Amazon Top 2 Cookbooks: Breaking the Circle of Trust?
I’ve mentioned that I’m a little obsessed with my Amazon stats. Right now Veganomicon is the #2 Vegetarian Cookbook fighting tooth and nail with Mark Bittman’s “How To Cover Vegetables In Cheese”. But hovering above both of us is a book called “Hiding Vegetables In Kids’ Food”. And on the overall cookbook list, that book is in fierce competition with Jessica Seinfeld’s book of the same name.
I think the more telling story, though, is the surprising new gastrobiography from James Frey, “A Side Of Deception: How My Mother Snuck Stuff Into My Food And Scarred Me For Life.” A touching semi-memoir about how dishonesty at the dinner table can lead to life-long fractures that may never be mended. I am definitely going to check it out.
Oh, and I think I’ve figured out a way to get your kids to eat vegetables. Stop feeding them McDonald’s and Lunchables the other 90 percent of the time. Okay, so now you don’t need those other two books, just get Veganomicon.
October 31st, 2007 at 7:46 pm
heh, heh. It’ll be #1 soon!
October 31st, 2007 at 9:46 pm
You’re the ultimate in parenting expertise!
October 31st, 2007 at 10:30 pm
bwah!
October 31st, 2007 at 10:37 pm
So my copy of Veganomicon? just arrived? and it’s awesome?
Thanks Isa & Terry! gonna sleep with it under my pillow and wake up a vegan genius. (Learning by osmosis is a fine way to live and i have no intention of changing)
Re: Seinfeld v. Lapine…did you see this NYT article from about a week ago? Probably, but I’m posting it anyway, try and stop me: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/nyregion/19seinfeld.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
trouble in kid nutrition paradise!
October 31st, 2007 at 11:01 pm
wix… I totally heard about that. I’m gonna be on the Sneaky Chef’s side.
November 1st, 2007 at 4:49 am
I think you’ll be nr. 1 in no time. The outcome of Veganomicon vs. lying parents should be a foregone conclusion.
I love how the basic concept of all these books is to teach kids a healthy lifestyle by lying to them about what a healthy lifestyle is.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:50 am
I just got my copy Tuesday and made the chickpea cutlets and kalamata spread that night. I love the cookbook SO MUCH!
Isa and Terry, thank you thank you thank you.
xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxox
devery
November 1st, 2007 at 10:54 am
We’ve been vegetarians since my son was born (4 years ago). His absolute favorite food is “Lentils and Rice” (an Indian dish). He’s also told us that when he gets married, his wife will have to be vegetarian as well…. Brainwashing works people, try it….
November 1st, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Wait, isn’t that “How my mom managed to eat chocolate cakes every day and still have a 13 inch waist thanks to Roofies?” Frey really is quite the profilic writer, it’s hard to keep track of all his books.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Ok, Ok, I admit that sometimes when my kids ask if “there’s onions in this,” I just sort of shrug my shoulders and shake my head like I don’t know or remember. Hey, it works!
November 1st, 2007 at 2:29 pm
There aer already tons of books out there on how to sneak tofu into your diet. I don;t know why tofu has become the poster food for vegans, but it has.
November 1st, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Ha ha! I have to say that I’ve been thinking this about sneaking vegetables into children’s food since I had a child and began frequenting parenting boards. “Pureed kale! Can’t be detected in a smoothie!” I’m like, “Are you high? That is insane.” I have had the best success handing the boy a container of thawed frozen peas. “Here are some peas.” It’s direct yet effective.
November 1st, 2007 at 5:02 pm
The pureed kale smoothie revelation is especially prevalent and annoying.
November 1st, 2007 at 6:02 pm
I read something mentioning these books last week and it said something about ruining a kids childhood with “Brownies that taste like lies.” It made me laugh.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:03 pm
My kids eat kale. Sauteed with olive oil and garlic, no brownies or smoothies. And did they like it the first time? No, but you just smile and make them taste it and every time you make it put a little bit on their plate and EVENTUALLY they will eat it without complaint and even say they like it better with raisins than they do with red pepper or whatever. It’s not brain surgery, it’s just what your grandma did.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Barbara at Tigers and Strawberries had a nice analysis of those cookbooks: http://tinyurl.com/2pgmog
I love thawed frozen peas, FWIW.
And I’m going to add to the Veganomicon love. Soon. I swear. I just have to wait until I have more money.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Go ahead and hide the vegetable. Moms are already sneaking the Ritalin into their children?s diet. Hey, why don?t they hide the homework by calling it playtime. Yeh, math is the new baseball. Give me a break! What great deniers were are raising.
About the controversial (read: plagiarized?)
TWO books which are:
both cookbooks
shown to the same publisher
in the same year
with the same UNIQUE recipes
on the same UNIQUE cooking concept
by authors who live in the same city
with nearly IDENTICAL book covers
both pitched to OPRAH
IS JUST A COINCIDENCE?
