Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen: Recipes, Crafts and Comforts from the Heart [Paperback]

Susannah Seton (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Simple Pleasures | Publication Date: February 2005

The kitchen really is the heart of the home. It's the first place family and friends gather, not only to prepare and eat food, but to chat, sip tea, snack on home-baked cookies, unwind after a tough day, and reconnect with loved ones.

The latest in the Simple Pleasures series of books, Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen captures the essence of the kitchen. It offers a cornucopia of recipes, food-based crafts, and family activities, as well as stories from kitchens around the world. Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen is a book - and a gift - sure to warm anyone's heart, no matter what the weather.

Organized by season, the book offers:

Spring Flings

The Savor of Summer

Autumn's Abundance

Cozying Up in Winter

Susannah Seton's Simple Pleasures books continually delight readers with their down-home, heart-warming recipes, crafts, and activities that bring the whole family together.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Susannah Seton is the editor of Simple Pleasures, Simple Pleasures for the Home, Simple Pleasures of the Garden, Simple Pleasures for the Holidays, and 365 Simple Pleasures. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband and daughter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Conari Pr (February 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573248711
• ISBN-13: 978-1573248716
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 6.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Canadian

More About the Author

Roberta Beach Jacobson ran away to Europe in 1974 and never returned to Chicago. She's explored 17 European countries and has shared bus seats with chickens and hotel beds with fleas. She's been spit on, cussed at, held at knife point, grabbed, pinched and kicked. Doing what others only dream about, she makes her home on a far-flung Greek island barely found on maps.

Roberta has authored, ghostwritten, translated, edited or contributed to 54 nonfiction books published on four continents. Her humor writing has been anthologized in bestselling series such as Dream of Things (DreamofThings.com), Chocolate for Women (Simon & Schuster), Chicken Soup for the Soul (HCI) and Cup of Comfort (Adams Media).

Many of her titles deal with travel - published by Lonely Planet Books (Australia), Travelers' Tales Books (U.S.), Macmillan Language House (Japan) and Survival Books (U.K.). Other work focuses on the human-animal bond, such as the award-winning Almost Perfect: Disabled Pets and the People Who Love Them (Enspirio House, Word Forge Books, 2008).

Hundreds of her articles have been published in newspapers and magazines, a few syndicated by King Features, The New York Times Syndicate and others. Roberta is a member of the Authors Guild and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. She blogs for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a top-20 American news site.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars books, December 19, 2011

By 

nora loura - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen: Recipes, Crafts and Comforts from the Heart (Paperback)

i have orded other simple pleasures books, every one i have ever bought, the name says it all. simple pleasures. you just pick it up and read any where's in any of the books and it puts a smile on you. i like to read a few pages just before bed or just any time for a quike pick me up.

3.0 out of 5 stars Mouth watering and heart warming!, October 22, 2011

By 

Ernest Dempsey "ED" (Pakistan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen: Recipes, Crafts and Comforts from the Heart (Paperback)

The latest in Susannah Seton's Simple Pleasures series is 'Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen' (Conari Press, Boston, 2005). Seton gives us a wonderful anthology of food stories, recipes, crafts, quotes, and clips from famous works, contributed by writers around the world, including Seton herself.

In his introduction to the book, Jonathan King declares, `My kitchen is without doubt the heart of my home.' Susannah Seton takes this up to make her book an attraction for any and every member of a home through all the seasons of the year. Corresponding to the four seasons of the year, the book has four divisions: Spring Flings, The Savor of Summer, Autumn's Abundance, and Cozying Up in Winter. All sections teach a lot: cooking, decorating, making kitchen calendars, napkins, and candleholders, and many things that one needs in a home kitchen. Common to all the items are two merits: simplicity and brevity. For readership, this means ease and alacrity to practice one's hands on the items presented. What pleasure lies in preparing a simple snack and relishing it, you get to know from Seton's book.

'Simple Pleasures of the Kitchen' is not for the gourmand only. It is a book of memories stirred by things as simple as a nice cup of coffee, or a loaf of hot bread. Writers share the memories of their parents, grandparents, family, houses, pets, and rides-everything that inspired the soul with a tickle in the stomach. Some of these are nostalgic, others just light and entertaining, and still others motivating. Modes change with flavors.

Among the micro-items of the book are interesting quotes by some very celebrated names like Oscar Wilde, William Shakespeare, Henry James, Cervantes, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, and many others, all joining life with food. Proverbs of some languages tell us cultural food themes. And of course there are interesting bits of information, as one by Boyd Matson: "Believe it or not, Americans eat 75 acres of pizza a day."

'Simple Pleasures' of the Kitchen is a book for all those who eat and know its joy. Those who do not can get it from Susannah Seton's book.