last 20 pages are specifically for computer scientists. My interest is in general category theory, and I bought this because I have a BS in CS and thought I'd find plenty of familiar examples. Unfortunately this book doesn't have nearly enough examples. I found it easier to skim some undergrad abstract algebra books in the library (groups, rings, vector spaces) and then continuing with category theory intros written for math students.

the best understaning of categories you can get.......2002-05-06

This book is tiny in volume but large in contents. It does not only provide the definitions of the fundamental concepts but also clear explanations and motivations of why must everything be defined that way, which are not always found in other texts. Plenty of the right examples help you build the right intuitions. The case studies at the end put everything into context and prepare you for CS texts on semantics, type theory, etc.
If you want to UNDERSTAND this wonderful theory read this book!

Basic Category Theory for Computer Scientists

Average customer rating:

Basic Category Theory for Computer Scientists
Benjamin C. (Author) Pierce
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OR4J4C

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