Michael Ruhlman

A little hard to be objective - I thought all this time I was the only one! I LOVE grocery shopping! It is without exaggeration the highlight of my week. I can fathom that some people might not love it, but consider it a "chore"? Would rather sit at home and click things online and have them delivered? Just suck all the joy out of life, why don't you!

And not only that, but Ruhlman traces his love of grocery shopping back to supermarket visits with his Dad - ME TOO! Periodic mass grocery show more shopping for the household was my Dad's task, too, and I loved being his helper. He made everything a game; and it didn't hurt that he too had a liberal hand in allowing me to toss into the cart any manner of dessert and snack items I wanted (because he loved them too). He did occasionally raise a very feeble protest against the sugary cereals me and my sibs insisted on eating – but he lost that battle one time when he brought home Whole Wheat Total and tried to claim it was “all they had.” We refused to eat it. We probably ate donuts or instant breakfast or pop-tarts instead.

But I should get back to the book. It has history, it has plenty of cultural and nutritional commentary, it has a big focus on the small Cleveland chain of grocery stores patronized by Ruhlman throughout his life, but it also has further digressions where Ruhlman channels his inner Michael Pollan to take us on in-depth exposes, interviews with experts, and adventures which reveal the underside of the simple act of grocery shopping.

I was on the edge of my seat throughout almost all of it... though I have to admit he lost me a couple of times, such as when he spent a chapter on supplements. Supplements!? Who cares! That's not food! And likewise when he spent a chapter traipsing through the woods with some dippy guy who talked about how we absorb healing chemicals just by being present in the forest. Again... THAT'S NOT FOOD.

And I'm sorry, one more quibble. As I said, I did appreciate his talking about his experiences with his Dad. But I think that in place of the endless "My Year Of..." books we were subject to a decade ago, now we all have to deal with "Coming to Terms with the Death of My Parent When You Thought All You Were Going to Learn about was Hawks/Whales/Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail/Supermarkets." Every non-fiction book these days seems to have to have a connection to the author's dead mother or father. I know, it sucks to lose your parents. Lots of things remind you of them. By all means, tell me about dear old Mom/Dad. But then they always get so maudlin and overwrought about it! S/he's dead, I know, it's very sad. That's exactly why you don't have to tell me that much about it. Ever heard of "nuff said'?

So, indeed, supermarkets ARE amazing. He references a New York Times Magazine article from 1996 that I distinctly remember reading and trying to share with my friends; similar to this book, it talked at lengths about the modern miracle that is the supermarket, and engaged in some cultural commentary and comparison as the writer visited some other styles of food procurement, such as some kind of farmer's market/open-air market in Spain, if I remember correctly... and that was cool too. Farmer's markets are awesome too. But that doesn't detract at all from my love of the supermarket. The friends with whom I tried to share my excitement over this article, were, I recall, definitely non-plussed, unfortunately.

Ruhlman also weighs in here and there with his opinions on best nutritional practices, which are nicely inconsistent. He has a beef against the misguided notions that eggs are bad for you and fat is bad for you (I forget which one of those gets his goat the most). He has plenty bad to say about processed food, but also doesn't hesitate to tell us all the less-than-chef-worthy things he loved in his childhood and to which he still doesn't seem totally averse.

My biggest takeaway was a quote from one of his interviewees, on the topic of how bad processed food is, and restaurant food is, and practically everything is, unless you bring it home and cook it yourself... bad for you inherently healthwise, and bad for you because its convenience leads you to eat too much of it. The quote was, more or less: "You want a diet? Eat anything you want - but cook it yourself." I love it! I could eat cookies and brownies and pasta Bolognese and all my favorites, so long as I cooked them myself, which would be a joy anyway. But I'd miss my frequent restaurant meals. And occasional Chinese/Vietnamese takeout. And occasional pizza. And... so this really wouldn't work for me.

What a joy this book was! I can hardly shut up about it. And I just ended up liking Ruhlman enough to want to read more by him - it seems he's written a lot. I see lots of food books coming into my Kindle in the year ahead! show less

I am not a cook. In fact, I mostly dread the whole menu planning, grocery shopping, cooking routine. It's just so endless. At least it was until I discovered this book.

Ration: The Simple codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking has been an absolute revelation to me. It's as if everything I hated about cooking has been cleared away and now I can be ME in the kitchen. Why? Because I won't be spending untold hours sifting through reecipe web sites or countless cookbooks trying to find a show more recipe that looks as if it would embody the flavors on the tip of my tongue and running around in my head wishing for me to express them. Thanks to Mr Ruhlman now I KNOW how to translate the flavor/texture wishes into something I can eat.

I've actually paused my reading of this book a little over half way through because I'm so excited to get in the kitchen and COOK! No looking for recipes or buying prepackaged mixes because I can do this. Me! I can walk confidently into my kitchen, pull out the basics I never used and put them to work.

First up was a gnocchi browned in butter and roasted garlic topped with a sauce of roma tomatoes and spinach. YUM!!!

Now I will read the remaining sections as I need them. If you've ever wished you knew how to just walk in the kitchen and make something, no mixes, no recipes, this is the book you need. My copy has a permanent place next to the stove. show less

This is nearly impossible for me to rate. Most of these are perfect examples of noir. They are gritty, dark, and hopeless. I can’t fault the writing in 75% of the stories. But, and this is big, I’ve never read a collection that left me feeling as despondent as this one. I wish I could bleach my brain and remove all remnants of these stories. I can’t fault them but I wish I’d never had to experience them. There are two exceptions to this - there's a story with a baseball conspiracy at show more its heart, "The Silent Partner" by Susan Petrone, which was fun, and "Sugar Daddy" by Abby L. Vandiver, which was also entertaining. If the entire collection had been like these, it would have been perfect. They had classic noir elements, but did not leave me feeling hopeless or dirty. If you are sensitive to child abuse and/or detailed horrors of gay conversion therapy (of which I had been blissfully unaware) DO NOT READ "Jock Talk" by Sam Conrad. This was so horrific that it overshadowed the entire collection. I wish it had never been written or included in this anthology, and I absolutely wish I had the warning so I could have never, ever read it. It has haunted me for days. show less

I'm going to be honest, I received this book through a Goodreads Giveaway. I went into this book thinking it was going to be very dry. Ruhlman did an amazing job providing recipes with interesting history, and personal stories.

I am an admitted amateur in the realm of cocktails. This book holds true to its title, keeping every recipe simple, reducing them down to their original ratios. From there, Ruhlman gives variations on every drink, giving popular opinions, as well as his own on each show more recipe. This book has actually helped me understand the reasoning and history behind every concoction. I am currently working my way through the different Manhattan recipes to see what I personally enjoy.

If you are not familiar with the cocktail world like myself, I would highly recommend this book. If you are familiar, I would still recommend it. show less