November 1st, 2007 at 9:07 pm
I don’t think the coincidence stops there.
Deceptively Delicious has 19 syllables in it’s full title.
The Sneaky Chef has 21 syllables in it’s full title.
21-19=2
Veganomicon just happens to be the #2 vegetarian cookbook. What we have here are two titles of the same concept trying to hold V’con down and keeping it from reigning supreme in cookbook land. This madness must stop.
Far stretch but hey it could happen.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:09 pm
I used to have to hide vegetables in food I fed my grandma. She was a very sweet, yet very stubborn woman who loved biscuits and ice cream. Never felt the need to read about it though.
November 1st, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I don’t agree with or like the idea of “sneaking/deceiving” attempts at nutrition. I think a better approach (especially for children) is to start nutritional education from the start. Upping the level of information as the child’s age, intellect and comprehension grows.
With that said, the more I thought about these 2 cookbooks, the more ‘karmic’ it seemed. They both are now bound together in a intrique that seems to involve (someone’s/somewhere) underhandedness, deceit and sneakery.
heh…
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:22 am
“stop feeding them McDonald’s and Lunchables” = right on.
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:13 am
Isa, you crack me up!
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:26 am
For what it’s worth, I *do* try and stuff as many nutritionally dense ingredients into things as possible. The idea of making white flour and margarine sugar cookies just makes me twitch — I end up adding pureed veggies or fruits, ground nuts, whole wheat pastry flour or besan, or .. Well, anything, really. It’s all good if you stir in a few chocolate chips at the end.
But my 6 year old seems to like it, and I always ask him if he can guess what the secret ingredients are. The more unusual or unexpected, the better. For us, it isn’t that he doesn’t like vegetables — he’ll graze on kale right out of the garden, no problem — it’s that he tends to fixate on one favourite vegetable to the exclusion of everything else, so I need to add the missing foods back into his diet. He knows that’s what I’m doing, and it’s a workable compromise — he learns about his nutritional needs, and I get to keep potatoes in the house. (He’d eat nothing but potatoes forever if he had his way.)
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
I agree with stop feeding them junk and trying to teach them about eating vegetables. I think though that adding hidden extras to foods is a good idea. I do it to my own food because I think that even if I’m doing good, adding a bit of pureed spinach or this and that just ups my nutrients a bit. I don’t have kids so it is just for me (and my husband) that I’m doing that.
It’d be more interesting to have a cookbook with hidden goodies but also creative ways to feed kids veggies that are noticeable.
November 2nd, 2007 at 5:33 pm
I bought my copy yesterday. It’s beautiful. It smells amazing. I can’t wait to use it! I told the boyfriend to feel free to buy me a nice cookbook stand for Christmas.
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:05 pm
I totally agree to the “stop feeding them McDonalds and Lunchables” comment. And I never thought “sneaking” healthy food into “normal” meals was a good idea. I want to find a way to have my 7 year old LIKE his veggies. (General Tso’s Tofu has won him over to broccoli! Yeah!) Hiding things like flax seed and wheat germ, maybe, but kale? lol
I’m waiting on a gift certificate for Amazon.com so I can order my copy of Veganomicon. Any day now….
November 2nd, 2007 at 9:14 pm
“Right now Veganomicon is the #2 Vegetarian Cookbook fighting tooth and nail with Mark Bittman?s ?How To Cover Vegetables In Cheese?.”
I read this to my boyfriend and we’ve been giggling spontaneously for the past five minutes. Then we’ll stop. And then one of us will start again.
November 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Frances…Finally someone appreciates me. Thank you for inviting me into your relationship, I’ll pack up my things.
November 6th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I think parents who need extra help getting their kids to eat well need a book on parenting - not how to decieve their children.
We made the switch to Vegan this summer. My 5 year old daughter was used to chicken, beef and milk in abundance. It took a few months, but she is now completely converted to soy milk and actually perfers it. I just continued to introduce it and have her try it again and again. It is perfectly normal for kids and adults to try something new several times before accepting it.
Using this technique of try try again my daughter’s favorite food is now squash as opposed to chicken nuggets and french fries. We recently ate out at a pizza place with vegan options and when our vegan soy cheese, spinach, olive, onion and artichoke heart pizza came she exclaimed “WOW that looks good!”
If you decieve your children in one area of life that leaves them open to doubt you on other areas - parenting is hard enough without bringing in deception and doubt into the equation.
November 21st, 2007 at 5:03 pm
[…] So now I need to eat more vegetables. I’m like a little kid who thinks green things are icky. Maybe I should invest in Jessica Seinfeld’s book, or perhaps side with Missy Chase Lapine in the Devious Cookbook Battle of 2007. […]