California Living and
Eating
California Living and
Eating by Eleanor Maidment is a handsome coffee table book celebrating the food
and lifestyle of the Golden State with 80 tasty recipes.
One of the joys of travel in California is the wonderful food on offer, whether it’s from a cheap and cheerful taco truck to some of the top tables in the USA with acclaimed chefs like Thomas Keller, Wolfgang Puck, and Alice Waters.
It helps, of course, that there is so much fine produce grown in the state, and a firm belief in the concept of farm-to-fork or farm-to-table.
These are the things that inspired author Eleanor Maidment to travel the length and breadth of the state to produce this hefty 224-page coffee-table book with eighty original recipes. These go alongside essays about some quintessential Californian foods like sourdough and avocados.
California Living and
Eating: Introduction
In her introduction the author points out that it isn’t only
the freshness of the food that makes for tasty eating. The best California
cuisine is also about being bold with experimentation, caring about the art of beautiful
presentation, serving seasonal dishes, a natural concern for healthy eating, and
a fusion-style of cooking embracing California’s ethnically diverse population.
The Author
Eleanor Maidment is a London based
food writer and food stylist who spent seven years as Food Editor of Waitrose
Food magazine, creating and testing recipes for the readers on a daily basis.
California Living and
Eating: Contents
After explaining how the book came about, and information on
both the ingredients and the equipment she likes to use, the author gets into the
opening chapter: Morning Sun. This covers one meal that Californians really
know how to do well, brunch, and begins with our own personal brunch favorite,
the Mexican breakfast dish, Huevos Rancheros. Merely seeing the photo has our
mouths watering immediately.
Photography
The wonderful photography
in California Living and Eating is by Nassima Rothacker, originally from
Melbourne but now London-based and with a special interest in food and travel
photography. She’s certainly brought California and its food to life on the
page.
The recipes range from the original (Coconut Jumbo Oat
Granola) to new takes on old favorites, like Buttermilk Pancakes and Breakfast
Burritos.
Maidment then makes her way through the day, with lunch and
supper suggestions, before winding up with one chapter on sides and sauces, and
a final chapter on cakes, cookies, and tarts.
Where to Eat in
California
Also included at the back of the book is the author’s
personal choice of the best places to eat in California. They are the places –
including two farmers’ markets – which inspired the recipes in the book, and
cover Sonoma, San Francisco and the East Bay, the Central Coast, Los Angeles,
and San Diego.
With names like Chez Panisse and Nepenthe in there, and the wonderful Santa Monica Farmers Market, there’s no arguing with the choice.
Buying California
Living and Eating
You can find this lovely book on Amazon, and though there’s
a less expensive Kindle version we’d recommend splurging on the hardback. It
will definitely get used in the kitchen.
Other books pages
This John Steinbeck California Guide, A Journey into Steinbeck's California, shows readers how towns like Monterey, Carmel and Salinas influenced the author.
101 free San Francisco attractions and things to do are in the Kindle guide, 101 Free Things to Do in San Francisco, in the Travel Free eGuidebooks series.
The Santa Barbara Guidebook from Moon Handbooks also covers California’s Central Coast with Ventura, San Luis Obispo, wine country, and Hearst Castle.
The Napa and Sonoma Guidebook to California Wine Country is from the Moon Handbooks’ travel guide series with reviews of wineries,vineyards, and wine tastings.
Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast, published by Voyageur Press, is a guide in words and pictures to historic lighthouses along the Pacific Coast Highway.
One of the best guides to West Coast RV Parks, covering campgrounds in California, Oregon, and Washington, is West Coast RV Camping from Moon Guides.
Pacific Coast Highway guides include our own printed book and ebook guides to the best hotels along the PCH, available in paperback, PDF and Kindle formats.
Books About the Pacific Coast Highway in California, Oregon and Washington including travel guidebooks, route guides, restaurant guides, and many more.
Vintage Hollywood in Los Angeles is an extract from the Lonely Planets book Culture Trails.
One of the best California coast guides is the California Coastal Access Guide, describing the coast’s beaches, National Parks, State Parks, with many maps.
The Los Angeles travel guide book from Lonely Planet also covers San Diego and Southern California, including Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, and Disneyland.
The guide to California Bed and Breakfast Inns lists over 250 boutique hotels, wine country cottages and more.
The Green Guide to the USA West from Michelin covers California, the Pacific North West, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, New Mexico, and even Kansas and Alaska.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel's California Camping book review rates the 20th anniversary edition of Moon's complete guide to over 1400 tent and RV campgrounds.
The Washington State travel guide from Frommer's covers hotels in Seattle, driving the Pacific Coast Highway, Olympic National Park, where to eat and more.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel reviews the Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip Guide book covering the drive from Vancouver to San Diego.
Brewpubs and good beer are at the heart of the Good Beer Guide to the West Coast USA which lists the best bars and breweries from Seattle to San Diego.
The Frommer's Guide to Seattle has good information about the city and side excursions to the Olympic National Park and elsewhere, plus free city and area map.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel's book review of Insider's Guide to San Francisco guidebook by Jill Loeffler, publisher of the San Francisco Tourism Tips website.
Lonely Planet's Guide to Cycling the USA West Coast is a bicycling guidebook for anyone touring California, Oregon and Washington by bike.
West Coast Road Eats is a road food guide covering the Pacific Coast from California through Oregon to Washington, giving the best road trip food stops.
To John Steinbeck Monterey's Cannery Row was a place of sardine canneries, bums and honky tonks, but today the Monterey Aquarium attracts visitors.
The Best Coast is a west coast travel guide, sub-titled A Road Trip Atlas it doesn't use photos but instead has hundreds of beautiful illustrations.
Lonely Planet's Coastal California guidebook is the ideal travel guide for driving or cycling the Pacific Coast Highway from the Oregon border to Mexico.
Northwest Wine Country is a food and wine lover's guide to vineyards, fine dining, accommodation, restaurants in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia.
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