And They Can Cook, Too!
Edited by Susan Bodendorfer
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REVIEW BY RON KAPLAN
Wordbeams, the self-proclaimed "brightest star in electronic publishing," has pulled off an admirable three-fold accomplishment with the tempting cookbook And They Can Cook, Too! This e-book simultaneously shows off Wordbeams' stable of writers while providing an appetizing array of recipes and aiding a group of people in an unfortunate situation. With 35 writers contributing recipes ranging from Diana Tabbaa's Arabic Breakfast Dish, a humus-type spread, to Pandora's Sit Down Trifle, And They Can Cook, Too! is the essence of what an e-book can be. Each recipe contains links to the contributor's writing samples, providing a convenient interactive experience. The collection is broken down into familiar categories such as appetizers, main dishes, breads, and desserts and sweets (lots of them). In many cases, the writers' methods for cooking and instructing are as artistic as their "day jobs." Measurements can be imprecise, but that's part of the creative process. David Halliday's Socrates Chili, for example, yields "multiple servings" and calls for "cans" of ingredients without designating the actual size of the can. Halliday instructs the reader to "[C]ook uncovered for 6 hours, low heat, stirring occasionally . . . Cover, cook on the lowest heat possible for another 12 hours stirring occasionally . . . The longer the chili sits in the pot after it has cooked for about 20 hours the better it tastes." Obviously cooking, like writing, should be a labor of love and enjoyment. Maggie Madison, who contributes a recipe for the aptly named Portly Piggies Chocolate-Truffle Brownie Bars, humorously ridicules the method some use to determine the serving sizes for such decadent foodstuffs: "Our ability to reason is so advanced that we immediately understand that any recipe that states that an 8" round chocolate cake serves sixteen is an obvious and preposterous misprint. We all know that an 8" chocolate cake serves four at the absolute most." Some minor inconveniences of this e-book include a lack of pictures of the finished product and a nutritional breakdown. Navigating can also be awkward, as the reader has to scroll through each item; there are no "short-cut" links. With all the different writers, the styles for each recipe are widely divergent, and their writing samples, in many cases, are a bit skimpy to give an adequate indication of the writers' talents; that's where the links come in so handy, taking the reader to a much more spacious representation. And as the piece de resistance, the contributors' hearts are in the right places: the proceeds for the book will be donated to Raphael House in Portland, Oregon, an organization that supports battered women and children. Ron Kaplan, who usually writes on sports-related books, operates a small cheese cake business on the side.
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