[Boomer]

“Book Concierge” is back. There are more than 380 titles for 2020.

What I like best about using “Book Concierge” is that it catalogues the books by subject, making it easy to find what you are looking for, and it gives you a quick summary of the book.

“Book Concierge” can be found at npr.org

Boomer

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by Boomer

“Book Concierge” is back. There are more than 380 titles for 2020.

What I like best about using “Book Concierge” is that it catalogues the books by subject, making it easy to find what you are looking for, and it gives you a quick summary of the book.

“Book Concierge” can be found at npr.org

Boomer

Yes. I know. I know it is gauche to quote myself. But just this morning I was thinking about the readers who might be out there wondering what to read (or listen to) next so here I am, repeating myself, pushing “Book Concierge.”

I have used “Book Concierge” twice this week. Once to buy a cookbook gift for a millennial who is a serious cook and is now a full time vegetarian. The book is “Cool Beans” and is reviewed in the cookbook section of “Book Concierge.”

“Cool Beans” arrived at my house today. I looked through it and saw a couple of recipes I might try. I will scan those recipes so I do not sticky-up the gift book. One of them is the “Root Vegetable, White Bean, and Mushroom Cassoulet.” (I picked this one because I recognized the ingredients and because it looks like comfort food without the beef.)

Carnivore/Omnivore Me would like to add more meatless meals to this now constant cooking, but tofu makes me want to gag. I like beans though so this cookbook might give me the protein answer I have been looking for.

Amazon gave “Cool Beans” some rave reviews, but other reviewers said the ingredients in some of the recipes would not be easy to find. But in the back of the book there is a list of online sources for unusual types of beans and for spices.

At first glance, I see that there is forgiveness in some of the recipes that say canned beans and store-bought vegetable broth can be used. (I do perhaps sense a withering sneer behind that statement by the probably quite sophisticated author, but I don’t care. At least, it’s there.)

Some of the Amazon reviews grumpily pointed out that this is actually a vegan cookbook and needs more pictures.

Anyway, “Cool Beans” will be a Christmas present for a millennial in our life and just might change the repetitive menu that Mr. Boomer and I are cooking — cooking — cooking. Aaaaugh, how I miss those dinners out.

And, now, damn, damn it — for the rest of the day, I will have that song from camp in my head. . .

”No matter how old a bean may be
It’s always full of energy,
A baby bean is like its dad,
But it’s not fired up quite so bad,
We have beans for every meal,
Later on, the effects we feel.”
— (Then start over and sing the same thing again and again and again.)

Geez. I just segued from writing about book reviews to writing about farts. Oh well, that was my mental exercise for today — which tells you something about how I am missing real life. (sigh)

Boomer