Love Me, Feed Me

October 1, 2014

Well-known editor and author Jones (The Pleasure of Cooking for One) shares her love of cooking and her dogs through recipes and personal reflection. Selections include familiar dishes, such as shepherd's pie, as well as surprises, like farro with roasted eggplant and cumin-scented yogurt. Diverse tastes are accommodated, especially by dishes that require cooks to leave seasonings off the canine portions, meaning that adjustments will be necessary for human diners. The author's approach will suit readers who have basic to intermediate cooking skills. A discussion of preparing a whole chicken, for example, refers readers to other cookbooks they may have. Overall, though, the recipes are relatively uncomplicated and composed of widely available ingredients. While meals include healthy mixes of starches, proteins, and vegetables, nutritional content is not listed, and dogs' dietary needs are not explicitly examined. VERDICT For experienced cooks who want to provide meals that will satisfy their palates, as well as those of their canine companions.--Meagan Storey, Virginia Beach

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2014
Nothing warms a cook's heart more than the sound of mmm good table noises. And when those sounds issue forth from a faithful canine companion? These are the emotions tapped into by Jones, now retired editor to such culinary luminaries as Julia Child, James Beard, and Marcella Hazan (and author of her own books, such as The Pleasures of Cooking for One, 2009), evoked with her fiftysomething recipes for dog and human friends. Of course, every dish is salted and peppered with people-and-doggy memories, along with food preferences, dislikes, and gourmet antics. Her cooking for pets started with a cocker spaniel that couldn't eat kibble; to save her from starvation, Jones began personal kitchen service. Thus, the book is as much about the unconditional friendship pets offer as it is about braised beef shanks and omelets, kasha and corn cakes, and as much about the nutritional requirements of caninehood (and yes, there is a note from a veterinarian about feeding) as about the companionable requirements. Photographs from Jones' son, Chris, document some of her routines; other family pictures add to the anecdotes. At the end, she taps old friends (M. J. K. Fisher, Jacques P'pin, and others) to support her dog-oriented habits, and the result is a loving salute to the dogs she has known and to a life filled to the brim with what they brought to her.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)