Alfonso Morales: Paul Strand in Mexico
A beautiful, huge book that includes a DVD of his film made in Mexico. (*****)
Katherine Gustafson: Change Comes to Dinner: How Vertical Farmers, Urban Growers, and Other Innovators Are Revolutionizing How America Eats
It all started with beans! A great book about food that's an enjoyable read with great topics. And Rancho Gordo figures prominently in the story. (*****)
Kris Hoogerhyde: Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones: 90 Recipes for Making Your Own Ice Cream and Frozen Treats from Bi-Rite Creamery
Recipes from my favorite ice cream shop. It's great when nice people do great things and get acknowledged for it. You deserve this book! Get it and David Lebovitz' Perfect Scoop and your ice cream library will be complete. (*****)
John Coe Robbins: Maya Lord
Great read. Historical fiction about Gonzalo Guerrero and Jeronimo, a stranded soldier and priest, who become slaves in pre-conquest Yucatan and how their perceptions change. I love the comparisons of Mayan sacrifice to the Spanish Inquisition. A super story and a super storyteller. This should make a great movie. (*****)
Douglas Woods: The California Casa
HUGE celebration of Spanish Revival architecture. Not all the examples work but when they do, my heart breaks a little.
Andrés Reséndez: A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
A great book about the journey of Cabeza de Vaca. You couldn't make this stuff up. I love it because it's shared history of the US and Mexico.
Ioan Grillo: El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency
An easier and less depressing read than you'd think. It's a good overview of the scene in Mexico and brings home how much of this is our problem as well as Mexico's.
Anyone who thinks there's an easy solution is nuts. (****)
Gary Paul Nabhan: Desert Terroir: Exploring the Unique Flavors and Sundry Places of the Borderlands (Ellen)
My favorite writer writes what is possibly my favorite book. It's hard to not want to go for a hike after reading this. (*****)
Dolores Cakebread: The Cakebread Cellars American Harvest Cookbook: Celebrating Wine, Food, and Friends in the Napa Valley
Another great book from the kitchens of Cakebread Wineries. (*****)
Patrick Dennis: Little Me : The Intimate Memoirs of that Great Star of Stage, Screen and Television, Belle Poitrine (as told to Patrick Dennis)
I think this is my desert-island book. Ten times as funny as Auntie Mame, especially if you love old Hollywood. (*****)
Edna Kimbro: The California Missions: History, Art and Preservation (Conservation & Cultural Heritage)
First rate mix of coffee table book and well-written history. (*****)
Mourad Lahlou: Mourad: New Moroccan
Every page seems to beg me to come to the kitchen. It's so nice to see someone talented hit a home run. (*****)
Tom Waits: Hard Ground
But for the grace of God, there go I. Incredible, intense portraits with poems by Tom Waits. (*****)
Paula Wolfert: The Food of Morocco
Every cuisine deserves such a beautiful treatment! I can't wait to bring out the tagines and get started. (*****)
J. M. G. Le Clezio: The Mexican Dream: Or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations
What if there hadn't been a conquest? How far would the Amerindian culture have gone? (*****)
Charles C. Mann: 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
A follow up to his seminal, 1491.
Fany Gerson: Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops, Shaved Ice & Aguas Frescas
Fany is my new hero and her new book is shorter, but just as good, as her first, My Sweet Mexico.
James Oles: Frida Kahlo: Her Photos
I was really getting tired of all the Frida fans but now I'm giving in and just enjoying it. (*****)
Original Album Series
Tom Waits: Original Album Series (*****)
Evolucion: 20 Anos De Toto La Momposina
Toto La Momposina: Evolucion: 20 Anos De Toto La Momposina (****)
Hecho En Puerto Rico
Willie Colon: Hecho En Puerto Rico (*****)
Este Es Mi Mariachi
Mariachi Cobre: Este Es Mi Mariachi (*****)
Mi Tierra
Susana Harp: Mi Tierra (*****)
Ay
Astrid Hadid: Ay (*****)
« YouTube Isn't the Only Game on the Net | Main | A Day in the Fields »
I'm not one to say, but if the heavens are trying to send me and my fellow bean lovers a sign about who to vote for, well, I'd say the it's pretty clear after seeing this:
Facts, debates and policy are one thing, this is another! Details and process are described at the Crafster site. A very talented user named "boogaloo" (another reason for admiration) guides us through the whole project. Inspirational!
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That. Is. Awesome.
I am totally celebrating Nov.4th with beans, now.
Posted by: sfm | October 24, 2008 at 01:43 PM
Steve: yours was my last step-off point tonight, before I watch "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." I chose that from the free On Demand after seeing Michelle Obama's charming/electrifying/inspiring speech to Columbus, Ohio this morning.
This image is SO beautiful. Thank you for posting.
Posted by: Tana | October 24, 2008 at 11:35 PM
PLEASE, leave the politics out of the beans!
Posted by: David Valentin | October 25, 2008 at 09:36 PM
Sorry, but this isn't "politics". If you want politics, I can give you politics. If you have a whimsical bean portrait of any other candidate, I'd be happy to share it.
Posted by: Steven Sando | October 26, 2008 at 09:52 AM
That is so cool! Thank you for posting, I am going to link to this if you don't mind.
Posted by: Nicole | November 06, 2008 at 10:51 AM